OK, so I'm happily running Windows XP Media Center for about four years or so. Then one fine day Microsuck decides that I really need Internet Explorer 8 and pushes it out in an auto-update.

Now, the last time I tried to install IE8 it did not work at all, and I ended up rolling back to IE7. So I try it again. This time it seems to install, but my computer does not shut down for the reboot correctly.

The next time I try it, it won't boot up at all. It gets to the "Choose which operating system you want to boot" screen and hangs. Last Known Good will not work. System Recovery Console will not load. The recovery CD I made in case of such emergencies will not load.

When I try the recovery CD, it hangs at "Setup is testing your hardware configuration."

Now, I suspect my hard drive is fragged, but the fact that it won't boot from the boot CD makes me less than 100% sure of this. Even if the hard drive is utterly toast, it should still boot from the CD enough to tell me this, right?

If it is the hard drive that is fragged, I could probably buy and install a new hard drive myself without paying the computer store a butt load of money. However, re-installing Windows, particularly XP which Microsuck is trying to get people to move away from sounds like it would be a huge pain in the ass and I would still have to find a way to get the data from my old hard drive off.

Any advice you can give on this?

Sounds like the drive has physically failed or something evil has has happened to some system files windows needs to boot.

First I'd confirm your drive is physically okay. Download a utility from the manufacturer of your HD to veryify each block/sector/etc on the HD. Or at a minimum maybe try a windows scan disk.

If windows is still there, just can't load right, the partition is still formatted well, you might be able to install windows over the top of itself. I know it's an ugly solution, but it will let you to have a semi-fresh install with most of your programs still there just as long as the installation doesn't format or delete before it installs. Obviously the main goal is to not have to install Windows though.

If you could provide more information as to exactly what happens when it attempts to boot but fails, that would be very helpful in farther hypothesizing.

When one pushes the power button, the screen comes up that says Press ESC for Boot Menu, press F1 for Setup, Press F10 for system restore. Then it changes to the screen that says "Choose Operating System" and "Highlighted Choice will start in X Seconds" with X being the number, usually 3. At this point, it counts down, and this is where the computer hangs. It does not matter if Windows XP Media Center Edition or System Recovery Console is chosen.

When I try to boot the recovery CD, I see that initial screen, and then it says "Setup is checking your computer's hardware configuration..." and that is where it hangs.

Is your CD a real XP install CD or a "recovery" CD supplied by the hardware manufacturer?. If it's a recovery CD then all bets are off. Get yourself a real XP CD.

Assuming it's are real XP CD:

Disconnect your hard drive then try to boot with the CD. If it gets past "Setup is checking your computer's hardware configuration..." then you know your hard drive is screwed or your filesystem is heavily damaged. If it still hangs then you have other hardware issues. Use memtest and try removing hardware until it boots properly into the install.

For recovering your data get a USB enclosure or just put the drive into another PC. If it shows up great, copy your data. If not then try doing what trent suggested and test the drive with the manufacturer's utility. If at all possible make an image of the drive before using chkdsk or other filesystem repair utility.

Well, if I have to replace the hard drive, I'd have to disconnect it anyway. I've been extremely loathe to open the case because the wife does not like me monkeying with our shared system too much. However, as it doesn't work anyway and she has a laptop I don't think she will find it that objectionable. Worth a shot anyway.

I'm confused about your 'choose operating system' thing. Did you have a multi-boot setup where you could pick an operating system, or is this something new that your windows-only installation never asked before?

For the "Press ESC for Boot Menu, press F1 for Setup, Press F10 for system restore" that sounds like it's something the restore CD/XP cd asks. Is this menu coming up with no CD in the drive or is this your restore CD doing it?


I'm confused because typically when Windows dies I usually see one of the following:
-The MBR is totally corrupted and you get the BIOS asking for a boot device.
-If the MBR works, windows attempt to loads and either blue screen's or has some type of other failure.


If you goto the restore menu on the recovery disc and it locks the machine up, that might be a sign of a bad HD or corrupted file system if when accessing it, it locks up.

I also agree of Washu's idea of booting the XP disk without a HD connected is a good way of verifying if it might be other hardware causing the problem.

My guess is that your hardware works, you have a good MBR, but corrupted file system (Result: re-install loss of all data)
OR
You're HD has partially failed resulting in a corrupted file system (Result: re-install loss of all data)


I've repair MBR's before without data loss, but never filesystems. After 4 years, it'll probably be nices to get a fresh copy installed anyway.

I read the thread title as "narwhals" at first and got wicked excited

http://farm4.stati...8_9ab62fbe94_o.jpg

The "Choose Operating System" screen comes up with a choice between Windows XP Media Center edition and Windows Recovery Console - I don't believe it actually says "choose operating system" so much as choose which one I want to load. Either way, it never does anything after that.

Posted by willskith I read the thread title as "narwhals" at first and got wicked excited http://farm4.stati...8_9ab62fbe94_o.jpg

I don't know, those things do look like they could screw up your system pretty good if they got hold of it.

Posted by willskith I read the thread title as "narwhals" at first and got wicked excited http://farm4.stati...8_9ab62fbe94_o.jpg

OMG, that's great!

Posted by Watcher The "Choose Operating System" screen comes up with a choice between Windows XP Media Center edition and Windows Recovery Console - I don't believe it actually says "choose operating system" so much as choose which one I want to load. Either way, it never does anything after that.

Oh, okay, now I think I know what you're talking about. I would just always set the delay for mine to 0 seconds so it'd just auto load widows... That's why I wasn't familiar.

Ok, that's helpful. That means your master boot record (MBR) on the HD appears to be functional.

So yah, it's either the file system on the HD, the HD itself, or other hardware.

-You can rule out the other hardware by booting the XP disk
-You can rule out HD failure by downloading a boot disk from the manufacturer to verify each sector on the disk.

-If both of the above succeed and don't show any problems (they probably wont), then it's just a standard your windows installation is hosed and you need to reformat/reinstall windows. (though I'd guess I'd try some recovery console things first, but they seem to not be working for you)

Windows XP getting corrupt and needing to be reinstalled happens all the time on my moms pc. I don't know why ... never happens to my laptop only their desktop; it just does. I blame my sister.

Another quickthing to check: Go into your BIOS and make sure AHCI is disabled.

Posted by TheVicariousVadder Windows XP getting corrupt and needing to be reinstalled happens all the time on my moms pc. I don't know why ... never happens to my laptop only their desktop; it just does.

You might have marginally bad RAM. Doesn't do anything unless something important for the OS gets put there. I'd run memtest for a few hours and see what comes up. Or...

I blame my sister.

This is what limited accounts are for.

Another quickthing to check: Go into your BIOS and make sure AHCI is disabled.

If the ACHI setting was changed then he would get a bluescreen, though it might only appear for a second. It also wouldn't prevent an XP install disk from booting, just installing.

Posted by Washu You might have marginally bad RAM. Doesn't do anything unless something important for the OS gets put there. I'd run memtest for a few hours and see what comes up. Or... This is what limited accounts are for.

Hers is as restricted as I can get it. But it doesn't matter. My mom let's her go through the main account to install xyz-programs... If they won't practice safe computing I'm not fixing it.

Windows Steady State is another option I've considered but am too lazy to deal with.

If the ACHI setting was changed then he would get a bluescreen, though it might only appear for a second. It also wouldn't prevent an XP install disk from booting, just installing.

True. but that one tripped me up for a good 20 minutes.

Assuming it will boot from the Setup disk if the hard drive is disconnected, how might I go about seeing if it is possible to salvage any data from the hard drive before re-formatting it or whatever I have to do? I'm not terribly hopeful that this is possible, but there are a few files on there that I would like to have if I can get to them.

Hook the drive up as a slave drive on another functional computer.

Attempt to boot into a command line and copy files to something like a floppy disk (lol).

Posted by Watcher Assuming it will boot from the Setup disk if the hard drive is disconnected, how might I go about seeing if it is possible to salvage any data from the hard drive before re-formatting it or whatever I have to do? I'm not terribly hopeful that this is possible, but there are a few files on there that I would like to have if I can get to them.

Do as trent suggested and put it in another computer. You can also use a USB drive enclosure / adapter. You can get a universal USB drive adapter for about $30.

If the drive appears OK on another computer then just copy your data. If it doesn't show up properly, try taking an image of the drive before you attempt any repairs. If you can image the drive without issues then 99% chance the drive is fine and its just filesystem corruption.

Posted by Washu You can also use a USB drive enclosure / adapter. You can get a universal USB drive adapter for about $30. If the drive appears OK on another computer then just copy your data. If it doesn't show up properly, try taking an image of the drive before you attempt any repairs. If you can image the drive without issues then 99% chance the drive is fine and its just filesystem corruption.

Good point.

Posted by Washu You can also use a USB drive enclosure / adapter. You can get a universal USB drive adapter for about $30.

Where might I obtain one of these fine products? Most of the computer stores that I know of do not carry them.

Posted by Watcher Where might I obtain one of these fine products? Most of the computer stores that I know of do not carry them.

This is the specific one I have and it works great. There are other similar devices made by other companies as well.

http://www.newegg....em=N82E16812232002