Computer question - In other words...HELP!!

[Ed62]

About 6 months ago, I had a problem that seemed to clear itself up. Don't even remember exactly what it was doing.

This morning, I tried to start my computer, but it wouldn't get to the point where I could choose my username (Windows XP). I'm now on another computer. After trying different things, I thought I'd try to boot from my Windows XP CD. I get as far as "Windows setup", but it stops there. I kind of think I have a bad hard drive. Any opinions on that? Is there anything else I could try? Thanks for any suggestions. Luckily, I have a fairly recent backup of the important files.

Ed

[MilDoc]

Do the POST beeps tell you anything? What's the last thing you see on the screen? Could be a bad HD, or a corrupted file too.

[Ed62]

They don't tell me anything. The last thing I see is "Setup is starting Windows". Thanks for a quick reply. The ink wasn't even dry before I saw it.

Ed

[MilDoc]

Sounds like your HD is spinning up, starting, then stalling. I'd bet on a corrupt file, or HD sectors. Since this computer won't start, if you can pull the drive, put it in another computer, and test it, that's the way I'd go. There are some downloadable programs that will test the disc as is and run from a CD. If it's not too bad, you could format and reuse.

[Ed62]

If I'm trying to start it from the original Windows XP Cd, wouldn't that eliminate the possibility of a corrupt file? I don't know much about 'puters.

Ed

[LCHIEN]

the thing to do is to press F8 repeated while window is starting up and make it go into the BASIC mode where no drivers are loaded and just Windows is running with the merest of support (default VGA drivers, no netowrking etc) and see if it starts up. If it does, then some driver is killing you, you then need to select F8 startup options that will load drivers and announce them on screen and see which one stalls the 'puter.

[cgallery]

If the hard drive activity LED is illuminated when the machine hangs, then I would probably agree that it is likely you have a bad hard drive. Or at least some soft errors on it.

[MilDoc]

oops, sorry, didn't notice that you were talking abot a WinCD start. The above 2 suggestions are the thing to try, then perhaps a HD test from CD

[Ed62]

While using the f8 key, these are my choices:
Safe mode (tried that)
Safe mode with networking
Safe mode with command prompt

Enable boot logging
Enable VGA mode
Last known good config. (tried that)
Directory services restore mode (Windows domain controllers only)
Debugging mode
Disable auto restart on system failure

Start Windows normally (tried that)
Reboot
Return to OS choices menu (I only have XP)

[Ed62]

If the hard drive activity LED is illuminated when the machine hangs, then I would probably agree that it is likely you have a bad hard drive. Or at least some soft errors on it.

The LED blinks, but when the system hangs, the LED is off.

[cgallery]

(1) I'd shut the machine off and disconnect the hard drive. Then I'd try booting the Windows XP CD again and see if it gets past the "Startings Windows XP" message and allows you to proceed at least to the point where it tells you it can't find a hard drive to install on (of course it can't--you disconnected it).

(2) If that works, then you may want to download a utility that will erase the hard drive. Do this ONLY if you have all your important "crap" backed-up. If this is able to run w/o errors, you can reinstall Windows.

If #1 doesn't work, then I'd investigate problems w/ the motherboard/RAM/PS/Etc.

If #1 works but #2 doesn't, you hard drive may be bad.

[scorrpio]

The Windows XP CD is a Setup CD, not a startup disc. You should not be able to boot from it. A startup disc is the one that setup prompts you to create as one of final phases of XP install - something most of us skip.

It does look like your hard drive is starting to go bad. You'll want a new drive, just make sure to get a right one - i.e. an IDE if your system does not have SATA.

If you want confirmation, you can move the HDD to another PC and run a thorough scan on it there - just be sure that other PC has up-do-date virus protection, since 'bad hard drive' signs can sometimes be from a virus. Also, how filled up is your drive? XP needs some free space to properly operate, and if drive is jam-packed (something that also can be a product of virus activity), it won't boot.

Either way, HDDs are real cheap these days, you should be able to get a 160GB drive for under $50.

[cgallery]

The Windows XP CD is a Setup CD, not a startup disc. You should not be able to boot from it. A startup disc is the one that setup prompts you to create as one of final phases of XP install - something most of us skip.

You can actually boot a Windows XP disk. You can start installing a fresh system, perform repair installs, and run the recovery console this way.

[radhak]

Seeing that even the CD boot seems to not work, its possible your memory (RAM) has gone bad. Bad HDD should not stop you from booting from a CD.

To test RAM easiest is to try alternate RAM; this involves some prior experience opening up the box (or a bit of fearlessness, because really, you cannot break anything unless you get your hammer (or an angry mood) with you ). If you want we could step you thru the process.

What machine do you have?

And also, when you tried the Safe mode, what happened?

[Ken Massingale]

You can actually boot a Windows XP disk. You can start installing a fresh system, perform repair installs, and run the recovery console this way.

I believe the BIOS startup option has to be set to boot from CD first.