Windows won't boot at all

Ok, here's what I got, a friends comp (Sony Vaio desktop PCV-RXA842). He let his cousins mess around on and when he gets back to it all he gets is the BSoD. All right, I'm unable to sit at the comp so I walk him through trying to get to safe mode, again the BSoD. So now I'm having him e-mail me the error codes and as soon as I get them, I'll post them here. We can't get the Restore disks to run at all. We get a different BSoD code when we try. We can get to the menu that let's you choose safe mode, but when anything is selected except the reboot options we get the blue screen. Any ideas on what else to check for till I get the codes?

 

ok, here's the error codes when trying to boot normal, or in safe mode he gets

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x001902F9,0xF78C680C,OxF78C650C,0xF736A4E

*** ntfs.sys - Address F7365A4E base at F7360000, bateStamp 3c587aa0


when trying to run the recovery cd's he gets

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x001902F8,0xF7c74810,0xF7c74510,0xF7436857)

*** ntfs.sys - Address F7436857 base at F742c000, bateStamp 3b7dc5d0


**note, I am unable to check the hardware as he's in another state, so if this turns out to not be a software issue, I'll have to send him to someone that can help him better than I can.

 

Stop 0x00000024 or NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM

The Stop 0x24 message indicates that a problem occurred within Ntfs.sys, the driver file that allows the system to read and write to NTFS file system drives. A similar Stop message, 0x23, exists for the file allocation table (FAT16 or FAT32) file systems.

Possible Resolutions:

* Malfunctioning SCSI and Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) hardware or drivers can also adversely affect the system's ability to read and write to disk, causing errors. If using SCSI hard disks, check for cabling and termination problems between the SCSI controller and the disks. Periodically check Event Viewer for error messages related to SCSI or FASTFAT in the System log or Autochk in the Application log.
* Verify that the tools you use to continually monitor your system, such as virus scanners, backup programs, or disk defragmenters are compatible with Windows XP. Some disks and adapters come packaged with diagnostic software that you can use to run hardware tests.

To test hard disk or volume integrity

Method 1:
1. In the Run dialog box, in the Open box type:

cmd
2. Start the Chkdsk tool, which detects and attempts to resolve file system structural corruption. At the command prompt type:

chkdsk drive: /f

Method 2:
1. Double-click My Computer, and then select the hard disk you want to check.
2. On the File menu, click Properties.
3. Click the Tools tab.
4. In the Error-checking box, click Check Now.
5. In Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box. You can also select the Automatically fix file system errors check box.

If the volume you are checking is in use, a message asks whether you want to delay disk error checking until the next time you restart your computer. After you restart, disk error checking runs and the volume chosen is not available to run other tasks during this process. If you cannot restart the computer due to the error, use safe mode or Recovery Console.

If you are not using the NTFS file system, and the system partition is formatted with the file allocation table (FAT16 or FAT32) file system, long file name (LFN) information can be lost if hard disk tools are started from an MS-DOS command prompt. A command prompt appears when using a startup floppy disk or when using the command prompt startup option on multiple boot systems that use FAT16 or FAT32 partitions with Microsoft® Windows® 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2), Microsoft® Windows® 98, or Microsoft® Windows® Millennium Edition (Me) installed. Do not use tools meant for other operating systems on Windows XP partitions!
* Nonpaged pool memory might be depleted, which can cause the system to stop. You can resolve this situation by adding more RAM, which increases the quantity of nonpaged pool memory available to the kernel.

 

Forgot to post help here http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=228888

 

yeah I found that, I'm gonna see if he can get to the basic command prompt, wasn't able to get to "safe mode with Command Prompt"

 

ok, we can't get to a command prompt, every time it try's to boot into anything windows related, it goes to the blue screen, so am unable to run the chckdsk at all. Any other suggestions?

 

Grr! This is really making me mad. I don't know what the heck is wrong with my computer. No matter which option I choose it takes me to the blue screen with all the numbers on it. Not even the recovery cd is working on it. Im just going to have to take it to get looked at on the 1st of next month. I think they may have to reinstall Windows, again. Oh well, thanks Ray for all your help dude.

 

the only thing I can think of is takeing the hard drive and putting it in another comp, and running the check disk utilities from there, but as he's in NY and I'm in CA, he'll have to see if he can get someone there to fix it