Re: Techie help required pls

"Old Grizzly" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:40e7k5F1a9d52U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "pmj" <post@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:gDlof.9484$iz3.3033@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> "Old Grizzly" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:40e5a2F19ndosU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<snip>
>>> Seagate diagnostic software did an advanced test on the disk
>>> and said all is well
>>
>> That sounds hopeful!
>> :-)
>>
>> With any luck (& a bit of patience) & some threatening words to
>> it(!) you should be able to get the Boot Sector stuff sorted out
>> on it OK...
<snip>
>>> Yes i can boot from the XP Pro cd
>>>
>>>> If so there are several things you can do, from within the Command
>>>> Line Recovery Console, which should Help sort out the Boot Sector
>>>> & stuff like that.
>>>>
>>>> Post back with if you can get into the Recovery Console OK.
<snip>
>>>> Then we can try & make it Fixted.
>>>> First thing I would suggest, would be to just Boot up into
>>>> the Recovery Console off the WinXP CD & Run the CHKDSK Command
>>>> on it & see if that completes (or even starts!) OK
>>
>> Use the CHKDSK Command on its own, first, with no parameters.
>> Then try it with the /p Option
>> & then try it with the /r Option (which implies the /p Option
>> as well).
>>
>> For more Info on the Recovery Console & the Commands available, have
>> a look at this M$KB (micro$oft Knowledge Base) Article...
>>
>> Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
>> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314058
>
> Down to here is ok and i did run CHKDSK /R earlier and it said
> all was well, but if i need to run it again no problem but it does
> take an hour

I think it would be well worth while to Run it (with the /r (& thus
the /P) Option), all the way through.

BTW - This *is* the CHKDSK Command available when Booted into the
(WinXP) Recovery Console?

& if it's when Booted up into something else, what, exactly were/are
you Booted up into, when Running the CHKDSK Command?
(I'm just trying to get a sort of an idea of "what's what" with
the System...)

>> *If* the CHKDSK Command shows everything as OK (using all 3 variants
>> of it), then I would suggest using the MAP Command, to see what Hard
>> Disks, Partitions, Drives & File Systems it reckons are available.
>> Post back with what you get.
>
> MAP shjows c: FAT32 57240MB \device\harddisk4\partition1

So there are actually *4* (or more?) Physical Hard Disks in the
Machine then?

Can you Run the MAP Command again, using the "arc" Parameter,
so as to get it to show the Info using the ARC Path Naming Convention?

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314058

BOOT.INI and ARC Path Naming Conventions and Usage
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=q102873

& what are each of the Hard Disks then?

How about taking some of the others out?
Or taking this dodgy one out & trying to Boot up off one of the others?

& that seems to show that this Hard Disk has just *one* (Primary?)
Partition on it?
& that uses the whole of the available Space?

Does the DISKPART Command also show the same Info?

Anyway at least the Partition with the C: Drive on it is a FAT32
Partition, so it should be Readable in MSDOS OK - you can do a lot
with the MSDOS Utilities (such as PTEdit etc,) - & even MSDOS DEBUG.EXE!
If needs be...
Whereas if it was NTFS, you would basically *have* to use the Recovery
Console to do it all.

> A: \device\floppy0
> H: \device\cdrom0
> I: \device\cdrom1
>
> Waiting here!!! i have not got an ordinary floppy available with
> fdsik etc on

That's a bit of a bummer!
:-(
What about an old w98 Bootable (Install) CD?
That will work fine as an MSDOS Boot Disk.
& it has FDisk available on it, when you Boot the Machine up from it.

>> Then (depending on what the MAP Command shows) try the FIXBOOT
>> Command.
>>
>> & finally try the FIXMBR Command (having read the M$KB Article
>> about it *first*!)
>>
>> After trying each Command, try Rebooting (from the Hard Disk,
>> not the CD).
>>
>> Yes, that can all get a bit (well, a lot!) tedious!
>> Especially, cos Booting up into the Recovery Console each time
>> takes a fair bit of time.
>>
>> But doing it that way, you will be able to get the Boot stuff
>> sorted out, with the minimum chance of screwing anything else
>> on the Disk up.
>>
>> Have you got an ordinary Boot Floppy, with stuff like FDisk
>> & PTEdit (Partition Table Editor) & PTInfo (Partition Table
>> Information) on it?

If you haven't got (at the mo) an ordinary Boot Floppy, you can
(as I mentioned) use a w98 Bootable Install CD - that will give
you FDisk, but it won't have things like PTEdit on it.

Can you make a Bootable Floppy on another Machine?

Bung FDisk on it (& also get PTEDit, if you haven't already got it -
I have it available on my Website, if you can't get it from the Web -
the old PowerQuest Site has now been taken over by Symantec, but you
can still get PTEdit from there (& from other Sites)

>> If so, what does FDisk say about the Partitions?
>> & what does PTEdit (or PTInfo) say about them?
>> Is the Primary Partition on the Hard Disk showing up OK?
>> & is it marked as "Startable" or "Bootable" ("Active" in FDisk)?
>>
>> HTH

If you can't get/make (& thus use) a Boot Floppy, with things like
FDisk & PTEdit & DEBUG.EXE, then it looks like you'll have to use the
Recovery Console, Booted up from the WinXP Install CD

Depending on how desperate you are, I would now be thinking about
trying the FIXBOOT Command & then trying a normal Reboot, off the
Hard Disk.

& then (if the prob is still showing up) trying the FIXMBR Command -
but if you had a Virus (or some other 3rd Party Disk Management
Software) on the Machine before, then the FIXMBR Command (like the
/mbr Switch for FDISK) can actually cause more probs.

So don't try that (the FIXMBR Command) just yet, until we know a bit
more about the trouble. (The FIXBOOT Command should be OK to try though)

Is there any Valuable Data on the Hard Disk that you *really* don't
want to lose?

Or is it just that you would *prefer* not to have to Re-Install
everything?

--
pmj


.

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