Re: machine will only boot in safe mode

"Steve" <speedo@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:0C25F93B-8DE6-4FC8-88CA-F3A0E845C5A7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


"Rock" wrote:

"Steve" wrote

> first off, sorry if this has been answered over an over again
> and believe me I have search this newsgroup but I am just
> not sure what to do..............
>
> a friend of mine windows XP Toshiba laptop won't start up properly.
> it keeps returning to the same page over an over again
>
> the options on the page are....
>
> safe mode
> safe mode with networking
> safe mode with command prompt
>
> or last known good configuration
>
> I can boot into the safe mode but when I try booting using the last
> option, last known good configuration it brings me back to the same
> page.
>
> from what I read here I think I should try System Restore first and
> if that doesn't fix it then a System Repair, right?
>
> the problem is seeing that it's a Toshiba all that came with it is a
> cd that says..........."Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD Satelite
> A55 Series.
>
> any ideas on what I can do from here???


Is there a backup of important files? If not backup the data first. Take
the drive out, attach it to another computer using an adaptor, and copy the
important files.

Then boot from any XP installation CD, not from the recovery cd and take the
first R for repair. This will get you to the recovery console. Type in the
number for the XP installation, normally 1, then the password for the built
in Administrator account. For XP Home this is normally not set so just hit
enter or tab over. For XP Pro or if a password was set type that in. Note
this is the password for the Administrator account, not the account with
administrator privileges the owner might have been using.

Once at the command prompt do
chkdsk /p
Then reboot without the XP CD and see if it boots.

finally got the recovery console installed and did a chkdsk /p at the prompt
and it didn't change a thing. is there anything else I should try before
moving on and using the Tosiba's recovery disk and deleting everything?


Sorry Steve, nothing I can think of. For the future your friend might invest in some drive imaging software and an external USB hard drive. The imaging software makes a compressed image of the drive which can be stored on the USB hard drive. If anything hoses the system again, just restore the most recent good image. It works great.

Programs that do this are Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: recovery console
    ... Steve wrote: ... I found many suggestions to use the recovery ... > console to do a chkdsk /r command. ... The Administrator account that it is trying to log on with is the built-in ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Disable or rename administrator account
    ... Disabling an administrator account disables it for network or normal ... You still can logon in Safe Mode. ... controller which is what you are prompted for in AD recovery. ... For reanme or disabling AD administrator account, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.security)
  • Re: Im locked out of my computer!!! HELP
    ... Try logging on with "the" administrator account in safe mode and you should gain ... --- Steve ... Now I can't log on to windows at all. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: Windows will not boot under any circumstances!
    ... You said that Safe Mode, Last Mode, etc failed. ... Recovery Process from the Partition get before it fails? ... At least you will find out if you can boot from CD-ROM.... ... so for now i'm stuck with a bricked laptop. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Windows will not boot under any circumstances!
    ... You said that Safe Mode, Last Mode, etc failed. ... Recovery Process from the Partition get before it fails? ... At least you will find out if you can boot from CD-ROM.... ... you mentioned that i could use AVG to make a bootable CD/DVD thingy... ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
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