XP Woes

VIKTOR2020 · Post by **VIKTOR2020** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:32 am

My computer (xp home) was acting up so I did a dskchk; it said the check would begin at next bootup. It did, but it's locked into a loop doing disk checks and I can't stop it. If I "press any key" to stop disk check it ignores me. If I turn off the power switch and do a cold boot it begins to load Windows and then goes into a disk check. Pressing F8 during boot up does nothing, so I haven't been able to get into safe mode. How do I get its attention?
Thanks for any help.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:36 am

try booting from the XP disk and run a repair to the command console.. type in fixboot, then run a chkdsk /r

That may kick you out of the reboot loop...

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:02 pm

If you're using a USB keyboard and have a PS2 keyboard around some where, try using that to get the "hit any key to stop" to work.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:46 pm

Slave hard drive to another PC and run a checkdisk on it from that PC, should clear the dirty disk flag.

I'd plan on replacing that drive soon as you can.

VIKTOR2020 · Post by **VIKTOR2020** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:20 pm

Sava700 wrote:try booting from the XP disk and run a repair to the command console.. type in fixboot, then run a chkdsk /r

That may kick you out of the reboot loop...

Thanks for the several suggestions. I really appreciate you all taking the time to make them. I've been able to boot from the XP disk, but when I try to run a repair from the command console it keeps asking me for an administrator's password. I've never used a password of any type on this computer, but no matter what I enter it gives me 3 tries then I'm out.
I chose the Install XP option instead and it detected the previous version of XP on the computer and offered to try to repair it. Things ran well for about 45 minutes but I began getting messages saying it couldn't find this or that file and did I know where they were. How the heck do I know! I bypassed these warnings and when it was finished Windows almost worked. On boot it said it couldn't find several entry points. Eventually it gave me my initial screen and icons but nothing works.
I'm trying this course of action again. If you have more suggestions, please let me know.
Gratefully
VIKTOR

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:24 pm

What were those files it couldn't find? Any in the \system32 directory? HIVE?
Did you try a <blank> password at the console?

VIKTOR2020 · Post by **VIKTOR2020** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:24 pm

The first file it couldn't locate was USBEHCI.SYS; I didn't copy any more.
I did try the <blank> password but that didn't work.
I'm repairing the Windows XP again in hopes it'll get enough files correct to let me back up the HD. Then I planned to reformat the drive and install a clean copy of XP.
Thanks

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:45 pm

If you're getting random files not being able to be read...I'd wager your hard drive has gone Tango Uniform.

Maybe start planning on getting data you need off of that drive..and replacing it.

VIKTOR2020 · Post by **VIKTOR2020** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:51 pm

I believe it's the same files each time that aren't read, but the HD might still need replacing.
So the question is: how can I get my data off it?

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:45 pm

Easiest way that I use most often, slave the drive into another functional computer.

An easy way, we use an external USB drive enclosure..just plug the failing drive in it, and plug that external USB drive enclosure into another functioning PC...copy 'n paste your data.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:47 pm

VIKTOR2020 wrote:Thanks for the several suggestions. I really appreciate you all taking the time to make them. I've been able to boot from the XP disk, but when I try to run a repair from the command console it keeps asking me for an administrator's password. I've never used a password of any type on this computer, but no matter what I enter it gives me 3 tries then I'm out.

usually if you've not used a password you don't have none so just hit enter and it should go on and allow you to use the console.

VIKTOR2020 · Post by **VIKTOR2020** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:06 am

Thanks to all who shared their expertise on my problem.
I was finally able to boot the computer in Safe Mode and do a backup of the HD. There's one file I can't be sure got backed up, that's the PST file for Outlook. I don't want to loose my collection of emails or my address book. Can anybody tell me where to look for these in an XP installation of Outlook 2007?

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:02 am

Docs & Settings > Username > Local Settings > Application Data > Microsoft > Outlook > *.pst

VIKTOR2020 · Post by **VIKTOR2020** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:06 pm

Got it, thank you so much.

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