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


YW and same to you.

Jeff wrote:
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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