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HardDrive problem, maybe?

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anchoricex

Programmer
Dec 4, 2003
1
US
I run windows 2000 on my computer upstairs. Lately, ive been getting this really annoying problem where when i start up, right before Windows2k gives me my logon window, it has the 'Starting up...' and 'Preparing Network Connections' and 'Applying computer Settings...' For the last week or two, it sits on 'preparing network connections' or 'applying computer settings...'

- Up till yesterday, it would blue screen and say that there is an error, and it would 'Beginning physical data dump' or something. Then, i would reset my computer and it worked.
- Since yesterday, it just sits at applying computer settings for about 15 minutes then i get a error that says 'Unknown Hard Error' and i click ok and it restarts, and does it all over again.

I have a few possible ideas that this could be because of the harddrive or maybe the fact that it cant read the harddrive anymore.
1. When i disconnect the harddrive power, and turn the computer on, I get the expected 'No system disk' error and the 'Insert system disk and press enter to continue' so I do so, but it says the error over and over again, even when the harddrive is plugged in.
2. I have a stupid cousin who was using my computer once and came across this problem, so due to his idiot brain power, he decided to remove my case, unplug the harddrive DURING the blue screen, and right as he was about to plug the power back in, a little contact was made with the harddrive outlet and a metal piece in the plug causing a spark. This shut off the computer and it couldnt be started again, and i had to unplug the power from behind and wait until my cpu light went off. After that, it worked once more until i had the recent problem of unknown hard error.
3. Also, my harddrive is not mounted for some strange reason, maybe some damage could have been done to the drive. I am curious about the cables connecting to it, but also the chip on the base of the harddrive which could be fried because of my 'genious cousin' (which i fear most) and I might have to result in buying a new harddrive.

One other thing that could be suggested is some sort of virus that could badly effect the startup of my system. Occasionally, after the 'Unknown Hard Error' I get other errors like 'Error in winlogon.dll' (im not sure what the dll is called but thats similar) and other dll's that i think are important (they are located in c:\winnt somewhere)

i tried starting up in safemode, but it listed all these files in the winnt directory

example: multi(0)disk(0)blah blah blah c:\winnt\sys32.dll

this message was given over and over again with other files from the directory and when finished, just sat there =\ i really want to use my computer, and this really sucks, so any help will be appreciated :D
 
Here are some suggestions.
First, boot with the Win2k cd repair. At the prompt, type fixboot.
Restart and see if your computer restarts. If not, try this.
Find a Win98 boot disk.
Boot with the disk and run Scandisk.
If that is ok, then at the prompt, type fdisk /mbr
This will make Win2k rewrite the Master Boot Record with fixed code in the boot files from the Fixboot.
Also, after that, type FDISK. Press Y for both questions.
Check to see if your HD is still set as active.
Exit out and reboot. If it still doesn't boot, then your harddrive is fried.
The spark may have just caused some data corruption in the OS, which can be repaired with the repair console on Win2k.
 
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