NT4 Boot W/ Blinking Cursor Only

[DERTECH]

Have a dual processor NT4 server that only shows a blinking curosor in upper RH corner during normal boot. Using rescue disk results in endless system scan. MS site suggests virus, but scanned as slave with VS software getting no hits. All files are present on disk. Tried fixing MBR with no results. Any ideas?

 

[josesc]

Have you tried to boot with a diskette?

Format a diskette in another NT4, and copy these files: BOOT.INI, NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM.

 

[SteelDragon]

Have you tried booting in VGA mode? This is the equivalent of Win 9X Safe mode for lack of a better term. If you can boot into that, then you have a device driver that is hanging, which is what it sounds like to me. Try booting into VGA, and go with the lowest settings allowed... no network might also be a good idea. Let me know how this works out.

Good Luck,

SteelDragon

 

[DERTECH]

Thank you for the great suggestions. The boot disk did not work. NT give me a hardware error after selecting the boot mode in boot.ini. I think that was because of a HAL issue. The machine I created the disk from is virtually identical, but was built using the single processor mode.

I did get the machine up and running by copying the BOOT.INI, NTLDR, and NTDETECT.COM from the non-booting machine. Now I can get it to boot with no problem in VGA and normal modes from the floppy. I still can't boot from the HD though. If I had a bad driver, my guess is that it would still bomb from floppy boot - especially with the same boot files used by the HD!!

I'm running, but I don't want to boot from a floppy forever!!! Any other helpful ideas?

 

[SteelDragon]

Run a Surface scan on your hard disk... maybe the boot sector is corrupt. If it runs from a floppy, and your OS Starts you're right... it's most likely not a driver. Boot sector is the next avenue... If the disk has gone bad or you have a boot sector Virus (some AV will not find them, you may need to get a special program to do it) You can end up like this. Also check your Mainboard Bios settings, make certain nothing has been corrupted or changed. After these steps, throw up a detailed list of everything you have done so I can sift through it and give you another avenue if none of these work.

Good Luck,
SteelDragon

 

[josesc]

Copy the files from the floppy to your disk root. If you have another NT server, a can send you a program that create a image of the boot sector, so you create a image from a good boot, and write it in your server that has the problem

 

[DERTECH]

I have done the following:
1. A scandisk.
2. Performed a virus scan on the drive with Symantecs most
recent definitions (turned up nothing.)
3. Reset BIOS with no positive results.
4. Renamed ntldr and ntdetect on HD & replaced with copies
from floppy disk.
5. Screamed in desperation.


BTW, these things are being done on an xcopy of the original drive, so if there was physical damage to the area where the boot files exist, it should not be a factor on the new drive.

I do have another NT server with the same HW configuration (it's the one I've been doing the troubleshooting on), so if josesc could send me the imaging program, maybe that could be helpful.

 

[SteelDragon]

Ok, the xcopy drive will never work... here's why... You gotta reload that puppy... make an image of your good server and reimage the bad server, use either norton Ghost, or PowerQuest Drive Image. Your boot sector is blank... Xcopy will NOT re-write your boot sector. Another thing, If you can slave it and save any unique data, do it now before it's too late. Norton Ghost will NOT run on NT server, but there is a way around that... run it on a 9x box or an NT wks, and slave the server, make the image, slave the bad server, image the drive. Done, server should be fine after that.(personally I'd look at both programs and decide which will go further in the long run for you before you purchase.

Good Luck,
SteelDragon

 

[josesc]

do yu have any ftp server avaiable that I can send?, or by e-mail.

 

[DERTECH]

Not having luck with Ghost or PowerQuest. Ghost keeps giving me a write secto error. PowerQuest is going so far- I don't think though that it should take 12 hours (time remaining) to image a 3 gig drive. Both programs are being run from boot disks and have worked with NT drives in the past.

Where I am at is that I don't have an image of the original drive. What do you all think about backing up the original drive and restoring it on a new build?

WRT josesc... please e-mail me your program and more detailed instructions at rcitech@rcipo.com.

Thanks for all the help!!!!!!!!!

 

[SteelDragon]

If you have no image, backing up and restoring will work, you just need to be cautious of registry entries, and if you should backup and restore them or not. If you are having serious issues I most likely would say no. If you don't you will have to re-install you apps so they create reg keys, and then you can restore their directories over top of the new install to restore your data. I realize this is a time intensive process, and may not be the way you want to go, but at this point it may be the best way to go, rather than wasting more time trying to fix what you've got. I'm sorry to hear that you must go down this road, I've been there before, and it's not fun. Hope everything works out for you.

Good Luck,
SteelDragon