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Solve : PC won't start or boot up Windows XP? |
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Answer» Hi. I'm from Down Under in Oz (Australia) and am a fair 'old' novice when it comes to PC's and how they work.... as I usually rely on my Work Helpdesk to sort out any IT issues I might have but this time around the problem is with my Home PC. But I've been told that my PC specs will determine what capacity HDD I can up size to? Another PC salesman told me that as my PC is a HP ... I will need to contact HP to purchase a genuine HP HDD?Both of these statements are wrong. You can add any size hard drive that you want made by any manufacturer that you choose. Looks like the motherboard has both SATA and IDE connectors for an additional hard drive. See which ports are available and pick a SATA or IDE hard drive of your choosing. As an aside, if you just want more storage, you may want to consider another external drive. But, let's get you operational, first 5) In case an operating system "recovery" is in order, you may want to consider an external, USB enclosure for your current hard drive. That way you can remove the drive from your system, place it in the enclosure and connect it to another computer to recover your data. Of course, you can connect the drive internally to another computer, as well, and recover your data. In either case, you will need an enclosure or computer that will have a SATA interface for the drive. The last time I check HP/Compaq only came with a recovery CD that normal wipes the pc and restores it to the factory setting. Since I know you want to keep your data. I believe you have two options. You could : 1. go out a buy a new hard drive install that and put the current drive in a USB enclosure or just make it your secondary drive. 2. Buy and run a copy of Spinrite from GRC which will most likely recover the drive and the information but cost as much as a new drive($80 us) and will take a few days to run.I've just followed Carbon Dudeoxide advice and that of drmsucks' advice in #2 below i.e. powered down and removed everything but the key board... but alas to no avail. That is... the same message on the black screen reappears. I did though once again try the Last Known Good Configuration... and as before (though I didn't mention it in my first post) ... the PC brings up the Windows XP Home Edition Screen with the horizontal loading bar ... but it only lasts about 2 - 3 seconds before the monitor goes black, followed by the Compaq screen and then the message screen (and CONTINUES to loop through this order of screens until I close down the PC by holding in the Power button for about 7 seconds). In regard to #3 ... no I do not have the original Windows XP Home Edition (SP2) CD... as I purchased the PC second HAND and it didn't come with the installation disk. On reflection probably this wasn't a smart way to buy a PC but with five kids at home I took a punt on spending less and up until about now its been a good decision. I'm pleased with the advice in #4... as it seems I have no alternative but to follow the process set out in #5... which seems sound. Though I assume I will need to find another solution re not having the original Windows XP installation CD. If anyone has any other alternative advice I'd also be happy to hear it? By the way is there any chance a virus or Trojan could be the culprit to my problem? Or is it likely to be a hardware failure or software conflict issue with Windows XP? Though I can google it ... but what exactly is a "USB enclosure" for a hard drive? Many thanks As was said HP/Compaq doesn't ship with an OS disc, but instead come with a recovery disc. This recovery disc doesn't have the OS on it either. It accesses a partition on the HDD where there is a copy of the default factory system resides. If you have the computer model and serial number (not sure if you even need the serial number) you can buy get a recovery disc from HP. Unfortunately the recovery disc will reinstall everything back to factory default and you will lose your files. As "CCG" said you might be able to recover your files by installing a new HDD but you'll have to also buy a new full copy of XP or? and then set the old drive up as a slave and you might be able to access the files. A USB enclosure for a HDD is an external enclosure that your HDD would install into and than you would have a USB cable to connect it to your computer. It is the same as an external HDD.Another option if you just can't live without your files is to take the computer to a Tech or Repair (that knows what they are doing) and they can try using the XP recovery console from an XP disc and they would be able to repair the Master Boot Record, Boot.ini, etc and possibly rebuild the registry and that might get you back up. Many thanks for all the advice given. As I don't want to lose my existing data I will be follwing the advice of drmsucks & joefido. Fortunately I have some younger & clueier friends ... and with the advice given ... I'm sure I'll finally get there with a bit of effort & help. So again many thanks to all that has given some input to my issue. I guess though I'm still a littel unsure what caused the probelm in the first place... as I was my 16 y.o. son that was using our PC when this probelm emerged? Cheers Carey - 1) A USB hard drive enclosure was explained by joefido and would be like this: http://www.amazon.com/Antec-MX-100-Aluminum-Enclosure-Drive/dp/B000XQDTRW/ref=pd_cp_hg_2?pf_rd_p=413863501&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0007LXR3E&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JQHMR4PWNT8RBGHB8QZ. I know that you are from down under so used an Amazon link - can you guys buy from Amazon? In any event, you would need an enclosure for a 3.5" SATA drive. I'm sure that you can get one at a large electronics store. The external enclosure is not an 'answer' to the problem, but, rather, a means to save your data. 2) The problem, as you described it, is probably not virus related; probably not 16 year old son related, either! Nothing wrong with holding in the power switch if a computer 'freezes.' But, with any 'non-normal' shutdown (power failure, holding in the power switch, etc) there is a risk of file/data corruption on the hard drive. 3) You don't need to own an XP CD; can you borrow someone's disk? Be sure that it is an SP2 disk. We would use it to perform some "repair" operations. 4) If you can't get an XP SP2 disk, I would remove the hard drive and recover the data from it. Then I would re-install the hard drive into the computer and invoke the Recover operation (F10?). This will erase (delete) everything on the drive and put the machine in the software state (including XP) that it was in at the time of first purchase. Your current problem should now be gone. You will need to re-install your programs and data and update Windows. Be sure to install and update an antivirus program before you access the internet. (There are many free anti-malware programs, ask if you would like to know where to get them.) 5) For futures, you may want to check with HP on the price of recovery CD's for your system. Contrary to suggestions above, these recovery CD's will be able to restore your computer to its original state, including the operating system. In the event of a hard drive failure, you will need CD's because the 'recovery partition' (F10) on the hard drive will not be accessible. 6) Best of luck and let us know how you make out!Hi drmsucks Many, many thanks for your comprehensive advice... and in short I tried to follow your advice in Point 3... but alas as yet my PC is still not up & running. Anyway as it currently stands ... I went to a trusted friend that's helped me before with my PC ... as the plan was to use his Windows XP HE SP2 install disk to hopefully 'repair' the corrupted file(s) ... as per your advice ... without the need of first extracting the HDD, copy (save) the needed files, etc. Anyway, in short, despite CHANGING the BIOS to read the CD-ROM drive first on start up; followed next by disconnecting the HDD from the motherboard ... each and every time we got the same message: "CDBOOT: Can't find NTLDR" What we expected (hoped) to see was a message like "Press any key to boot from the CD..." and then follow it from there to hopefully repair the corrupted file(s). Please note his disk wasn't an "original" ... though he advised me he had used it many times to good effect on his own PC). So I'm guessing my next step is to follow your Point 4... as I know (or at least I assume) the F10 - PC Recovery Option is still an available solution to me ... as the PC will open up to a HP "PC Recovery" PAGE / screen (presumably from the partitioned area on the HDD) .. .though I haven't pressed the "continue" button for fear of auto starting a process that will wipe all of my data & files. As I still might be a little ways off in organising the saving of my files from my existing HDD ... to get my PC going it as simple as purchasing a new SATA HDD and having it formatted & Windows XP SP2 installed? Or can I expect some other unforeseen problem in getting it going i.e. a motherboard issue or somethin else. I apologise for my ignorance in these matters ... but as I stated in my first post a week ago I'm a real novice when it comes to PC and how they work ... but have picked up some new learning in the last week!! Many thanks in anticipation. Cheers I'm sorry that your friend's efforts did not solve your problem; not unusual to have issues with a non-genuine Windows CD, however. I think that there are now three logical courses of action, assuming that you cannot borrow a genuine XP SP2 disk: 1) Remove your existing hard drive and place it in a USB enclosure or another computer to recover data; then place it back into the your computer and do an F10 Recovery. 2) Purchase Recovery disks from HP; then you can 'Recover' onto a new hard drive. 3) Purchase Windows XP and install it onto a new hard drive. Of course, 2) and 3) can be installed onto the old hard drive, as well. Quote from: carey57 on August 31, 2008, 11:48:58 PM Or can I expect some other unforeseen problem in getting it going i.e. a motherboard issue or somethin else.There are no guarantees - most likely the issue is a corruption of key Windows files, but, there could be other causes. From the sequence of events that seemed to have caused the problem, I would not suspect the motherboard. But, in the event that I am wrong, and there is some hardware problem, I would choose option 1 because it is the cheapest. Further, I would have my friend put the drive into his machine (assuming he has a SATA port; and, assuming you trust him to see your data) and recover the data onto a portable hard drive, flash drive, website or CD's. While the hard drive is in his machine, he can download the diagnostic software from the drive manufacturer's website and test the drive - potentially, the software could 'fix' the files. But, back up your data first I know that you had contemplated the purchase of a new hard drive before this problem and that now might seem like an appropriate time to get one. I would urge you to be sure that the system is 'back to normal' before you spend the money. Be sure to let us know what you did and how you made out. If you have any questions, please ask. |
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