Windows corruption

[limegreenpatato]

Hi

I'm having a problem with my windows installation. When it starts up, half way through booting windows it gets and error message saying windows 200 couldn't start because the following file is missing or corrupt.

Usually i can fix this by booting with the windows setup disks and running chkdsk. This time however, when i try to boot with the disks, when it trys to start windows on disk 4 it gets an inaccessable boot device error?


Is there any way around this error, or does anyone know another way i could get in to run chkdsk?

 

[wolluf]

Recreate your bootable floppy set? You should get inaccessible boot device messages pertaining to the hard drive when boot from floppies.

Haven't you got a 2k install Cd - much easier starting recovery console from that?

Possibly (depending what you have available, need XP or 2k3 install disk) create a bartPE Cd - google to find.

If chkdsk can't fix it (is the file in question one of the registry hives, \winnt\system32\config\system, software, sam or security?), a repair reinstall might be needed - though you need 2k install CD for that:-

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;292175&Product=win2000

Alternatively, if you have run the backup utility, and created an ERD and backed up the registry at same time recently, there will be copies of the registry hives in \winnt\repair. However, if you haven't these will be from either original install or last service pack (so replacing live ones with these in that case would probably cause more problems than it solved). You'd need a method of accesing filestore of course (recovery console, BartPE or slaving the drive in another machine come to mind).