[ejames82]

i keep plugging away at this problem. when i run chkdsk, it goes in a loop, where it keeps restarting, and i have to use last known good to avoid a hard kill. my computer has had this problem since i bought it from my neighbor about a year and a half ago. i was advised to run seagates hard disk diagnostic, which i did, and it passed all tests.
i initially asked for help with registry info, but having intermediate knowledge at best, i would welcome any help or advice i can get.
my computer is a compaq presario with 256 ram and xp.
thanks.

 

[ejames82]

ThorXP,
my fault.
i should have mentioned that i already tried that (both suggestions). with all that has happened i forgot. sorry.
i am going to try it again anyway. what the heck, it can't hurt. i just wish i knew of another way to get out of the checkdisk other than "last known good", but at least i can do that. i've tried checkdisk about 8 times now, and it's always the same thing.
thanks for the reply.

 

[ejames82]

ThorXP,
my fault again.
i don't have an xp cd rom.
i actually do have the recovery console accessible, and it's been tweaked in a way that there are few limitations, but it's probably useless without the xp cd rom. i think i have read that somewhere.
the fsutil came back as "NOT dirty". i don't know whether or not that is good. if it is not dirty could that be a problem?
there has been a new development in the chkdsk issue. i ran a chkdsk, and after it ran once through i caught it as it was counting down to run again and pressed "enter", it went straight into windows normal mode desktop. there was no need to use last known good. could this be because i downloaded .NET framework 2.0? i don't even know what .NET framework is or does, and i don't see why or how there suddenly would be a change to chkdsk that would allow me this out, this wasn't available before.
i know it's not automatically going to windows normal mode desktop like it's supposed to, but it's liveable. now i know that i can run the checkdisk with the benefits it's supposed to provide. using last known good provides nothing but a waste of time.
also, your link provides info about the registry that i will research. apparently the difference is a "\" (without the quotes).
you really know your stuff, ThorXP, i have read many articles about this and you repeated much of that info, and more.
thanks for the reply.