safemode options crash to bsod

Hello,

win xp sp2 32 bit

all of the safe mode options don't work. how can i boot in safe mode again?

i have no idea when/how/why this problem started. the last time i booted in safe mode was months ago.i did many installations/un-installations since then. i've tried kaspersky's safeboot repair tool. didn't work.

 

The installations/un-installations may have corrupted or removed necessary system files. I see you're running SP2. Microsoft support for SP2 ended in July 2010. SP3 for Win XP 32-bit was released in 2008 so, you're missing a lot of security and other updates as well.

Can you boot normally? If you have the XP SP2 installation disk, boot normally, insert the CD, open the Run dialogue box and type sfc /scannow (include the space between sfc and the forward slash) and hit enter. The system will check for missing and corrupt files and attempt to repair/replace those files.

If you're successful with this step, download the SP3 installer ISO from Microsoft, burn it to a CD and run it. Once SP3 is installed, use Automatic Updates or go to Microsoft Update in Internet Explorer and get the Critical updates at least.

Post back here with your results/any additional problems.

 

I think one of the main questions right now would be...

Why do you need to boot into Safe Mode?

If you can boot into Normal Mode...

Use the Blue Screen Viewer utility and poke around for what the problem is.

Also, Right click on Computer, Click Manage.
Poke around the Event Viewer under Application and System to get a better idea of things that are going wrong.

As mdonah stated, SP2 is very outdated, your first priority would probably be to get updated to SP3!

 

thank you guys for the informative replies.

i had sp3 running. i've been having problems with many software programs and the only change i could link them to was installing sp3. so i uninstalled it and went back to sp2. the problems persisted so my guess something else is the cause.

 

so here's the current situation: i have xp sp 2 installed on drive c in my machine. i have xp sp2 image on a usb. i tried to repair xp using the usb. the usb started to install xp but before it got anywhere, it said it encountered an error and setup could not be continued.

continued in next post

 

i formatted drive d. copied xp sp2 files from the usb to drive d. opened the folder i3 something something. ran winnt32.exe. all went well. i chose repair. it finished with saving configurations then asked to reboot.

continued in next post

 

i formatted drive d. copied xp sp2 files from the usb to drive d. opened the folder i3 something something. ran winnt32.exe. all went well. i chose repair. it finished with saving configurations then asked to reboot.

continued in next post

 

it rebooted to the black screen of safe modes. at the bottom there were 2 options to logon normally or continue the setup. after a few seconds it chose to continue the setup.

continued in next post.

 

it loaded windows. then a blue screen with the text: setup is being restarted, came next. it restarted then from that point on it entered a loop. after 20 reboots, i forced a shutdown. i started the pc again. it hung on the black screen. i forced a shitdown again. i started the pc and interrupted the startup. all the safe mode options would start to load but stop at config.log and config.sys. last known configuration would hang on the black screen.

can you explain what i did wrong? any suggestions as to where i should go from here?

point into consideration: cd rom drive doesn't work.

 

What make and model is the computer? Is it a desktop or laptop?

If it's a laptop, there are USB connected CD drives available (I have 2 of them) or if there's one in a drive bay on the side you can get a replacement that would fit in the drive bay. On a desktop, you'd need to take off the outer case to get at the current CD drive to swap it out.

At this point, there doesn't seem to be a simple solution. We have no idea of the programs you installed/un-installed or what you may have had running at the time your problems arose. So once you've got a working CD drive, it looks as if you're going to have to start over with a clean install of Windows.

The other option if you can't replace the CD drive is to use the Windows installation CD on the computer you're posting with along with a program such as CDBurnerXP and create an ISO image of the CD. Then use ISO2Disc to "burn" the ISO to the USB flash drive. Set the BIOS boot order so that USB storage is first and boot into Windows setup from the flash drive. Format the hard drive and re-install Windows.

 

thank you mdonah. the lack of information in my posts is because i don't know which information is essential/relevant to figuring out solutions.

i'll see if i can get a usb cd drive, because i don't have another pc. i'm posting from my phone. if i can't find one, i guess i will have to take it to a maintainance store and pay for its repair.

however, i'm puzzled why the xp in my usb doesn't work. i know my laptop (ibm t42, hddd 60, processor 1.7, ram 1) can boot successfully from a flash usb. i used it before to logon using hirens. i noticed one thing though. the image i have checks for fat32 hdd while my drives are ntsf. could this be a problem? also would it make a difference if the image i have is from a 64 bit?

i'm considering installing win 7. what are the requirements for it to work successfully/comfortably? I don't intend to save documents on my machine after the installation. i will only install a security suite and a few additional programs. so no major space occupation.

 

The IBM/Lenovo T42 is a 32-bit machine so your 64-bit image won't run on it.

As plodr said, get a DVD Burner for the T42. XP will recognize it and automatically install the necessary driver. CDBurnerXP will also work with the USB connected DVD Burner. You could also get a compatible media bay drive and swap out the failed drive.

 

thank you plodr and mdonah for the great advice and quick replies. you've been very helpful. now it's clear to me what i should do.

 

@plodr,

Both my Sony Optiarc and LG GP60 external USB DVDRWs use a single lead cable (single mini on end that connects to the drive and single standard on end that connects to computer) as do all of my USB hard drives. If tck8's optical drive comes with a single lead cable, he/she will still have use of the second USB port..

 

All of the devices work fine and get power and data through the one lead.

I had downloaded several Linux distro ISOs a while back and had them stored on one of my external HDs. I had my modular bay DVDRW, the Optiarc, the LG and the external HD all connected at once. I ran 3 instances of Ashampoo Burning Studio 6 at once and proceeded to burn those ISOs to disc 3 at a time without issue.

 

Hello again,

i put a win xp cd on a usb dvd rom but it wouldn't boot up. however, i've noticed that after powering the pc up, the ibm screen comes up, and the external starts to flash the orange light, the boot menu won't show until the orange light goes dead (which i expected it to turn green but it never does....from orange to no light).. then when i choose the usb matshita dvd, the black screen with the flickering dash comes up but the dash flickers for about 2 seconds then it's all black and nothing happens after that. sometimes, my damaged cd rom would make noise and opens itself. it's like it stops reading from the usb and goes to the other cd rom on which the light is green until the noise stops then there's no light.

what seems to be the problem?

 

Also, since this is an older laptop, the CMOS battery may need replacing.

 

it turned out the cd was damaged. when i used another cd, it worked.
thank you so much guys for the support and the ideas. I'm goung to upgrade to sp3 in a few hours.

plodr, i'm not sure i could set the order of boot devices. however, when the boot menu shows up, hdd is always number one. i searched inside the bios menues but i could'nt locate the place where i could set the order to start with any other device.

mdonah, i was thinking the same. i was off the hook this time. i'm buying a modern pc soon, though.

 

On my laptop, when I'm in BIOS and at the heading for Boot Sequence in the left pane, if I want to change boot order, I hit Enter. Then I use the up/down arrow keys to select the device. If it's not enabled, I hit the space bar (which is a toggle for enable/disable). I then press the "U" key to move the device upward or "D" to move it downward. I exit out of the Boot Sequence heading, save the BIOS settings and exit BIOS. The computer then reboots to the device I've placed priority on.

I'm running a Dell Precision M70 but, I'm presuming the steps are somewhat similar for your T42.

 

I found it! It's named Boot. i never clicked enter on it that's why i never saw the sequence of priority or the instructions on the left. thank you!