Re: More Problems - XP Will Not Boot - 2nd Computer - Following Up

Hi Dave,

I'll give that a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Have a great weekend.

Jeff

"Daave" wrote:

Hi, Jeff. Sorry that I cannot help with regard to your RAID0 setup as I
have no experience with that whatsoever. I do like your idea of starting
from scratch, using a non-RAID configuration. In the event you want to
troubleshoot and try to correct what you currently have, I suggest you
post to a hardware newsgroup such as:

microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware

And include a link to this thread:

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/browse_thread/thread/e4f5f555b3121946/4795274e8331c587?hl=en&q=

Good luck.


Jeff wrote:
Hi Daave,

Well... this has become a bit more of a challenge that I had hoped.

I think maybe it will be easier if I tell you where things stand at
the moment... I started the quest of trying to search out malware and
viruses with several different programs on bootable CDs; but, I
couldn't get them to recognize the hard drives.

That led me in a slightly different direction. I can provide many more
details of my troubleshooting plan; but, maybe it will be easier if I
give you the major results.

First, the system that I am trying to troubleshoot has an onboard
Promoise RAID controller. The hard drives on the system are set up as
RAID0.

As a point of reference, if I run the Win XP setup disk, I get to the
Setup screen which lists the drives which are available for
installation. There are four instances of Unknown Devices, and no
volumes available for the installation of XP.

I have made sure to load current RAID drivers during the XP Set
routine. Yet the RAID configuration is not identified.

If I go into the RAID setup utility which runs after POST, and I
delete the RAID0 volume, and then I go into BIOS and change the
setting for SATA as RAID from Yes to No, and reboot the system....
which spins up the Win XP setup disk... I enter the setup routine
again.

This time... I have two volumes available for the installation.

This leads me to believe that either the RAID controller on the
motherboard is bad, or the drivers are not up-to-date for the RAID
controller during Win XP setup. I know that I have the most current
drivers from ASUS/Promise, so I am reasonably certain that they are
not the problem.

Do you think I am on the right trail?

Replacing the motherboard probabaly isn't a good option. Do you know
if there is a way to disable the RAID controller on the motherboard?
Are there RAID controllers mounted to aftermarket cards that I can
run as a standalone from the motherboard? (I will investigate those
options today; but, I thought you might know off the top of your
head.)

I will probably just go ahead and install a larger hard drive in a
non-RAID configuration, and try to get things back up and running.
The added speed of the RAID0 configuration isn't really necessary now
as this is more of a back-up system.

I will always be a little suspect, though, fearing that other
components on the board may be close to failure.

Thanks again for your help.

Jeff

"Daave" wrote:

YW, Jeff.


Jeff wrote:
Hi Daave,

I just wanted you to know that I haven't been able to spend any time
on the system for which the troubleshooting procedure will be so
helpful. The system is a secondary system that I use in my office,
and it isn't critical that I get it running right away. I want to
make sure that I have enough time to work with it when I begin
troubleshooting it.

I hope you'll be around later this week, or early next week, should
I need some more of your wisdom.

Thanks

Jeff

"Daave" wrote:

YW and keep us posted.

Jeff wrote:
Hi Daave,

Thanks for the very detailed message.

I will work my way through the steps you recommend.

I agree with you about Norton. Several months ago I had a problem
with a file manager program not running in Vista. I had used it
for several years. It stopped working after Norton update.
Norton's prevented it from running afterward. Symantec said that
the file manager program was at fault because it didn't meet the
standards to which the latest update was written; but, that
seemed pretty funny to me that I had been using it with Vista.

If you don't mind, I will keep you posted with additional emails.

(Off Topic... You asked the question about the CD media in the
notebook computer that I was having problems booting from the CD
drive. I tried several different sets of media... .iso disks that
I created and two Windows XP (Gateway OEM and MS) system disks.)

I'll be in touch.

Thanks again for putting so much thought into your post.

Jeff

"Daave" wrote:

There is always a possibility you have been infected with
malware. If you haven't seen this helpful page already, have a
look at it now:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

In the event you are malware-free, you may want to try the
equivalent of a manual "System Restore":

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Hopefully, that will work. If not...

In order to run a Repair Install (the second "R"), you need to
avoid the Recovery Console (the first "R")! Here are
instructions:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Note that your installation CD really should be at the same SP
level as what is on your PC (and for best results, you need to
revert to IE6 first, too). If it isn't, you should be able to
create an installation CD from your current one and slipstream
SP3 onto it. See:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=xp+slipstream+sp3&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g9

(and choose the method that looks best) FWIW, I've had success
with this method:

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=295

(Also, there are programs like nLite that streamline the
process.)

If the Repair Install doesn't work, there's always a Clean
Install:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

No matter what you do, make sure you will have already copied
*all* your data! This includes e-mails, Web browser favorites,
etc. Bootable live Linux CDs (e.g., Knoppix or Ubuntu) are good
for this. Or you can build your own UBCD4Win, which is very
handy to have.

Finally, you should consider ditching Norton, which can be very
problematic for many people, not to mention resource-hogging.



Jeff wrote:
Still stumped!

I have tried various things to get my Windows XP system to boot
normally.

I can boot into Safe Mode with no problems.

I will post the facts as I know them in hopes that they will
ring a bell:

1. The system was working normally before a Norton Internet
Security ran, followed by a Windows XP update.

2. When I attempt a normaly boot, the system hangs at the
Windows XP splash screen, scroll bar srolling, no apparent
drive activity (drive light not illuminated).

3. I have attempted to uninstall several of the Windows updates
which were installed immediately before these problems. I
receive errors that the services' installers will not work in
safe mode.

4. I have loaded the utility Safemsi while in safe mode in an
attempt to be able to install MS' Windows Installer Cleanup
Utility. I cannot get the cleanup utility to load in Safe Mode,
even after using Safemsi.

5. I have booted from a Windows XP SP2 installation CD. I
attempt to run a repair. When I select that option, I end up at
a screen that displays: "Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery
Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery
functionality. Type Exit to quit the Recovery Console and
restart the computer.

C:"
If I inspect that drive, it shows there are no files or
directories. The system is set up as a Raid 0 configuration. I
am pretty certain that the drivers required for the raid array
are included on the Windows XP CD.

6. If I try to run the Recovery Console from the recovery option
shown on the boot screen, I get a Blue Screen of Death.

I am tempted to install two new hard drives and reinstall my
latest backup; but, this problem seems very similar to a problem
I am experiencing on my notebook computer after an installation
of Windows Updates and Norton Internet Security Updates. I
would like to find the reason for this problem before moving on.

Thanks

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I am stumped.

This morning I ran Windows Update on a second XP system that I
have in my office.

Prior to running the Windows XP install for the downloaded
updates, I had a message that Norton Internet Security had
installed updates and asked to restart.

Long story short... The system will not boot.

Almost exactly the same problem as I described for the Gateway
notebook computer. However, on this system I can boot to the
Windows XP system disk.

When I try to start Windows XP normally, the boot goes to the
point of the splash screen with the moving scroll bar. Then the
light which indicates hard drive activity stops. The scroll bar
continues to revolve until I do a hard reset of the system.

I can boot into Safe Mode and view event errors on this system.
There are several, and I would be happy to post them; but, I
thought I would post the general details to see what other
details would be helpful.

I tried to boot to the recovery partition on the hard drive
(Raid 0). It works for a short while and then goes to a BSOD.
I can run the recovery console from the recovery disk. I did
not attempt to do the recovery at that time, just in case
there is a better fix.

What is peculiar is that both of these problems between the two
computers are so similar (both are XP SP3), and they both
occurred after Norton Internet Security and Windows XP updates.

Any thoughts about how I should proceed would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jeff



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