[Resolved] HDD, XP troubleshooting. Win 7 repairs Win XP !

[majithia23]

Callin Nsane Guys ..

Ok this morning , i powered my dad's PC , but it did not turn on .

Has been faithfully serving us for about 12 years until now .

The Intel MoBo screen comes , and then the option of selecting the OS , after selecting MS XP , it goes all blank .

Nothing after that .

I carefully heard the sounds and the HDD sound was not regular . ( something like chikk......chikkkk.......chikkkk )

Suspected the HDD to be culprit .

Booted the PC into Hiren's and ran all the HDD tools , but as i suspected , no toll picked up the HDD .

BUT , strangely , then i booted into the Parted Magic utility and it WAS able to detect the HDD !

Ran the preliminary test and it reported drive to be OK .

But then ran the short drive test and it reported -- READ ERRORS !

And now thats it .

I m thinking of as to what options do i have right now .?

Is the drive any good ? Will it come back or revive by trying any tool or method ?

or

Its a waste to attempt anything and i better replace it ?

Wat say ?

thanks ...

[jimbojet2011]

10-4 got your message

Your HD is broken dude

It has the click of death so they cal it.

Your pc won't boot cause it cant boot from the HD

When you disconnect it it will boot.

Good luck

JJ

[jimbojet2011]

BTW the HD can be repaired if it can be acsessed.

Otherwise its the end of his live ( r.i.p.)

[majithia23]

No , i dont think the drive is entirely dead . Not until now .

As i said the Parted Magic did recognize the HDD and its partitions .

I ran some hits and trials , and now the PC starts but it reports - " Windows/System32/Config/System" file is missing and please start the recovery .

The thing is i dont have the XP install disc . But i did download the standalone recovery console , burned it onto the CD , booted into it , Its started , but then the PC had a Blue Screen !

Dont know why !

Any Idea ?

So i need to get hold of a XP install disc now .

So, can anyone please point me towards a tried tested clean copy of Windows XP ?

And also , i just ran the Windows 7 install disc and it too identifies the HDD and its partitions .

Its just that i dont want to install Win7 on this PC . Atleast for now .

[avmad]

It sounds to me like the HDD is dying. Best recover what's on it if possible.

I had a beeping message from mine a while back. I removed the RAM and Graphics card, gave it a clean and reinserted and everythings worked since.

A good software that might help (not sure as I haven't got round to using it yet) is SpinRite.http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

If system file is missing I suppose you'll need some recovery disk program or XP disk. :mellow:

[lazzser]

Hi, you can try to recover your data using some Linux LiveCD distro, like Ubuntu, Mint XFCE or some other. When your data is safe then you can use some product like HDD Regenerator to test/refresh the HD sectors. Sometimes works, sometimes don´t or the fixes do not last for very long time. Probably yout HD is showing it´s age, you should avoid using it for important stuff, and expect some catastrophic fail more sooner than later. So do backup often.

[avmad]

Ah double posted :rolleyes:

If you can boot into windows try the SFC scan and Check disk. :showoff:

[eurobyn]

use hd tune to check the harddisk

[majithia23]

Thanks to all you guys for the help and suggestions .

Me too think the Drive is dying .

Data loss is not that important , coz i have almost about 80% of the data on it backed up on my external HDD .

And i just ran Live Puppy Distro and it too successfully mounted the HDD . So i'll look for any other important stuff that yet remains to be backed up ,

but the irritating thing is to resolve this "file missing" issue .

Thanks to the links from other members i ll download the Install disc and try to rectify the missing file thing

or else perform a new clean XP install .

However i fear that if the Drive fails during the installation , coz formatting and installing OS is an intensive process !

[DKT27]

Missing files means sectors are damaged. Checkdisk or HDD Regenerator is the way to go.

[majithia23]

@D

I did ran HDD Regenerator . It reported 1 bad sector and also repaired it .

It was only after running HDD regenerator , that PC started up and displayed the message that this file is missing .

Before running this tool , the PC dint start at all , the screen jst remained black after the OS options screen .

To run the chkdsk tool , i need to run / enter into the recovery module that is only available on the install CD .

Will be downloading it tonight and run it in the morning .

Any other suggestions ....

[DKT27]

I see. HDD Regen to the rescue again. :D It atleast gives you a temporary solution.

I think any (un-stripped) good XP CD will do. On the positive side, XP CDs are just 700MB. :P

[circaal]

The file missing is a registry hive. So no chkdsk / windows repair / recovery disk is going to fix that. You would have to use a restore point. But I would boot from hiren's pop in a external hard drive drage data and get a new drive. Reload OS and copy data back over.

Now you can replace the hive through hiren's its a very easy process (granted you have restore points) but not worht it with a HDD thats 12+ years old

-BTY

[DKT27]

In that case SFC should work, if restore points aren't available. But for SFC on XP, one needs a CD.

[myidisbb]

could he take it the dying harddrive and dock it or slave it on another computer system to allow him to access his files he wants to keep?

[majithia23]

Allright , issue resolved .

The PC is back running on original HDD with original XP installation ! :)

But this proved to be a little tough cookie to crack .

A little synopsis of my today's adventures in the XP land ...!

>> HDD hardware error led to a Software OS error .

>> PC not booting .

>> HDD issue resolved with HDD Regenerator .

>> PC starts but now reports " Windows/System32/Config/System" file missing . :think:

>> Pop in the XP install disc and run the Recovery Console .

>> Attempt to recover the lost file . Reports success .

>> PC restarts , and now progresses to the Boot screen . BUT , again stucks without proceeding any further . Screen Black . Restarted 2 times and again same. :think:

>> I knew and thought System restore might resolve the issue . Boot into Safe Mode . FAILS . Gets stuck mid way w/o moving further . :mellow:

>> Decided to run System Restore via CMD in Recovery Console .

>> Jotted the commands and popped in the Install CD again . The Recovery Console this time asks for a ADMIN PASSWORD ! Fu@k ! There isnt any ! :wtf:

>> Hit and Trials . All failed .

>> Popped in the Hiren's and booted to NT Offline password resetter . FAILED . :mellow:

>> Booted to Oophcrack Live CD . FAILED . :mellow:

>> Was tired and almost on the brink of setting the PC on fire by now ! Decided to go for a format and clean install . :uhuh:

>> But just then a WILD Idea came out of some corner in my head . Recovery mode on Windows 7 Installation disc has a stand alone CMD utility !!! :idea:

>> Booted into Windows 7 Installation disc . Then into Repair My computer . As obvious it did not recognize the XP installation . Went into Tools . Clicked CMD ...

>> And there it was ! Not knowing if it would work , entered the command " C: " AND there i was in the C drive !! :)

Now i had a slight chance of hope that it just might work . Carefully entered the System Restore commands one by one . Every step reported success ,

PC restarted and there i was Looking at my f@ckin DESKTOP ! :rolleyes:

Desktop As if smiling at my face and saying "Trolled Yaaaa ...! " :troll:

I could and had an easy option of going for a clean install and leaving all this headache and head banging to some place else , but this "thrill" and that "F@ck YEA " feeling is priceless and worth every single minute ( wasted for n00bs ) but learned some thing new by self for a Geek ! :thumbsup:

[Alanon]

Glad you were able to get it fixed!

I would never have thought of that Win 7 trick!

[DKT27]

Glad to hear.

Moral of the story? Even Windows 7's install disk is better than Windows XP. :P

Seriously though, that's some weird shit, can never imagine someone using a Windows 7 CD to fix a XP computer. :D

Achievement unlocked: Successfully fix a XP machine with Window 7 CD. :o

Jokes apart, keep an eye on your drive's SMART. The drive might not be in good condition. And as many members have reported in past, HDD Regen solution is not permanent.

[majithia23]

Achievement Unlocked !

LOL ... :D

A gamer giving his opinion !

Yes , it did seem weird to me too at first , even after the PC was all OK and running as if nothing had happened !

But as i said it was just a wild idea that crossed my mind .

I was thinking hard as to how to access the System restore on the machine any which way possible . CMD , Recovery , Floppies ....

and just then i had this flash !

And hopefully this worked out !

Come to think of it now , i just wish i maintained some support forum or tech website where i could mention this work out for more users to try out .

Coz after i got stuck , i did google for ways to bypass or crack or replace or renew the Windows password , but every mentioned method was either already tried by me or too extensive .

I was already drained out of my patience levels from trying out every method known to me and failing every time .

So trying out a whole sequence of lengthy steps as mentioned on the website , and more so knowing it might work or might not , wasnt my cup of tea . Atleast today.

Until , this WILD IDEA which worked as a charm !

So i just wish i could publicize it !

"Stuck AT Recovery Console because of Admin Password in XP , try running CMD from Win 7 install disc ! " :)

@Alanon

Thanks mate .;)