XP/ corrupt or unreadable c:\$mft

[Guest]

A friend has a HP, Windows XP, got a virus, put in a shop, they 'got rid' of
the virus. Now his Autocad program is corrupt. We can not get sys to boot to
xp cd (yes we set cdrom as 1st boot device) to try any type of repair. Can't
get into Windows, safe mode or otherwise, gets the 'windows file c:\$mft is
corrupt or unreadable. I run Windows ME and love it, ( am left-handed and
southern too ) have very little exp with xp but do know the boot repair
options, but cant get to the cd to try them. So any help out there is much
needed and appreciated.

 

[Richard Urban]

First you say that his AutoCAD program is corrupt, which means that you have
gotten into Windows to find that out.

Then you say you can't get into Windows.

Which is it?

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Disable all boot devices in the system BIOS except the CD drive, this should
allow you to force the CD boot.

Now, once you are able to do this, you will need to load the Recovery
Console, then run chkdsk /r from the prompt.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Plato]

First you say that his AutoCAD program is corrupt, which means that you have
gotten into Windows to find that out. Then you say you can't get into Windows. Which > is it?

That's OK, I just got an email asking "Why cant I send email?"

 

[Guest]

.... Both. The Owner was able to get into Windows when he first got it back
from 'repair shop', then he became stuck at the error message listed earlier.
I was unable to get into windows once I recieved the machine, ok???? Thanks
to Rick 'Nutcase' Rogers reply, I was able to perform the steps he suggested.
Now am in Windows, Installed my favorite "FREE" antivirus program and it is
finding many trojans and spy-adware. Sys is running better now so maybe I can
save the mans critical data then I plan to Debug,F,F and Reinstall. Thanks
Nutcase, yours was the onlt replt that actually tried to help, and it did!

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your advise, it worked and hopefully I can save the gentlemans
data he is worried about. The other two replies to my thread were.... well no
help what-so-ever and a little insulting. So All the Best to you Nutcase, I
am very glad for folks like you, you showed me that sometimes 1 out of 3 aint
bad either!!!

 

[Guest]

Ok, to be EXACT: BEFORE I recieved the computer, the owner reports he was
able to get into XP when he first got it back from the virus repair shop. But
he reports his Autocad stuff was corrupted. He called me AFTER he was NO
LONGER able to load into Windows, was getting stuck at the before mentioned
error. Sir, If your reply was meant to be helpful, it failed. If it was meant
to make you sound smart, it failed. If it was intended to get me to expand my
description of the issue, well it worked. But thanks to Mr. Nutcase being
able to ANSWER MY QUESTION without tring to be insulting, much progress has
now been made. Some of you guys get so hung up on the MICRO-DETAILS of an
issue you can't see the issue. Thus, I think, causing us all to have just
wasted our time.

 

[Richard Urban]

Your description of the problem was vague, at best. I wanted to know exactly
what the symptoms were, and you did finally tell us. It is much easier to
troubleshoot when you know the problem, than by taking a lucky shot and
hoping it may work.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

The clue was given by you, the C:\$mft is the key. If the master file table
is corrupt, nothing's going to work right. Fix that, then see what's left to
work on.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Sorry if you alreadry mentioned this but how does one fix a corrupt master
file table?