XP wont boot and safe mode doesn't work

[Guest]

Me thinks me is in um big um trouble. I was running xp perfectly fine with
macafee int security, with avast doing the anti virus. In my infinite wisdom,
I thought I'd try antivirus kit instead, which I tried to install. Once this
was underway, I got an error telling me to uninstall macafee virus scan as
this can cause trouble. As the virus scan part was disabled, I ploughed on.
Here lies um big um mistake. The install froze. I left it for ages, nothing.
So I head to manually power down. Upon reboot, it sticks on "loading your
settings" screen. So obviously I tried to boot in safe mode, upon which I get
"we apologize for any inconvienience but windows could not boot correctly".
It suggests booting to "last known good config" which I tried and it still
freezes up.

Other than telling me I have a brain equal to a pea and that I shouldn't
give up my day job, please someone tell me I've not fried it.

Majorily appreciate any help guys and gals.

 

[Loretta]

I am no expert but, I have had good luck loading the windows xp cd to the
repair console and running a chkdsk /r.
If this does not work. You can do a repair install by again loading the
windows sp cd. Choose setup xp on the first window and then repair exsisting
on the second window.
Loretta

 

[Guest]

Hiya

Tried your first suggestion. It said it had 1 unrecoverable problem. Can you
talk me thru the second option? I need to just get in and delete that new
anti v prog but I cant. MUH!

 

[db]

bootup with your win cd and
choose "install".

when the cd checks your harddrive
it will give you the option to
replace the o.s. or repair it.

choose repair and this should
get you back surfin....
Hiya

Tried your first suggestion. It said it had 1 unrecoverable problem. Can you
talk me thru the second option? I need to just get in and delete that new
anti v prog but I cant. MUH!

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Hiya

Tried your first suggestion. It said it had 1 unrecoverable problem. Can
you
talk me thru the second option? I need to just get in and delete that new
anti v prog but I cant. MUH!

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Guest]

Phew. Ok. Did a repair install into the early hours last night. I can now use
safe mode, which allowed me to delete all the anti virus software on there. I
disconnected the net, and tried to boot normally. Now it boots and is fine
for a while, but crashes eventually. Just freezes up, no blue screen or
anything that drastic, just freezes and needs a manual power down each time.
All I can think is that when I was doing the repair install, it kept asking
for service pack 1 disk, which I dont have as I did it all online. But surely
is should work ok with the original windows installation. Is my only option a
complete reformat of the drive? Can I burn all the stuff off to disk that I
want to keep (photos / music) in safe mode, and then just reformat? Seems
like the best option now. Also - can I create a sp1 disk that I can use when
it asks for it? Does it need to be bootable yeah?

Thanks all for ongoing help. Computers eh?!

 

[Paul]

Dickie
How about getting a brand new hard drive and fitting that, re installing the
OS on that and then using the drive you have as an extra slave. You could
then copy all the old data onto the new drive (after installing your virus
software) and then give the old one a format.

Paul

 

[Guest]

You know that's a pretty damn good idea Paul. Would I be able to copy files
across from the existing hard drive whilst running it in safe mode? And what
about the service pack disk? Should I create one or just skip those steps and
get it all online once it's up and running?

Many thanks

 

[db]

expanding your system with
an extra hard drive is a good idea.

however, are you confident that
the harddrive is the problem?

as a suggestion go into safemode
and tell us how much space is
reserved for your swap file/pagefile size

run a chkdsk /r and see if it
finds bad sectors, marks them for
skipping. In addition tell us how
what the chkdsk says about your
free space.

another thing is the memory dump
size. go to control panel, system,
advance, startup/recovery and set
your memory dump to complete.


You know that's a pretty damn good idea Paul. Would I be able to copy files
across from the existing hard drive whilst running it in safe mode? And what
about the service pack disk? Should I create one or just skip those steps and
get it all online once it's up and running?

Many thanks

 

[Guest]

Thanks db.

What would be the result of not enough space for the swap file/pagefile size
then?

Would I run a chkdsk /r from start - run in safe mode?

And what if you're memory dump is not set to complete?

I'm thinking of doing another in place upgrade and integrating Windows XP
Service Pack 2 files into the Windows XP installation folder, as I didn't do
this before and it may be behind the crashes. I'm not sure. Just trying to
think of what it can be.

 

[db]

set your page file to a custom
size of min 2 and max of 1152.

set your memory dump to complete.

then ensure you have no startups in
msconfig. so run msconfig, go to startup
tab and disable "everything" then reboot.

however, in this instance reboot with
your windows cd and via the recovery
console mode run a chkdsk /r at the
c prompt. this will take some time
but it marks bad sectors for skipping
if you have any on the harddrive.

afterwards type exit and turn off pc.

then double check the physical connectors
for the hd. sometimes the wiring can
wiggle out or the cabling got bent
badly which make hd's act funny at
times..

afterwards reboot and see if the o.s.
improved.

there are times that read writes to
the registry files can also cause harddrives
to freeze as well.

but addressing this
issue is futile at this time, until
you can confirm the integrity
of the harddrive with the above
suggestions.


Thanks db.

What would be the result of not enough space for the swap file/pagefile size
then?

Would I run a chkdsk /r from start - run in safe mode?

And what if you're memory dump is not set to complete?

I'm thinking of doing another in place upgrade and integrating Windows XP
Service Pack 2 files into the Windows XP installation folder, as I didn't do
this before and it may be behind the crashes. I'm not sure. Just trying to
think of what it can be.

 

[Guest]

Great. Thanks for all this db. Gonna try this out tomorrow, and will post the
results back then.

Dickie.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Phew. Ok. Did a repair install into the early hours last night. I can now
use
safe mode, which allowed me to delete all the anti virus software on
there. I
disconnected the net, and tried to boot normally. Now it boots and is fine
for a while, but crashes eventually. Just freezes up, no blue screen or
anything that drastic, just freezes and needs a manual power down each
time.
All I can think is that when I was doing the repair install, it kept
asking
for service pack 1 disk, which I dont have as I did it all online. But
surely
is should work ok with the original windows installation. Is my only
option a
complete reformat of the drive? Can I burn all the stuff off to disk that
I
want to keep (photos / music) in safe mode, and then just reformat? Seems
like the best option now. Also - can I create a sp1 disk that I can use
when
it asks for it? Does it need to be bootable yeah?

Thanks all for ongoing help. Computers eh?!

Slipstream your original disk with the SP2 update

Slipstreamed Windows XP CD Using SP2
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

How to use AutoStreamer to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/using_autostreamer/using_autostreamer.html

Combining Windows XP with Service Pack 2 for reinstallation (Part 1:
Introduction)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894947/

Windows XP Service Pack 2 - Direct Download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
or http://tinyurl.com/5bobl

You may also like to look at nLite ( http://www.nliteos.com/index.html )
and especially RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack
(http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html)

 

[Guest]

Hi db

Things are looking up. Its not crashing anymore. I basically cleared out my
start up menu and whatever was corrupted has gone.

Can I ask you - when in safe mode, how do I find out the size of the page /
swap file?

When I ran chkdsk /r, everything seems fine.

The major annoyance that is left is that when I am booting, it sits on the
'windows is starting up' screen for a good 2 mins. Once the pc is running, it
is fast and reliable. Do you know what could be causing this?

Thanks again for all ongoing help.

Dickie

 

[db]

I always suggest a min of 2
and max of 1152. It is a good
median.

But the old rule of thumb
was that the pagefile should be no
greater than 2.5 times the size of your
ram

Depending on the software, most
pc's will use less and some will use
more. If windows requires more pagefile
it will tell you and "try" to increase the
size. If it has too little, then the pc
will become unstable.

You can monitor your pagefile
and memory with http://www.amsn.ro/

I use it all the time. I suggest to
start it and quit it, instead of having
it constantly running.

In regards to slow startup, this
can be due to a variety of reasons.
And you will just have to be patient
and figure out the cause.

Since disabling some startups
helped your system, i think
you should immunize with
spybot freeware.

Also, if you can boot up to safemode
faster, then there is likely an issue
with a driver that is posing an obstacle
in normal mode. You can
look for any oddities booting
with autoruns from
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/processesandthreadsutilities.mspx

Using autoruns is interesting:
If you find an entry to disable, simply
check it, then double click the
file name and you will see that
the registry key was disabled.
To enable it, uncheck it and double
click the filename.

Also, I suggest to go to microsoft.com
and download and install page defrag
from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/fileanddiskutilities.mspx
you can install this with confidence, then reboot
afterwards to see it in action.

also, i suggest to run a registry cleaner
like Eusing freeware.

and if you don't have any antiviral
running i suggest the spyware terminator
with the clam antivirus plug-in.

the above are just a few tips.

in any case, your next project
is to backup what is working so
that we don't cross this bridge again...

- db

Hi db

Things are looking up. Its not crashing anymore. I basically cleared out my
start up menu and whatever was corrupted has gone.

Can I ask you - when in safe mode, how do I find out the size of the page /
swap file?

When I ran chkdsk /r, everything seems fine.

The major annoyance that is left is that when I am booting, it sits on the
'windows is starting up' screen for a good 2 mins. Once the pc is running, it
is fast and reliable. Do you know what could be causing this?

Thanks again for all ongoing help.

Dickie

 

[Guest]

All is running ok (ish!) now. Start up is much quicker, I'm back online. But
one major problem is that I'm caught in a catch 22 with having to get sp2 for
Xp, as it requires Explorer 7 and you need SP2 to get Expl 7. What a load of
crap. Any ideas how I can downloads sp2 as a stand alone intaller?

Thanks

 

[db]

hmm?

well, like the other poster suggested
you may as well send off for it. i think
it might cost about 6 bucks.

or

you might find another pc and see
if you can find the sp2.cab and
copy it/install to your pc

or

possibly the sp2.cab from microsoft.com
might work too. suppossedly
microsoft says it should not be used
on single pc. but i think it's worth a
try and shouldn't hurt to try. it
approx 200 megs or something.

or

you can try the slipstreaming method
provided by ubcd or bartspe

it's unclear why the windows update
feature is not available to you. there
is "free" technical support from
microsoft specifically for update
issues.

can you provide some feedback?

also, whilst the system is functional
please create your restore points and
maybe use the driveimage xml program
and make images for your "working"
o.s.

good to know that your o.s. is up n
running and you really didn't need
a new harddrive - yet.

-db

All is running ok (ish!) now. Start up is much quicker, I'm back online. But
one major problem is that I'm caught in a catch 22 with having to get sp2 for
Xp, as it requires Explorer 7 and you need SP2 to get Expl 7. What a load of
crap. Any ideas how I can downloads sp2 as a stand alone intaller?

Thanks