Why all the rant???? Be grateful for those who "create" stuff. eg Microsoft. What have you created that is better than windows? You're just a USER. Grow up and bury your bias. This guide is to help guys out, not a forum for critics. Why are you even here when you don't use windows?
Awesome post. I do not normally comment but this post saved me a lot of work and 4 yrs of documents(pics and musics). Thank you very much.
I uninstalled Kaspersky and some components went with it. so I was unable to go into windows. Applying this post solved everything.
I find it weird that people come here just to criticize and make off topic comments. Let us all be grateful that someone who knows took the pain to solve our problem free of charge.
Thanks ROBERT HALLOCK. You have really saved me many hours of work, frustration, potential data loss and shelling out your hard-earned greenbacks.
i have been branded as tech savvy since birth and frequently get dumped with impossible tasks. this article gives me a solid foundation for dealing with some common problems. despite no longer using windows i have saved this and many of the relevant comments for reference.
please, though, the word is "search" not "google".
I went through the all the steps, it reboots, I select the operating system, I get "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.
If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly,...choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked...."
I then have the option to choose to start windows normally, various safe modes or last known good configuration. Choosing normally gets me in this loop of rebooting and the above message. I've chosen safe mode and several lines of "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)...." come up and then it reboots to same message. Choosing last known good configuration gets me to the same message. What am I doing wrong???
Possibly. Chkdsk /r may be the most pertinent part for you. Also, after performing the steps, if you can't get into windows, you might try going in to safe mode. If that works, try running sfc /scannow
Thank you for taking the time and write this. Excellent guide. Remember, for every person that post some kuddos, there are THOUSANDS of ungrateful bastards using the information. Your efforts are appreciated!
After 3 days of complete frustration and trying countless of fixes, which probably did more harm than good, I came across this post. I woke up today ready to try your solution. Didn't work. I can't get it to accept "CD" even though it's in the Help list of commands. I'm wondering if somewhere along the way if I wiped part of the HDD. Any suggestions?
Plug your hard disk into another PC with an external adapter (USB to SATA or USB to IDE, depending on your hard drive) and back up your data. When you're done backing up your data, install the hard drive back into the PC, wipe it clean and reload Windows.
There is absolutely, positively nothing more that can be done to fix your current OS.
Thanks for the quick reply. The following is a LENGTHY report of the steps I took before I received your instructions.
At C:>windows, I put in BOOTCFG. That went to a list of options. I was able to use "Bootcfg /rebuild.Note the space between "g" and "/".It ran through and then used the steps in the order in the above instructions and went for a walk.
It had gone throughthe scan, chkdsk and recovery of files by the time I came back.Unfortunately it didn't work. On the next attempt,still couldn't go to C: but started with the 3 ATTRIB steps. The 3rd one "R" wasn't found. So I tried "F" (someone mentioned that above) it wasn't accepted but then I tried "R" again and it worked. The command "C:del boot.ini" wasn't found. So I started with "bootcfg" again and chose "redirect to load" option "Windows XPSP2 Home Edition"as input in and earlier step. Then rebooted it with cd still in.Same original message of NTDLR missing but went ahead with booting with the cd and then into "R" and needed to do that twice.
The needed files were copied and then to the install portion. I used the original key of the system, not the one on the CD itself because that was for another system. Install complete and restarted the PC before I had a chance to change the boot order or remove the CD. "NTLDR is missing" message again. I put in a floppy that contain a fix I had for it. And it ran. I used "CTRL+ALT+DEL" and changed the boot order, HD as first. NTLDR still missing. Press any key to restart, I did. "Boot from CD" and then the last message."DISK BOOT FAILURE. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER". NTLDR still missing after putting the disk in. It boots from the CD and back to Windows Setup I go!! Still can't get into "C:"
Now what?!!! Sorry for the loooong post but felt it necessary in case of questions.
Part 3.....I tried to copy the NTLDR from the CD to HDD. It seemed to work but didn't. Used floppy with the fix and it booted into Windows but I can't activate XP. Apparently incorrect key. ( I know of the little tricks but haven't any luck so far). I can get into Safe Mode with command prompt but that only will go to "Documents and Settings" not C. I shall continue to "Google" for answers and I'm considering Ubuntu but the PC is going to a relative and I'm not sure she would want it.
Success!! While in Safe Mode, I was able to open Windows Explorer and make the necessary changes by following the instructions from tinyempire.com where I got the NTLDR fix files. I copied the files from on the floppy to the C: drive. Boots up great! It's been a real learning experience that I couldn't have done without you. Thanks!!!
Now onto dealing with the activation problem.
few other tips for your perusal... sometimes, a file system for example, NTLDR, /windows/system32/config/xxx error can be caused by someone who has decided to 'compress files to save disk space' ive seen on numerous machines within last few years. for all you budding techs i would recommend a live windows cd (Ultimate Boot CD For Windows) you need to 'roll your own' per example, will allow you to boot to an xp gui and hopefully see information about the filing system that (to my knowledge) the command prompt doesn’t let you see, for example, compressed (Blue) - Home & Pro / encrypted files.. (Green) Pro Only i think
in addition, another useful tool would be a live Linux disk, ie puppy, ubuntu, kubuntu, mint knoppix ... take your pick... but this will also allow you to view your filing system.
both will allow you to access the system volume information folder which is in the root of the c:\ and which is under normal circumstances, not accessible.
this is because this contains important files such as registry entries :-) for your system created by the system restore utility..
as always, create a backup before modifying ANY files... this covers your ass if it goes fubar and is reversable... ie a Disk Image.
word to the wise.. do not use Microsoft backup files and settings utilty. if you have old version (tut tut) some of more newer versions will not allow you to use your backup... ive had experiance in dealing with getting files back from this type of situation.. it aint pretty!
okay, got to the second step with the revealing files ATTRIB -H C:BOOT.INI and all that jazz, all of them came up with the error message "the system cannot find the file or directory specified" anybody?
Comments
Why all the rant???? Be grateful for those who "create" stuff. eg Microsoft. What have you created that is better than windows? You're just a USER. Grow up and bury your bias. This guide is to help guys out, not a forum for critics. Why are you even here when you don't use windows?
I uninstalled Kaspersky and some components went with it. so I was unable to go into windows. Applying this post solved everything.
I find it weird that people come here just to criticize and make off topic comments. Let us all be grateful that someone who knows took the pain to solve our problem free of charge.
Thanks ROBERT HALLOCK. You have really saved me many hours of work, frustration, potential data loss and shelling out your hard-earned greenbacks.
i have been branded as tech savvy since birth and frequently get dumped with impossible tasks. this article gives me a solid foundation for dealing with some common problems. despite no longer using windows i have saved this and many of the relevant comments for reference.
please, though, the word is "search" not "google".
If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly,...choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked...."
I then have the option to choose to start windows normally, various safe modes or last known good configuration. Choosing normally gets me in this loop of rebooting and the above message. I've chosen safe mode and several lines of "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)...." come up and then it reboots to same message. Choosing last known good configuration gets me to the same message. What am I doing wrong???
In other words, if it works - great, if it does not - no harm done?
Many thanks
Boaz
My PC will start to load the Windows logo welcome screen and then become black.
Will the method above help?
Thanks
Any suggestions?
Type "dir /a *.ini" (no quotes) and see if boot.ini is listed or not when at the root of the drive
There is absolutely, positively nothing more that can be done to fix your current OS.
At C:>windows, I put in BOOTCFG. That went to a list of options. I was able to use "Bootcfg /rebuild.Note the space between "g" and "/".It ran through and then used the steps in the order in the above instructions and went for a walk.
It had gone throughthe scan, chkdsk and recovery of files by the time I came back.Unfortunately it didn't work. On the next attempt,still couldn't go to C: but started with the 3 ATTRIB steps. The 3rd one "R" wasn't found. So I tried "F" (someone mentioned that above) it wasn't accepted but then I tried "R" again and it worked. The command "C:del boot.ini" wasn't found. So I started with "bootcfg" again and chose "redirect to load" option "Windows XPSP2 Home Edition"as input in and earlier step. Then rebooted it with cd still in.Same original message of NTDLR missing but went ahead with booting with the cd and then into "R" and needed to do that twice.
The needed files were copied and then to the install portion. I used the original key of the system, not the one on the CD itself because that was for another system. Install complete and restarted the PC before I had a chance to change the boot order or remove the CD. "NTLDR is missing" message again. I put in a floppy that contain a fix I had for it. And it ran. I used "CTRL+ALT+DEL" and changed the boot order, HD as first. NTLDR still missing. Press any key to restart, I did. "Boot from CD" and then the last message."DISK BOOT FAILURE. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER". NTLDR still missing after putting the disk in. It boots from the CD and back to Windows Setup I go!! Still can't get into "C:"
Now what?!!! Sorry for the loooong post but felt it necessary in case of questions.
Now onto dealing with the activation problem.
in addition, another useful tool would be a live Linux disk, ie puppy, ubuntu, kubuntu, mint knoppix ... take your pick... but this will also allow you to view your filing system.
both will allow you to access the system volume information folder which is in the root of the c:\ and which is under normal circumstances, not accessible.
this is because this contains important files such as registry entries :-) for your system created by the system restore utility..
as always, create a backup before modifying ANY files... this covers your ass if it goes fubar and is reversable... ie a Disk Image.
word to the wise.. do not use Microsoft backup files and settings utilty. if you have old version (tut tut) some of more newer versions will not allow you to use your backup... ive had experiance in dealing with getting files back from this type of situation.. it aint pretty!
just my .02