Can't boot windows - BSOD on atisgkaf.sys

[theomen]

Hi All,

I was using my laptop without any problems this morning. Shut it down to go to lunch, came back, and suddenly it won't boot into windows.

When I try to boot windows normally (XP Pro), it comes up with the startup screen, then up comes the BSOD, and instantly reboots (I've tried selecting "disable reboot on error" but that doesn't do anything).

I have tried doing last known good configuration, but nothing.

Tried booting in safe mode, it got as far as loading driver "atisgkaf.sys", then rebooted.

So, I went into windows xp recovery console, renamed the driver file to attempt to skip it, but the same thing happened, only now its rebooting on mup.sys. I feel I could go on forever renaming files, so have not bothered renaming this one yet.

Any ideas what I could do to fix this, apart from reformat and reinstall? I've got quite a lot of info on there since my last backup which I don't want to lose.

 

[ski]

This may help:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

 

[theomen]

Thanks ski.

I did try that earlier, but unfortunately it didn't do anything.

I've now done a repair on windows, I've managed to get back in, and am in the process of doing a full backup to my external hdd so I can do a full rebuild.

I've got a couple of Virtual Machines setup in Microsoft Virtual PC, and they are taking ages to copy, its gonna be a long night.

 

[ski]

You're welcome.
Good luck with the rebuild.

 

[theomen]

Have rebuilt, but now, on trying to install IIS, the installer is complaining it can't find the files on the disk. I've even done a browse and found the file, yet it still says its not there. So skip the file, go onto the next one, and it says it can't find that either. The CD is in perfect condition, really don't get it.

 

[ski]

You may want to check the CD in another system.
Sometimes they can be corrupted even if they look ok.

 

[theomen]

Hmmm, got everything re-installed, everything working fine, and back to the way I was before.

I was using the laptop with no problems last night, shut it down, and went to bed.

This morning, I turned it on, same problem has returned. Only this time it seems to be skipping the driver it originally had a problem with and is breaking on mup.sys.

I've tried disabling MUP through the recovery console, but it still keeps rebooting (not sure which driver now, I decided to give up and attempt to repair windows again.

I've tried repairing windows, but it came up with some error and said it failed.

Looks like a full rebuild again. I would send it back because I only bought the laptop on boxing day, and its insured anyway, but it will mean doing without my laptop for up to 6 weeks (they're a bit slow at this sort of thing, and have a tendency to lose laptops). I need the laptop for work as I'm a contractor and my current contract requires me to have my own laptop for client visits.

Does anyone have any idea what could suddenly cause the laptop to spring this problem when it was working fine? I'm shutting it down properly, and it doesn't appear to be a single driver it has problems with, so I'm unsure if its a hardware issue or not (unless of course it is a dodgy hdd or motherboard).

 

[ski]

Sounds like the cause may be either a bad HD or a virus.

 

[theomen]

Yeah, think its the hard drive myself. I'm always very careful with viruses, and have done the full format and reinstall as well so would have wiped it (also have fully updated version of McAfee).

I'm going to try to fix it today, get my next customer out of the way, then send it back.

 

[hamoskin]

theomen-I'm having the same problem though, I don't have a backup so can't recover....I'm now wondering if there's a way to get all my files off the computer before having to rebuild it???

 

[theomen]

I managed to recover the information I hadn't had the chance to backup before the laptop died by running the windows repair. Put the Windows CD in the drive and reboot, then choose the options to install windows (don't run Automated Windows Recovery or Recovery Console). When prompted, choose to let windows attempt to repair itself.

I did that, and managed to get all the data back, but a lot of my programs wouldn't work, to do with the registry I think, so I just backed it up and then did a full re-install.

The problem actually kept coming back, until I re-installed without Service Pack 2, and now its running fine. So I think SP2 is the cause of the problem.

 

[hamoskin]

Glad to hear you got your stuff back. At this point, I've booted off of my thumbdrive and have attempted to use partition magic to create a new partition to copy the old files to and then re-format however; without DOS being able to understand NTFS, I'm now hunting for a utility that'll let me move stuff from NTFS to a FAT 32 disk in DOS....I'm getting warm. I'll keep you posted!

 

[micker377]

without DOS being able to understand NTFS, I'm now hunting for a utility that'll let me move stuff from NTFS to a FAT 32 disk in DOS...."

Google for a free program called "readntfs.exe". I don't know if it will do everything you want, it is designed to let Fat32 see NTFS files.

 

[hamoskin]

Thanks micker377! Got the utility and have successfully started copying files from my laptop's F'd up drive to my external 250GB USB drive. There actually might be light at the end of this dark tunnel!

 

[garebo]

theomen, is your laptop ok now? Ive been following this but im not up on laptops so kept my nose out of it, but im curious to know if all is well. As much as i still stay away from SP2, i was thinking all along that you have a power issue, something causing a loss of power and possibly scrambling your hard drive. But again, with little knowledge of laptops i can offer no real advice on how to fix it.
But i am curious to see if all is well and if the prob is likely sp2 as i was just about to start using it. I figure m\soft alters\repairs these sp's over and over and sooner or later its worth putting on your system, just hard to say when, lol. I do use sp1, though, its mature enough.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[theomen]

garebo,

My laptop is still running fine and hasn't blue screened once since I re-installed without SP2. I'm thinking of installing SP2 at the weekend when I've got more time and seeing what happens, its strange how it worked fine for months with it installed, and only started having problems recently.

When I first got the laptop on boxing day, I got it home and the first time I turned it on, it blue screened, but that was later on in booting, just before windows actually loaded. This happened several times, so I took it back and got a replacement laptop (after some arguing). Again, the error mentioned the graphics card, so I've a feeling its something to do with that.