CRASH RECOVERY

  • Thread starter Thread starter poochbeast
  • Start date Start date
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poochbeast

I'm trying to repair a recent crash on my mom's computer. She said she
was having a webcam chat with my sister via Skype in the morning. She
connects to the internet via Verizon FIOS. All went well, after their
conversation, they both hung up, she left the room and left her PC on
for the remainder of the day. When she returned in the evening, she
had a black screen with a message indicating that Windows was having a
problem accessing her primary HD (although it was trying to access her
CD-ROM drive). She does have Norton AV installed.

She is running WinXP Pro SP2. She has two 400 GB HDs in a mirrored
RAID configuration (RAID1). The PC would not boot from the RAID array.
I deleted the RAID array and attempted to boot from HD#1 (because it
seemed to have far fewer errors that HD#2). Windows launched CHKDSK
multiple times, and ultimately (and very slowly) Windows finally
loaded. I did notice yellow exclamation marks by the graphics
controller and device in Device Manager.

I attempted to reinstall Windows (hoping that this would fix any
problems). I chose the repair option (not the Windows Recovery
Console). Unfortunately, the installation gets stuck with 34 minutes
remaining (Installing Devices).

I'm at a loss for how to proceed from this point. Obviously, I'm
trying to recover without losing any of the data on these discs. I
realize that I can simply insert this HD into another computer, copy
the pertinent data, and rebuild her computer from scratch, but I'm
hoping that there's an easier way. Any help would be greatly
appreciated.

Thank you.
 
If your two hd's show differing errors, either you have faulty hd's / pwr
supply / or your raid controler is at fault.
Go to the hd manufacturers web site download/create their bootable floppy/cd
& test the drives
A mirror system is NOT a replacement for data backups
 
Thanks. I disconnected her webcam (which I suspected was the cause of
the problem) and sure enough, I was able to break the 34 minute
barrier. Unfortunately, it now hangs with 2 minutes remaining ("Saving
Files")!

I looked but couldn't find a support page for "Setup stops responding
with 2 minutes remaining." Any suggestions?

Thanks again.
 
Thanks. I disconnected her webcam (which I suspected was the cause of
the problem) and sure enough, I was able to break the 34 minute
barrier. Unfortunately, it now hangs with 2 minutes remaining ("Saving
Settings")!

I looked but couldn't find a support page for "Setup stops responding
with 2 minutes remaining." Any suggestions?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
 
perhaps, if the pc was
set for automatic updates,
it attempted to install
sp3 or something but
failed.

----------------------

if you are simply doing
a repair installation, you
might want to power down
the pc and then power it
up again without the cd
and see if it boots into
windows. if not then
it should tell you why.

sometimes antivirals like
the norton inhibit
windows from updating
the master file table.

---------------------
also, microsoft provides
two free technical support
services to every retail
version of windows.

http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&x=11&y=18&prid=3219&gprid=37013
 
perhaps, if the pc was
set for automatic updates,
it attempted to install
sp3 or something but
failed.
Click to expand...
It was not set for automatic updates. However, if it was, how would I
proceed?
if you are simply doing
a repair installation, you
might want to power down
the pc and then power it
up again without the cd
and see if it boots into
windows. if not then
it should tell you why.
Click to expand...

It hangs at 2 min. and never finishes setup. When I try to reboot into
Windows, it automatically resumes the setup process (at 39 min). Each
time, it makes it back down to 2 min. and then it hangs again.
sometimes antivirals like
the norton inhibit
windows from updating
the master file table.
Click to expand...
How do I disable Norton if I can't get out of this setup mode?
also, microsoft provides
two free technical support
services to every retail
version of windows.

http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&x=11&y=18&prid=3219&gprid=37013
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I used up my two free calls months ago.
 
unfortunately, i am
not sure how you
could proceed.

if i hit the mark
about norton, then
you might find some
help from them or
from their troubleshooting
faq's.

also, what you might
try is to buy/install another
harddrive and install
windows onto it and
nothing else.

then it will provide an
operational platform to
access the unresponsive
disk and move the
personal files from it.

here is a kb on an issue
like yours:

http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx?rdpath=1&gprid=1173

something to keep in
mind is that if the
premise of the problem
you were trying to fix
is due to a crashed file
system then it is also
likely that it resulted
in data corruption as
well.

thus running a
chkdsk/repair will
repair the file system
but cannot repair
corrupted data/files.

with this in mind as
a last resort, you may
want to pay for microsoft
support as the last
resort as well.
 
ps:

you might want to
open up the computer
and ensure that the
harddisk connections
are secure and the
plugs haven't loosened.
 
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