Windows XP - Unable to boot

[Greg]

Hi,

My son's computer is unable to boot up, it hangs while
trying to boot from the hard drive. The drive is
recognized in the bios, and has running for several months
under Windows XP. The drive was setup for NTFS. I
examined the c drive (Western Digital 120 GB) with the
Western Digital diagnostics in DOS, and the program found
no problems with the drive. I believe the boot sector on
the drive is corrupted.

I pulled the drive and inserted it into another XP
machine. Neither the MS disk tool nor Norton Disk Doctor
(2002) were able to access and fix the drive. Does
anybody have an ideas about fixing the drive.

Greg

[Robert Green]

"Greg" > wrote in message >...
> Hi,
>
> My son's computer is unable to boot up, it hangs while
> trying to boot from the hard drive. The drive is
> recognized in the bios, and has running for several months
> under Windows XP. The drive was setup for NTFS. I
> examined the c drive (Western Digital 120 GB) with the
> Western Digital diagnostics in DOS, and the program found
> no problems with the drive. I believe the boot sector on
> the drive is corrupted.
>
> I pulled the drive and inserted it into another XP
> machine. Neither the MS disk tool nor Norton Disk Doctor
> (2002) were able to access and fix the drive. Does
> anybody have an ideas about fixing the drive.

If the problem is limied to the MBR or partition boot sector you can
probably fix it with BootMaster (freeware), available at the site in
my signature.

If BootMaster can't get it going, you can create a diagnostic file
(explained in the documentation) and email it to me.

Bob

Robert Green
FileRecovery.Biz
BootMaster Partition Recovery
http:bootmaster.filerecovery.biz
bob[dot]green[at]filerecovery[dot]biz

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Here's a few things to try.

Boot the system and start pressing F8, this should bring up a menu, select
"Last Known Good Configuration"

If that doesn't work, try the recovery console, assuming you
have a retail version or full OEM version of XP as opposed to the
manufacturer's recovery disks that don't have this option though they might
offer their own recover
scenario.

Be sure your system is set to boot from the CD. If you are not sure, when
the system first boots you usually see message about how to enter setup or
something similar and tells you to hit a key, sometimes it's del, sometimes
it's esc, just hit the key. This takes you to the system bios, you need to
navigate to where the boot sequence is set, put the CD-ROM drive first in
line.

Place the XP CD in the drive, save your settings and exit. The system will
reboot and should boot from the CD. If you see a message to hit any key in
order to boot from the CD, do so, otherwise, assuming your system supports
it, the system should boot from the CD on its own as it can't find
an OS on the hard drive.

XP Setup will begin by examining your system, don't worry, just let it run,
it's just copying some files to a temp folder. Ultimately, you'll be
brought to a menu. Choose, "Repair a Windows XP installation using the
Recovery Console, press R.

You will be asked for an administrators password. This is not any of the
accounts you've created for XP. It's a hidden system account for which
users are asked only to create a password during setup. Most leave this
blank. If you left it blank, when asked for a password, just leave blank
and press enter.

At the prompt type bootcfg /rebuild and press enter.

If that fails, try a repair install as follows:

NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Boot from the CD. If your system is set to be able to boot from the CD, it
should detect the disk and give a brief message, during the boot up, if you
wish to boot from the CD press any key.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.


--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

"Greg" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> My son's computer is unable to boot up, it hangs while
> trying to boot from the hard drive. The drive is
> recognized in the bios, and has running for several months
> under Windows XP. The drive was setup for NTFS. I
> examined the c drive (Western Digital 120 GB) with the
> Western Digital diagnostics in DOS, and the program found
> no problems with the drive. I believe the boot sector on
> the drive is corrupted.
>
> I pulled the drive and inserted it into another XP
> machine. Neither the MS disk tool nor Norton Disk Doctor
> (2002) were able to access and fix the drive. Does
> anybody have an ideas about fixing the drive.
>
> Greg
>

Hi,

I appreciate your assistance. I will try to repair the
drive using your methods. I'll let you know the outcome.

Greg

>-----Original Message-----
>
>Here's a few things to try.
>
>Boot the system and start pressing F8, this should bring
up a menu, select
>"Last Known Good Configuration"
>
>If that doesn't work, try the recovery console, assuming
you
>have a retail version or full OEM version of XP as
opposed to the
>manufacturer's recovery disks that don't have this option
though they might
>offer their own recover
>scenario.
>
>Be sure your system is set to boot from the CD. If you
are not sure, when
>the system first boots you usually see message about how
to enter setup or
>something similar and tells you to hit a key, sometimes
it's del, sometimes
>it's esc, just hit the key. This takes you to the system
bios, you need to
>navigate to where the boot sequence is set, put the CD-
ROM drive first in
>line.
>
>Place the XP CD in the drive, save your settings and
exit. The system will
>reboot and should boot from the CD. If you see a message
to hit any key in
>order to boot from the CD, do so, otherwise, assuming
your system supports
>it, the system should boot from the CD on its own as it
can't find
>an OS on the hard drive.
>
>XP Setup will begin by examining your system, don't
worry, just let it run,
>it's just copying some files to a temp folder.
Ultimately, you'll be
>brought to a menu. Choose, "Repair a Windows XP
installation using the
>Recovery Console, press R.
>
>You will be asked for an administrators password. This is
not any of the
>accounts you've created for XP. It's a hidden system
account for which
>users are asked only to create a password during setup.
Most leave this
>blank. If you left it blank, when asked for a password,
just leave blank
>and press enter.
>
>At the prompt type bootcfg /rebuild and press enter.
>
>If that fails, try a repair install as follows:
>
>NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files
intact, if
>something goes wrong during the repair install, you may
be forced to start
>over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your
data backed up,
>you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.
>
>Boot from the CD. If your system is set to be able to
boot from the CD, it
>should detect the disk and give a brief message, during
the boot up, if you
>wish to boot from the CD press any key.
>
>Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will
see a reference
>asking if you need to load special drivers and another
notice that if you
>wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console)
depress F2. Just let
>setup run past all of that. It will continue to load
files and drivers.
>
>Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will
come to a screen
>with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair
Windows Installation
>using the Recovery console.
>
>The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want
and requires you to
>press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user
agreement. Setup
>will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon
finding your
>version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current
installation or
>install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair
installation. From there
>on, follow the screens.
>
>
>--
>Michael Solomon MS-MVP
>Windows Shell/User
>Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
>DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>
>"Greg" > wrote in
message
...
>> Hi,
>>
>> My son's computer is unable to boot up, it hangs while
>> trying to boot from the hard drive. The drive is
>> recognized in the bios, and has running for several
months
>> under Windows XP. The drive was setup for NTFS. I
>> examined the c drive (Western Digital 120 GB) with the
>> Western Digital diagnostics in DOS, and the program
found
>> no problems with the drive. I believe the boot sector
on
>> the drive is corrupted.
>>
>> I pulled the drive and inserted it into another XP
>> machine. Neither the MS disk tool nor Norton Disk
Doctor
>> (2002) were able to access and fix the drive. Does
>> anybody have an ideas about fixing the drive.
>>
>> Greg
>>
>
>
>.
>