Windows XP won't load

[rbsdeans]

My computer updated automatically and prompted for restart. Once restarted,
the computer froze at the blue Windows is starting screen. Tried to restart
and got same thing. Tried to reinstall Windows XP and had great difficulty
in getting it to go all the way through. Said it couldn't find several
files, but finally completed. Still goes to blue starting screen and stops.

Considered upgrading to Windows 7, but have been told that all files will be
lost. Cannot get to start in Safe Mode, so no option to get in and get
necessary files. Any suggestions?

 

[Mark Adams]

My computer updated automatically and prompted for restart. Once restarted,
the computer froze at the blue Windows is starting screen. Tried to restart
and got same thing. Tried to reinstall Windows XP and had great difficulty
in getting it to go all the way through. Said it couldn't find several
files, but finally completed. Still goes to blue starting screen and stops.

Considered upgrading to Windows 7, but have been told that all files will be
lost. Cannot get to start in Safe Mode, so no option to get in and get
necessary files. Any suggestions?

Since you have already tried to reinstall Windows, that means that you have
a good backup of all of your data, and applications; right? The install
couldn't find several files because you are using an install disk that is at
a lower service pack level than what you already have installed, and are
trying to make a repair with a disk that is "missing" files. You will need to
slipstream SP3 into your install disk. Then see the following:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Be a real good idea to recover you data before going any further.

 

[Paul]

My computer updated automatically and prompted for restart. Once restarted,
the computer froze at the blue Windows is starting screen. Tried to restart
and got same thing. Tried to reinstall Windows XP and had great difficulty
in getting it to go all the way through. Said it couldn't find several
files, but finally completed. Still goes to blue starting screen and stops.

Considered upgrading to Windows 7, but have been told that all files will be
lost. Cannot get to start in Safe Mode, so no option to get in and get
necessary files. Any suggestions?

The question is, do you have some place to copy the files, assuming
you could get to them ? A USB external hard drive in an enclosure,
can be used as a means to save the files. For $100, you can get a
fair amount of storage space.

There are multiple bootable CDs you can use, to do maintenance on
computers. I happen to use a Linux LiveCD, Knoppix from knopper.net,
to do maintenance tasks. Ubuntu from ubuntu.com is another example
whose name you might recognize. Both recognize and can work with
FAT32 and NTFS partitions. But there are other (Windows based) ways
to do that as well.

There are even CDs you can download, to do AV or malware scans, with
Windows offline. This is an example of one. For this CD to get
the AV definition files, it needs a network interface that supports
DHCP. Since my ADSL modem and router remain running, between
reboots of my computer, I can boot this CD and it can use DHCP to
automatically get an IP address and connect to the main site.
Scanning is slow, but what do you expect for free Maybe
your problem was related to malware already present on the computer.

http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk/

13 Jul 2009 08:03:12 120,985,600 bytes kav_rescue_2008.iso

Paul

 

[Db]

sometimes upgrading the
o.s. is not possible on older
machines,

especially those designed
for xp.

in any case, since you can't
boot the hard disk,

then you will need to boot
with a bootable cd like a
winxp setup cd.

if you don't have one then
you can borrow one.

after booting with the cd,
run repair and it will load
the recovery console.

once at the disk prompt
run the following commands:

chkdsk /r
fixboot

then remove cd, exit and
see if you can boot the
hard drive again.

incidentally, you may also
receive a message regarding
the boot sector,

if so, follow the steps above
and run the command fixmbr.

--

 

[John John - MVP]

Check your clock, Bob. You're posting in the future.

John

 

[Unknown]

Check your post times.

It is now 3:00 pm on 5/19/2010 and that's what my clock says.

What makes you think it's not correct?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Are you running WinXP SP2 or SP3 now?

My computer updated automatically and prompted for restart. Once
restarted,
the computer froze at the blue Windows is starting screen.

Which updates were installed?

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)?

Has a(another) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on the
computer (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought
it)?

 

[John John - MVP]

Your 300 PM post is showing as posted at 7:01 PM. Your computer might
be in the wrong time zone.

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

It is now 3:00 pm on 5/19/2010 and that's what my clock says.

What makes you think it's not correct?

It is incorrect. It's 12:57pm here, and your post says 3:01pm *my*
time.

If you have the clock set correctly, then you must have the time zone
set wrong.

 

[Bob]

Thanks, it was in the wrong time zone.

Your 300 PM post is showing as posted at 7:01 PM. Your computer might be
in the wrong time zone.

John

 

[John John - MVP]

You're welcome.

John

Thanks, it was in the wrong time zone.

 

[Bob]

Do you have a Recovery partition?

 

[Bob]

It is now 3:00 pm on 5/19/2010 and that's what my clock says.

What makes you think it's not correct?

 

[Doum]

=?Utf-8?B?cmJzZGVhbnM=?= <[email protected]> écrivait

Considered upgrading to Windows 7, but have been told that all files
will be lost.

<snip>

It's not exactly true, if you use an upgrade CD without formatting the
drive (which is how it should be done), you shouldn't lose your files. All
programs will have to be reinstalled and make sure drivers exist for all
your hardware.

It's allways a good idea to backup everything regularly on an external
device (hard disks or CD/DVDs) so your data is safe if something goes
wrong.

HTH