Lega_c Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I'm not the most tech savvy person so I don't know much, but I was just wondering if this was a hard drive failure: I currently have a desktop PC running Windows XP. Today when my other attempted to boot this rarely used PC, since I have a much faster laptop now, it showed a black and white screen that said it couldn't recover my System32 configurations. I tried using this site for help but when It got to the step after I press the number "1" for the Windows install I would like to use, the Administration password prompt never comes up. Has my computer croaked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otter Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Could be. Let's assume not, first of all. Were you able to boot into your recovery console? Either by pressing f8 when the machine loads, or by using your Recovery disk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 Could be. Let's assume not, first of all. Were you able to boot into your recovery console? Either by pressing f8 when the machine loads, or by using your Recovery disk? Yes, I was able to boot from the disk, and get into the recovery console. Only after getting into the recovery console it asks me "Which Windows installation would you like to recover?" The only option is "1" so I type that in and press ENTER. Nothing happens after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otter Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 What happens if you try any other command prompt commands, like DIR? Were you able to try "option 2" (chkdsk /p ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 All of the options require you to enter the Administrator password. I can't even get to that step because it freezes after I type "1". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otter Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I'm rusty - but is it a prompt? You hit 1, then enter? Or does is hang as soon as you type "1"? If the former, then type EXIT or try hitting esc. If it's the latter - I'd start kicking the computer repeatedly. You can then try downloading a separate recovery disk, or a disc-bootable OS to try and recover your files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 I hit 1 then Enter. That is when it just hangs. Sucks man, but then again this computer is about 8 years old so I guess it is time to upgrade. Thanks for your help, Otter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Dude, You must keep track of Admin passwords, or don't even bother. I mean, what's the point when you can't even access your own systems. If there is no partition, it is only going to be "1", which brings up an MS-DOS prompt to which you type HELP for the list of RC commands. Use FixMBR and FixBOOT commands first though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 There was no problem with my Admin password. I had no place to enter it at all. It never prompted me to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 (edited) Hmmm, Well, I've never seen or had it hang, that's something I guess I can't help with. I always got the prompt needed. I would advise scanning the HDD with a simple ScanDisk command from an MS boot floppy FDISK can check. Edited April 9, 2009 by Slamman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Just reinstall Windows over the current installation. That way all your files will be there and you can back them up and format and install a fresh copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf68k Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 See if you can get a copy of SpinRite or http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ or http://www.ubcd4win.com/ (which is the same as Ultimate Boot CD but with a new Windows interface). Or if you know what brand the drive is you can usually go to the driver maker's website and download a utility there. The point is to do a surface scan of the drive. It may very well be dead. You said it's 8 years old so just as a guess I'd say it maybe a 30-40GB drive and 5400RPM. And for about $50 you can get a 200-300GB 7200RPM drive easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I read and commented that a HDD's projected life span was said to be 5 years, but they've certainly outlived that estimate in most cases...unlike USB flash RAM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leik oh em jeez! Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 XP Live CD. Perfect for occasions like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 XP should also allow an MS based scan from Recovery Console, but you want to check all the space on the disc so bad portioned data can be recovered and moved to good, unused portions of the disc... That's without reformatting anything. I have one that boots and wants to scan every time, but I just bypass it and Windows STILL works correctly after that. The drive IS old, it's only 3 or 4GB in size, but it's a standard laptop 2.5 so I keep it running as a temp for any new lappy I test drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 So many answers! Thanks guys. Right now I'm a bit confused with all your technical mumbo jumbo, what exactly do I need to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Tell us this, is there any data in the PC that's important to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Not really, I have.Maybe some of my old music, but nothing too serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf68k Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Do you have that old music backed up some place else? Just get a new drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lega_c Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 I don't really need the old music. I am actually thinking about getting a new desktop. Affter that I can buy a new drive for the older compputer and use that one strictly for music production purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 If you don't care about what's in the drive, simply format and install a fresh copy of Windows. It may just be that Windows screwed itself over before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Windows screwing itself over? Never happens, bub. Thing is the most likely scenario is some section of the hardware fails, the writing surface of the physical discs can get damages the same as any other, optical media just lasts longer due to the reading and writing methods not as destructive over the long haul. Tie multiple drives together to access the data THEN re-write the OS image in whole...or in part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 It does happen, I'm talking from personal experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cursed Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Windows does screw it's self up, it has happened a few times with me. One day it's fine, the next everything is corrupted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I would say, rarely if so, but I've never personally seen Windows crash that wasn't instigated by something that was beyond the scope of an installed correctly Windows OS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf68k Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 It's called "bit rot" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I was trying to think of the term Clusters, which when ScanDisk looks over and graphically maps the disc surface, multiple platters, they are depicted in various colors, the condition and location of damaged blocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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