Laptop won't boot and XP Recovery Console won't fix it! 1

[dexterdoo]

I have a Dell D620 laptop that won’t boot into Windows XP. It starts to, but when it hits the Windows screen it just loops right back to the Boot Options screen!

So far I’ve ran a virus scan on the hard drive which came up clean and I checked the drive with “chkdsk” and all tests were passed. Then I tried “fixboot” and “fixmbr” from the XP Recovery disk but neither fixed the problem. Is doing a clean install of the OS the only way to solve this booting problem even though the drive appears to be fine?? There’s has to be another way?

 

[vacunita]

You can to a repair install. It will restore all Windows system files to factory settings, but will leave applications and data untouched.

Though you will have to download updates again.

Other than that have you tried to boot up in Safe mode?





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Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

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[dexterdoo]

Yes, trying to go into Safe Mode just returns you back to that same screen. Won't go! So you think the Repair Install option will fix the boot sector on the drive?

 

[BadBigBen]

This has nothing to do with the BOOT sector (MBR)...

the boot sectors (MBR) already has been fixed, with the use of FIXMBR, and it obviously tries to boot into Windows, then hits an error (driver or system file corruption) and reboots...

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

and if that does not help, then I would suggest that you get your data off the drive first, and then DO a CLEAN install...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[dexterdoo]

Thanks for the tips, Ben! I'll give it a shot.

 

[G0AOZ]

This is a scenario where I'd use something like ERD Commander. Booting up with ERD then gives you the option to invoke System Restore, always assuming the Restore Points haven't previously been zapped or were not set.

ERD Commander isn't free, but it depends upon how much effort you want to put into recovering the system as it existed. Quickest and easiest is to lift off important data, wipe disk and do a fresh installation. Always assuming that you have your XP Product key code...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[nhbilly]

Use Hiren BootCD 14.1.
Boot off cd and select boot windows from harddrive.
This should work and you can disable all services via msconfig.
And reboot normally with out the hiren.