Hello, I got a problem

Wish I found an old thread, no doubt it's an old problem. for me it's new. blue screen of death, help me please, tried IDE diagnostic, it timed out, it's telling me to backup I can't get it started. so can you please point me to the phd thread on how to fix this or at least start to fix it, thanks so much in advance. I love this site, has kept the 'puter I'm on in excellent condition.

 

Hi, please give the exact error message you are receiving when trying to boot the computer.
Also the brand and model of computer and tell if you have any Windows disks that came with it when new.

[It sounds like the HD may be going bad. They can work intermittently or die immediately, you never know. The exact error message is important.]

Edit: I just reread our post. Please give the error message from both the blue screen and the IDE Diagnostic.

 

The IDE message said not enough time, I'll quote the numerical error messages from the bsod, I think the hd crapped out, I'm just not sure if everything was backed up when it happened, there is a second HD in the computer, I have located my windows XP home edition w/ service pack 2 disk, the computer is a dell dimension 2350.

these are the various error comments: primary hard disk S.M.A.R.T. STATUS bad smart error detected the IDE HARK disk drive is operating outside of normal specifications

STOP: 0X00000024 (0X001902FE, )xf7A966d4,0XF7A963D0, 0XF7514F73

NTFS.SYS- Address, F7514F73,Base at F74c700, date stamp 48025be5

Primary IDE- wdc wd600BB-756AA0 test aborted, time required greater,


I hope that is what you needed, thanks for your help

 

If the SMART status is bad then the HD needs to be replaced since it is unreliable and will get an increasing number of errors.

For now, you can try to do a chkdsk /r from Recovery Console and see if the current errors can be corrected and allow you to boot into XP.

Let that run and see if it corrects the current errors. Then try to boot without the CD and see if you get the same 00000024 error.

 

There is a second larger hard drive, can I load the OS onto that and then backup the files I need off of the (original Primary HD) or should I do that after and should I physically change how the hard drive is hooked up? Thanks again I'm gonna try the recovery console first.

 

Well no joy in Mudville it never gets to the recovery prompt, just bsod and the following error codes
stop: 0x00000024(0x001902FE, 0xf7CDE6DC, 0xf7CDE3DB, 0xF7306F81)
ntfs.sys address F7306f81, base at f72B7000, date stamp41107eea,


Is there anyhope that' I'll be able to recover the files?

 

It doesn't sound like it started from the CD. With XP CD in tray hit F12 during the Dell splash screen which should bring you a screen with numbered boot device options and select CD as the boot device. (If you are not seeing this screen-are you using a USB or a PS/2 keyboard? The older PS/2--round plug keyboards are the most reliably recognized before Windows loads.)

***
Most likely your HD is just beginning to go. The immediate problem is that a critical file needed to start Windows is damaged. It is just a random bad sector in an unfortunate spot on the HD. Whether or not that file can be fixed most likely most of the data from the HD can still recovered but only after getting a working OS on the machine or by using a Live Linux CD to give access to both the bad drive and a working one.

 

Please forgive my neophyte ignorance, and let me tell you what the screen shows, I've hit the f12 button and the boot screen comes up. I scroll(tap) down to the cd rom ide and hit enter, the screen then says hit any key to start download, i press enter, it tells me it's checking hardware, then it loads for about a minute and a half then the screen goes blue and tells me windows has shutdown to prevent damage, blah blah blah and then the error codes come up, Have I started this incorrectly or did I miss a step? Thanks again, OH by the way I've never used Linux, can a newbie pull it off or should I bite the bullet and bring it to my local geek (Said with respect)?

 

You're doing fine. You have started from the CD but it seems to be encountering a problem loading up its files. That is unusual as it would have to complete this step in order to eventually reload XP if necessary. Have you tried it more than once--it really would be your best bet to get it to load to the Windows installation screen where you select R for repair.

You're getting stuck at screen 1 in this post http://www.techyv.com/questions/how-can-i-fix-missing-dll-problems

 

Do you have any USB devices attached (besides possibly a keyboard)? If so disconnect them and try again.

 

Ok, here's what happens, when I get to the screen with the options I type "R", it then says examing disk configuration, and then it crashes, I never get a chance to go beyond that, I have tried at least 5 times today, thanks again sorry if thickheaded, I thought my children would be able to help, but I think they have created more problems then fixed, oh well?!

 

I'll go check, do you mean outboard devices, other then the mouse and keyboard, and a line from my router, which I will disconnect.

 

It doesn't matter about USB now that I see it is getting to the choice screen. It is a severe problem with the filesystem that is crashing things. Unfortunately, chkdsk is really the only method that I know to fix the file system. I'll think of ways forward but I have to work for a few hours--it will give me a chance to narrow down the possibilities unless someone else has a clear path forward.

 

Ok I've tried again and it crashes as it say checking disk configuration, goes black and then bsod, only Keyboard and mouse connected, thanks I will check later got to work a bit myself and thanks again. LiveKarl

 

I've been thinking and it is up to you what you up to try. I haven't been able to narrow down the options much.

Hi,

The easiest is replace the failing drive. Install XP on the new drive then attach the failing drive as secondary and try chkdsk and then data copying/recovery on the failing drive.

Or, if the current secondary drive is large enough and has 10-20gb or more of free space you could repartition that one to create a new partition to be used for an XP install. This would entail downloading a partitioning program ISO file and burning it to a blank CD. Then booting from that and repartitioning the drive. (XP installation disc cannot repartition the drive without losing data on that drive, hence the need for a third-party disc.)
You would also have to change this HD from secondary to primary/master--which is basically switching its place on the cable but also moving the jumper position (little plastic piece used to connect metal pins on the back of the HD. Not hard but entails going into the case but so does replacing the drive.

Assuming you have broadband a 700mb Linux Mint ISO when written to CD would give you some options. It would be bootable, give you partitioning software (gparted) and allow you to (possibly) save data from the bad HD to the secondary drive before trying to repair anything. Linux Mint is very similar to the Windows desktop so fairly easy to navigate and runs off the CD so you make no change to your HD when booting it.

There are other options for Linux bootable CDs that come in around 150mb downloads but Mint is a handy one if you have no problem with a 700mb download. A pure partitioning disc can be had for 40mb.

I guess it comes down to how large your secondary Hd is and how familiar you are with replacing/moving HDs. I don't see any way to use the secondary HD for an XP install without repartitioning in order to not lose the data you already have on there. And also if you are willing to download ISO files and burn them to disc to see what works for you.

 

Ok first off the secondary is a 160GB drive, I've got the space, I put it in, I'm not sure I know where to move the jumper to, but I can find out I suppose, And I've been trying to download a linux os to burn to CD/DVD and I guess I just need a little hand holding to get me through the steps. And I'll get another outboard disc to back everything to once it's working again, TTFN, thanks LiveKarl

 

This is the download for Linux Mint.

Go ahead and download the file "linuxmint-11-gnome-oem-32bit.iso" (http is fine)
As far as burning: take a blank CD and put it in your CD drive. Download Imgburn and install on the PC you are using now. Start the program and Select "Write Image file to disc". Then select the Linuxmint.iso file you just downloaded and click the icon at the bottom of the screen to burn it to CD. Guide to using imgburn: http://www.calibancomputer.com/computer-tutorials.htm#burning

Test the newly burned CD to see if it boots your computer (it should boot from the CD automatically--IF prompted you do NOT want to install Linux Mint--you want to run Mint off of the CD only! If it works correctly you should come to a Windows type desktop with only a few icons available, such as Computer , which is equivalent to "My Computer" in Windows.

Once you have the Linux Mint CD burned and booting you have options to save files or repartition your secondary HD.

Any questions please ask.

 

I know nothing about re partitioning, so I will ask when I get there,

I owe I owe it's off to work I go,
Thanks again for your help

 

My overall plan is to disconnect the failing HD to preserve data; take the second drive and change it to primary drive. Repartition it creating a partition up to 50gb, depending on how much free space is available, and install XP on the new partition.

Then add the bad HD as secondary. Try to copy your files from it to the 160gb HD as they are and see if any errors. I don't think there should be too many errors since your SMART status just went bad. Then if there are any important files that can't be copied run chkdsk to fix the file system (as well as can be expected which should be pretty good) and try to get those last few files.

Then run the Western Digital Diagnostic tool on the failing drive and see if it can repair errors. Often it can which may make the original drive bootable but I don't recommend using it for your operating system anymore because as drives detoriate sectors go bad with increasing frequency and a single bad sector in an important system file keeps the OS from booting (your current problem). You can let the diagnostic tool repair errors and then do a full format and use the drive for data storage and be fairly certain it will work for some time but you can't count on it so don't store anything irreplacable on the drive.

Jumpers shouldn't be a problem since Mint should give the HD model numbers and we can get jumper settings off the net. Or if you have no problem removing the drives the the settings will be on the label on the top of the drive.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/200504/hddinstall_jump.jpg

 

There are many pages offering the linux download, do you have a suggestion which would be best, thanks again, Karl

 

This is the link http://linuxfreedom.com/linuxmint/linuxmint.com/stable/11/linuxmint-11-gnome-cd-nocodecs-32bit.iso

Tip: Most underlined words on this forum are clickable links. So my previous post contained this same link. If it isn't loading for you let me know.

 

You may want to hold on a second. I just realized that I was using the DVD version so I'm not entirely sure that the CD version has gparted already installed. Let me see if I can find out before you download it.

 

I can't really tell if gparted is included in the Mint CD. Go ahead and download PartedMagic http://sourceforge.net/projects/par...ed Magic 6.6/pmagic-6.6.iso-i686.zip/download
It is smaller and should do what you need. Not quite as user friendly to start it up but just go with default choices at boot up. Once it loads it is fine.

The only additional step is you will have to unzip the file to get to the ISO file to be burned.

 

Once again my ignorance rears it's ugly head, thanks again, karl

 

Sorry been working extra the past five days and haven't been able to work on BC (Broken Computer), gonna see if I can burn that boot cd tonight.

 

Whenever you have time. Both Linux Mint and Parted Magic have Gparted included. So either one is fine. If you want to go with the lower download time try Parted Magic as you don't need all the programs included with Linux Mint like Open Office and such.