Windows XP wont load

Morning - I looked for posts about my problem and did not find anything relevant. My husbands computer wont boot up at all. I tried the WinXP CD and got an error message: "a disk read error occured - press ctrl-alt-del to restart" so I did that and it went to the Dell screen and after about 60 secs it went black and the error message read "boot failure: system halted". I do not know what to do to fix this.......any help would be appreciated! Thanks, KathyM

 

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1224264&postcount=4
You're welcome.

 

I cant get anywhere with this computer. Not to mention how do I get to the BIOS? I tried with and w/o the CD and still get the errors. ARGhhhhhh

 

i am not sure what motherboard u r using, but as soon as u start ur computer, try pressing f2 and delete (some use this , some that,. so just in case keep pressing on both), you MUST do that before any msg appears, and while the dell screen is on....if u get the error msg u usually get, then it didnt work, try again.

you can alsot try to press esc while the dell screen (logo) shows up, it will tell u "press ... to enter setup"

 

OK - did f2 and got the setup screen.....now what?

 

ok now you have to find the boot order...it should say boot from, or boot order....first booting device.. depends on the motherboard...

if you can tell me what you see exactly..i can try to guide u through it..

 

OK - I am at boot :

1st boot device - removeable dev
2nd boot device - hard drive
3rd boot device - Atapi CD-ROM

the post that zDawg32 said was to have the CDROM comes before Hard drive - how do I change it? Or do I have to change it?

 

with the keyboard, use arrows to reach the 1st boot deivce, then use + or - to change the value, it should make it ATAPI cd rom... if i am mistaken, try to look on the bottom of the screen, they will show how u can exactly control this...
keep me posted

 

OK - made the CDROM first and it has hard drive 2nd and rem dev 3rd.....now what?

 

also according to zDawg's post it says to type the password for administrator - I do not have the password Arghhhhhhhh

 

did it ask u for the password? if not then u dont need one, just do the changes, press f10 (to save and exit) press on yes and restart

 

I am at the blue screen and I typed in R for repair and now I am on a blck screen and it says "The path or file specified is not valid" and has the C prompt......is this where I type in Fixboot?

 

ok since u dont have the administraotr password , we have to fix it in a different way, restart, go back to the setup menu, pres the f8 to agree...
say u want to nstall, choose C , then setup will tell u there is already a window there, there click on repair, it will do another installation on top of it, not removing anything, just repeiaring any mistakes, and filling up holes.

 

It never asked me for a password or administrator....it just took me to the black screen - how do I do the restart? Do I do ctr-alt-del?

 

yeah just that or by the button, urnot at a critical state yet

 

ok - I restarted - hit f2 and it says hit f12 to enter setup......do I still hit f8?

 

Oh - the CD is still in......do I take it out or keep it in?

 

OK - now I am getting a count down of 10 minutes.......I am at the boot menu.....now what?

 

ok now the pc knows already that he shoudl start from cd, so no need for the f2 step anymore, its saved...

simply restart from the cd, enter the setup the way u did before, but instead of pressing R at the very beginning....do the steps that i told u about in my earlier post...

 

ok - I am at the welcome to setup.....gives me 3 options and f8 is not one of them.....

 

Wass - I do not know what to do now......I tried to follow your earlier instructions but there is no f8 for me to hit!

 

Update - I have a totally black screen and it is doing nothing. I was unable to do anything that Wassimk told me to do as there was no f8. I did hit "R" and at the c prompt put in FIXBOOT as recommended by zDawg. Then I typed in "exit" and rebooted and now I have a beautiful black screen......what do I do now??????:cry

 

ok another update - I am at the blue screen that says Windows setup.....I have no idea what it is doing.....can anyone help me?

 

when u boot from cd....u get the blue screen, instead of pressing R , press enter...lets take it one step at a time, tell me what happens next

 

Ok i just found you the whole steps just in case i had to go offline:

information received from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

best of luck

 

OK - I am at the screen that says "insert CD and press enter" I did that and I get an error message that says it cant read the CD.....I pressed enter again with the CD in and got the same error message......I have to offline for a bit - I also have to shut down my computer and restart to see what fan is making all the noise.....OH BOY!!!! 2 computer problems today!!!!! I will try to follow the instructions you gave me and then I will be back online.....Ciao for now......

 

lets hope your cd rom isnt dying on u in this time fo need, best of luck...keep me posted
cheers

 

morning - I spent 2 hrs on the phone with microsoft and 2 hrs on the phone with Delll and they both told me that my hard drive crashed......I am getting a new one and will install it myself.....

I would like suggestions on how to recover data as I will be keeping the old drive......

I want to thank you Wass for helping me and I will be back to update as to how well it went!! Ciao for now!!

 

ur welcoe kathy, for data recovery, try to get a hard disk enclosure , its like a box, wherre u put thehard disk inside it, and u connect it to another pc via usb , andit opens the hard disk like a new drive , you should be able then to remove and put files normally on it (using it like a huge usb stick)

please when ur ordering the enclosure, tell them exactly what type of hard disk u have (that its a pc hard disk , not laptop, so they would send u the right size)

Best of luck
Wassim

 

UPDATE!!!!!!

Morning - Well I installed the new hard drive and all went rather well. It was not as intimidating as I thought Once everything was connected and ready to go I had a problem with XP loading......WELL!!!! I got to thinking about the software and my XP Pro was an upgrade (dont laugh).....so I had the original disk for XP home and went to install that and kept giving me an error (I had Microsoft on the phone) the error would not install the graphics driver....the tech tried all kinds of different commands in Dos and we still could not get the driver to load....the conclusion was that the graphics driver was bad. So, I went a bought a new graphics driver and will install that this morning. If that doesnt work then I dont know what else to do.....I will give an update later - (I am on my husbands stock market computer so it is unavailable during trading hours.)
MY personal computer is shutdown as the heatsink fan is making such loud noises and vibrating that I am afraid to run it. I have ordered the part and will replace that. What a week!!!!!

I love this forum because I know I can come here and get great information and help - thanks again for all the help Wassimk.....I will check in later tonight - Ciao for now!!!

 

Oh boy - I have spent all day (and the last 2 days) trying to get this computer up and running. I have replaced the hard drive and also replaced the graphics driver. I have been on the phone with Microsoft to install the software and we keep getting a stop error. So after 8 hrs trying to figure it out they tell me late today that the bios needs to be updated - and also they keep telling me to take it to a tech shop. I have come this far and will keep going until I get this figured out. If there is anyone that has any ideas please let me know. I am at the point of pulling my hair out!!!! I will check back in the morning......thanks everyone!!

 

Oh you poor poor woman! hehe all thisbad luck in a week....(couldit be a sign to get a laptop? lol)

Ok back to serious, you bought a new graphics card or driver? and what error is it giving you? can you put as many details as you can? (btw , i am not such a fan of MS support, at my early days , few years ago...i never got any useful help from them and was always able to find solutions by googling my problems and participating in forums...)

so here is you homework:
- brand of graphics card to be installed
- all info about your pc
- all error message you receive.

P.S: i advise to start a whole new thread under drivers...just in case some real driver experts only look there for posts...and dt get involved in the windows section...

Best of luck again
Wassim

 

UPDATE!!!!!

I couldn't take a full 4th day with this damn computer!!!!! So, what I was told from Dell is that there could be a cable problem.....we did a diagnostic and the graphics card, hard drive and the memory was AOK - the floppy (3.5) came back as a fail....but everything else was ok.....So, what I have done is ordered a new HD cable and will try that.....although since this computer has my husbands Macomedia website info on it...he has decided to get a new tower. (Frikkin go figure after 4 damn days!!!!!) Anyway, in the last 4 days I have learned how to clean install - totally format a new drive.....install a graphics card and I am on a first name basis with MS and Dell :-D

Thanks everyone for all the help and I will post again when this other step is done......

Ciao for now!!!!!:wave

 

Hi Wassim - can you guide me a bit where I can find this? I am not done yet with this damn computer......my husband has decided to get a new computer (whew) so I will make this old computer my little project.....thanks again!! Kat

 

well the thing is am on a totally different side of the wrold from you...so hard to tell you where...but doesnt home depot usually have an IT (computers) section? i remember when i was visiting orlando, i saw one and i enjoyed being there only for that reason ! hehe

P.S: do you have any idea if your hard disk is SATA or IDE? this would help to find the suitable enclosure for him...

anyway i will try to fish it on ebay for you to give you an example of what ur looking for.

whoever has new first post here


Cheers
Wassimk

 

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/products/3685829/3_5_Inch_IDE_HDD_Enclosure_Factory_price_Welcome_OEM.html

above link is in case your hard disk is IDE, and in the wesbite, if u scroll down, they have option for SATA.

if you want me to help you find a SATA one as well , let me know

Good luck
Wass

 

Thanks for the link Wass - it is IDE and the brand is a Maxtor.....

Hopefully I can access the data off it when I get the enclosure.....again many thanks......

 

great news! if it doesnt wqork out for some reason let me know...

 

I will probably need assistance in trying to get the data off.......I will keep you posted......thanks again Wass!!!!

 

sure...just make sure you dont format it under any condition ...(or let the technicianm format it in case anyone puts their hands on urhard disk)

 

got it!!!! I will check with you first

Have a great weekend!!

 

You want something like these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817716007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173015
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817423004

Key items: IDE (not SATA or eSata), 3.5" (not 2.5" which would be a laptop hard drive)
I always want a power adapter. Why? Because then there is enough power just in case the USB port it is plugged into doesn't have enough power.

I've purchased from newegg many times and be pleased with the service and the products.

 

Update!!!!

You are not going to believe this......my husband went out and bought a new computer (no monitor) and I got his website up and running (whew)!!!! anyway, I went to download Zonealarm 4.5.594 as his firewall and you would not believe what happened! I got the same type of error that started this whole ugly mess in the beginning!! I could not get to the desk top so I rebooted and went into safe mode and uninstalled zonealarm.....and now the computer works just fine....

I have used this firewall for over 4 years and have never had a problem with it. I also noticed that my control center for zonealarm on my computer would not come up. I went to a website: Oldversion.com to get the version for his computer that I wanted and Viola!! the same ugly error message. Does anyone know if zonealrm is corrupted???? Let me know please.....thanks again to everyone and thanks for the last post....KathyM

 

am just guessing here...but maybe its not compatible with SP3 ?

when SP2 and vista came into town, a lot of things werent compatible...maybe with SP3 same bogus is happening...

 

Wass, you are probably right.....I downloaded SP3 on my computer when it came out and thought everything was fine but it appears that it hasn't been fully functional since April. That was the date it showed "last used". My husbands new computer of course came with SP3. I am going to try to check out the "corrupted" puter and see if I cant get it in safe mode and uninstall zonealarm. I will let you know my findings.....thanks again!!

 

ok what makes u so inlove with zonealarm? can u list the features? maybe we can find u another software that is tested with SP3 (or seems to be compatible with SP3...)

anyway, please keep in mind, dont do anything to ur old pc before backing things up (taking a copy and whatnot)

ever heard of xdrive (www.xdrive.com) ? its like an online hard disk...this way u can have important files there and not worry if ur hard disk dies someday...i always keep copies of most important things there (in case of physical damage)

 

Hi all - well I have taken a tad bit of a break regarding this issue. Since my husband is comfortable with his new computer I have had time to mess with this old one. I have tried (unsuccessfully) to boot this old computer into safe mode. I truly think that there is some sort of virus that is preventing me from booting up. I am not sure that an external case for this HD will do the trick:confused

What about the CMOS? Could that be something that I can replace and see what happens? Also, is there a way to check to make sure that the mob is working properly? It just seems to me that there has to be a way to find out what the hell is wrong with his without having to take it to a tech. Any suggestions would be helpful! Again, thank you to all that have helped me with this issue and my other issue KathyM

 

Hello again! Well, I have been researching to find out if there is a backdoor way to get to safemode and I have been unsuccessful. My husband is torturing me over this he thinks that I just plug it in and hit f8 and will successfully get into safe mode.....he has no idea:zzz anyway, I am thinking that there has to be a way to get to safe mode......no way thru BIOS right? I think what happened is that ZA got corrupted and if I could just get into safe mode and uninstall that I would be able to recover the data.....Do you guys think that I am just blowin' in the wind???? Buying a external HD and hooking it up to my computer makes me a tad bit freakish as I do not want my computer to get infected with anything......As always, any and all suggestions are welcomed!! KathyM

 

I read the 3 pages of posts and I'm not exactly sure where you are at. I will post what I think and if anything is wrong, tell me.
1. You put in a new hard drive but not a new cable.
2. You put in a new video card.
3. You think the floppy drive is bad.

If item 3 is correct, a bad floppy drive can cause a computer to not boot.
I'm not sure if simply removing the power and the connector to the floppy from the motherboard would correct this.

To check if the hardware is okay, you could try booting a live linux CD. For this, I recommend Knoppix simply because it seems to work on most any computer. Other flavors of linux might not like every bit of hardware.

 

Morning - I did put a new HD in and I had no luck with it so I returned it and put the original HD back in. I did put in a new Video card and that did not help either so I returned it and put the original one back in. Then Dell had me run a diagnostic on it ( I had the original CD from when we purchased the computer) and the only error is showed was that the floppy drive failed. After everything was said and done I ordered a new IDE cable and replaced that and again, nothing. I will try to disconnect the floppy and try it. I am thinking that the worse case scenario would be that it will search for the hardware and find nothing. Also, I was going to try to put the old HD into my Dell Dimension L866r and see if it boots up. In the interim can you direct me to where I can get the specific Linux CD from Knoppix?

Thanks for all your help and will wait for a reply. KathyM