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Repeating boot cycle never starts up Win XP

11K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  Bluebird 
#1 ·
I have been dealing with a worm on my computer. Exactly when I found the right program to use and purchased it, it became impossible to start the computer in any mode. The screen with the little blue timeline thingy shows and then it goes back to start. I have tried evey menu option. The option menu appears even without pressing F8

I have an Acer Power PC purchased from Tiger Direct last fall. The PC did not come with an Xp disk but I made the series of disks that I was instructed to make. I have a cd key code for XP on the side of the tower. the system is XP Profesional

I called Acer and their only solution was to use a recovery procedure that causes me to lose all my files. UNACCEPTABLE!

Any suggestions on how to regain access to system without losing valuable files?

:upset:
 
#3 · (Edited)
Welcome to TSF. :wave:

You will need an XP disc - see if you can borrow one (same version Pro/Home).

The file system is damaged.
Run chksdsk /r. To do that:
Start the computer with the Windows CD.
At the Welcome to Setup screen, press R to select the repair option.
You will have to enter the Administrator password - if none, just press <Enter>.
At the command prompt - type chkdsk /r > press <Enter>.
When the disk check is done:
Type Exit > press <Enter>.
Take the Windows disc out and reboot.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Recently i saw a post like this and the tech suggest ted that if you boot in safe mode at the command prompt you may be able to access system restore.

The command to enter was something like c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe Maybe someone knows the right command.

Just incase you cant get your hands on an intsalation disk.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the replys.

I have an XP home edition disk but my computer uses XP Pro.

The information regarding accessing system restore from safe mode is very useful to know, but at this time I cannot get there. I have tried safe mode with command prompt but it does the same as the other startup options.

I did find a place to download a CD image for a bootable XP pro disk at
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Downright_pages/Boot_Disks_and_Boot_CDs.htm

So far I have made the CD rom the first boot device but the system still is displaying the hard disk screen that just keeps looping back to restart.

I will keep trying to locate Win XPPro disk and also keep trying to get the system toboot to the CD Rom
 
#7 ·
The problem was I wasn't recording the ISO file correctly. I recorded it right this time and I received the following message:

Windows cannot start because the following file is mising or corrupted:

Windows root>System32\hal.dll

I have a notebook with XP Pro or one can usually download dll files but there is no command prompt.( another Acer!)

I guess that is why I need the winXP Pro setup disks. I don't know why one shouldn't get these disks with one's computer. The recovery disks that Acer asks one to make are for the last choice option. They destroy the data on the system and recover the system only. I think I will never buy an Acer computer again. I am pretty sure that one gets the setup disks with Dell computers. The boot disks with the Win98 system provided one with a command prompt. What is this BS!!!?!! No command prompt!
 
#9 ·
Hi Bluebird and welcome to TSF

Using a friend's computer, download and burn BartPE. It is free and easy to find on the web. It will boot to the CD in a windows like environment. It has some tools on board that will let you run chkdsk.

Hope this helps,
Mack1
 
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