Can NT4.0 be saved on this machine?

I experienced some kind of problem on my old pentium machine (it is a Digital Equipment model) running Windows NT4.0. I heard strange noises coming from the hard drive (I think). 1. At first it would not boot unless I used an MS/DOS diskette in the floppy drive. Once I booted I could change to the c: drive (hard disk) in MS/DOS and see a directory of files. Everything looks intact but I'm no MS/DOS wiz. 2. Then it booted in NT4.0 and got through the startup process to the processor screen (blue) which said to run \crashdebug but I didn't know what that was. 3. I ran the NT4.0 install process and selected R for repair and went through that process. Now when it gets to the processor screen (where it used to show 3 or 4 dots then boot in NT) it shows a single dot then reports a fatal error. It says it is doing a memory dump but there is nothing on the screen like the list you usually see with a BSOD.

When I run the NT repair process it gives a series of dll files (crpt32.dll, comcat.dll, cryptui.dll, cryptdlg.dll, mscat32.dll, mssip32.dll, shfolder.dll, xenroll.dll) that are damaged and also says regsvr32.exe is damaged. I have the Emergency Repair Disk which the NT repair process requests and I load that when requested.

I've run the NT repair process three times now and it is consistent in behavior. Can I get this working again or is it beyond help. Do I need to seek professional help at this point or is there more I can try?

Thanks,
royG

 

The specific error message is

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Session Manager Initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a Status of 0xc0000003 (0x00000000 0x00000000). The system has been shut down.

Can anyone point me to a place that will help me figure this out so I can get NT4.0 running again?

Thanks,
royG

 

I guess this is not the forum for this question? Can someone direct me to a site where I can get basic help to fix an NT4.0 o/s and recover the files?

Thanks,
royG

 

Sounds like you have tried just about everything as far as recovery---however if the HD is making noise this is a sure sign of a dying hard drive---Get into the HD and save your files (if you can) then go for a new hd -reinstall NT4.0...
Is there a reason (other than financial) that you are running NT4.0?

A last ditch effort to recover would be to get a live cd (mini PE or knoppix etc.) see if you can read your files from there.


Afewrandomthoughts

 

That is how the machine was set up when I bought it to work at home and the apps were compatible with my office system. I just added it in to the home network which is also running at W2000 system and an XP system. Since it had the office apps I never considered upgrading the O/S.

I was trying to restart the NT4.0 system so I could copy the files over the network to my W2000 machine. I can get it running in MS/DOS but I don't know a lot about DOS.

Could I connect the NT4.0 machine to the W2000 machine (direct connection rather than through the router) and access it from the W2000 machine?

I've tried a couple of recovery programs I downloaded from here but they both say they won't run in DOS. I had also backed it up to a tape but apparently that utility requires NT4.0 to start before it will work.

Thanks for replying.
royG

 

I'm still working this problem. I can get the drive up in MS/DOS mode but NT4.0 will not boot. Can I connect this PC direct to another with a crossover ethernet cable and copy the hard drive (files) to the newer machine? Or do I need to open the machine and attach the damaged hard drive to the working PC and just copy the files? Or am I in over my head and do I need to just bite the bullet and take the damaged PC to a repair shop and have them recover the files for me?