Can not get into safe mode

  • Thread starter Thread starter dsears
  • Start date Start date
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dsears

My computer, with XP, boots normally OK, however, I can not get into any of
the 3 safe modes available. The files that show roll by until they get to
the same one and then everyting stops. The only way out of this is to pull
the plug and restart the computer. The file that it always stops on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) partition(2)windows\system32\Drivers\agp440.sys
Fortunately, I have not had to rely on getting in to Save Mode, but would
sure like to get this fixed if possible.
dsc
 
dsears said:
My computer, with XP, boots normally OK, however, I can not get into any
of
the 3 safe modes available. The files that show roll by until they get
to
the same one and then everyting stops. The only way out of this is to
pull
the plug and restart the computer. The file that it always stops on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) partition(2)windows\system32\Drivers\agp440.sys
Fortunately, I have not had to rely on getting in to Save Mode, but would
sure like to get this fixed if possible.
dsc
Click to expand...

Hi,
agp440.sys is the last driver loaded. How long are you leaving it before you
pull the plug, it can take several minutes (possibly 5+) to load the next.
If you haven't already done so leave it alone and see what happens.
Neil
 
dsears said:
My computer, with XP, boots normally OK, however, I can not get into any
of
the 3 safe modes available. The files that show roll by until they get
to
the same one and then everyting stops. The only way out of this is to
pull
the plug and restart the computer. The file that it always stops on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) partition(2)windows\system32\Drivers\agp440.sys
Fortunately, I have not had to rely on getting in to Save Mode, but would
sure like to get this fixed if possible.
dsc
Click to expand...

The files that scroll by are loading OK. It's telling you that the file
agp440.sys Can't be loaded. The file is located in:

The Boot drive which is usually C:\windows\system32\Drivers\

Hidden and system files will need to be set to show, in Folder Options, to
see them.

This would be a driver windows uses for the graphics card in safe mode or
when a specific driver isn't installed. If you have an XP cd with the same
service pack you're using now, you could just do a repair install with it.

If it doesn't have the current SPk you could get a copy of agp440.sys from
an older XP cd. It'd probably be in a CAB file so searching wouldn't be
easy. Haven't had the "pleasure" of doing this yet on XP(or W2K for that
matter) but was getting kind of good at it with W9x. May not fix it as
something else could be keeping it from loading but replacing it would be
where I'd start.

It an unusual problem. I'd run checkdisk to see how the HDD is doing and run
a virus scan.

Good Luck
 
dsears said:
My computer, with XP, boots normally OK, however, I can not get into any
of
the 3 safe modes available. The files that show roll by until they get
to
the same one and then everyting stops. The only way out of this is to
pull
the plug and restart the computer. The file that it always stops on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) partition(2)windows\system32\Drivers\agp440.sys
Fortunately, I have not had to rely on getting in to Save Mode, but would
sure like to get this fixed if possible.
dsc
Click to expand...

You can try installing the Recovery Console, so that you can get into safe
mode anytime you want.
 
My computer, with XP, boots normally OK, however, I can not get into any of
the 3 safe modes available.  The files that show roll by until  they get to
the same one and then everyting stops.  The only way out of this is to pull
the plug and restart the computer.  The file that it always stops on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) partition(2)windows\system32\Drivers\agp440.sys
Fortunately, I have not had to rely on getting in to Save Mode, but would
sure like to get this fixed if possible.
dsc
Click to expand...

The driver is a generic display driver that is used in Safe Mode only
and there is a problem with it, or with what comes after it (that you
cannot see). It is not used on all systems, but must be used on your
system of currently unknown type.

There are several reasons this could be happening. Has it ever worked
before in Safe Mode?

Did you use msconfig to make any modifications to your boot.ini so it
would boot into Safe Mode - like adding the /SAFEBOOT option?

If you have modified the boot.ini, boot normally, rename the c:
\boot.ini and reboot normally again. XP does not require a boot.ini
file to boot. It will complain, but still boot. Then rename the old
boot.ini back to the original, use msconfig to undo your boot.ini
changes and approach your original unspecified issue in some other
way.

You could try a Repair install if you have an XP installation CD of
the same vintage as your installation, but a lot of people don't have
that. All we know about your system is it is XP. Not enough info for
good advice on that.

You could replace the suspicious file using an old one on your system
from before your last SP installation but we are not even sure that is
the problem file (it could be what comes after it) or what SP you are
running.

The old file would be found in the $NtServicePackUninstall folder.
Might be an old one there, might not... Not the best idea to mess
around with that stuff and be mixing files around.

You could have forgotten a CD in your CD drive. If so, remove it.

You could have a marginal USB device, so remove everything except the
keyboard and try again until you can isolate the faulty device. It
could also be a faulty CD drive. These are sometimes the next drivers
that would load after agp440.sys and where it could be hanging.

You could have a file system integrity problem on your HDD which you
can resolve with chkdsk either the next time the system boots normally
or run chkdsk from Recovery Console. Any power interruptions lately?

Your system motherboard drivers could be out of date and conflicting
with the agp440.sys file. This happens a lot when Windows updates are
applied on top of older system board drivers. It may work just fine,
maybe not... and then everybody screams at the Windows updates for
their problems and breaking their system!

This one is easy to resolve by just updating your motherboard chip
set.

If you need help figuring that out, do this:

Please provide additional information about your system:

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste
the information back here.

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to
be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted
information.

This will minimize back and forth Q&A and eliminate guesswork.

For video driver information, expand the Components, click Display,
click Edit, Select All,
Copy and then paste the information.

You can make a bootable Recovery Console CD as follows:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic276527.html

You can also completely stop the driver from loading using Recovery
Console, but that may just have it hang on the next driver and doesn't
really figure out what is wrong (this is not always a good solution).

Installing Recovery Console will not help you booting in Safe Mode.
Installing RC is a good idea though, for just these situations - but
you will need an XP installation CD of the same vintage as your
installation - darn! But, you can make one of those too if you are so
inclined.
 
THanks to all for the suggestions. There is a lot of info requested above
and I will get back in a couple of days with as many answers as possible.

dsc
 
neil: You were correct in that my impatience cause the problem. I waited
alot longer than I was used to. and it finally went through.
Thanks for the help.
dsc
 
neil:  You were correct in that my impatience cause the problem.  I waited
alot longer than I was used to. and it finally went through.  
Thanks for the help.
dsc
Click to expand...

Curious!

How long is a lot longer (estimated minutes) and does it do this now
every time with Safe Mode?

If you have the time, I would like to know more about your system so I
can add something to my notes for some other day if I come across this
problem again.

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste the information back here.

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just
delete it from the pasted information.
 
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