Hi All,
This site was a good help, so I'd like to briefly outline what worked for me after many a wasted hour on this crappy problem.
There are similar posts here but the more solutions the better I spose:
- I had the bsod: ntfs.sys stop error
- I have a single NTFS SATA (maxtor200g) hardrive (Sil3112 chip, GA-8KNXP Mobo)
- WinXP Pro SP2
I tried the knoppix solution to no avail, although it could read by ntfs disk. See the link earlier in this thread - and make sure to 'su' for those before getting the read-only error when using ntfsfix /dev/whatever.
MY SOLUTION
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So, I dutifully downloaded the XPsp2 pro 6 disk floppy creator from MS -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=55820EDB-5039-4955-BCB7-4FED408EA73F
Then, time to edit the txtsetup.si_ (not .sif) on the boot disk #1. Yes, it's compressed so won't be editable in notepad right away. I just extracted using winrar (trial version - free), but others say you can use dos expand. Either way you are left with a plain-text file. Open that with notepad, delete any empty lines from the top which the uncompress may have left. Then search for the part:
[FileSystems.Load]
fat = fastfat.sys
;ntfs = ntfs.sys
and add the semi-colon as shown above.
Now, save this edited file as txtsetup.sif on the floppy where the original file was, and delete the original.
NOW!
If you have a sata disk, you'll need SATA drivers. I used the non-RAID one from here - for my gigabyte mobo:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=1630
Put all of this on a (7th!) floppy.
THEN!
autochk.exe is a routine needed by chkdsk, but it's not on the xp boot floppies, or at least mine wasn't found, so I copied it from /windows/system32/ onto another (8th) floppy from my friend's computer - xp pro.
You can probably find it somwhere on the internet if you don't have another windows machine handy. Or get someone to email it to you..etc.
So, now you should have either 7, or 8 disks ready to go, (8 if you have sata drivers on one.)
OK, go into bios, and set the first boot device to floppy.
Start loading setup from the floppies.
Hit F6 if you have SATA when it mentions SCSI/RAID stuff. Nothing will happen, yet, but after disk 5 or 6 you will be asked about the SCSI/DiskController. Press S, then insert you SATA driver disk. Press Enter. Now back to the loading...snore...
Eventually it will say 'welcome to setup blah blah'. DON'T HIT F10. That would start an install. Press 'R' and cross your fingers.
Hopefully you will get a prompt. If you don't, then your SATA disk may not have been found - your drivers may be wrong.
Assuming you have a prompt - well done!
Type 'dir'
Mine said 'An error occurred during directory enumeration..'
but that's OK! Cos we already knew the disk was shagged.
The thing we've all been waiting for:
chkdsk c: /p
It will say, (for me, after a couple of mins):
"AUTOCHK.EXE could not be located..."
"Type the full path..."
So put in your autochk.exe floppy, and type in:
a:\autochk.exe
and away we go...
Now I'm no expert on chkdsk, and I'm not even sure if the /p option does fixes - some posts say it does, some say it doesn't. But, the /r option certainly does, but it takes a VERY long time. I ran chkdsk c: /r and went to bed. Next morning it had finished.
I ran chkdsk /p in the morning and it said there were still errors, but when I pulled out the floppy, and restarted windows, it loaded.
Done.
LESSONS LEARNT:
I'm going to make myslef defrag, and run chkdsk about every month as a result.
I shall never buy a Maxtor HD again (I believe it is doing bad writes occasionally, corrupting the ntfs.sys), although I hear seagate are buying them or already have (?) so maybe quality will go up.
Hope this helps someone.
Gazza