"Partition Magic" crashed my computer

Discussion in 'Software' started by John Adler, Aug 22, 2005.

  1. John Adler

    John Adler Private E-2

    Hi,

    I ran into a problem last weekend, and now cannot boot my computer. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

    My computer is a 3-year-old Sony Viao, and my operating system is XP Home. I wanted to merge my D: and C: partitions, and I encountered some software called "Partition Magic" by Symantec. It claimed to do exactly what I wanted, so I plunked down my $70 and downloaded it. I used the "Merge Partitions" command to merge D into C. It took awhile and several reboots, but it worked-- I saw that my C drive was larger and my D drive was gone.

    Then the screen froze, and when I went to reboot, I got the choices of Safe Mode, Normal, & Last Good Configuration. I tried all three, but none worked. On Safe Mode it displayed a long list of drivers and then froze on this one:

    multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys

    I tried tech support at Symantec, but they were not much help. They told me that they don't recommend merging a partition into a system partition. I wish they had put a warning message into the software if this is the result.

    So what I'm wondering is a)is my hard drive toast, or can it be restored, and b) if the repair has to be done by a professional, where's a good place to take it to get it repaired? In my area there's a CompUSA and Fry's--both have computer repair departments.

    Someone suggested that I use my XP c.d. to reboot, then go into the Recovery console. I tried this, and although I set the bios to read the c.d. drive first, when I boot I get the same screen of choices that I did with no c.d. in the drive.

    Strangely, when I eject and then re-insert the c.d. with that menu on the screen, I get a little further-- I see the Windows screen with the scrolling blue line, but eventually the blue line freezes.

    Again, thanks for the help,

    john
     
  2. Petaluma

    Petaluma First Sergeant

    jephree :
    07-10-2004, 01:43 AM
    Found a bunch of similar problems; perhaps you can browse for your issues.

    Most solutions range from upgrading your BIOS to eliminating agp440.sys from the registry to re-installing XP. agp440.sys is related to your video card or board chip.

    The first link is the most specific but I will list all the links I ran thru to find it.

    Subject: hangs when loading agp440.sys (http://www.computing.net/windows2000/wwwboard/forum/21602.html)

    \WINDOWS\system 32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&q=\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys&spell=1)

    BOOT.INI information page (http://groups.google.com/groups?q=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)%5CWINDOWS%5Csystem+32%5CDRIVERS%5Cagp440.sys&hl=en&lr=&selm=ut0211ih9b2hbf%40corp.supernews.com&rnum=1)

    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system 32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys (http://www.google.com/custom?q=mult...0000FF;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;&hl=en)
     
  3. John Adler

    John Adler Private E-2

    Thanks for the reply. I made a little bit of progress-- I got Ultimate Boot CD (DOS version) to boot. I was able get a directory and see my files.

    But I don't really know what I'm doing with the tools. Do I need the Windows version? What steps do I need to take to diagnose & fix?

    Thanks again,

    john
     
  4. Modtechs

    Modtechs Private E-2

    I am not one to bash my competitors, yet I have had customers come to me, after going to Fry's Electronics. They were totally unhappy with their technical support staff.
     
  5. John Adler

    John Adler Private E-2

    Thanks for your reply. Where is a good place in the L.A. area to get the computer repaired?

    -john
     

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