On Jan 12, 11:22 pm, testing <test...@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am getting the same message as many and have reviewed many articles
> including, "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP
> from starting."
>
> I cannot use that article because the system was OEM installed and they did
> not provide the CD that is recommended for use in just this situation.
>
> My husband attempted all of the options once hitting the F8 as well as using
> System Restore. The computer cannot get past the start up so safe modeand
> system restore do not work.
>
> Two questions:
> 1) How can we fix without using the recommended CDs? I am not sure this is
> even possible.
> 2) If it isn't possible, what is the cheapest/quickest way to get the CDs?
>
> Thanks so much!
First, get the XP Recovery Console going, verify your file system,
then work on any leftover issues.
Eliminate or repair possible file system corruption from a power
failure, ungraceful shutdown or aborted restart.
Have any of these events occurred?
You should first boot your PC into the XP Recovery Console using a
bootable XP installation CD or a bootable CD with the XP Recovery
Console on it. This is not the same as any Recovey or System CDs that
may have come with a
store bought system.
Was the issue preceded by a power interruption, aborted restart, or
improper shutdown?
These can cause corruption in the file system which must be fixed
before you do anything else.
If any of those events have occurred, you should boot into the Windows
Recovery Console using a bootable XP installation CD, or create on a
bootable XP Recovery Console CD. This is not the same as any recovery
disks that might have come a store bought system.
For each of your hard disks, you should then run:
chkdsk /r
You can make a bootable Recovery Console CD by downloading an ISO file
and burning it to a CD.
The bootable ISO image file you need to download is called:
xp_rec_con.iso
Download the ISO file from here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ueyyzfymmig
Use this free and easy program to create your bootable CD:
http://www.imgburn.com/
It would be a good idea to test your bootable CD on a computer that is
working.
You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM
drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk. These
adjustments are made before Windows tries to load. If you miss it,
you will have to reboot the system again.
When you boot on the CD, follow the prompts:
Press any key to boot from CD...
The Windows Setup... will proceed.
Press 'R' to enter the Recovery Console.
Select the installation you want to access (usually 1: C
WINDOWS)
You may be asked to enter the Administrator password (usually empty).
You should be in the C
WINDOWS folder. This is the same as the
C
WINDOWS folder you see in explorer.
RC allows basic file commands - copy, rename, replace, delete, cd,
chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr, etc.
From the command prompt window run the chkdsk command on the drive
where Windows is installed to try to repair any problems on the
afflicted drive.
Running chkdsk is fine to run even if it doesn't find any problems.
Assuming your boot drive is C, run the following command:
chkdsk C: /r
Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find. It may take
a long time to complete or appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the
HDD light is still flashing, it is doing something. Keep an eye on
the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress.
Remove the CD and type 'exit' to leave the RC and restart the
computer.
You do not have to adjust the BIOS again to boot on the HDD since the
CD will not be present.
