Something big wrong?

Rick Martel

Rick Martel

Rick Martel

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Joined
2 Mar 2004
Posts
222
Location
North London
Hello. Pc was rebooting itself upon system start/desktop loading for 2 weeks with occasional blue screen errors.

Last week upon desktop loading the screen flashed black and reappeared again several times before self rebooting. Upon reboot it displayed:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM. You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup Cd-Rom. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.

At this point i inserted the windows CD and hit 'r' to repair it put me into a DOS i selected 1:\Cwindows as that was the only option i had to repair but it didnt do anything so i then loaded the windows CD once again and hit "Setup windows Xp" rather then repair on the selected partition and then selected repair afterwards that way. It worked and repaired and loaded to desktop fine.

I was using the pc for 7-10 days normally before i decided to buy a Lite-On external DvD/Cd-RW burner i installed it and then burnt some menial files before going to bed. When i awoke today the system loaded to desktop and then started flashing to black screen again and rebooted giving the same error as before.

I inserted the windows CD to repair, selected "set up windows xp" as the DOS repair wouldnt initiate again and it said to delete or create or setup on a partition but no option to repair like last time.

239367 MB Disk 0 at ID 0 on bus 0 onatapi [MBR]
C: Partition1 [NTFS] 239359MB
(213757 MB Free)

Unpartitioned space 8MB.

What does this mean? My hard drive is empty? How so if i have not formatted maybe its just an error? What do i do from here to repair as i must recover my information as i had extremely important documents on it :(. Formatting isnt an option how do i recover my HD, what has happened.

P.s it mentioned a folder exists that may contain a windows installation when i selected to format. Also how do i repair from DOS if everytime i select 1 as the drive to repair it doesnt do anything and eventually i have to exit. Has my HD failed and what options do i have?

thanks guys.
 
Rick Martel said:
239367 MB Disk 0 at ID 0 on bus 0 onatapi [MBR]
C: Partition1 [NTFS] 239359MB - this is the total partition size
(213757 MB Free) - this is whats free

Unpartitioned space 8MB. - this is fine
Click to expand...

I had this problem a good few years ago. Repair didnt work so i just bit the bullet and formatted.

I now have 2 drives one for files and one os. You could partition the drive if you only have one and then install os on one partition and your files on the other which would save the files next time. Not sure what else you can do.
 
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Beerbaron said:
I had this problem a good few years ago. Repair didnt work so i just bit the bullet and formatted.

I now have 2 drives one for files and one os. You could partition the drive if you only have one and then install os on one partition and your files on the other which would save the files next time. Not sure what else you can do.
Click to expand...

but it sais there "may be an existing windows installation/folder" when i tried to format, so it recognises its there right? why would, or how does a hard drive just erase itself automatically? doesnt make sense. ive heard of hardware recovery specialists or something, would that be an option or is there a possible fix here.
 
Amonlym said:
either put the hdd into another pc, else i think its available at the recovery command console accesable with a xp cd on boot.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx?mfr=true

Chkdsk

this is unlikely to work if you have formatted/partitioned since the error. for that you might get some fiels abck using comemrical recovery software, but YMMV
Click to expand...

i have not formatted or partitioned as i said i want to keep my data.i will try the chkdsk and get back to you cheers.
 
ErNciLator said:
it's normally caused by overclocking that error, and bad locks on FSB's.

i had it a few times.

chkdsk /f
Click to expand...

ive just done a chkdsk and i dont overlock it performed it and said:

ChkDsk found one or more errors on the volume. 245103672 kilobytes total disk space, 218920552 kilobytes are available. (I dont get this at all) 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 61275918 total allocation units on disk. 54730138 allocation units available on disk.

C:\windows: then popped up and i did /logon.

What then occured was upon login to XP it showed Isass.exe - System Error.
Security accounts manager failed because of the following error. A device attached to the system is not functioning. Check event log in safe mode to see errors.

How do i enter safe mode if i cant boot to desktop?
So i then attempted a repair with the CD this time it allowed me, it finished after 15 mins then said it could not repair the system, contact system administrator. Upon system reboot it loaded to the windows XP installation screen where it shows the various stages when installing XP cleanly, i got scared and rebooted incase it was automatically attempting a format, was it? i dont know, should have i left it? i cant afford to format.

please help thanks.
 
I emailed a data recovery specialist, they told me to send the drive out to there place..hmmmm, how do i even know if its the hard drive? or that i can repair it myself somehow, im really lost here :( is it worth taking it to a high street repair store would that be a better option? last time i took it they formatted when i specifically said not to.

does anyone have sucess with data recovery experts, that has a problem similar to whats going on with me? :(
 
Buying a new drive(you could do with a backup by the sounds of it anyway), having a fresh install off that and then using the currently dodgy disk as a secondary hard drive may well let you access any data on it.

And still be cheaper than sending it to a data recovery company.
 
DavidB said:
Buying a new drive(you could do with a backup by the sounds of it anyway), having a fresh install off that and then using the currently dodgy disk as a secondary hard drive may well let you access any data on it.

And still be cheaper than sending it to a data recovery company.
Click to expand...

ill try that. do you think if i left it install the OS like it did when you install windows, but it started on 30% left that it would format or repair? anyone ever witnessed that?
 
I've never known the XP install format a disc without me asking it too. Normally it just tries to overwrite the exising installation and makes a mess of it!
 
Oh dear, some of the replies here...

Okay, from the infomation you've given here, your infomation seems intacted, still.

Have you tried booting in save mode? I also have a feeling you have faulty memory or the hard drive itself is on its way out. Please, whatever you do, do not send the drive to anyone, there's really no need for it. Might as well put your money in the bin.

Try boot in safe mode. (Press F8, before the Windows logo appears.)
If that failes, you can remove the hard drive and connect it to another pc, get your infomation off it and then put it back into your pc and format it.

Let me know how it goes.
 
Rick Martel said:
ill try that. do you think if i left it install the OS like it did when you install windows, but it started on 30% left that it would format or repair? anyone ever witnessed that?
Click to expand...

Windows Setup won't format the disk, unless you agree and let it do that. The above would just make a new folder on the hard drive called Windows and rename the old Windows folder to, "Windows.old". If you're doing what I think you are..?
 
Ice On Fire said:
Oh dear, some of the replies here...

Okay, from the infomation you've given here, your infomation seems intacted, still.

Have you tried booting in save mode? I also have a feeling you have faulty memory or the hard drive itself is on its way out. Please, whatever you do, do not send the drive to anyone, there's really no need for it. Might as well put your money in the bin.

Try boot in safe mode. (Press F8, before the Windows logo appears.)
If that failes, you can remove the hard drive and connect it to another pc, get your infomation off it and then put it back into your pc and format it.

Let me know how it goes.
Click to expand...

i press f8 upon boot but it only shows a "boot from where" menu, no option to enter safe mode, what do i do to get into safe mode?

ive tried different memory sticks, and its the same. i purchased another Sata drive i installed windows onto, i am going to put the broken sata into the mobo too soon to see if that works and i can retract the info off it. i also purchased an external USB hard drive but that was pointless as i cant get to desktop on the broken drive to install XP onto the external one to extract my files off the broken one.
 
Hi,

No, Windows Setup won't allow you to install Windows on an external USB drive. If you're pressing F8, before the Windows Boot Logo appears, you will see a 'Boot Menu'. In the menu 'Safe Mode' will be at the top of the list. Just highlight it, and press enter.

Since you've got a new drive, might as well go ahead with the plan you're suggesting. ;)
 
your pressing f8 too early, its bringing the boot menu up in bios. press is after the second black screen with white writing comes up.

As others have said i believe your data is safe.

it may be best for you to buy a cheep hard drive (80gb)

and install your os on that and use your current drive as storage and then just backup the storage drive onto a removable drive.

Jackassuk56
 
ok, bought a new Sata HD, installed OS onto it.
cant put my broken HD onto the mobo, ONLY 1 SATA POWER CABLE ?

just got a blue screen of death on my NEW hd? tht has Xp running on it.
whats going on? must be the memory then or what? then why would my HD be corrupted.

latest drivers installed, confused. games are showing white walls with no graphic/detail e.t.c graphics card problem? whats going on.

thanks guy.s
 
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update: this morning when it booted up, the sound didnt display correctly, there was rapid beeping and scratching noise from the speakers, couldnt play music files without this distortion.

there was also a feint white line going down the midle of the screen? does anyone know what thats about? what problem its indicating?

memtest shows 0 errors.
 
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