XP Not booting..

[MartyKUK]

Guys another problem im having is XP not working properly.

When it gets past the Windows loading screen i wait for the login screen.... and i wait..... and i wait, and wait! 2 hours later... nothing!
Changed PSU, changed RAM, Changed Graphics card, I'm guessing maybe a corrupt windows.

I dont really want to have to put the drive as a slave in this PC and get data off it.. I'd like to be able to somehow repair windows if it is damaged and if thats even the cause of the issue??

IF it is whats the best way to go about repairing the XP installation?

The reason i want to be able to repair it is because it has Flight simulator on it and that was a pig to install and needed loads of modifications and changes in the registry to fix it and get it running properly. so ideally i'd love to be able to repair XP.

Hows this best done guys?

Thank you!

 

[Saga Lout]

Try starting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt by tapping Function 8 when you power up and selecting that form teh Advanced Boot menu. At the prompt, type chkdsk c: /r and hit enter. That starts a five stage process to check the integrity of the hard disk. When that completes, see if the system starts normally and if it doesn't use your XP CD to get to the second of two Repair options it offers you. It will effectively reinstall XP but leave all your data and most settings intact in a folder called Windows.old. FlightSim being one of M$ own products, it may survive the process intact.

 

[MartyKUK]

Thanks for your reply!

I managed to get Seatools for dos to do tests.
Long test found 35 errors.
The short test then fixed errors for me to be able to load windows.
Should i make this as a chance to back up my data?
Or is the hard drive now fixed for good?
Or once Seatools starts finding errors, even though it fixes them, is the hard drive still on its last legs and needs replacing soon?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Saga Lout]

My mantra to my customers is always backup-backup-backup and the finest form of backup for me is a clone. In your circumstances, it may be time to make a clone of your entire system on to a new and more reliable hard disk, just in case. I use Acronis True Image and pay about £20 per version (I'm still using eleven, I think) for it but good, free cloning software is available.

 

[MartyKUK]

Hey yeah that makes sense actually.

If i were to clone it would i then be copying all the bad sectors from the source drive to the new drive?

Thanks mate

Mart.

 

[Saga Lout]

If i were to clone it would i then be copying all the bad sectors from the source drive to the new drive?

It seems Seatools has done a reasonable job - just run Checkdisk in Command Prom[t as soon as the newly cloned system is up and running. Use the /r switch to find and fix any bad sectors or clusters so the syntax is chkdsk c: /r (assuming C is the drive letter by that stage).