Flanker

I'm running Windows XP 32-bit. It boots up and I get the screen that asks if I want to boot in as normal, as last good config, as safe modes, etc. All of these yield the same result: After the XP logo screen comes and goes, where there should be the blue login screen with all the usernames to pick from, there is instead a completely blank, black screen with only the cursor visible. I don't know what could have caused this, last night I logged off correctly through the Start Menu > Shut Down. The last time I encountered this problem I had done a hard shutdown.

To fix it, I first tried to run chkdsk /r, but that got really slow around 50%, moving at roughly 8-10 minutes per 1%. I cancelled that, and did a chkdsk /p instead, which completed but did not solve anything. So I did a repair install, and while the XP loading screen goes by faster now (it used to take longer than it should), the blank, black screen is still there.

There is roughly 1.2GB of space left on that hard drive. I don't know if this is a problem. I normally delete files as I see necessary when the drive is getting full. I tried to use Knoppix to get into the drive to delete some files but it didn't let me delete anything.

Any ideas on what I should do? Should I just let chkdsk /r run for a few hours?

dai

you need to leave 10% free space on a hard drive to avoid problems
d/load and run the h/d makers diognostic utility on the h/drive

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Flanker

Thank you for your reply, your help is greatly appreciated. I'm currently trying to find a blank CD that I can use, I shall head out to get one momentarily. I believe I ran out of the ones I had the last time I had to reformat and had to back up my files.

In the meantime, I have also been asking for help on some other forums I know about. This is not meant as any disrespect to the members here, I simply want to get as much input as possible on this problem. One of the members on another forum posted this;

Maybe someone on here has an idea as to how I can fix this, now that we seem to know a bit more about the problem? I would've imagined that a Windows repair install would have fixed an issue such as this. I also ran chkdsk /r and let it run for the 3 hours that it took to finish. It did not help either.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I don't know if I can use Knoppix to back up my files again, since it will not allow me to delete anything.

Flanker

Bump in hopes of replies in the morning.

Cordialis

Well, you could start the chkdsk scan and see if it is equally slow this time? A second chance sometimes gets the job done.

Flanker

Yes, it was equally slow. At the rate of about 5-7 minutes for every %. A bit lower than my original estimate, but still painfully slow. I don't think chkdsk can fix it. I'm thinking more of a file implant thing.

But I really have no idea. I'm more of a hardware guy.

vladimirb

I had a same problem today at work. I could not load Windows XP either from normal or safe mode.
Every time I try to start Win XP it stop on black screen with white cursor only visible.
So I booted with Windows XP Live version and discovered that in local disk C: [system partition] was a large number of unkown .exe files [ofc files was viruses]. Appearantly those .exe files diabled Windows XP to start.
I had erase them all and I was able to load Windows XP after that.
So if you have Windows XP Live CD use it I can say only that :)

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Vladimir
Ain't Found A Way To Kill Me Yet...

dai

tap f8 when booting and from the options try
last known good configuration
this loads the last good registry
i think you will have to format and reinstall
my daughter overfilled her h/drive and lost all access to it

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Flanker

The Last Good Configuration did not work.

I do not see any real suspicious .exe files in C: drive.

However, I did notice that my IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and CONFIG.SYS files are all empty, zero bytes and all. This can't be good. Any ideas of it's importance and if I can implant these files from somewhere else?

Edit: I am able to see these files because I'm booting from the Knoppix LiveCD. I can read files, but because Linux is not naturally able to write to NTFS partitions, I'll have to do some work before I can get Knoppix to write or delete files on the drive.

flipgeek

I'm not sure if this will help but did you try the recovery console?

Your Windows XP setup CDROM has a tool called the Recovery Console, which is designed to help you repair a damaged master boot record or boot sector. To start the Recovery Console and fix your damaged MBR, follow these steps:

1. Restart your computer with the Windows XP Setup disk in the CDROM drive.
2. If you are prompted to press a key to start the computer from CDROM, do so quickly. Otherwise it may try to boot from the hard drive.
3. After a few minutes, you'll see a prompt to press the R key to start the Recovery Console.
4. When Recovery Console starts, it will prompt you to enter a number corresponding to the Windows XP installation that you need to repair. In most cases, you'll enter "1" (which will be the only choice). If you press ENTER without typing a number, Recovery Console will quit and restart your computer.
5. Enter your Administrator password. If you don't enter the correct password, you cannot continue.
6. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type fixmbr and then verify that you want to proceed.

Flanker

I had completely forgotten about fixmbr. I had already run chkdsk from the Recovery Console, but not that. I ran that as well as fixboot and neither helped. =[