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PLEASE HELP! Windows won't boot! (Power failure related)

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mattx5

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Earlier today I had a power failure. The power went out, my computer along with it. Power came back on, so I turned on the PC. As it was loading up the power failed again, this time permanently. I switched off the PC in the back so that it wouldn't get screwy if the power came back.

Five minutes ago my power came back (After about 6 hours). My PC asks me to boot into Safe Mode, Last Settings or Normally (I'm using XP Pro btw). I've tried all the options. Every single one I try, it brings me to the XP load bar, it fills up twice and then I hear a click and the PC resets itself.

I can't get into Windows.

FUCK! Is something fried? Am I fucked?
 
aoi tsuki said:
Semi-related: Did you ask her out? How'd it go?
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm freaking out that my computer might be fried and this comes out of nowhere :lol

I don't see her again till Wednesday, I had no class today and Monday is a holiday. I'll try and catch up with her Tuesday, though I think she has classes all day. First chance I get though, I'm going to fucking take it.



Now back to my PC...... fuck.
 
Scrow said:
how're you posting on the forums right now?
Click to expand...

Another PC - but just out of curiosity, why do people ask this question? Would the topic creator really be lying? And if they were, what a stupid way to get caught :p
 
mattx5 said:
Another PC - but just out of curiosity, why do people ask this question? Would the topic creator really be lying? And if they were, what a stupid way to get caught :p
Click to expand...
Maybe you were posting this from that girl's computer after having some rough sex which left her still orgasming in the corner as you created this thread. Fuck, some people are so touchy.

i kid, of course.
 
aoi tsuki said:
Maybe you were posting this from that girl's computer after having some rough sex which left her still orgasming in the corner as you created this thread. Fuck, some people are so touchy.

i kid, of course.
Click to expand...

Nah, I just punched her out and then came to make this thread.

But seriously, my fucking PC :(
 
mattx5 said:
Another PC - but just out of curiosity, why do people ask this question? Would the topic creator really be lying? And if they were, what a stupid way to get caught :p
Click to expand...
i was just curious. i mean, you could've gone to an internet cafe or something specifically to ask for advice on GAF if you only had one PC.
 
Scrow said:
i was just curious. i mean, you could've gone to an internet cafe or something specifically to ask for advice on GAF if you only had one PC.
Click to expand...

Fair enough I guess.

But seriously, back on topic. How do I run a hard drive diagnostic? Anything else that could be wrong?
 
Hmmm I had a problem where windows would crash (freeze) when it was at the loading bar screen. Try taking out a stick of RAM and leave 1 stick in the blue DIMM slot farthest away from your processor (this is assuming you have a newer model mother board). Try doing that, because it sounds like maybe your CMOS might have reset itself and your current BIOS doesn't support the hardware in your system?
 
I only have one stick of RAM in at the moment (1 stick of 512). So should I just move it?

Is there some kind of BIOS update that I can put onto a floppy? Is there any way to know if the CMOS is the problem?
 
Ok, I have three RAM slots. My stick was closest to the processor. I moved it to the farthest and booted my PC.

BEEEEPPPPPPP. BEEEEEEEEPPPPP.

Alright, I'll move it to the second slot tomorrow morning, and if that doesn't work, I'll come back to this topic I guess.
 
Okay, I tried it this morning. Only the first, closest RAM slot works.

Anyway, I'm thinking that my Windows install is fucked because it keeps resetting at the XP splash screen (with the loading bar). I don't think it's an HD recognition issue.

Is there anyway to reinstall Windows XP Pro without losing the data on my hard drive?

EDIT: Fuck, what if my hard drives were damaged during the power outage because of the voltage drop off?I have two HDs, both 80 gig. Any way to check? I still don't know how to run a diagnostic or anything, could someone walk me through it?
 
mattx5 said:
Earlier today I had a power failure. The power went out, my computer along with it. Power came back on, so I turned on the PC. As it was loading up the power failed again, this time permanently. I switched off the PC in the back so that it wouldn't get screwy if the power came back.

Five minutes ago my power came back (After about 6 hours). My PC asks me to boot into Safe Mode, Last Settings or Normally (I'm using XP Pro btw). I've tried all the options. Every single one I try, it brings me to the XP load bar, it fills up twice and then I hear a click and the PC resets itself.

I can't get into Windows.

FUCK! Is something fried? Am I fucked?
Click to expand...

This is like the exact same thing my computer has been doing. I dont have a fix though. Tried repairing my installation, wouldnt let me repair it, and it thinks the hard drive is empty now.
 
If that's the case with my PC then -

Fuck. There goes all my music, family photos, school work and my father's work too I guess. I have some backups, but they're a few months old.


This is going to hurt.
 
So here's what I need to know -

How do I run a hard drive diagnostic?
How do I identify whether the problem is my HD or something else?
If I'm forced to reinstall Windows XP, can I save the contents of one of my hard drives?
If it turns out my HDs are damaged, is there any way to recover the content on them?


What I'm thinking is that -

I'll do a fresh install on the hard drive without my important data. Then I'll transfer over the data from my other hard drive onto the hard drive that has the fresh install. Of course, the one I have my important data on is also the one with the system install. And if my OS isn't booting, that could mean that the hard drive with my system install and important data is fucked. At which point I'm fucked.

This is depressing.

EDIT: I should also mention that when I try to boot in SAFE MODE, all of a sudden a list of files appear that read something like DRV()PARTITION()maindrv.drv or similar. It just lists a bunch of .drv files and then resets.
 
Where are all the usual computer experts? I'm sorry to be posting so much, but I'm freaking out - I really think something is fried. Sure, I could just try a re-install on my own, but I'd rather make sure that it couldn't be any other problem first.
 
Watching football :p



You are posting on a spare PC right, take the HD of the fried PC and put it in the one that works - salvage the most important material. It should be able to detect and read it.

Then comes the task of testing parts. Bring it to a specialist, or do it yourself, whatever is faster/easier/cheaper/less risky. Your Windows boot-up data could be FUBAR'ed, which is the reason why it stops at the loading bar. RAM cluster could be fried as well. It could be anything basically (except for CPU)

Just try to get backups first of things you want to save. Don't forget emails and address lists, like I do all of the time
 
Okay, I was just thinking of doing that - looks like it's my only option. I'm going to take my main drive with the data and install, pop it into this PC, see if I can salvage anything.

Then on my spare HD I'm going to do a fresh install. Then I'm going to pop back in my other HD into the my PC with the fresh install and take it from there.

Now, if I can't install on either HD, that would mean I have a much bigger problem.

*gulp*
 
When you've got the fresh install on the secondary drive, run diagnostic tests first (don't ask me which ones though)



After you're sure that everything is in working order, THEN pop in your main drive. It's always best to test your PC with the bare essentials (MB, CPU, RAM, VGA-card, HDD) and just add components (DVD/CD-Drives, secondary HDD, Sound Card, other expansion cards) with every reboot
 
To do HD diagnostics you need to boot to winxp setup with an xp disc, then go to repair to get to the repair console. then when you get a prompt type chkdsk. Do chkdsk \? to get the commands.

Thats what I think you do anyways.
 
This is the worst day of my life.

I can't figure out how to hook up a seccond HD to my other PC, so I figure fuck it, I'll just reinstall XP on my second hard drive.....

EDIT: Ok, I'm running the diagnostic/check disk first to make sure before I go ahead. If that gives me bad results, then I'll do the fresh install on my second HD.
 
FUUCKK!

It recognizes my HD with all my files on it. But when I click on Matt's Documents, it tells me access is denied. I can look at all the other files that belonged to the common account though. Is it because I had an administrator account? Is there any way to bypass this? I want my fucking files back!
 
C'mon, please help GAF, I'm almost set, I just need to know whether there's any chance that I can recover my personal files or if I should just reformat the whole drive.

To recap, I can access files which were shared under my old configuration, but I can't access files which were exclusive to my account (These were my personal files).

Is there any way to bypass the lock out?

EDIT: Wow, now it looks like I'm spamming, fuck.
 
mattx5 said:
C'mon, please help GAF, I'm almost set, I just need to know whether there's any chance that I can recover my personal files or if I should just reformat the whole drive.
Click to expand...
When you go to reinstall Windows, it should detect the old installation and give you an option to leave the current file system intact, as opposed to formatting. However, it warns that the Documents and Settings folder might be destroyed. When I reinstalled a fresh copy of XP over an old one, just to be safe I just renamed the Documents and Settings folder to something else, then copied the files over the new one that Windows created during the reinstall. After that everything was as good as new and just like before (except for having to reinstall everything).
 
What I did was only connect one hard drive (The one without anything on it). I installed Windows. Then I connected the hard drive with all of my personal files (as well as my old Windows install). My PC recognized the HD, which meant it wasn't damaged. I was able to get off all the files except for the one's which were in folders which were stored exclusively in my administrator's account. When I click on the folder, it says access denied. How can I access these files?

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying. You mean I have to reinstall Windows on that HD as well?? And also, it doesn't let me rename Documents and Settings.
 
Oh, I see. I didn't realize that's what you did, I thought you might try and reinstall Windows on top of the old installation. You'd be able to rename the folder from the command prompt you can use from System Repair (or whatever it's called). But it looks like it's too late for that. You've still got your files though, which is good. Unfortunately, I dunno you'd go about accessing them. I'm sure someone here does, or you can get friendly with google and see if there's a solution out there for your problem.
 
Okay, I'm posting from my own computer now, so things are a bit better.

Using Knoppix seems like a lot of work. Why would Microsoft make it so that I can't access files from the HD? It should at least prompt me for a password, that I could handle. But flat out denying access?

What if I install Windows on that HD as well? Would it give me access to the files? If so, I'll do that. Gain access to the files. Copy them over to the HD that I already had Windows set up on. Then wipe the HD clean. I'll have my Windows install and all my files on one HD and other will be wiped. Then, I'll spread everything out over the two HDs as I see fit. Does that makes sense/sound plausible?
 
Well, I've tried other methods but I can't access the files. I even tried doing a file transfer like you'd do when upgrading OS, I only got bits and pieces out.

I'm thinking I'll just wipe it and start over?
 
Well I wiped it - lost some of my writing, 10 gigs worth of music, some hilarious pictures and all of my favorites.

Damn, this stings :(
 
Huh? What a waste. Did you even try system repair when reinstalling windows on the existing partition? If there is one thing you should always practice is keep data files on a seperate partition and all apps and windows in another partition. That way if you ever fubar your windows partition you can easily backup or have access to all your data files :P. Yeah I had a similar experience to yours but I kept all my files in a seperate directory rather than all in document and settings folder but yeah it was a HD problem and file corruption which I fixed through system restore :P
 
I really don't know what to say. You were fortunate in that your HD didn't die, and all your files were still intact, but after just 7 hours of not being able to access them you decided formatting the drive would be a good idea? What would have been the harm in just letting them sit on the drive until you found a solution?

Like this one, for example: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421
 
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