Monday, September 10, 2007

10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot

When your computer hardware appears to power up okay, but the Windows XP
operating system won't boot properly, you have to begin a troubleshooting
expedition that includes getting into the operating system, determining the
problem, and then fixing it. To help you get started on this expedition,
here are 10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot.

#1: Use a Windows startup disk
One of the first things you should reach for when troubleshooting a Windows
XP boot problem is a Windows startup disk. This floppy disk can come in
handy if the problem is being caused when either the startup record for the
active partition or the files that the operating system uses to start
Windows have become corrupted.

To create a Windows startup disk, insert a floppy disk into the drive of a
similarly configured, working Windows XP system, launch My Computer,
right-click the floppy disk icon, and select the Format command from the
context menu. When you see the Format dialog box, leave all the default
settings as they are and click the Start button. Once the format operation
is complete, close the Format dialog box to return to My Computer,
double-click the drive C icon to access the root directory, and copy the
following three files to the floppy disk:

* Boot.ini
* NTLDR
* Ntdetect.com

After you create the Windows startup disk, insert it into the floppy drive
on the afflicted system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the
computer. When you boot from the Windows startup disk, the computer will
bypass the active partition and boot files on the hard disk and attempt to
start Windows XP normally.

#2: Use Last Known Good Configuration
You can also try to boot the operating system with the Last Known Good
Configuration feature. This feature will allow you to undo any changes that
caused problems in the CurrentControlSet registry key, which defines
hardware and driver settings. The Last Known Good Configuration feature
replaces the contents of the CurrentControlSet registry key with a backup
copy that was last used to successfully start up the operating system.

To use the Last Known Good Configuration feature, first restart the computer
by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Delete]. When you see the message Please select the
operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the
Windows Advanced Options menu. Select the Last Known Good Configuration item
from the menu and press [Enter].

Keep in mind that you get only one shot with the Last Known Good
Configuration feature. In other words, if it fails to revive your Windows XP
on the first attempt, the backup copy is also corrupt.

#3: Use System Restore
Another tool that might be helpful when Windows XP won't boot is System
Restore. System Restore runs in the background as a service and continually
monitors system-critical components for changes. When it detects an
impending change, System Restore immediately makes backup copies, called
restore points, of these critical components before the change occurs. In
addition, System Restore is configured by default to create restore points
every 24 hours.

To use System Restore, first restart the computer by pressing
[Ctrl][Alt][Delete]. When you see the message Please select the operating
system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows
Advanced Options menu. Now, select the Safe Mode item from the menu and
press [Enter].

Once Windows XP boots into Safe mode, click the Start button, access the All
Programs | Accessories | System Tools menu, and select System Restore.
Because you're running in Safe mode, the only option on the opening screen
of the System Restore wizard is Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time, and
it's selected by default, so just click Next. Then, follow along with the
wizard to select a restore point and begin the restoration procedure.

#4: Use Recovery Console
When a Windows XP boot problem is severe, you'll need to use a more drastic
approach. The Windows XP CD is bootable and will provide you with access to
a tool called Recovery Console.

To boot from the Windows XP CD, insert it into the CD-ROM drive on the
problem system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. Once
the system begins booting from the CD, simply follow the prompts that will
allow the loading of the basic files needed to run Setup. When you see the
Welcome To Setup screen, press R to start the Recovery
Console.

You'll then see a Recovery Console menu. It displays the folder containing the operating system's files and prompts you to choose the operating system you want to log on to. Just press the menu number on the keyboard, and you'll be prompted to enter the Administrator's password. You'll then find yourself at the main Recovery Console prompt.

#5: Fix a corrupt Boot.ini
As the Windows XP operating system begins to load, the Ntldr program refers
to the Boot.ini file to determine where the operating system files reside
and which options to enable as the operating system continues to load. So if
there's a problem rooted in the Boot.ini file, it can render Windows XP
incapable of booting correctly.

If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because Boot.ini has been
corrupted, you can use the special Recovery Console version of the Bootcfg
tool to fix it. Of course, you must first boot the system with the Windows
XP CD and access the Recovery Console as described in #4.

To use the Bootcfg tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type

Bootcfg /parameter

Where /parameter is one of these required parameters:

* /Add--Scans the disk for all Windows installations and allows you to add
any new ones to the Boot.ini file.
* /Scan--Scans the disk for all Windows installations.
* /List--Lists each entry in the Boot.ini file.
* /Default--Sets the default operating system as the main boot entry.
* /Rebuild--Completely re-creates the Boot.ini file. The user must confirm
each step.
* /Redirect--Allows the boot operation to be redirected to a specific port
when using the Headless Administration feature. The Redirect parameter takes
two parameters of its own, [Port Baudrate ] | [UseBiosSettings].
* /Disableredirect--Disables the redirection.

#6: Fix a corrupt partition boot sector
The partition boot sector is a small section of the hard disk partition that
contains information about the operating system's file system (NTFS or
FAT32), as well as a very small machine language program that is crucial in
assisting the operating system as it loads.

If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because the partition boot sector
has been corrupted, you can use a special Recovery Console tool called
Fixboot to fix it. Start by booting the system with the Windows XP CD and
accessing the Recovery Console as described in #4.

To use the Fixboot tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type

Fixboot [drive]:

Where [drive] is the letter of the drive to which you want to write a new
partition boot sector.

#7: Fix a corrupt master boot record
The master boot record occupies the first sector on the hard disk and is
responsible for initiating the Windows boot procedure. The master boot
record contains the partition table for the disk as well as a small program
called the master boot code, which is responsible for locating the active,
or bootable, partition, in the partition table. Once this occurs, the
partition boot sector takes over and begins loading Windows. If the master
boot record is corrupt, the partition boot sector can't do its job and
Windows won't boot.

If you suspect Windows XP won't boot because the master boot record has been
corrupted, you can use the Recovery Console tool Fixmbr to fix it. First,
boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console as
described in #4.

To use the Fixmbr tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type

Fixmbr [device_name]

Where [device_name] is the device pathname of the drive to which you want to
write a new master boot record. For example, the device pathname format for
a standard bootable drive C configuration would look like this:

\Device\HardDisk0

#8: Disable automatic restart
When Windows XP encounters a fatal error, the default setting for handling
such an error is to automatically reboot the system. If the error occurs
while Windows XP is booting, the operating system will become stuck in a
reboot cycle--rebooting over and over instead of starting up normally. In
that case, you'll need to disable the option for automatically restarting on
system failure.

When Windows XP begins to boot up and you see the message Please select the
operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the
Windows Advanced Options Menu. Then, select the Disable The Automatic
Restart On System Failure item and press [Enter]. Now, Windows XP will hang
up when it encounters the error and with any luck, it will display a stop
message you can use to diagnose the problem.

#9: Restore from a backup
If you can't seem to repair a Windows XP system that won't boot and you have
a recent backup, you can restore the system from the backup media. The
method you use to restore the system will depend on what backup utility you
used, so you'll need to follow the utility's instructions on how to perform
a restore operation.

#10: Perform an in-place upgrade
If you can't repair a Windows XP system that won't boot and you don't have a
recent backup, you can perform an in-place upgrade. Doing so reinstalls the
operating system into the same folder, just as if you were upgrading from
one version of Windows to another. An in-place upgrade will usually solve
most, if not all, Windows boot problems.

Performing a Windows XP in-place upgrade is pretty straightforward. To
begin, insert the Windows XP CD into the drive, restart your system, and
boot from the CD. Once the initial preparation is complete, you'll see the
Windows XP Setup screen.. Press [Enter] to launch
the Windows XP Setup procedure. In a moment, you'll see the License
Agreement page and will need to press [F8] to acknowledge that you agree.
Setup will then search the hard disk looking for a previous installation of
Windows XP. When it finds the previous installation, you'll see a second
Windows XP Setup screen.

This screen will prompt you to press R to repair the selected installation
or to press [Esc] to install a fresh copy of Windows XP. In this case,
initiating a repair operation is synonymous with performing an in-place
upgrade, so you'll need to press R. When you do so, Setup will examine the
disk drives in the system. It will then begin performing the in-place
upgrade.

Keep in mind that after you perform an in-place upgrade or repair
installation, you must reinstall all updates to Windows.

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