BSOD & Windows won't boot [nvatabus.sys]. UBCD4Win shows half sys32/drivers gone?

I'm running Windows XP on a machine I've had no problems with for years. Suddenly it freezes, and blue screen of death with:

KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR

I try to restart a few times, but it keeps telling me

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
system32\DRIVERS\nvatabus.sys

I found out about UBCD4Win here (which is why I'm posting here). So I started up with that, and checked my drivers folder for nvatabus.sys (so I could replace it). But it seems my drivers only go up to "m". Could half of my drivers really have been deleted :confused

So, I ran chkdsk /r from UBCD4Win, but when it got to step 2 of 5 (checking file indexes), it got stuck at 0%, my HD start making failing noises with the screen freezing, and I got another BSOD

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000004, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0xF72FD04B)

nvatabus.SY_ - Address F72FD04B base at F72EA000, DateStamp 444d72c9

A similar thing happens when I try to copy files from my HD to an external HD :cry

My main priority is getting my files off the HD, but un-corrupting Windows is quite important too! I have my original XP CD, so is there some way I can just replace all the XP files with the originals without losing my other data? I'm not too bothered about having to reinstall programs. I'm afraid to keep trying other stuff though because the sound sound (a clicking and a whirring like the HD is switching off) is making me think it's doing more damage?


I'd be really grateful if anyone could help me with this. Thanks in advance

 

Yes - if you are able to boot to the WinXP cd.

1) Disconnect the computer from the internet. Boot the computer to the WinXP cd. You will see "Welcome To Setup" and something like this:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, Press R

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3

2) Press Enter to start the Windows setup - you DO NOT want to load the the Recovery Console.

3) Accept the license agreement. Setup will search for existing Windows installations, and give you an option to repair what it finds. Select the XP installation you want to repair and press R to start the repair process. (if by chance Repair is NOT one of the options, END the setup process and disregard the rest of this post. We'll have to go another route if you want to save your files).

4) Setup will load the necessary files to the harddrive and reboot - DO NOT press a key to boot from CD when prompted. Setup will continue to reload windows, but will only overwrite the operating system files. Any personal files or applications will remain intact.

You MUST re-download all the security and program updates that have come out since your version of XP was released, before connecting to the internet.

I have done this several times, and have never had a problem with losing personal files and folders. Please post back with how it goes - or if Repair was not one of the options as discussed in part 3.

 

sounds like your hard drive has failed/is failing. if you keep trying to access it, you run the risk of damaging it more. A recovery is your only option. Your best bet is to clone it to another drive and try to recover files that way.
Another option is to put the drive in another computer and try recovery software to get the important files off.
some recovery software, i've used recuva and it worked fine.

if you want to scan the drive, see if it's failing, but run the risk of more damage, you can scan it will a drive utility. You will need to know the manufacturer, and use their appropriate software. Since you cant get into windows. UBCD contains many of the popular hard drive utilities, and can be run from the bood disk. UBCD4win has HDTUNE already on there, as well as some cloning software (DriveImage XML)

 

I would suggest that you remove the hard drive, and connect it to another computer, and from that computer save the files to the other computer, before the drive gives up, as it certainly sounds like it is going- then try disk tools to check it.
As Smokingun says- it could pack up while trying to test it, in your own machine.

 

Thank you for the replies.

@Spad - I am hesitant to try this as my top priority is getting the data off, so I'm afraid writing to the disk when it's faulty might corrupt my data further

@thesmokingun - I have 2 external HDs with more than enough space, so a boot disk with data recovery programs would be the easiest option (I could try putting it as a slave/secondary in another computer, but it means more places where things could go wrong).

Any recommendations for recovery tools to try (and which boot disks contain them) would be appreciated. I am having success now with the file explorer in UBCD4Win (I guess I am away from the bad sectors (?) at the moment). Should I still be using Recuva, or is that only necessary if I can't see the files through Explorer or get errors trying to copy them?


Here is some more information:

• My internal and external HDs are NTFS
  
• The model of the failing HD is WDC WD4000KD-00NAB0
  
• I ran WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics, and got:
  
  Test completed with read element failure
  error/status code: 0007
  Please back up your data and then run extended test or run a full media scan now to resolve this issue
  
  Test duration: 0 minutes AND 8 SECONDS
  
  I didn't run the media scan, as I'm guessing that might make things worse
  
• I have realised the original cause of the problem may have been overheating. I opened up the casing and saw that the CPU fan was actually stuck - it was trying to start but not building up a spin - I am able to get it working if I start it off by flicking with a biro, but only to 500rpm (other fan is at 3000).
  
  I then checked the "PC Health" in the BIOS and the "CPU Tcontrol" was at 70degress C. I don't know what normal values are for this... but that sounds bad to me. This morning (after giving it time to cool down) I checked again and it was instantly at 50, even though I pointed a regular fan at it too. Am I possibly causing further damage by running it (data recovery) at this high temperature?
  
• When I was trying to copy files yesterday I was getting "Cyclic redundancy check" and "Disk I/O" errors in UBCD4Win. These haven't happened yet today. Is that because I'm just sticking to files that aren't corrupted, or has my HD's condition improved?

Thanks again

 

Sorry for double post. I only just saw baklogic's reply and ran out of time to edit.

@baklogic: Right now I'm recovering files to an external HD using a boot disk. Are you saying that makes it more likely to give up than if I connect it to another computer? It's just that I'm not great with switching hardware, so as I have it in a state right now where I'm able to rescue files from it, I'm thinking I should save as much as I can with it?

 

Best to keep going now you have started-, If you save all you want - o.k.
If it starts to play up, thats the time to worry.Might be worth doing small packets at a time.It will not necessarily pack up, might last a lot longer- If your cpu fan is playing up, then keep your eyes on that fan- if it stops you could cook the processor.

 

It is probable that you are not getting the errors, because you have the fan working, although slow, and the fan assist that you mentioned.

 

Well, I turned the computer on again to try and recover more data. (watching the onboard fan and with an extra fan)

First time: When trying to access an area of the drive I'd been successful with last time, it froze, and I was getting the "whirrr... CLICK" noise coming from the HD, so I turned it off

Second time: I got the same "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" BSOD as described in my first post before UBCD4Win had even finished booting .


I think I might leave it with a fan on it for a few hours then try again..?

 

Tried again this morning and UBCD4Win has decided to stop working. It flashes up with "Setup is inspecting your computer hardware configuration", then gets stuck on a black screen.

I also tried Knoppix, which was able to detect the drive, but gave an error on trying to open it.

So I'm gonna try putting it into another computer now.

 

If you cannot access the drive, from the other computer, or, it is still not recognised, then a last resort that may make the hard disk spin up for another try is possible-
I have offered this on majorgeeks , before, as apparently some experts have found it to work, and it sounds quite ludicrous- but I managed to get one to fire up by doing it some time ago.
Wrap it in an antistatic bag, then wrap a small flannel/cloth around it, and put it in the freezer overnight. In the morning, take it out, and allow it 10 to 15 minutes after unwrapping, and connect it to the other computer, and you may only get the one chance, but if it shows up, copy whatever else you need to the other computer/spare hard drive/usb stick.
Good luck

 

ok, so here's what i would do from here on out.

use DriveImage XML on ubcd4win. Make an image of the bad drive and copy it to one of your external drives. You may need to create a new partition large enough to work. it may take a while, even a day or more, but it's crucial you don't try to read the drive anymore than needed. Once you've made the image you can copy the readable files and use recuva to try and recover the bad ones from the image you created.

 

@smokingun: I like the sound of that idea, but I'm unable to boot into UBCD4Win anymore. It flashes up with "Setup is inspecting your computer hardware configuration" then freezes on a black screen.

Do you have any ideas how I can get round that? Or know any other boot disks that include Driveimage XML which I could try?

 

I've transferred the drive to another machine as a secondary drive, and got DriveImage XML on UBCD4Win ready Could someone please advise on the best choices for the following options:

1) Should I restore multiple logical drives (it's partitioned into 4 drives) at the same time, or do them 1 by 1?
2) Should I enable RAW mode? (I'm guessing YES because the corrupt files may be seen as unused space)
3) Should I enable "Split large files"

 

Sorry for triple post.

I created an image of my smallest drive with "RAW mode" and "split large files" disabled.

I encountered about half a dozen "Data error - cyclic redundancy check" during, but did ignore for them all. It's created a 40GB .dat file (which is about right), but it's only 'indexed' 1/10 of the root level folders, the rest are empty.

Do I have too many files for it to store in the XML or something? Loads of files are just missing from the XML (checked they aren't there with Ctrl+F in notepad)

 

my apologies, but I'm not exactly familiar with that software, but I was just going by what was available on the ubcd4win disc. I noticed there's something called rawcopy on there, and that might be what you need in order to try and recover from a failed disc. after looking more here:
http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm it seems that this may not be the tool you need to recover "bad" drives.