need help w/restore

Ok I have been messing with this for a while. I have a Gateway 835 GM / Intel pentium D Processor 820 / Chipset 945G / Windows XP media ctr edition 2005. I started my pc and got an NTLDR missing error, so I tried to use this software to find it and am now getting an error stating System32\drivers\pci.sys missing or corrupt. I have tried to restore the system w/ the back up disks I made when I got the computer but it seems they don't work because of this same error. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't have an original xp cd as they (Gateway) didn't provide one and want to charge me for it.

 

That won't work because I don't have a windows start up cd.

 

try using the hitting F8 to enter safemode at bootup trick and when you get there select "last known good configuration". Thats got me out of the missing ntlrd a few times I think. If it works you may be able to do the backup repair.

 

I just tried that and now I am getting this error - Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \windows\system32\config\SYSTEM

 

If I just buy a new operating system and some more memory will this fix the problem? If any one has any other ideas then the ones already given to me I would be thankful...just remember I don't have any os start up discs to use. Just the back ups that I made but they are not working.

 

Just a guess, but if everytime you try to do something, something else is missing, its likely your hard drive is failing. Each time you try and access the drives system files another file becomes corrupt because the drive is probably creating bad sectors. You can try running something like HDD Regenerator to see if it can fix the bad sectors, but I think its time to get a new drive and buy an XP cd (you can get XP Pro for $135 on newegg.com). Have you got a birthday coming up?

 

no birthday for another 5mnths ...LOL!!!. I will try the HDD regenerator...is that something I can download to a disk on anothe pc? Will that also tell me if the HDD is bad? Or is there another way to check?

 

how much do they want to charge you? it's been my experience that it's way cheaper to get the os from them, then running off and buying an os disk on you own. i've had to order from hp/compaq, and it was less then $30 usd, w/s&h. anyway, you might want to check it out. although, if you were to buy an os disk yourself (elsewhere), you won't get all the bloated stuff that came with your comp to begin with. however, if you comp came with ms office, or other programs (ie - cd/dvd software), then you need to take that into consideration also.

you might want to take out your h/d (normally 1-2 screws), and see what brand h/d it is (try to hold it by it's side), and reinstall it. most all h/d manufacturers have tests that you can run on their h/d's. the link i have below has a few on it.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Ultimate_Boot_CD_d4981.html <-- Ultimate Boot CD 4.1.2

do you need any data (pictures, etc), from there? if no, then i'd wipe the h/d clean http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dariks_Boot_and_Nuke_d4596.html <-- Darik's Boot and Nuke 2007-04-29 Beta, then try to reinstall your os (with your disks).

both of these d/l's create an .iso file, that you need to burn to disk, with your software (ie - nero, etc). anyway, g/l - sos

 

HDD Regenerator is not freeware, what it does is non-destructively repairs bad sectors on a hard drive. The problem is if you are getting more and more errors it will just continue after the repair, so even if it got rid of the bad sectors (and I can't be sure thats your problem you need to scan for bad sectors to know) they would come back if your drive is failing and the data you lost will not be recovered by HDD Regen that's not what it does.

 

I re installed my HD ( WD2500JD ) and ran the quick diag. test that I found on western digital web site. This is what I got :

ID NAME VALUE THRESH WORST
1-raw read error rate 1 51 1
3-spin up time 164 21 119
4-start stop count 99 40 99
5-re-allocated sector count 155 140 155
7-seek error rate 200 51 193
9-power-on hours count 97 0 97
10-spine retry count 100 51 100
11-drive calibration retry count 100 51 100
12-drive power cycle count 100 0 100
194- H D A temp. 111 0 109
196- relocation event count 1 0 1
197- current pending sector count 191 0 189
198-offline uncorrectable sector 200 0 200
199- ultraDMA CRC error rate 200 0 253
200- multi zone error rate 96 51 96

...........Is my hard drive screwed up?

 

yeah...sorry about that. I thought the question turned into a hardware question so I posted that part of it there.