Windows XP Repair Problem...

[systemlord]

Hi everyone, I attempted to perform a Windows XP Repair by booting from CD-ROM with Windows CD in drive and everything go's smooth only until the system is finish and reboots. Windows begins to load and just when you think the desktop is going to be displayed it says "Please Wait" with the mouse displaying an hourglass with a black sceen with a Windows logo in middle of screen, it remains this way even after many hours. I seem unable to enter certain Windows programs like Disk Defragmenter saying the file doesn't exist, all my previous restore points are gone!

Now for the kicker, my Windows installation was in perfect condition because after a few attempts I found out why my system32 errors were happening, my graphics card 8-pin connector was barely making contact with the graphics card and now I want my Windows back in working order without having to format and start over! I'm starting to find things that are not working, address bar will not work, I need to get my Windows back in working order!

Pleae help me...

 

[aford10]

Download ccleaner, and run the registry tool. You may need to run it several times to fix all the issues. Assuming the repair created some disconnects between the apps and the registry entries, it may be able to fix them.
www.piriform.com/ccleaner

You should also run a chkdsk to verify there aren't any hard drive errors.
start-->run-->chkdsk /r

 

[systemlord]

I did everything that you said and the chkdsk was 69% complete the last time I checked, where do I find the results of the chkdsk scan? There's no way in hell I was going to sit at my computer table for an 2 hours, lol! It seems like Windows is damaged because I can't even click on links to websites without some con not find or doesn't exist error or type in address bar or even perform simple tasks! That will be the last time I ever try to repair an OS through a system Repair as it destroyed a perfect OS that didn't have any of these problems!!

 

[aford10]

There are 5 stages to the chkdsk. Stage 4 and 5 take the longest. If you ran it with the /r switch, it can take a few hours to run. At the end, it will restart. Once it's back into windows, go to start-->run-->eventvwr.msc-->application-->it should give results there.

Once that's done, insert the windows disc. Go to start-->run-->sfc /scannow-->this will scan your system files for any damaged files. If it finds any, it will replace them using the windows disc.

 

[soundguruman]

It would seem that your graphics connector being disconnected is not the fault of the operating system. And if your system was in perfect condition, as you say above, why did you repair it?
I kind of get the idea that your not giving the whole story.

I have to ask, is this an Asus board?

Perhaps the repair did not work for other reasons, such as the motherboard, condition of the disk drive, etc...but you cant expect restore points to be present after re-installing the operating system, no body ever made the claim that the restore points would be retained.

I do suggest that you reformat the drive and try a clean install, I hope you backed up your files, but what's happening here may have nothing to do with the operating system. You can't assume that the troubles you are having are caused by the operating system.
I suspect there may be more to this than what appears to be.

 

[aford10]

I think a format and reinstall is premature at this point. A partial/incomplete repair could screw with the registry. These kind of symptoms can usually be repaired without the need for a reinstall.

Let's wait for the results of the chkdsk and the sfc scan.

 

[systemlord]

It would seem that your graphics connector being disconnected is not the fault of the operating system. And if your system was in perfect condition, as you say above, why did you repair it?
I kind of get the idea that your not giving the whole story.

I have to ask, is this an Asus board?

Perhaps the repair did not work for other reasons, such as the motherboard, condition of the disk drive, etc...but you cant expect restore points to be present after re-installing the operating system, no body ever made the claim that the restore points would be retained.

I do suggest that you reformat the drive and try a clean install, I hope you backed up your files, but what's happening here may have nothing to do with the operating system. You can't assume that the troubles you are having are caused by the operating system.
I suspect there may be more to this than what appears to be.

Why did I repair it, because I was getting system32 errors caused by the graphics card having intermittent contact with the power cable. I put two and two together after the fact, what problem do you have with Asus mobo's? Do you know something that I don't regarding Asus mobo's? Anyhow I wiped my drive clean using an image based wipe program, then formated and did a fresh installed of Windows XP with SP3. I will update if I have any further problems, I will say this I've had more issues with SP3 than I ever did with SP2!

***************UPDATED *******************

I got this message (below) after defragging my HDD, how could this be on such a fresh install? Thing is there are no files listed yet there's the red lines! There's some red lines that I guess will forever be fragmented! This has never happened before today and I've had this HDD for a few years, I'll run a chkdsk /r and report back tomorrow!

Some files on this volume could not be defragmented.
Please check the defragmentation report for the list of these files.

 

[systemlord]

Alright I ran chkdsk /r and here are the results, I received far too many of these errors to count them! The same fragmented files that were fragmented before running chkdsk are still there in red, where do I look for bad HDD sectors/errors in the report?

Error:-->Service Control Manager-->File name-->netevent.dll.

The Application Management Service Terminated with the following error:
The specified module could not be found.




**************UPDATE*****************

Windows freezes and now take 2 minutes to Power Off, things are worse than before I ran chkdsk /r!

 

[aford10]

Did you run the sfc scan? If not, that's a good next step. You may have some profile, or windows corruption.

After the chkdsk, and the sfc scan, run the ccleaner registry tool until all issues are resolved. This combination will repair hard drive, system files, and registry issues.

Defrag can't touch some files, because it doesn't defrag system files, because they are in use. There are a few other reasons, but that's most likely. Here's a more thorough explaination.
http://ask-leo.com/why_wont_some_files_defrag.html

If you have updates turned on, windows may be updating on shutdown. You can check the update site to verify, or temporarily shut them off.

If it's not the cause, check the event viewer to see if the system or application sections are logging errors at shutdown.

 

[soundguruman]

I don't understand how you reformatted the drive did a clean install and still got disk errors.

Is this an Asus motherboard?

Update: looked at your configuration, how did I guess?

The problems you are having are not the operating system, it's the motherboard. Replace the motherboard, and all the problems will be solved.
Plug in all your hardware, into a good motherboard, and your problems will be over.
And as long as you need a good motherboard, think Gigabyte.

 

[aford10]

You jumped the gun on immediately suggesting a format and reinstall. Now you're assuming it's the Asus motherboard. Without any kind of confirmation that's a bit hasty. Asus motherboards are widely considered one of the top quality motherboard manufacturers.

 

[soundguruman]

I am also familiar with the long standing problems in Asus motherboards. The symptoms he is describing are the very same that Asus users have reported, and in all these cases, it turned out to be a defective motherboard.

And you can load the OS or repair the OS over and over (not a bad idea to to do it once)

And you can load the drivers over and over

And you can use system cleaners, system fixers, and all kinds of other repair programs...

But in the end, you will realize it's the motherboard.

You may even get it working, then one or two days later, or a week later, it will crash again.

And as you noticed, I asked him if it was an Asus board, and he did not answer.

And if Asus is a top rated board, I think it's time somebody re-evaluated.

Read-my-lips It's-the-motherboard.

 

[aford10]

You shouldn't always start with the most wide-sweeping and drastic measures. A fresh install may fix it, but that doesn't mean it was necessary. A new motherboard may fix it, but that also doesn't mean it was the problem. Your diagnostic technique seems to be, to amputate the leg for a broken toe.

 

[systemlord]

I am also familiar with the long standing problems in Asus motherboards. The symptoms he is describing are the very same that Asus users have reported, and in all these cases, it turned out to be a defective motherboard.

And you can load the OS or repair the OS over and over (not a bad idea to to do it once)

And you can load the drivers over and over

And you can use system cleaners, system fixers, and all kinds of other repair programs...

But in the end, you will realize it's the motherboard.

You may even get it working, then one or two days later, or a week later, it will crash again.

And as you noticed, I asked him if it was an Asus board, and he did not answer.

And if Asus is a top rated board, I think it's time somebody re-evaluated.

Read-my-lips It's-the-motherboard.

That is exactly what I have been doing, having errors after errors after many fresh installs. I feel like I'm playing catch-up all of the time and no matter what I do the end result is the same, 3 days of Memtest, 4 days of Prime95, Orthos, OCCT and endless stress test on the Raptor HDD with healthy results all on more than one occasion, I'm surprised that my components still function! The Asus P5E is the only component untested, Raptor 150 10k HDD, Crucial Ballistics, E6600, Enermax Infinity 720W and GTX 480 all pass stress testsand error checking programs. How do I get Asus to RMA a mobo that can't be tested the way the other components can? I mean how does one point and say the sata controller is bad? I do believe and have suspected it to be the mobo but now I'm certain that no matter what program I run or how many times I reinstall Windows it will only be a matter of time before things start back up again.


Intel C2D E6600 @ 3.6GHz 1.29v
Asus P5E
2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers 4-4-4-12 800MHz @2.0v
150GB Raptor X 10000 RPM
EVGA Geforce GTX 480 Fermi
X-Fi Fatality Pro
Enermax Infiniti 720W PSU
Creative THX 5.1
Tuniq Tower 120
Silverstone TJ09

 

[aford10]

If you've done successful reinstalls, and tested all your hardware, and have the same reoccuring issues, it could be the motherboard. It sounds like you've done tests and taken steps to rule out other possibilities.

 

[soundguruman]

You can test all you want, but using those tests that intentionally heat the components only shorten the component life span.

Your best bet being, return the Asus board to the vendor and insist on exchanging it for an Intel or Gigabyte board. I do not recommend installing another Asus board.

You can call Asus customer service, but if they answer, you are very lucky.
You can leave your phone number, but don't expect a call back for 30-60 days.
You can email them, and they don't answer.
You can exchange it for another Asus board, but a high probability that you will receive another board with the same defect, or a different defect.

And just to recap, when I told you to do a clean install of the OS, that WAS the test. If you clean install, and still have disk errors as above, and you have an Asus board, the board is defective.

Specifically, it's the chip set, and more specifically the north bridge chip. asus has known about these problems for a very long time, and won't admit it to anybody.

So get you a good board, plug in all your hardware, just as you have now, push the power and it will work. It will work next week, next month, next year. You don't even need to re-install the OS, it will start right up and run.

I recommend Gigabyte because the quality control is very good, and the percentage of bad boards is very low. The price is very reasonable. If you want an Intel board, it costs more, but is also very well made.

As far as the unfounded criticism of my troubleshooting methods, tough. Some people have an intuitive talent, and lots of hands on experience, that may make the process quicker. In this case, I have seen and heard about these defects so many times, that the response becomes automatic.

So keep testing, loading "fix it" programs, reloading software and drivers...or save yourself the headache and buy a good motherboard. Some of us would rather USE the computer, instead of spending all our time trying to make it work.

 

[aford10]

Sorry Systemlord, this has to be said. I'm not trying to steer off topic.

@soundguruman
The problem with your 'troubleshooting methods,' is you didn't even know that systemlord had done any other tests, or that it's been a reoccuring issue. You can't just suggest a bad motherboard to everyone who has a problem with a windows install. The same symptoms can be caused by bad sectors on a hard drive, or flaky RAM, or registry errors, or a corrupt install...etc.

You suggested you knew it was the motherboard because they have a faulty chipset and northbridge. You didn't even know what model of board he has.

My point is, whether you're right in this case, or not, you are usually going to be wrong with this kind of advice. You're going to be causing people to needlessly throw money away. That kind of constant foolish and irresponsible advice isn't going to fly on this forum.

 

[badge]

Systemlord, this will help if needed. Using ASUS support is about as easy as it gets.

Request RMA:

http://livesupport.asus.com/oapcs.html

RMA request form:

http://vip.asus.com/eservice/usa_rmaserv.aspx

On line tech support, to get RMA #?

http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx
ASUS Computer International
44370 Nobel Drive, Fremont, CA 94538
Tel: 510-739-3777 Fax: 510-797-2102 Use this phone number it is the fastest way. Need to have serial number handy and they will send RMA info by email

 

[soundguruman]

Actually, I do know what kind of motherboard he has, it's in his profile.
Replacing the motherboard is the best possible thing he could do right now, especially if it's with a motherboard that's not an Asus board.
I'm not sure where any of my advice caused needlessly throwing away money, certainly in this case $160 would save dozens of hours screwing around. Like I said, you can replace the board, or continue to suffer, your choice.
Asus support as easy as it gets? Tell that to all the people who have been trying to get their motherboards replaced, and are consistently ignored by Asus customer service. I would say, based on personal and recent experience, that Asus is one of the poorest, and so would a lot of others.

 

[aford10]

I have to ask, is this an Asus board?

I do suggest that you reformat the drive and try a clean install, I hope you backed up your files, but what's happening here may have nothing to do with the operating system. You can't assume that the troubles you are having are caused by the operating system.
I suspect there may be more to this than what appears to be.

Actually, I do know what kind of motherboard he has, it's in his profile.

Look at your first post. You didn't know what kind of motherboard. You didn't know any diagnostic history. You knew very little, and right away, you suggested that he wipe out the sysem.

Even after you checked the profile, you don't know that he's having an issue on that hardware. I've got 4 PCs in my room right now. If I come here for help, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the hardware that's in my sig. You need to diagnose more thoroughly.

 

[soundguruman]

I don't need any more diagnostics when I understand exactly what the cause of the problem is.
And in my first post, I immediately recognized the symptoms of an Asus board chip set failure. That's why I asked if it was an Asus board.
Wiping the system? No matter, the board does that for you anyway. Whether I wipe it or the board wipes it, no difference.

 

[systemlord]

Well I reinstalled Windows XP yet a second time today, same crap all over again, same files can't be defragmented. In the report it says 2 files fragmented and after a defrag it says, "some files could not be defragmented", yet the files are nowhere to be seen. In the 5 years of running two different computers I have NEVER had files that could not be defragmented, never! After my second fresh install of XP and when it came time to perform a restart to complete the updating process, upon restart Windows had loaded and instead of ending up on Windows Desktop the whole computer froze with a black screen. So I hit the reset button and it asked my if I wanted to startup Windows normally, I clicked "Start Windows Normally" only then did I load up onto Windows Desktop. At that point there were the same fragmented files, I used Ccleaner to scan the registory and removed all errors from the registory, it didn't fix my issues though!

There are no errors in Event Viewer or in any of the others, hey if it doesn't cost me any money to have the mobo replaced under the warrenty, that's a sure way of ruling out the mobo as the cause. It's the only component that can't be easily diagnosed by the user, I understand your guy's difference of opinion about the whole Asus mobo problems and all, I have done all that I can with all of my other components and now it's time to replace the mobo and I will continue to update the progress. These freeze-ups go unnoticed by Windows monitoring software (Event Viewer), it's as if time has frozen and windows is unaware that space time is at a stand still! The list of common problems will be listed below-->

1. Broken or corrupted Start Menu and no desktop icons, Task Manager works fine though
2. Freeze-ups upon POST and/or during Windows loading freezes
3. Task Manager shows 100% CPU usage with no application running or throttling issues
4. Motherboard buzzer starts buzzing LOUD like nothing you ever heard after freeze/lockup of Windows
5. The list of issues I've experienced is to long to list! I could go on and on, but you get the idea!

 

[aford10]

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[soundguruman]

Well I reinstalled Windows XP yet a second time today, same crap all over again, same files can't be defragmented. In the report it says 2 files fragmented and after a defrag it says, "some files could not be defragmented", yet the files are nowhere to be seen. In the 5 years of running two different computers I have NEVER had files that could not be defragmented, never! After my second fresh install of XP and when it came time to perform a restart to complete the updating process, upon restart Windows had loaded and instead of ending up on Windows Desktop the whole computer froze with a black screen. So I hit the reset button and it asked my if I wanted to startup Windows normally, I clicked "Start Windows Normally" only then did I load up onto Windows Desktop. At that point there were the same fragmented files, I used Ccleaner to scan the registory and removed all errors from the registory, it didn't fix my issues though!

There are no errors in Event Viewer or in any of the others, hey if it doesn't cost me any money to have the mobo replaced under the warrenty, that's a sure way of ruling out the mobo as the cause. It's the only component that can't be easily diagnosed by the user, I understand your guy's difference of opinion about the whole Asus mobo problems and all, I have done all that I can with all of my other components and now it's time to replace the mobo and I will continue to update the progress. These freeze-ups go unnoticed by Windows monitoring software (Event Viewer), it's as if time has frozen and windows is unaware that space time is at a stand still! The list of common problems will be listed below-->

1. Broken or corrupted Start Menu and no desktop icons, Task Manager works fine though
2. Freeze-ups upon POST and/or during Windows loading freezes
3. Task Manager shows 100% CPU usage with no application running or throttling issues
4. Motherboard buzzer starts buzzing LOUD like nothing you ever heard after freeze/lockup of Windows
5. The list of issues I've experienced is to long to list! I could go on and on, but you get the idea!

Except that, in many instances customers received replacement boards with the same or different defects from Asus. That's why I recommend changing to a more reliable manufacturer.
And for my last comment, there is no more reliable way to fix a malfunction in the XP system than with the XP disk itself. Whether you do a repair install or a clean install, it covers all the bases that a "system cleaner" or other third party software could never hope to cover. The original software is far more rigorously tested than any third party add on.
If the hardware is functioning correctly, there is no reason why the operating system, designed to run it, should not run it. I look upon third party "fix it" programs with much disdain, and would not recommend they be used by anyone.

 

[aford10]

^ So, you don't trust windows updates, and you don't use any 3rd party software. What do you do when you get a virus? Just wipe out the whole system?