XP Boot Failures

[KW]

We have installations of computers running XP where power outages can occur.
In several instances after the power outages the computers will no longer
boot. They either get a ways into the boot process and continuously reboot
or we get boot failure messages. The computers can be repaired by running
recovery console and CHKDSK but I was wondering if there was to prevent this
from happening in the first place.

 

[philo]

We have installations of computers running XP where power outages can occur.
In several instances after the power outages the computers will no longer
boot. They either get a ways into the boot process and continuously reboot
or we get boot failure messages. The computers can be repaired by running
recovery console and CHKDSK but I was wondering if there was to prevent this
from happening in the first place.

Yes!

Purchase a UPS !

If there are budgetary constraints you could purchase a UPSes small enough
to run the computers only...
and skip all peripheral devices

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Yes!

Purchase a UPS !

I couldn't agree more.

If there are budgetary constraints you could purchase a UPSes small enough
to run the computers only...
and skip all peripheral devices

I think a UPS should be installed on *every* computer. They are very
inexpensive these days. A good small one can be bought for as little
as $40 US or so.

 

[KW]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we install small brick style computers in our
products. Unfortunately we have space constraints that don't allow us to use
a UPS.

Are there any settings in XP that would possibly prevent corruption when a
power outage occurs? I can't believe the OS is that touchy.

 

[Malke]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we install small brick style computers in our
products. Unfortunately we have space constraints that don't allow us to use
a UPS.

Are there any settings in XP that would possibly prevent corruption when a
power outage occurs? I can't believe the OS is that touchy.

No, there no settings in *any* operating system (except perhaps a
redundant RTOS designed for failsafe work, but that wouldn't be on an
unprotected device anyway) that can recover from a power outage that
scrambled the bits.

This has nothing to do with Windows. In fact, harsh shutdowns can
sometimes do more damage in *nix systems than Windows systems.

Perhaps you need to rethink your product design. I'm not saying this to
be snarky to you, but your expectations of what is going to happen to
*any* operating system subjected to frequent and sudden power outages
are not in line with reality.


Malke

 

[philo]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we install small brick style computers in our
products. Unfortunately we have space constraints that don't allow us to use
a UPS.

Then inform the customer that the "product" must be UPS protected

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we install small brick style computers in our
products. Unfortunately we have space constraints that don't allow us to use
a UPS.

Are there any settings in XP that would possibly prevent corruption when a
power outage occurs?

No.


I can't believe the OS is that touchy.

It's not Windows XP in particular. *Any* operating system is subject
to such a problem if there is no orderly shutdown.

 

[HeyBub]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we install small brick style
computers in our products. Unfortunately we have space constraints
that don't allow us to use a UPS.

Are there any settings in XP that would possibly prevent corruption
when a power outage occurs? I can't believe the OS is that touchy.

Hughes once made a land-sea gravimeter. If it ever had a complete power
failure, it had to be sent back to the factory for re-calibration. Not an
easy thing to do if the survey boat was 1000 miles up the Yangtze River, but
a wonderful revenue stream for Hughes.

You may have a money-maker here.