Windows XP fails to Boot Normally

[NewburyMan]

My Windows XP Home Edition SP1 fails to boot into Normal windows beyond the Windows Flag Start Up Screen and restarts itself to show a list of boot options. I can then only get it to boot by selecting Safe Mode.

We were hit by an virus in MSN Messenger a few days ago along with a flood of adware and malware etc., which Norton failed to catch. Went into Safe Mode to run Virus Scan and disabled System Restore as suggested by Norton. Found and removed infected files. Updated and ran AdAware and Spybot to remove everything else. All signs show PC is now completely clean. Went to restart in Normal mode again and it it failed to boot up and restarted itself to the page of boot options. Any advice on how to get back to the normal boot again would be much appreciated. Many thanks!

 

[Vigilante]

One of your boot options, I beleive, should say "Boot to Safe Mode with Command Prompt".
Run that, it should load normal Safe Mode but with a command line. Once in there, type "chkdsk /r /p" and see what happens.

If it errors, you might have to run it from Recovery Console. Boot from your XP CD and when it comes to a menu, choose the Recovery Console option with "R".

If you're sure the system is clean, it's always possible something on the HDD got hosed.
If this doesn't work, we'll have to explore more options to work from Safe Mode.

good luck

 

[NewburyMan]

I booted into Safe Mode with DOS prompt.
Entering "chkdsk /r /p" resulted in: "Invalid Parameter - /p"

Entering just "chkdsk /r" resulted in: "Cannot lock current drive" and "Chkdsk cannot run because volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule..."

Does this give any clues before I try to use the Recovery Console from the XP CD?

 

[Vigilante]

Oh sorry, it's "chkdsk /r /f " I think. In any case you can type "chkdsk /? " to see the options. There are two you want to use.
But ya, the drive is locked, you have to try it from Recovery Console. You'll need the Administrator account password if there is one.

So try it there, then tell us what happened.

 

[NewburyMan]

Thanks for the info. The damage had hit harder than I thought. I tried to use the Windows recovery disc but the option to repair was not available. I started in Safe Mode with Networking and managed to get it to link with my laptop so I could save all our work. The simplest and safest route in the end was to wipe the hard disc, reformat and install everything from scratch. It has taken me over a week (in between working!) but its great to have it all back up and running again (possibly better than before) :giddy:

 

[Vigilante]

Ya that must have been messed up pretty good. When the Repair option (recovery console) isn't available, it's pretty hosed up. Basically XP doesn't even see that there is an XP to "repair"! That's why it doesn't give you the option.

Glad it's up again. Keep an eye on your hard drive though. Check for errors occasionally.