Failure after XP loading screen

OneZ

Posts: 66   +0
Hi,
My dad's PC was working good, today i tried to switch it on, but after XP loading screen appears it shows a blue screen ( can't read it ) and immediately restart. I tried safe mode and last know configuration but none worked ( same problem ). I tried the hard disk on another PC but same problem. I connected it to my PC and and did a full scan of viruses and error checking but nothing worked.

Any advices ? I really don't want to go through format and applications setup again :)

Thanx in advance.....
 
If I understand you correctly...
  • The computer will not start normally.
  • The computer will not start in safe mode.
  • The drive will not work to boot another computer.
  • However, set up as a slave, you are able to read the drive and scan it for viruses.
If I have understood you correctly, it sounds like a corrupted windows installation.
The drive likely would not work to boot another computer, because of the need for different drivers.

Questions:
1. What changed between working and non-working?
2. What was the last thing done while it was working?
3. While connected to your computer as a slave, can you find the windows\minidump directory?
If the answer to #3 is "yes", please zip and upload the most recent of your minidump files. (up to five)

Please tell us more about the computer also
(especially the Hardware and the software that is configured to run at start - like firewall and av, {and anything else, like quicktime, etc}).

There are several of us here who will be happy to try to help.
 
Sorry for this answer, and i know there is a way to fix this problem but it can get pretty in depth because i seen someone fix one of these problems before. But me personally ive seen this about 3 times while working on alot of computers and the easiest and quickest fix , is to plug it into another computer get whatever data u need off of it and then reformat the drive and reinstall windows.
 
[*] The computer will not start normally.
[*] The computer will not start in safe mode.
[*] The drive will not work to boot another computer.
[*] However, set up as a slave, you are able to read the drive and scan it for viruses.
That's right.

Questions:
1. What changed between working and non-working?
I think a power failure. The electricity went down suddenly in my house, and this PC has no UPS.

2. What was the last thing done while it was working?
Nothin, it was just on windows and no applications were running.

3. While connected to your computer as a slave, can you find the windows\minidump directory?
I've attached the file.

Please tell us more about the computer also
(especially the Hardware and the software that is configured to run at start - like firewall and av, {and anything else, like quicktime, etc}).
It runs Windows XP SP2. It's kinda old PC, my dad use it to check mail and for Microsoft Office. Antivirus is AVG Free Edition. At startup the only things that run are AV, WinFax. Windows Firewall is active.

I really appreciate you efforts m8. Thank you very much.
 

Attachments

  • Minidump.zip
    99.7 KB · Views: 3
Okay... the power failure makes it pretty certain that your OS installation got messed up.
I would recommend saving all your important data / files to another drive, then

I see evidence of memory corruption in your minidumps. Your power failure may have damaged your memory.
So First, I would strongly suggest that you start with Memtest.
Please follow this guide... https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

Please note that (unless you start getting errors reported) you will need to let this run a long time.
A good way of doing this is to let it run over night. In each 'pass" there are a series of eight memory tests that are run, each more complicated than the previous. The recommendation used to me that you need to let it run a minimum of 7 passes, unless you start getting errors. We are now recommended at least 10 or 11 full passes. If you have errors reported, you may want to re-run the test with only one stick of ram installed, checked each stick until you isolate those that are faulty. That way you can limit your replacement to those that actually need it. Although some prefer to install matched sticks.

Let us know the results.

Then Repair your windows installation.
1. Try a repair install of your os.
2. If that fails, then reinstall your OS.

Also, there are major security flaws in SP2. So, after you repair or reinstall, be sure to update to SP3.
 
Thanx for ur time m8,

Anyway, the PC stopped running at all, i think it's a power problem with either the Power Supply or the Mother Board, so i took it to the repair shop, they said it could take 3-7 days while they diagnose it.

My question is, can i install Windows over my current installation to avoid reinstalling applications ? I remeber that i was able to that once.....

And is it ok to install Windows on this Hard Disk while it's on my PC then move it to my dad's PC ? I remember that installing Windows on a Hard Disk while it's on a PC then move the Hard to another PC may coz problem due to incompatibility with bios or something, is that correct ?

Thanx again for your time.....
 
It is highly unlikely (unless the machines are the same, or very nearly the same)
that you would have success installing the os on one machine and transporting it to the other.
As you have (nearly) surmised, it is a matter of the drivers (rather than bios) that are installed for the particular machine.

You took the machine for service, without a drive? Are they going to install one?
How do they think they will know when it is fixed?

As for your other question... sometimes it is possible to do a repair install,
but it is always best to back up your data first.
If your repair is successful, no harm done,
but if not... then you will be installing from scratch, and then you lose all currently installed software.

Only exception I can think of at the moment would be if the drive were partitioned... For example.
Partition 1: OS
Partition 2: Program Files
Partition 3: Data Files
 
They called me today and told me they replaced the Power Supply, so i'm gonna take it back today. No they r not going to install any new Hard Disk.

As u said, i have the Hard partitioned, so no data will be lost, and i will try to do a repair installation first.

I'm thinking of buying a UPS ( 2 actually, one for me and one for my dad's PC ), there is 2 brands available here, EAST and Tripplite, i have 2 types in mind:

http://www.eastups.com/en/product.show.asp?typeid=78&id=191
http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=936&txtModelID=2697

as u can see the first one is 750w power rating and has LCD, the second one has 500w power ratings and just LEDs, and the second one is more expensive ( 2x the price of first one ), so what do u suggest ?

Thanx for ur time.....
 
Either should be fine. I have always used APC products, and have been satisfied.
I also like the way APC provides warranty protection for your computer.
APC products may or may not be available where you are?

For me, the point of a UPS is to provide opportunity to do an orderly shutdown in event of power loss.
So I have not seen a need for the "high power" units.
For me, anything that will provide 10 minutes or so will be plenty adequate.
For Businesses who need to stay up 24/7, without loss of computer time, they should have a "backup power generation" in addition.
 
Hi,
I'm trying to do a repair installation but when i boot from CD i got the " inspecting your computer's hardware configuration " then a blank screen and stuck on it. I tried booting from another CD-Rom but same happened.
 
I was able to solve this problem by setting the Hard Disk to Cap Limit, but this caused another problem which is Windows Setup doesn't see the previous installation and it only see one partition with 32GB size (this Hard is 320GB. Partitioned to C,D,E ).
By the way, the system file format is NTFS.

When I connect the Hard to my PC it seems ok, i mean i can see the three partitions with full space.
 
In order to solve the last issue i connected the Hard to my PC and started the repair installation, after the setup copied all files and restarted the PC, i switched it off and moved the Hard to my dad's PC and turned it on. The installation continued and everything seemed fine. After the installation completed the computer restarted, and when it started to load XP the same original issue happened again :S

I don't wanna format and reinstall and then get the same problem again.....
 
Having re-reivewed your posts, and re-reviewed your minidumps,
I am coming back to a hardware issue with your original machine.
Why the tech's who replaced your PSU would not have found this too is beyond me.
The test is simple enough and can be run unattended.

Two of the dumps specifically cite memory corruption.
The other three are bugcheck 24 which usually points to faulty ram.

SO, I need to suggest, again...

Your power failure may have damaged your memory, or perhaps components on the mainboard...

SO, I would strongly suggest that you test with Memtest.
Please follow this guide... https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

Please note that (unless you start getting errors reported) you will need to let this run a long time.
A good way of doing this is to let it run over night. In each 'pass" there are a series of eight memory tests that are run, each more complicated than the previous. The recommendation used to me that you need to let it run a minimum of 7 passes, unless you start getting errors. We are now recommended at least 10 or 11 full passes. If you have errors reported, you may want to re-run the test with only one stick of ram installed, checking each stick until you isolate those that are faulty. That way you can limit your replacement to those that actually need it. (Although some prefer to install matched sticks.)

Let us know the results.
 
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