Wadders
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 posted on 24/6/10 at 05:21 PM |
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computer help needed
My main puter has thrown a strop, could do with some help from you clued up folks.
original symptoms as follows:
O/S is XP Pro
Very slow to boot, and would then hang, although you could still move the mouse pointer. Also noticed a smiley icon on the toolbar, (which i thought
could be a virus, but might actually be something thats always been there, and is unconnected)
Booted in safe mode a couple of times, but then it went into a continual cycle of trying to boot, but never gets to a windows screen.
Booted from an XP CD, and tried the 'repair existing operating system' option, no good still cycles on boot up.
There is a message about can't find xxxxx, but its so fast i can't read it.
The hard drive is partitioned , so i have installed a fresh copy of XP Pro and the machine runs ok from this.
Am i right in thinking some of the files required to boot the system are corrupt or missing? If so how do i fix it? can i simply copy and paste the
relevant files from the second XP installation.
If i do a fresh install over the original O/S i'm guessing i will lose stuff?
Answers please, very slowly in terms a computer numpty can digest.
TIA
Al.
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dlatch
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 06:03 PM |
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sounds very virus related to me
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RichardK
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 06:16 PM |
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bung in the cd and 1 of the options is recovery console, it'll eventually take you to a screen that looks like a dos prompt box, just type
fixboot and press return should fix most boot file issues.
You may have complicated matters by installing another os onto another drive though. During the boot process are you getting a menu asking which os
to boot into?
Cheers
Rich
Gallery updated 11/01/2011
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Wadders
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 06:30 PM |
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[Edited on 24/6/10 by Wadders]
[Edited on 24/6/10 by Wadders]
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jossey
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 06:57 PM |
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if your still stuck let me know i have a cd to give you the admin password you can pop in for a copy. it will just reset the password for you to one
you know.
i work for an IT company in leeds if you need help.
dave
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McLannahan
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 07:01 PM |
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If you press F8 just after the computer boots you should (if you have SP2 installed) be able to disable the automatic restart.
Choose "Disable automatic restart on system failure" and then you should be able to see the error rather than it flashing by too fast to
read.
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Wadders
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 07:12 PM |
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Thanks for the help guys.
Iv'e got past the admin password by typing my first name??? done the bootfix thingy, but its still the same loop if i try to boot from the
original o/s
The option to disable the loop de loop is not there when i press f8, so i guess i'm on an early version of XP pro.
bollox i hate computers
Al
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britishtrident
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 07:49 PM |
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I had a PC with the same symptoms last week --- afrer getting it to boot found nasty some malware --- phoney virus checker that hijacked hosts
file.
Boot from your cd rom and cancel the installation to get a command prompt. At the command prompt type chkdsk c: /f
and hit return.
Then reboot and try a repair installion.
If you have trouble getting into safe mode try pulling the mains plug out as windows starts.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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Dusty
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 08:56 PM |
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Boot into you new working partition and download malwarebytes. Install and use it to to scan the non functioning partition. If you can't connect
to the internet then use another computer to download and put it on a memory stick to transfer.
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BenB
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 09:42 PM |
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Shagged memory or a knackered PSU will do the same. Try burning a memtest86 iso CD and boot from it. That'll give your memory and CPU a work
out.... Or booting from a linux CD and run something nice and processor hungry to test the power supply...
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Wadders
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 09:57 PM |
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Thats interesting Ben, cos as well as the boot problem, the machine is running really hot as well.
I keep getting the 'beep' beep' beep ' warning and a temp on the front display of up to 38 degrees.
This is with the computer sat on a desk in free air with the top and side case off.
All the internal fans are running ok, and its doing sod all processing so i guess somethings amiss hardware wise, dunno if its connected to the other
problem.
Have got a big desk fan blowing on it at the moment, and its dropped to 17 degrees.
Am running the malaware program suggested by Dusty at the minute, will try your suggestion when its finished scanning.
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.
If it didn't have important stuff on, it might have gone on a date with mr hammer before now!
Al
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Wadders
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 10:18 PM |
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH bastard computers.
Still on a loop, no malaware detected.
Mr big hammer is getting closer by the minute!!
Any more ideas
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Hellfire
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 10:26 PM |
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Hey Al.... calm down!!!
I'm in Brighouse tomorrow morning - I'll give you a call when I've done my appointment... I'll sort it for you!
Steve
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iank
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| posted on 24/6/10 at 11:36 PM |
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You can get that kind of overheating if one of the processor heatsink clips is loose. The processor slows itself right down to prevent damage fairly
quickly during boot.
Worth the 10seconds it takes to check.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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