won't boot again

[Steve T]

Gone for a week. Came back and my XP-SP2 MC won't boot. Had this problem
about 2 months ago and had to have the PC recover to original configuration.
I think I read somewhere that I might only have one or two chances to
correct the problem when first attempting to boot up. Don't know what that
means. Start Windows normally did not work. Use last known good
configuration also failed. I booted in Safe Mode with Networking where I can
access files and internet. This PC is part of a wired 3 PC network at home.
Now that I am here, what can I do to resolve the boot problem? Thanks, Steve
T.

 

[Brian A.]

Gone for a week. Came back and my XP-SP2 MC won't boot. Had this problem about 2
months ago and had to have the PC recover to original configuration. I think I read
somewhere that I might only have one or two chances to correct the problem when
first attempting to boot up. Don't know what that means. Start Windows normally did
not work. Use last known good configuration also failed. I booted in Safe Mode with
Networking where I can access files and internet. This PC is part of a wired 3 PC
network at home. Now that I am here, what can I do to resolve the boot problem?
Thanks, Steve T.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353/en-us

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434/en-us

How to troubleshoot by using the System Configuration utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560/en-us

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Peter Foldes]

And also just in case

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q307545

 

[Steve T]

No luck in the normal boot yet. I can Safe Boot but that's it. I have run
Ad-Aware, Spybot, SuperAnti and Multi_AV with only one tracking cookie found
by AA. I just tried Safe Boot with Networking and when it prompted for
Windows(default), I chose MCE instead. I got an error message that
"system32\hal.dll is corrupt or missing" and MCE cannot start. How can I
repair/replace hal.dll? I have the same file on my other two PC's. Is it a
simple copy or do I need to download the file from somewhere? A link at Doug
Knox's website says it has software to repair hal.dll but that doesn't sound
right. Any ideas? Thanks, Steve T.
And also just in case

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q307545

 

[Nightowl]

No luck in the normal boot yet. I can Safe Boot but that's it. I have run
Ad-Aware, Spybot, SuperAnti and Multi_AV with only one tracking cookie found
by AA. I just tried Safe Boot with Networking and when it prompted for
Windows(default), I chose MCE instead. I got an error message that
"system32\hal.dll is corrupt or missing" and MCE cannot start. How can I
repair/replace hal.dll? I have the same file on my other two PC's. Is it a
simple copy or do I need to download the file from somewhere? A link at Doug
Knox's website says it has software to repair hal.dll but that doesn't sound
right. Any ideas? Thanks, Steve T.

Hi Steve

No, it's not quite as simple as a copy. . . there are several files from
which Windows can choose hal.dll and it very much depends on what
hardware you have in your computer.

However, that message is not always what it seems -- sometimes there
isn't anything wrong with hal.dll at all but there is a problem with the
boot.ini. Have a look at this page and see if it helps:
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor.htm

 

[Steve T]

I bought this Gateway refurbished from TigerDirect and it did not come with
an XP CD. All it has is a partition on the HD with the recover/restore
files. Seems like most solutions require the CD. How do I get around that? I
have two other PC's but both are Dell's and only one has the XP CD. Is using
that CD an option? Thanks, Steve T.

 

[Nightowl]

Hi Steve

You could try with your Dell CD, though it may not work. If it doesn't,
use one of the other PCs to make yourself a Bart's PE disk:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
or (even better) an Ultimate Boot Disk for Windows:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/

These are "live" CDs that will give you access to your hard drive so you
can repair boot.ini.

 

[Unknown]

There is a method to restore/recover using the partition. Ask TigerDirect
for it.

 

[Steve T]

Restore/recover is simply clicking F11 during boot but that just restores
the PC to original and I have to go back and install all of my programs. I
did this before and will do again if necessary. It does make a backup on my
HD but I also have an NAS that I can make my backups to.
A strange thing has developed since my last post. Here's the thing I don't
understand. I can click F8 to go into Safe Mode, choose Start Windows
Normally, select Windows (default) and everything boots up and works. This
is new. If I just turn the PC on, it will sit there all day and never get
past the black XP screen. That's the old way. Any ideas? Thanks, Steve T.

 

[Nightowl]

Here's the thing I don't
understand. I can click F8 to go into Safe Mode, choose Start Windows
Normally, select Windows (default) and everything boots up and works. This
is new. If I just turn the PC on, it will sit there all day and never get
past the black XP screen. That's the old way. Any ideas?

Since you can get into Safe Mode, open Notepad and have a look at your
boot.ini file there. If necessary you can repair it in a command window.

 

[Steve T]

Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong here?
Thank you, Steve T.

 

[Nightowl]

Hi Steve

I'm not an expert on this, but seems to me your partitions don't match?
i.e. your first (default) line has ". . . partition(1)\WINDOWS"
but under [operating systems] you have:
". . . partition(1)\WINNT= . . ."

Try editing the file to make the "operating systems" line "Windows"
rather than "Winnt".

Here's a copy of my boot.ini (I have Pro rather than Media Center):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Please do let us know how it goes

--
Nightowl

Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong here?
Thank you, Steve T.

Since you can get into Safe Mode, open Notepad and have a look at your
boot.ini file there. If necessary you can repair it in a command window.

 

[Steve T]

Do I open in Notepad, edit and save? Thanks, Steve T.

Hi Steve

I'm not an expert on this, but seems to me your partitions don't match?
i.e. your first (default) line has ". . . partition(1)\WINDOWS"
but under [operating systems] you have:
". . . partition(1)\WINNT= . . ."

Try editing the file to make the "operating systems" line "Windows" rather
than "Winnt".

Here's a copy of my boot.ini (I have Pro rather than Media Center):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Please do let us know how it goes

--
Nightowl

Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong
here?
Thank you, Steve T.

Here's the thing I don't
understand. I can click F8 to go into Safe Mode, choose Start Windows
Normally, select Windows (default) and everything boots up and works.
This
is new. If I just turn the PC on, it will sit there all day and never
get
past the black XP screen. That's the old way. Any ideas?

Since you can get into Safe Mode, open Notepad and have a look at your
boot.ini file there. If necessary you can repair it in a command window.

 

[Nightowl]

Yes, that should be fine, Steve. Make a copy first and rename it
something like boot.ini.old, then you can always change it back if you
need to restore it. Good luck!

--
Nightowl

Do I open in Notepad, edit and save? Thanks, Steve T.

Hi Steve

I'm not an expert on this, but seems to me your partitions don't match?
i.e. your first (default) line has ". . . partition(1)\WINDOWS"
but under [operating systems] you have:
". . . partition(1)\WINNT= . . ."

Try editing the file to make the "operating systems" line "Windows" rather
than "Winnt".

Here's a copy of my boot.ini (I have Pro rather than Media Center):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Please do let us know how it goes

--
Nightowl

Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong
here?
Thank you, Steve T.


Here's the thing I don't
understand. I can click F8 to go into Safe Mode, choose Start Windows
Normally, select Windows (default) and everything boots up and works.
This
is new. If I just turn the PC on, it will sit there all day and never
get
past the black XP screen. That's the old way. Any ideas?

Since you can get into Safe Mode, open Notepad and have a look at your
boot.ini file there. If necessary you can repair it in a command window.

 

[Steve T]

Well how about that? It worked! I changed the WINNT to WINDOWS and it now
boots all the way as before. How would that get corrupted? A program install
, malware ,or a "registry cleaner"? Either way, thanks Nightowl! Steve T.

Yes, that should be fine, Steve. Make a copy first and rename it something
like boot.ini.old, then you can always change it back if you need to
restore it. Good luck!

--
Nightowl

Do I open in Notepad, edit and save? Thanks, Steve T.

Hi Steve

I'm not an expert on this, but seems to me your partitions don't match?
i.e. your first (default) line has ". . . partition(1)\WINDOWS"
but under [operating systems] you have:
". . . partition(1)\WINNT= . . ."

Try editing the file to make the "operating systems" line "Windows"
rather
than "Winnt".

Here's a copy of my boot.ini (I have Pro rather than Media Center):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Please do let us know how it goes

--
Nightowl



Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the
PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will
boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and
they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong
here?
Thank you, Steve T.


Here's the thing I don't
understand. I can click F8 to go into Safe Mode, choose Start Windows
Normally, select Windows (default) and everything boots up and works.
This
is new. If I just turn the PC on, it will sit there all day and never
get
past the black XP screen. That's the old way. Any ideas?

Since you can get into Safe Mode, open Notepad and have a look at your
boot.ini file there. If necessary you can repair it in a command
window.

 

[Nightowl]

That's great news, Steve! So glad you've got your system working right
again.

I don't really know how it could have got changed. . . did you ever have
more than one operating system loaded, so you had to choose an option at
boot-up? It could have been some program install, perhaps. Still, not to
worry -- all's fine now and that UBCD for Windows disk is a great tool
to keep handy

Best wishes,

--
Nightowl

Well how about that? It worked! I changed the WINNT to WINDOWS and it now
boots all the way as before. How would that get corrupted? A program install
, malware ,or a "registry cleaner"? Either way, thanks Nightowl! Steve T.

Yes, that should be fine, Steve. Make a copy first and rename it something
like boot.ini.old, then you can always change it back if you need to
restore it. Good luck!

Do I open in Notepad, edit and save? Thanks, Steve T.


I'm not an expert on this, but seems to me your partitions don't match?
i.e. your first (default) line has ". . . partition(1)\WINDOWS"
but under [operating systems] you have:
". . . partition(1)\WINNT= . . ."

Try editing the file to make the "operating systems" line "Windows"
rather
than "Winnt".

Here's a copy of my boot.ini (I have Pro rather than Media Center):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Please do let us know how it goes


Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the
PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will
boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and
they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong
here?

 

[Steve T]

No dual-boot system and I usually use Control Panel to remove programs. Once
in a while I have to use the programs uninstall because it does not show up
in CP. Thanks again, and that UBCD will always be handy now. Steve T.

That's great news, Steve! So glad you've got your system working right
again.

I don't really know how it could have got changed. . . did you ever have
more than one operating system loaded, so you had to choose an option at
boot-up? It could have been some program install, perhaps. Still, not to
worry -- all's fine now and that UBCD for Windows disk is a great tool to
keep handy

Best wishes,

--
Nightowl

Well how about that? It worked! I changed the WINNT to WINDOWS and it now
boots all the way as before. How would that get corrupted? A program
install
, malware ,or a "registry cleaner"? Either way, thanks Nightowl! Steve T.

Yes, that should be fine, Steve. Make a copy first and rename it
something
like boot.ini.old, then you can always change it back if you need to
restore it. Good luck!

Do I open in Notepad, edit and save? Thanks, Steve T.



I'm not an expert on this, but seems to me your partitions don't
match?
i.e. your first (default) line has ". . . partition(1)\WINDOWS"
but under [operating systems] you have:
". . . partition(1)\WINNT= . . ."

Try editing the file to make the "operating systems" line "Windows"
rather
than "Winnt".

Here's a copy of my boot.ini (I have Pro rather than Media Center):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Please do let us know how it goes


Burned a copy of UBCD and now I can boot clear into Windows. Start the
PC,
ignore "Enter" to access UBCD, ignore F11 to restore and the PC will
boot
normally. I have opened up boot.ini in both Safe and Normal modes and
they
are the same. Here are the contents:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows XP Media Center
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I don't know if there is anything wrong here. Anybody see what's wrong
here?