XP HOME BOOT FAILURE

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hoa
  • Start date Start date
H

Hoa

Hello there,
I have Win XP Home SP1. I update it quite regularly. Recently I experienced
an annoying problem described below:
Turned on computer. XP screen appeared and stayed for quite a long time but
the Welcome screen did not show up. I pressed the reset button several times
but nothing seems to happen. Eventually the screen message said to the
effect Win does not start correctly. I believe I chose the Safe Mode?
Still didn't work. I inserted the OS Cd to re-install XP. I then was
prompted to find a file called "usbehci.sys" in "d:\drivers\usb2\winxp_sp1".
I couldn't find it anywhere so I ignored the prompt and chose Cancel. I was
then asked to insert Network Adapter Card. Same thing, so I either chose
Cancel or Next. Could not connect to the Internet. BIOS booted normally
but I could not go beyond the XP screen. The 3 green squares in the address
window swept so slowly. I had to re-install XP quite a number of times, so
I almost gave up in frustration. I then called my brother who advised me to
insert the support CD that came with the ASUS P4XP-X Motherboard and
downloaded the LAN driver. Then I was able to get Win XP and Internet
connection. I then used Norton AV 2004 to scan for viruses, found none.
Used Spybot SD to check for spywares, found none. My elation was
short-lived, since the next day I was not able to boot again. I took the
computer to the store where I bought it last year for a check. They found
nothing wrong with the hardware, and suggested that the 80GB hard drive be
reformatted and XP re-installed. I had them install a new, second hard
drive (120 GB) and install XP on it. Everything worked fine when I get
home. However this morning I watched the blue screen of death. I had to
reboot and even then had to wait for 10 minutes before the Welcome screen
appears. This afternoon same thing happened. Could the new problem be due
to the SP2 that the store installed in my new hard drive? The computer works
for now!
My apology for being long winded. This is my first post and I have to
describe the problem as best as I can remember. I would very much appreciate
any helpful suggestions to fix the problem.
 
A blue screen of death, BSOD, almost always means some sort of hardware
issue. It doesn't necessarily mean the hardware is bad but it might mean
you just need updated drivers. It might be SP2 but given the problems begin
before you get to the desktop, it would seem to be hardware related. One
thing you should do is check the computer manufacturer's website for any
issues or updates with regard to SP2. As to the error message you received,
if you added SP 1 as an update and then used your pre-SP1 CD to install over
itself, the system wouldn't find all the necessary files, hence the
instruction you saw. A repair install should bypass that but it will take
the system back to pre-SP1 state. I'll post the repair install instructions
at the bottom. If you can get to the desktop, the information below may
help:

Assuming you are able to boot to the desktop, here are some other things you
can do that might help disgnose as well as possibly fix the problem:
If your system is clear of viruses, open Control Panel, open System, go to
the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery, remove the
check from "Automatically Restart" under System Failure. This will cause
the system to blue screen instead of restarting on errors and the
information on the blue screen may give a clue as to the source of the
issue.

Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event Viewer, look for
errors corresponding to the crash, double click the error, the information
contained within may give a clue as to the
source of the problem. If you don't understand the information inside, the
third button down in that dialog box will copy the information,
you can then paste it into a message and post it here and maybe we can
figure out what is going on.

Assuming you have an XP CD and not a recovery CD, place the XP CD in the
drive, when the setup screen appears, select "Check System Compatibility,"
the report it generates may point to problem hardware or software on your
system. If you do not have an XP CD, you can download this application
known as the Upgrade Advisor from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
Note: If you have access to a broadband connection it might be best to
download using that as this is a rather large download.

Check for the latest drivers for your hardware, especially your graphics
card and soundcard and all peripherals connected to your system. Do not use
Windows Update for this, go to the device manufacturer's web sites and if
you install updated drivers, ignore the message about drivers being unsigned
by Microsoft. *Before installing any drivers, be sure you are well backed
up and it's probably a good idea to manually create a restore point in
System Restore in case you have problems as a result of the driver update
and note, System Restore is not a substitute for a backup. Start\All
Programs\Accessories\System Tools\System Restore

REPAIR INSTALL
NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an
actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP
CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the
system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter
the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

When the system boots, a few screens into the process you may see a message
instructing you
to hit any key in order to boot from the CD along with a countdown. When
you see this be sure to
hit a key on the keyboard, if you miss this instruction and the system fails
to boot from the CD, it's too
late, you'll need to reboot and try again.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console. ***The selection you want at this screen is
"Setup Windows,"
NOT "Repair Windows Installation.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

Note, in some cases, you won't receive the repair option, only an option to
reinstall. We have discovered that sometimes this is caused by damaged
boot.ini file that can be repaired as follows and also note, in the
instructions, "K" refers to the CD drive in which you have placed the XP CD,
replace that drive letter with the appropriate letter on your system, "K" is
simply an example.

Reboot, this time taking the immediate R option (this is the section I told
you to skip above. In this case, you will need to get to the Recovery
Console to perform the function below), and if the CD letter is say K: give
these commands

COPY K:\i386\ntldr C:
COPY K:\i386\ntdetect.com C:
(two other files needed - just in case)
ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\boot.ini
DEL C:\boot.ini
BootCfg /Rebuild

Once you've completed this function, reboot and see if you can access XP as
sometimes, the problem is the damaged boot.ini. If you still cannot access
XP, then reboot and re-run the repair install instructions at the beginning
of this message.

If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can
either purchase a retail version of XP which will allow you to perform the
above
among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery
routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all
files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.
 
Thank you Michael for your prompt response. Looking in the Event Viewer
dialog box, I don't find anything that allows me to copy and paste the event
log into Outlook Express email. When I double click on an error, I can get
to the description and MS help advice as well as reporting the error to MS
via the Internet but I cannot do anything else. Not yet anyway.

Although I haven't been able to do much to locate the source of the problem
reported in my 1st post, the computer does eventually boot up. The
following is typical for the past few days:

Sunday Sept. 12 @ 05:25:
Turned computer on, found POST OK. XP screen appeared. A blank blue screen
immediately showed up and stayed awhile. Sound of hard drive(s) being
searched/read. Green reset light ON. Orange light directly beneath ON. At
05:30 a.m. Welcome screen came on and I was able to use the computer.

A look at the Event Viewer shows the following for 05:26:02: Event 9 -
IdeChnDr

Can I upgrade from XP Home to XP Pro? I read that XP Pro comes with ASR
(Automated System Recovery).

--
Hoa
ec: leth5591<removethis>@gmail.com

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"
Benjamin Franklin
 
Hi there,

1) I was able to get "Event Viewer" but when I highlighted the rows
containing errors or warning, etc. I was not able to click on the
"photocopy/double copy" button located below the Down arrow button, nor was
I able to click the button called "Export to". I was trying to export the
whole Event Viewer log to Outlook Express mail/WinXP newsgroup so that
Michael and others can take a look and help me further. I cannot see OE as
a choice to export to.

2) Selecting Start>Help&Support>System>SysInfo>Advanced System Info, I was
able to get the Error Log from my system as summarized below (My apology for
the appearance of the info because I have not re-installed Word 2002 and
Excel 2002 and since the Event Viewer window does not have any File Print
feature):

DATE-TIME---SOURCE---DESCRIPTION

Sept.7-NetBT-Initialization failed 'cause driver device could not be
created.

Sept.7-NtServicePack-XP hotfix migration failed, leaving win XP partially
updated. See C:\WINDOWS\xpsp1hfm.log for more details.

Sept.9-ServiceControl Mgr-The DgiVecp service failed to start due to
following error: system cannot find the file specified.

Sept.9-Service Control Mgr-Application Management Service terminated with
the following error: Specified module could not be found.

Sept.10-Service Control Mgr-DgiVecp service failed to start....(same reason
as above).

Sept.11-Service Control Mgr-DgiVecp failed to start...

Sept.11-IdeChnDr-The device,\Device\Ide\IdeDeviceP0T1L0, did not respond
within timeout period.

Sept.12-IdeChnDr-(Same) Device did not respond within timeout period.

Sept.12-Service Control Mgr-DgiVecp service failed to start 'cause system
cannot find the file specified.

Sept.9-Application Error-Faulting application select.exe, version 0.0.0.0,
faulting module select.exe, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0005b414.

Sept.9-Dr. Watson-F:\Bin\Select.exe generated an application error. The
error occurred on 09/09/2004 @05:57:15. The exception generated was
c0000005 at address 0045B414 (SELECT!).

Sept.9-Application Error- Faulting application select.exe, version 0.0.0.0,
faulting module select.exe, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0005b414.

Sept.9-Application Erro-Fault bucket 59544770.

I also defragged both hard disks and ran Norton Antivirus 2004 as recently
as this afternoon but there were no infected files. In the last few days,
whenever I turn on the computer, POST is OK, then Win XP screen came on,
some disk reading noises then a blank blue screen comes up, stays for 5-10+
minutes before the Welcome screen appears.

3) I am also in need of moving some applications from the old 80 Gb hard
drive (D:\) to the new 120 Gb drive (C:\), and removing some other redundant
applications from the old one, but the Add/Remove Application feature does
not show me or the computer the disk location of the folders to be removed.
A specific example is I want to un-install the old nVIDIA driver for
GEForce4 MMX440 SE video card from the 80 Gb drive and install a more
up-to-date driver on the 120 Gb drive. How should I do this safely? My
ultimate goal is to use the 80 Gb drive for OSes and ashared data (FAT32)
drive, and the 120 Gb drive for WinXP applications and data.

4) In terms of partitioning, should each hard drive have separate partitions
for OS, applications and data/documents?

5) In terms of a time and cost effective solution, should I just buy the
full version or upgrade version of XP Pro and start from scratch, i.e.
re-format the hard disks, install the OS(es) and re-installing each
application, instead of trying to figure out the root of the problem with my
current XP Home system?

I look forward to hearing from you folks. Thanks a lot for your help. This
experience has an upside in that it makes me more informed as a computer
user.


--
Hoa
leth5591<removethis>@gmail.com

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"
Benjamin Franklin
 
You can certainly upgrade to XP Pro but you need to resolve your issues
first and you would have needed to create the ASR backup before the issue,
hence it would be useless in your current situation.

Also, since you have installed SP2 or have an apparent partial install of
SP2, that would have to first be removed before you could upgrade to XP Pro.
If you run a repair install as I initially described, it should put your
system back to Pre-SP condition. Note, however, if your XP disk did not
include SP1, that would be Pre-SP1 as well and all updates though, once you
resolve your issues, you can install SP2 and that will bring you up to date
on all updates including of SP1 up to the time SP2 was released.

Before you move to XP Pro or even install SP2, you need to figure out what
is the source of your issue. It appears to be driver related, you should
check your various hardware manufacturer websites for updates and
compatibility with XP and SP2.
 
Start by booting to safe mode and seeing if you can scan for viruses and
malware. Boot the system, start tapping F8, when the menu appears, select
Safe Mode and press enter. Once in Safe Mode, make sure your antivirus
software is up to date and scan your system. Check for malware with Ad
Aware, download install and run the application:
www.lavasoftusa.com.

If your system is clear of viruses and malware, go to www.dougknox.com, in
the left frame, click WinXP Fixes, from the list find, "Restore Default File
Associations Easily," click and follow the instructions.
 
Hi Michael,

I did check both hard drives using the setup CD ROM that came with the new
120 Gb Western Digital hard disk and they are both fine in tests. I then
downloaded and updated the driver for the original 80 GB Maxtor hard drive.
As a result, my computer now starts better than previously but still not
perfectly fast as before. When I turn on the machine, POST is OK then I
have to wait for 2-5 minutes between the XP screen and the Welcome login
screen, as compared to what seemed to be 20 minutes - forever a week ago.
If I press the reset button then in less than a minute the Welcome screen
comes on.
1) What seems to be the problem now?
2) What else do I need to do?
3) If I were to download the NVIDIA driver for updating, the manufacturer
recommends uninstalling the original driver first. But if I were to do
this, wouldn't the screen becomes blank and I wouldn't be able to go to
Device Manager and update the driver?

I would appreciate your advice/suggestions.

Hoa
leth5591<removethis>@gmail.com

"Beer is living....

--
Hoa
leth5591<removethis>@gmail.com

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"
Benjamin Franklin
 
The only way to source an issue such as this is to start uninstalling things
one by one, reboot once or twice after each uninstall and see if things
improve. This not only refers to software but hardware as well.

As to the nVidia driver, first, with regard to your specific question, when
you remove the driver for the graphics card, a generic VGA driver is
installed. If you have a high resolution monitor and are set to a higher
resolution, this will also set the resolution back to at least 800x600 and
you won't be able to increase the resolution until the proper driver is
installed.

Nonetheless, while this might be a little uncomfortable to read, you would
still have a visible and functional desktop. You could also perform this
procedure from XP Safe Mode, boot the system, start tapping F8, select Safe
Mode when the menu appears. In Safe Mode, only the VGA driver is used so
there should be no issues in uninstalling the nVidia driver.

That said, nVidia cards and drivers have been problematic with XP. If you
have access to a different graphics card, you might try swapping it with the
nVidia card and see if that resolves the issue. If it doesn't, at least
that would rule out the nVidia card as the culprit.
 
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