Can't reinstall, and can't start either...
Hi guys,
The problem is:
When I try to boot from the XP CD to reinstall Windows, I get an error
"SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED"
and setup never gets any further than loading files. But when I try to start Windows normally, I get
"Windows cannot start: C:\Windows\System32\Config is missing"
so I am kind of at a loss of what to do. I have seen a few solutions to either one of these problems, but I'm not entirely sure how to implement them without having any access to an OS.
The machine is old - and is running a 20G IDE HDD, 256K of PC133 SDRAM, and a Celeron 1G CPU. Mobo appears to be an MSI model MS-6368.
Any help would be much appreciated.
The problem is:
When I try to boot from the XP CD to reinstall Windows, I get an error
"SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED"
and setup never gets any further than loading files. But when I try to start Windows normally, I get
"Windows cannot start: C:\Windows\System32\Config is missing"
so I am kind of at a loss of what to do. I have seen a few solutions to either one of these problems, but I'm not entirely sure how to implement them without having any access to an OS.
The machine is old - and is running a 20G IDE HDD, 256K of PC133 SDRAM, and a Celeron 1G CPU. Mobo appears to be an MSI model MS-6368.
Any help would be much appreciated.
0
Comments
The most common causes for the <b>"SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED"</b> message are:
1. Dying/dead CD-ROM/Optical Drive.
2. Dying/dead HDD.
3. Dying/dead RAM.
By booting this CD, we can rule out the first one; if it loads and gives you access to the tools, we know the optical drive in question is fine. If it doesn't boot, we're on the right track.
Once inside UBCD, you'll want to run DFT and memtest. Memtest will stress your memory and look for any errors; if you get even one error, the memory is bad. DFT does much the same thing -- it scans for all types of HDD errors including interface, sector, SMART and mechanical errors. If these two tests pass with flying colours, you'll want to start looking at other components.
This should be a good start.