Windows xp won't boot

[Bentwenty2011]

Hi, I've got an acer aspire one (2009) running windows xp home SP 3, microsoft securety esentials ( all up to date and official) recently while browsing movies on my drive windows explored has crashed and frozen everything. I found the only way of getting everything to work was a forced restart (by holding in the power button) this worked on a number of occasions, but I had to do it again earlier, and the following sequence started;

Acer and bios window flashes up momentarily with *F2* for go to setup and *F12* to change boot order,

Then a black screen flashes up with the following options:

Safe mode

Safe mode with networking

Safe mode with command prompt

Last known configuration

Start windows normally

No matter which option I choose

The following happens:

The windows booting up logo appears for a few seconds, the freezes and displays a blue screen with White writing flashes up a split second before the system shuts down and starts the whole process again.

I have been through this process a number of times with exactly the same out come.

As this is a notebook it has no disk drive of any form and so no recovery disk was supplied.

Please help!

Thanks

[Bentwenty2011]

This is the screen which flashes up fro a split second

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer

If this is the firsttime youve seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps

Uninstall or disable any anti-virus, disk defragmentation or back up utilities, check your hard drive configuration. And check for any updated drivers run CHKDSK /F to check fof hard drive corruption and then restart your computer.

Technical information

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x86f78670 0xc0000102 0x00000000)

I've copied this message out from a photo I took of the scree, so it is exacly as it appears

[bludgard]

Restart your ACER.

At the ACER logo:

Press the "Alt" and "F10" keys at the same time to bring up the recovery menu. Press "Enter."

This process will restore your system to factory conditions.Hopefully.

If you have some type of live media around,you could possibly back up whatever files that are recoverable on the disk.

If this doesn't work....Well then.

[Bentwenty2011]

Will I loose any temp. Data in recovery mode?

[bludgard]

You will lose it all if you can not find a way to save it to an external device.

It will be out of the box.

[Bentwenty2011]

I know it's probably the least of my worries, but I've got all my docs music and movies on there (it's my only pc, I'm on my iPhone right now)

How would I go about saving it to an external device

[Bentwenty2011]

I can get hold of a 1 terabyte HD, how would I get all my data on to it? Thanks so much for your help btw

[bludgard]

TestDisk has been a reliable data recovery tool for me in the past.Burn the bootable .ISO file to CD/DVD or copy the entire contents to a USB device.Boot from this Live media and basically copy files from the internal HD to an external HD (USB,Firewire,etc.).

[Bentwenty2011]

I'm a bit of a noob, so that means very little to me, I've found out that if I can get into advanced startup options and prevent it from automatically shutting down when it eschew the blue screen it should be fine, problem is I cant ge the advanced startup menus, I think it should be f8, but that does nothing on my machine,

Does this Make any sence to you?

[bludgard]

F8 is a Windows recovery console.If this is corrupt it will not be accessible.

You noted earlier that you had partial access to this recovery console.You pressed buttons to no effect.

"Then a black screen flashes up with the following options:

Safe mode

Safe mode with networking

Safe mode with command prompt

Last known configuration

Start windows normally"....

If you had install media about you could access this as well.

edit:Are you pressing F8 repeatedly at boot?

[Bentwenty2011]

But what ever option I choose it has the same outcome, what I need to be able to do (I think) is disable the function whereby it automatically shuts down on the blue screen

[Bentwenty2011]

No, I don't pres anything on boot and the the recovery console appears, but pressing f8 has no effect

[MANEMAN]

Boot Sector is corrupt.

Yep. Agreed. If you can get "Test Disk" onto a USB stick you may even be able to cure the actual problem (Which as said would seem to be a bad boot sector.)

This link will show you how to use the application that bludgard has suggested: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=

If it's all too much for you to take in, I would suggest you get the hard drive out and take it to someone who will get the data off for you.

First thing to remember is not to panic and lose everything just for the sake of taking a little bit of time and working out the best strategy.

Here's a link to the Acer website which may be helpful if you decide to do a system recovery: http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2631

.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.

You will be unable to do many of the things that can normally be done quickly because of, - Lack of a second computer, Lack of an optical disk drive, and, as you have been sensible enough to point out, - Lack of experience.

I really do think the best plan is to get someone who knows a bit about computers to have a look for you.

John.

[Bentwenty2011]

Than you so much for your help, I'll have a look At It with my dad in tue morning

[MANEMAN]

You are very welcome Ben.

The best of luck............ And dont panic about it.

John.

[bludgard]

Boot Sector is corrupt.

You could even try Clonezilla to create a clone or image of the Windows drive and manipulate it at will.Not for the weak at heart....

Data backups are easy these days.Especially with programs such as Acronis.Clonezilla works a charm as well.Depends on how dirty you want to get your hands.

Recovery is not the easiest thing to accomplish,but not the most difficult either.

Backing up your operating system is encouraged and even prompted on an ACER machine.I would strongy suggest you consider a backup/imaging program that you are comfortable with.Use it if you want to not lose your files to an ogre.It would have taken you no more than 60 minutes on your machine to get you up and running with a dependable image of your HDD.

Still.If you had your OSs install media,and are able to boot from it,you could in theory recover your system without data loss.

It has worked for I.

Sky's the limit,Bent.

Kin to Bender Bending Rodriquez,by the way?

[Bentwenty2011]

Lol no, I'm ben, what I'm gonna start by doing this morning is run CHKDSK on a USB drive and see what the problem is, I'll let you know how it goes, I can also get hold of an ultimate windows boot cd and an external drive if that would help, as you. can see I'm quite out of my depth, so I'll try not to do anything rash

[bludgard]

Lol no, I'm ben, what I'm gonna start by doing this morning is run CHKDSK on a USB drive and see what the problem is, I'll let you know how it goes, I can also get hold of an ultimate windows boot cd and an external drive if that would help, as you. can see I'm quite out of my depth, so I'll try not to do anything rash

You are definately on the right track.Just don't wipe the drive.If you somehow do this the ACER recovery partition may be destroyed.

You can Custom Install the OS if this occurs,but you will have to re-Activate/Validate Windows with a phone call to MS.

edit:yippo

[Bentwenty2011]

i cant find a chkdsk downlaod, im running bios rev. 3.5

[Bentwenty2011]

ok, i downloaded this program http://wareseeker.com/download/chkdsk.rar/37d054d4e and intalled it on a usb stick. but when i try and boot from it, it doesnt do anything and just goes into its normal sequence

[Bentwenty2011]

i just tried testdisk on a ubs stick and it doesnt work, is there something im missing?

[MANEMAN]

Hi Ben.

Whilst you try to get an Ultimate Boot CD and an external drive I will start to draft a guide for our "Essential Guides" here on the forum. With so many people in the same position as yourself with Netbooks/Notebooks without an optical drive, it is probably going to be a good idea if we could point people in one direction and say "Head over to our Essential Guides, - there you will find a fix"

The object of the guide will be how to show people how to create a bootable USB flash drive (Stick) with rescue capabilities.

As you have already found out with the downloaded "Chkdsk" and "Testdisk" they do not have data containing the correct bootable files for purpose, and will only work within the Windows environment.

Manufacturers gave little forethought, or ongoing information to repair the OS in USB bootable only Netbooks/Notebooks did they ?

At the moment all of this is not very helpful to your present position, but you will be able to sit back later in the knowledge that you sparked off a chain of events which will help others and also make our forum more readable.

It's the weekend so I will start the guide in-between family commitments. You are welcome to wait until the guide is finished, or perhaps you wish to carry on in your own manner.

As the forum is voluntary, and it is the leisure part of the week, you may or may not receive answers from forum members in this time period.

Anyone else willing to jump in and help Ben at this stage whilst I write a guide ?

Ben. Should exactly the same scenario occur for someone else, and because I do not have an iPhone. Can you explain how you downloaded and transferred the files from the iPhone to a USB Stick without a second computer ?

This would be a big stumbling block for me, - but as said I do not have or even begin to understand iPhones. (Just got a Lil' Ol' Nokia)

If you can give me this information I will include it in the guide and give you credit for it.

John.

[Bentwenty2011]

Hi Ben.

Whilst you try to get an Ultimate Boot CD and an external drive I will start to draft a guide for our "Essential Guides" here on the forum. With so many people in the same position as yourself with Netbooks/Notebooks without an optical drive, it is probably going to be a good idea if we could point people in one direction and say "Head over to our Essential Guides, - there you will find a fix"

The object of the guide will be how to show people how to create a bootable USB flash drive (Stick) with rescue capabilities.

As you have already found out with the downloaded "Chkdsk" and "Testdisk" they do not have data containing the correct bootable files for purpose, and will only work within the Windows environment.

Manufacturers gave little forethought, or ongoing information to repair the OS in USB bootable only Netbooks/Notebooks did they ?

At the moment all of this is not very helpful to your present position, but you will be able to sit back later in the knowledge that you sparked off a chain of events which will help others and also make our forum more readable.

It's the weekend so I will start the guide in-between family commitments. You are welcome to wait until the guide is finished, or perhaps you wish to carry on in your own manner.

As the forum is voluntary, and it is the leisure part of the week, you may or may not receive answers from forum members in this time period.

Anyone else willing to jump in and help Ben at this stage whilst I write a guide ?

Ben. Should exactly the same scenario occur for someone else, and because I do not have an iPhone. Can you explain how you downloaded and transferred the files from the iPhone to a USB Stick without a second computer ?

This would be a big stumbling block for me, - but as said I do not have or even begin to understand iPhones. (Just got a Lil' Ol' Nokia)

If you can give me this information I will include it in the guide and give you credit for it.

John.

i have been given the use of my dads dual-core dell desktop so i simply downloaded the file and put it on my usb stick. the desktop is a custom build, so it has four HDs, so if i wanted to back up my data i should be able to plug my notebook's HD into the motheboard (as opposed to USB) on the desktop.problem is once ive backed up all my data, ive still got no way of doing a re install (I do have the original windows key, but no boot disk)

i look foward to your guide, thanks very much

ben

[Bentwenty2011]

Hi Ben.

Whilst you try to get an Ultimate Boot CD and an external drive I will start to draft a guide for our "Essential Guides" here on the forum. With so many people in the same position as yourself with Netbooks/Notebooks without an optical drive, it is probably going to be a good idea if we could point people in one direction and say "Head over to our Essential Guides, - there you will find a fix"

The object of the guide will be how to show people how to create a bootable USB flash drive (Stick) with rescue capabilities.

As you have already found out with the downloaded "Chkdsk" and "Testdisk" they do not have data containing the correct bootable files for purpose, and will only work within the Windows environment.

Manufacturers gave little forethought, or ongoing information to repair the OS in USB bootable only Netbooks/Notebooks did they ?

At the moment all of this is not very helpful to your present position, but you will be able to sit back later in the knowledge that you sparked off a chain of events which will help others and also make our forum more readable.

It's the weekend so I will start the guide in-between family commitments. You are welcome to wait until the guide is finished, or perhaps you wish to carry on in your own manner.

As the forum is voluntary, and it is the leisure part of the week, you may or may not receive answers from forum members in this time period.

Anyone else willing to jump in and help Ben at this stage whilst I write a guide ?

Ben. Should exactly the same scenario occur for someone else, and because I do not have an iPhone. Can you explain how you downloaded and transferred the files from the iPhone to a USB Stick without a second computer ?

This would be a big stumbling block for me, - but as said I do not have or even begin to understand iPhones. (Just got a Lil' Ol' Nokia)

If you can give me this information I will include it in the guide and give you credit for it.

John.

i have been given the use of my dads dual-core dell desktop so i simply downloaded the file and put it on my usb stick. the desktop is a custom build, so it has four HDs, so if i wanted to back up my data i should be able to plug my notebook's HD into the motheboard (as opposed to USB) on the desktop.problem is once ive backed up all my data, ive still got no way of doing a re install (I do have the original windows key, but no boot disk)

i look foward to your guide, thanks very much

ben

BTW i mentioned i was using my iphone to acess the forum

[rong]

If you have access to another computer you could put the Hard drive into that as a slave and then possibly get your movies and files you need off, or get a USB caddy and put your hard drive into that and access it through your dads, there is of course no guarantee you will be able to get to the things you want to save from the hard drive