I'm back!!!!!! Help with XP again!!!!!

OMG!! I am back! Now it is my husbands other computer:banghead
I have not been able to get to safe mode at all. When I select it it does nothing but try to reboot, then I get back to the error screen where it has the selections: safe mode, etc. it took me forever to get to the bios screen so I could follow these directions listed below but when I get to the black screen it takes me directly to a C: prompt. I am a little hesitant to type in fixboot in case there is something in between that I am missing. I know that I will get the help I need I am going to stay at the C: prompt and await for some help!! Thank you in advance!! KathyM

Originally Posted by zDawg32 View Post
Put your Windows Bootable CD into the disk drive, but do not close it. Open up BIOS. Not all BIOS menus are the same, but they are very similar.
Go to boot
Go to Boot Order, Boot Priority, Startup Order, or something similar.
Make sure CDROM comes BEFORE HARD DRIVE
Go to exit and make sure you save. Then, close the CD tray and reboot.
It will load the Bootable CD

When you get to the blue screen that says Welcome to Setup, Press R.
When you get to the black screen, select your Windows installation that you want to use, and then type the password for the user “Administrator”. This you can almost always leave blank.
Type in FIXBOOT
Type in Y
After that is done,
Type in FIXMBR
Type in Y
This should have fixed it.

 

Yes, while you are at the c prompt type in fixboot and fixmbr. That is always what i reccomend doing first. It logged you in automaticlly.

 

Thank you!!!!:-D so I do not have to type in WinXP? is that correct?

 

Thats correct. You do not have to.

 

When you are done with those two commands, post back

 

OK zDawg - I did the fixboot, fixmbr went back into the bios and changed the boot drive to boot from the hard drive. rebooted and got the error message "NTLDR IS MISSING, PRESS ANY KEY TO RESTART"....now what?

 

Well, NTLDR is means NT Loader.
Try this.
Boot back into the CD, and go to the recovery console.
del hiberfil.sys enter
cd windows enter
ntldr /noguiboot enter
ntldr /debug enter
Shutdown, Power Up

 

OK - so I go back into BIOS and change back to boot to CD - then I go to Repair which takes me to the recovery console and back to the C; prompt. At the C: prompt I type in everything that is listed below...correct??

 

zDawg32 - I went back into the recovery console as instructed. When I got to the first C: prompt I typed in del hiberfil.sys and hit enter and got an error message said "no matching files not found".....now what do I do?????:cry

 

I don't want to jump in the middle here and possibly add confusion, nor am I trying to hijack and steal zDawg32's thunder and excellent advice, but I thought I'd post this link to an excellent (and easy to follow) article on how to repair Windows boot issues. Be sure to read it all the way through at least twice, and print it out if possible. Screen shots are included in the article so you know what you should be seeing. You will have to boot in to the Recovery Console using your WindowsXP install disc.... good luck! I hope this helps!

[dlb]

(I think the main thing that needs to be done is to 'rebuild' a valid boot configuration with all 3 boot files: NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI using the "/rebuild" switch with the "bootcfg" command)

 

I appreciate any and all help and I am sure that zDawg32 will not feel that his toes were stepped on (hopefully not)

Anyway, thank you for the link....I followed the instructions and when I typed in the ATTRIB -H C:BOOT.INI I could proceed no farther as an error message stated "the system cannot find the file or directory specified" Again, I am at a stand still. I know that the steps are to show any hidden files and such but I do not want to skip those steps and go right to "DEL BOOT.INI in the event that I screw it up! I will patiently wait for advice

I just want to say thank you to everyone on this fantastic website! :grouphug I certainly have learned alot! This website is my savior - that's for sure!!

 

I just tried to go to the directory in C: and says "The volume in drive c has no label" Please tell me that my harddrive is not wiped clean!!!! I can pull up the help menu but nothing else..........ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

It's a little late for me to be jumping in here, and you may have already tried this. But have you tried a chkdsk c: /r in a command prompt yet?

 

Morning - No I have not tried that yet. I will give that a shot and post back. Thanks!

 

OK - I did the chkdsk /r and the error message was "the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems"
10344 kb total disk space
7148 kb available

4096 bytes in each allocation unit
2586 total allocation units on disk
1787 allocation units available on disk

I do not have a clue what this all means. I will wait for more help/direction/instructions. Thanks!

 

I have been doing a bit of research and what I would like to know about is the utility bcupdate2.exe. Is this something that I should get and download it on the computer? Thanks again!

 

does your BIOS setup have a disk checking command? You may take a look and run it.

 

I will check and post back......do you know anything about fixntldr.exe?

 

I am in the bios now and all I see is boot time diagnostic screen.....is this the right one? if not where do I find it? Thanks in advance!

 

I am done!! I am reformatting and reinstalling xp. I spent 2 days with this computer and thankfully there was no critical data to save. I would like to say thanks to everyone that took the time to help me with this.:clap

I absolutely love this forum:grouphug

I have also seen that at some point this past day I have been upgraded to "Senior member" that made my day when I saw that:celebrate

Ciao for now and Happy Holidays to all!!!:wave

 

Glad it worked out for you. I had the same experience yesterday when I got promoted to Corporal.