Windows XP won't boot anymore..

Hey all..

My wife got some virus on her Windows XP (home edition)
She can't remember the name..
The symptoms:
After the initial blue screen which complained about the ntoskrnl.exe (she did remember to note that) she did a reboot..
Now the computer starts with the 'running bar' Windows XP logo screen.. after about two seconds you see a blue glare so fast you can't read anything (less then half a second) before it reboots again..

It's not a hardware (harddrive) problem.. It's a dual boot and I let linux do some crunching on the hdd and there are no problems there..

I only got a recovery DVD (which I can't find btw) with the laptop, but that's a 'ghost' image so it would destroy any changes made..
It's a dual boot and the linux boots just fine so I can copy all the important stuff to another computer before 'recovering' (what a lousy name for putting back a ghost)..
But then I would have to reinstall SP1/SP2 and all 2Gigs of patches.. All software etc..

So I went to a neighbour.. Asked them for their XP (pro) CD and tried the [F2] automagic rescue..
But that just asks for a 'rescue floppy in drive A (which the laptop obviously doesn't even have and I don't have a rescue floppy either)..

I'd hate to have to go thrue the effort of finding all important stuff on both linux and windows partitions (It's an 80 Gig drive)... Putting the ghost back.. Patching the windows up.. Finding all the other software (CD's and downloads).. having to deal with all the key codes etc.. And finally putting back the other data..

So.. Does anyone have a better option ??


This is what I hate about proprietary (non free) software..
You just can't fix it yourselve.. And you should never lose your origional disks and serials..

Hey all..

My wife got some virus on her Windows XP (home edition)
She can't remember the name..
The symptoms:
After the initial blue screen which complained about the ntoskrnl.exe (she did remember to note that) she did a reboot..
Now the computer starts with the 'running bar' Windows XP logo screen.. after about two seconds you see a blue glare so fast you can't read anything (less then half a second) before it reboots again..

It's not a hardware (harddrive) problem.. It's a dual boot and I let linux do some crunching on the hdd and there are no problems there..

I only got a recovery DVD (which I can't find btw) with the laptop, but that's a 'ghost' image so it would destroy any changes made..
It's a dual boot and the linux boots just fine so I can copy all the important stuff to another computer before 'recovering' (what a lousy name for putting back a ghost)..
But then I would have to reinstall SP1/SP2 and all 2Gigs of patches.. All software etc..

So I went to a neighbour.. Asked them for their XP (pro) CD and tried the [F2] automagic rescue..
But that just asks for a 'rescue floppy in drive A (which the laptop obviously doesn't even have and I don't have a rescue floppy either)..

I'd hate to have to go thrue the effort of finding all important stuff on both linux and windows partitions (It's an 80 Gig drive)... Putting the ghost back.. Patching the windows up.. Finding all the other software (CD's and downloads).. having to deal with all the key codes etc.. And finally putting back the other data..

So.. Does anyone have a better option ??


This is what I hate about proprietary (non free) software..
You just can't fix it yourselve.. And you should never lose your origional disks and serials..

This Site seems to have a way to fix the prob.
I guess it's just a matter of trial or error..

And you can download all the patches and burn 'em onto a CDR, Autopatcher i use it all the time when i'm doing fresh installs, saves downloading and restarting a few hundred times.. ;)

cheers
front2back

This Site seems to have a way to fix the prob.
I guess it's just a matter of trial or error..

And you can download all the patches and burn 'em onto a CDR, Autopatcher i use it all the time when i'm doing fresh installs, saves downloading and restarting a few hundred times.. ;)

cheers
front2back

Wild guesses could the virus be [1,2] ....

[1] W32.Bolzano
[2] W32.FUNLOVE.4099

B.T.W. Good luck the_JinX...

Wild guesses could the virus be [1,2] ....

[1] W32.Bolzano
[2] W32.FUNLOVE.4099

B.T.W. Good luck the_JinX...

Thx front2back..

I should have specified..
All the options in the boot menu (safe mode, safe mode +, safe mode ++, last known good configuration etc) have the same result..

About the corrupt boot.ini and ntoskrnl.exe..
Note: If you have a system recovery CD or restore CD these steps will likely not work for your computer.
So I'm royally screwed there..
I really really hate this OEM 'recovery DVD' crap..

But I will try tonight with a real WinXP pro SP2 CD (non OEM) I'm taking home from work..
I'll try and see if I do get a R option from that CD..

Agent_Steal
Yes.. my wife said: "Yeah that might be it", when I asked if it might have been called Bolzano..

Reading about the FixFun I might also need to pack a Win98SE CD to be able to boot to DOS.. and burn ntfsdospro to another CD..

Weird thing is.. The machine is running (up to date) FreeAVG..


Microsoft.. We don't sell software.. We sell keycodes on shiny holographic paper..

Thx front2back..

I should have specified..
All the options in the boot menu (safe mode, safe mode +, safe mode ++, last known good configuration etc) have the same result..

About the corrupt boot.ini and ntoskrnl.exe..
Note: If you have a system recovery CD or restore CD these steps will likely not work for your computer.
So I'm royally screwed there..
I really really hate this OEM 'recovery DVD' crap..

But I will try tonight with a real WinXP pro SP2 CD (non OEM) I'm taking home from work..
I'll try and see if I do get a R option from that CD..

Agent_Steal
Yes.. my wife said: "Yeah that might be it", when I asked if it might have been called Bolzano..

Reading about the FixFun I might also need to pack a Win98SE CD to be able to boot to DOS.. and burn ntfsdospro to another CD..

Weird thing is.. The machine is running (up to date) FreeAVG..


Microsoft.. We don't sell software.. We sell keycodes on shiny holographic paper..

Quote:

---

Reading about the FixFun I might also need to pack a Win98SE CD to be able to boot to DOS..

---

If you need a boot disc then check out this Site they've got a ton of useful stuff, that might proove useful..

Quote:

---

Reading about the FixFun I might also need to pack a Win98SE CD to be able to boot to DOS..

---

If you need a boot disc then check out this Site they've got a ton of useful stuff, that might proove useful..

Thanks..

Seems like I'll be burning some more stuff before I leave the office today..
A couple of boot disks..

NTFSDOS and some stuff like that..

And a real XP SP2 CD (dutch)..

If there's any more trouble.. I'll let you guys know..

Thanks again..

Thanks..

Seems like I'll be burning some more stuff before I leave the office today..
A couple of boot disks..

NTFSDOS and some stuff like that..

And a real XP SP2 CD (dutch)..

If there's any more trouble.. I'll let you guys know..

Thanks again..

Check out this link [1] ....

[1] What to Do When XP or 2000 Won't Boot
Oops just noticed that you said that the laptop had no floppy drive ... :sleep:

Check out this link [1] ....

[1] What to Do When XP or 2000 Won't Boot
Oops just noticed that you said that the laptop had no floppy drive ... :sleep:

Well the 'no floppy' problem is a non-issue..
I can create a boot CD so that will work..

I'll try (in this order)

1. The [R]epair feature of a genuine XP CD (non oem)..
2. expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32
3. Boot from a self made bootdisk and copy ntoskrnl.exe, boot.ini and ntldr
4. Cry and come back for more help..

Thanks guys..

Well the 'no floppy' problem is a non-issue..
I can create a boot CD so that will work..

I'll try (in this order)

1. The [R]epair feature of a genuine XP CD (non oem)..
2. expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32
3. Boot from a self made bootdisk and copy ntoskrnl.exe, boot.ini and ntldr
4. Cry and come back for more help..

Thanks guys..

w00000000t

Fixed it..

Just steps one and two were needed..

Thanks again Agent_Steal and .:front2back:.

w00000000t

Fixed it..

Just steps one and two were needed..

Thanks again Agent_Steal and .:front2back:.

So, what was the virus that caused the problem?
And did you get rid of it?
:cool:

So, what was the virus that caused the problem?
And did you get rid of it?
:cool:

The computer is in safe mode now..
I'm doing a doing a full virus check and after that spyware and addware..

Have a party in a couple of minutes so won't know what was the actual cause before tomorrow..

I'll be sure to report here..

The computer is in safe mode now..
I'm doing a doing a full virus check and after that spyware and addware..

Have a party in a couple of minutes so won't know what was the actual cause before tomorrow..

I'll be sure to report here..

Well that was fun..

Got back.. and look at PC.. It's off..

Swich it on..

Instantly after lilo

Can't load <windows dir>system32\hal.dll

So I boot from CDrom

Can't access C:

chkdsk

The entire windows folder is gone and is now a load of dirnumber.chk and filenumber.chk files and folders..

The outlook is grim..

Well that was fun..

Got back.. and look at PC.. It's off..

Swich it on..

Instantly after lilo

Can't load <windows dir>system32\hal.dll

So I boot from CDrom

Can't access C:

chkdsk

The entire windows folder is gone and is now a load of dirnumber.chk and filenumber.chk files and folders..

The outlook is grim..

Hmmm,

That doesn't sound good:

These tools may help:

http://www.s2services.com/windows-chk-files.htm

I think that the Win2000 ones will work for XP.

Have you just lost your OS/applications or is there data as well. If it is just the OS then you would probably be better off with a format and re-install.

Good luck! :)

Hmmm,

That doesn't sound good:

These tools may help:

http://www.s2services.com/windows-chk-files.htm

I think that the Win2000 ones will work for XP.

Have you just lost your OS/applications or is there data as well. If it is just the OS then you would probably be better off with a format and re-install.

Good luck! :)

Thx, nihil for these tools..

Well.. it's just the entire windows folder.. .,
So no unique data is lost..

I should really just reinstall from the recovery 'ghost'..
I won't be able to recover all the files needed to 'rescue' the system..

I just hate having to install everything and even more having to look for the original install media..

So now it's backup time... bleh..

Thx, nihil for these tools..

Well.. it's just the entire windows folder.. .,
So no unique data is lost..

I should really just reinstall from the recovery 'ghost'..
I won't be able to recover all the files needed to 'rescue' the system..

I just hate having to install everything and even more having to look for the original install media..

So now it's backup time... bleh..

Hi there there again the_JinX if you have reinstalled you might wanna check out this link [1] ...

[1] Windows root\system32\hal.dll missing

Hope that helps & b.t.w. good luck again ...

Hi there there again the_JinX if you have reinstalled you might wanna check out this link [1] ...

[1] Windows root\system32\hal.dll missing

Hope that helps & b.t.w. good luck again ...