boot up issue getting old fast!!!

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Hi there, so iv spent practically my whole sunday trying to figure out why my computer doesnt want to boot up.
Symptoms: IT DOESNT BOOT UP....gets to the xp logo screen and the little bar thats going from left to right (which i once thought was amusing ) just hangs there.

I have tried so much crap to get this working...and am stumped.
Iv tried the recovery console from my xp cd....in there i tried chkdsk, chkdsk /r (which repaired some stuff), tried fixmbr,fixboot.

I then tried bootcfg /rebuild and it says "failed to succesfully scan disks for windows installlations....this error may be caused by a corrupt file system..."

Do i have a messed up HD?

I tried reseating the RAM, tried switching the hard drive that doesnt have windows installed on it "off" (by unplugging the cable obviously), just to elimanate possible hardware failures or something

iv friggn tried safe mode, which isnt vert safe at all, because i tap the flipping f8 key at startup and i DO NOT get safe mode options as per usual, instead i get another BOOT MENU, it essentially asks me from which device i would like to boot up from...ie: HD1 HD2, CDROM, FLOPPY etc.... WHERE THE FRIG IS MY SAFE MODE MENU??

I dont know where to go from here and really need your help guys! I really dont want to have to clean install xp, because there is too much stuff on my PC installed of value. I have about 100 games on there!!!

My specs: 2xSATA HD's, win xp, asus ultimate gaming mobo, 2.4ghz, 2gb ram,8800gts,

*********SIDE THOUGHT************THings i may have done to blow this up (however i feel that the following have no direct relation): I recently had about 10 odd DCOM errors happening daily in my event viewer(event ID 10016), so searched around the net, and i have edited the registery so the DCOM is disabled, as per advise over the net. Is this something likely to affect my PC booting up? IF so, how the heck do i change it back?
Another thing i done was i had another event id relating to my browser i believe, I researched and found that i should protect my connection with a firewall, by right clicking on my connection going to properties/advanced/ then theres a tick box that says something like "prevention of people connection....etc etc.." so i ticked it. Anyway, was just stating in case its of importance.**************************************************************

PLEASE HELP ME, was just getting good and into my web portfolio too!!!
The bottom line is: i cannot get INTO windows, so i need a resolution that involves the XP CD recovery console!!!

 

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Can you load windows in SAFE MODE? after post screens shows press F5 or F8. you should get a list up giving you the choice to load safe mode.

Oops.. just seen that bit about pressing F8..:hhhmmm well try F5 it depends on the mobo

 

OK you say you've got 2 hard drives? why don't you install windows on the other drive and slave the other one up (the one with windows on that doesn't load?) and use it as a spare to extract your files?

 

safe mode: Sounds like you are pressing f8 too early in the boot sequence. Some MOBOS map that to an override for the BIOS boot sequence. yours obviously is. try waiting a little bit first. you want to get it after it does its bios/boot device check, but before the windows loader screen starts.

I suppose its possible that the changes to the registry have rafted the install, did you take a backup of the registry before editing it? if you did, then you can restore is (assuming you can get into Safe Mode of course). If not, you might just have to try manually editing the changes back, and hoping that something else wasnt changed in the process.

have you tried ripping the drive out and putting it in another machine, to see if you can access the data?

 

In the old days of MFM/RLL/ESDI drives you had to use chkdsk /r to mark bad sectors so the OS wouldn't use them. Today's drives automatically detect and recover from bad sectors. So if chkdsk is seeing bad sectors the drive's defect list must be full.

My advice is to backup whatever data you can salvage and toss the thing in the garbage before you waste any more of your time.

 

Found a good explanation on PCMag's website:
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=hard+disk+defect+management&i=55545,00.asp

The old drives just had p-lists (no g-lists) so running chkdsk /r to mark bad sectors was very important.

 

Do a *repair* of the operating system.. Just boot from the XP CD, when it says do you want to repair the operating system using the recovery console say *NO*.. continue until the install sequence says searching for previously installed versions of windows.. when it finds your install, it will ask you whether you want to repair it.. say *YES* and it will re-install windows, on top of itself, replacing any damaged files and correcting a lot of other stuff (hopefully DCOM).

This is by far the easiest approach and well worth a shot, as you will retain all your applications, games and files.

 

lol...im such a dip****...it was the f5 key, iv been pressing f8 all day..it was f5...

i ran the safe mode thing and the file it stops at is drivers/mup!!!!!!!! iv heard this is not good...where to go from here?? plez tell me i can fix this?

 

Had to give you reps for this one blue, either I have forgotten this or I was just never aware you could do it that way.

IT, if this work, after you get back in I would do a complete back up of your files just in case you are fixing to have hdd failure. I know how hard you have been studying and I hate to see you lose it all.

 

Thanks Mitzs, it is indeed a get out of jail free card and i use it probably about 30 times a year and it works most of the time. However, a mup.sys failing to load in safe mode error, is a bit of a red herring. It is likely the hard drive has curruption and may not be able to be repaired. It is worth a try though. If not, as has been suggested, replace the drive and try and get as much data off the old one as possible, by slaveing it as a secondary drive in the new build.

 

Not trying to hijack IT thread, but I have never had the chance to do this either. So if the hdd won't boot, have can you rescue the data as a slave? Will it open like a big folder or something on the master hdd?

 

Thanks sparky, reps coming your way too! Love CF!

 

Have you verified the integrity of the drive with a diagnostic util? UBCD comes loaded with them. I'd make sure the drive is okay before attempting the repair. If the drive is failing you could corrupt existing data, making recovery of it more difficult.

 

Please can u advise how i would check teh drives integrity, with the understanding that icannot get into windows....please dont say chkdsk through the recovery console,lol, im not even sure that it is working how it should... It says it has been checked the first time i did it and errors repaired.

However the bootcfg came back saying their is still corruption??

THanks bluerinse, although i have already tried the win xp recovery/repair it did no good, but will try again for good measure.

Thanks for your understanding mitz, lol...i had been working like a trooper for the past month or so, but i have backed up my portfolio on a usb and my external drive. i also have my important docs on my external drive, but its not at all that easy to backup my 150 odd games, and apps..ARRRRRRGHH, just the thought of hving to reformat makes me fart.

Will try the methods mentioned and get back here when attempted.
I was "happy" to at least have found that it was the mup.sys file was the file safe mode stopped at, at least it rules out other possibilities...and have found various articles online that suggest "fixes".

Will report back with sitrep asap.

 

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

UBCD is loaded with free utils that will let you check the drive's integrity. Make sure you use the util from the right manufacturer. If the drive passes, proceed with the rebuild as outlined previously. From the symptoms you're getting, however, I'd be highly suspicious that the drive is failing.