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From: Daave on 29 May 2010 18:53
antioch wrote:
> "Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message

>> If your CD drive already has a higher priority than your hard drive
>> in the BIOS settings for boot order, then there is no need to press
>> *anything* when you boot up. That is, if you turn the PC on, does it
>> boot off the CD? If you are running off the XP installation CD, you
>> should see this screen:
>> http://www.pcxmedics.com/blog/images/clean-install-xp-1.jpg
>>
>> Do you?
>>
>> What is the make and model of your motherboard?
>>
> Boot order in Bios is floppy, HDD then CD Rom. The order in that
> small coloured window which I get with F8 at the IDE scan is in no
> particular order - its just there to select.
> I have put the ISO disc in and started the boot - I get no 'press any
> key to boot from CD.....'
> But if I pick CD from that coloured window, I do get that prompt.
> I also get the same result with the WIN XP disc in the computer. The
> only variance is at the end of the Rec. Con activity - as to what I
> can/cannot enter in the command line.
> So I would conclude that of course the CD does not have a higher
> priority boot in the bios - as I believe they are the default
> settings as I mentioned above.

I think you are getting too hung up on this F8 IDE scan.

You need to simplify this process!

Just place the CD ahead of the hard drive in the boot order. If there is
no CD in the drive, then it will boot off the hard drive anyway.
Furthermore, you can always undo the change. It is simple and safe (as
long as you don't purposefully change other settings).

> Oh, nearly forgot - yes I can also use DEL at the first screen to
> enter setup - then I go to BOOT in the menu.

This is what you need to do! Then make the CD-ROM drive the first (or
second) priority (as long as it precedes the HDD).

> But I do not like going
> to places where I have no idea what I am doing - bit like the
> registry.

This is basic. If it really bothers you that much, you should find a
tech to do this for you. But if you reconsider, simply jot down all the
BIOS settings. This is way you have a record of them in case you ever
need to reset them.

> To me it appears that it matters not what disc is in there - they
> booth require CD boot to be selected and both behave erratically in
> the Rec. Con. Hope that answers all your question.

The erratic behavior should disappear once you act upon my suggestion.
:-)

> MB is an Asus P5LD2.

When I have more time, I will look into this motherboard and the F8 IDE
scan you mention.

Finally, there is no such thing as an ISO disc. Perhaps you mean the
bootable RC disc you created based on an .iso file you downloaded? If
this is the case, it is imperative that you burn it the correct way with
the correct software. Many people make the common mistake of simply
burning (i.e., copying) the file onto the CD. Which method and software
did you use?


From: antioch on 29 May 2010 20:43
Replies are intertwined - the computer crashed out about an hour ago - since
then I have not been able to revive it.
Rgds
Antioch

"Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
news:uQ$u5G4$KHA.348(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> antioch wrote:
>> "Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
>
>>> If your CD drive already has a higher priority than your hard drive
>>> in the BIOS settings for boot order, then there is no need to press
>>> *anything* when you boot up. That is, if you turn the PC on, does it
>>> boot off the CD? If you are running off the XP installation CD, you
>>> should see this screen:
>>> http://www.pcxmedics.com/blog/images/clean-install-xp-1.jpg
>>>
>>> Do you?
>>>
>>> What is the make and model of your motherboard?
>>>
>> Boot order in Bios is floppy, HDD then CD Rom. The order in that
>> small coloured window which I get with F8 at the IDE scan is in no
>> particular order - its just there to select.
>> I have put the ISO disc in and started the boot - I get no 'press any
>> key to boot from CD.....'
>> But if I pick CD from that coloured window, I do get that prompt.
>> I also get the same result with the WIN XP disc in the computer. The
>> only variance is at the end of the Rec. Con activity - as to what I
>> can/cannot enter in the command line.
>> So I would conclude that of course the CD does not have a higher
>> priority boot in the bios - as I believe they are the default
>> settings as I mentioned above.
>
> I think you are getting too hung up on this F8 IDE scan.

"I am not getting hung up on anything to do with the F8 button - that's what
I do to boot from a CD - The time I pick is when it needs to be done - the
IDE scan is so fast you can hardly read it. I don't have to keep going into
the Bios - easy and simple."

> You need to simplify this process!
>
> Just place the CD ahead of the hard drive in the boot order. If there is
> no CD in the drive, then it will boot off the hard drive anyway.
> Furthermore, you can always undo the change. It is simple and safe (as
> long as you don't purposefully change other settings).

"Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as follows -
1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter chkdsk /r -
got file path not valid.
Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual there were
one or more errors.
exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the little train
had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted error.
Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only the second time
it has - five minutes later at 1%
it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it got to
the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete to restart'.
On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load to the welcome
screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or corrupt.

Previous to this new approach with the boot order altered in the Bios, on
one of many attempts to get the system up and running I got another error
code - \SYSTEM ROOT\SYSTEM32\ntdl.dll missing. I had that ntdl at the
beginning of all this.

I am currently on the third run - it has been 20 minutes on 25% completed -
the active light is on continual - no flickering."


>> Oh, nearly forgot - yes I can also use DEL at the first screen to
>> enter setup - then I go to BOOT in the menu.
>
> This is what you need to do! Then make the CD-ROM drive the first (or
> second) priority (as long as it precedes the HDD).
>
>> But I do not like going
>> to places where I have no idea what I am doing - bit like the
>> registry.
>
> This is basic. If it really bothers you that much, you should find a tech
> to do this for you. But if you reconsider, simply jot down all the BIOS
> settings. This is way you have a record of them in case you ever need to
> reset them.
>
>> To me it appears that it matters not what disc is in there - they
>> booth require CD boot to be selected and both behave erratically in
>> the Rec. Con. Hope that answers all your question.
>
> The erratic behavior should disappear once you act upon my suggestion. :-)

It has not :-( as yet.
>
>> MB is an Asus P5LD2.
>
> When I have more time, I will look into this motherboard and the F8 IDE
> scan you mention.
>
> Finally, there is no such thing as an ISO disc. Perhaps you mean the
> bootable RC disc you created based on an .iso file you downloaded? If this
> is the case, it is imperative that you burn it the correct way with the
> correct software. Many people make the common mistake of simply burning
> (i.e., copying) the file onto the CD. Which method and software did you
> use?

"As per Jose's links - bleeping and their free burner. No, I did not 'copy
it"
It has been over an hour now and its time to retire - will get it going
again in the morning.
As I was typing this last bit, I cancelled the chkdsk, the machine rebooted
and went straight into the desktop without as much as a whimper - this is
getting more and more ridiculous.

Rgds
Antioch











From: Daave on 29 May 2010 22:16
antioch wrote:
> "Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
> I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as
> follows - 1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
> Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter
> chkdsk /r - got file path not valid.
> Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual there
> were one or more errors.
> exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the
> little train had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted
> error. Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only the
> second
> time it has - five minutes later at 1%
> it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it
> got to the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete
> to restart'. On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load
> to the welcome screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or
> corrupt.

How is your hard drive partitioned? Is Windows on C:?

What is the *exact* message with regard to the path not being valid? Is
autochk.exe referenced?


From: antioch on 30 May 2010 07:59


"Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
news:eToph45$KHA.3176(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> antioch wrote:
>> "Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
>> I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as
>> follows - 1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
>> Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter
>> chkdsk /r - got file path not valid.
>> Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual there
>> were one or more errors.
>> exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the
>> little train had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted
>> error. Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only the
>> second
>> time it has - five minutes later at 1%
>> it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it
>> got to the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete
>> to restart'. On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load
>> to the welcome screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or
>> corrupt.
>
> How is your hard drive partitioned? Is Windows on C:?
>
> What is the *exact* message with regard to the path not being valid? Is
> autochk.exe referenced?
>
As expected, the computer did not start - got the 'unmountable' error.
I have just the C drive - no partition - confirmed as I only get offered 1.
C:\WINDOWS>
and underneath I am told I can type exit
1st run - This morning, as soon as I type chkdsk after the 1. option, it
tells me immediately that 'the volume appears to contain one or more
unrecoverable problems. Nothing new there except it has told me this after
it has done a chkdsk.
typing in autochk produces the usual 'The command is not recognised. Type
help for list. It is not in the list of commands.
All the 'boot cfg' options tell me 'Failed to successfully scan disks for
Windows Installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system,
which would prevent bootcfg from scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any disk
errors.'
As a result I cannot add/rebuild etc.
At the moment, if I type anything else in the command line I get 'this
command is not recognised - type help for list'
2nd run - at the REC Con window the entry is slightly different - there is
the informative bit is the same, but I then have -
The path or file specified is not valid.
C:\>
If I add chkdsk I get 'The specified path is not valid or there is no disk
in the drive'
If I add any of the boot choices I am again told that it cannot perform due
to corrupt system - as before. The same for autochk.
Rgds
Antioch

From: Daave on 30 May 2010 09:25
antioch wrote:
> "Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
> news:eToph45$KHA.3176(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> antioch wrote:
>>> "Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
>>> I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as
>>> follows - 1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
>>> Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter
>>> chkdsk /r - got file path not valid.
>>> Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual
>>> there were one or more errors.
>>> exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the
>>> little train had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted
>>> error. Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only
>>> the second
>>> time it has - five minutes later at 1%
>>> it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it
>>> got to the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete
>>> to restart'. On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load
>>> to the welcome screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or
>>> corrupt.
>>
>> How is your hard drive partitioned? Is Windows on C:?
>>
>> What is the *exact* message with regard to the path not being valid?
>> Is autochk.exe referenced?
>>
> As expected, the computer did not start - got the 'unmountable' error.
> I have just the C drive - no partition - confirmed as I only get
> offered 1. C:\WINDOWS>
> and underneath I am told I can type exit
> 1st run - This morning, as soon as I type chkdsk after the 1. option,
> it tells me immediately that 'the volume appears to contain one or
> more unrecoverable problems. Nothing new there except it has told me
> this after it has done a chkdsk.
> typing in autochk produces the usual 'The command is not recognised.
> Type help for list. It is not in the list of commands.
> All the 'boot cfg' options tell me 'Failed to successfully scan disks
> for Windows Installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt
> file system, which would prevent bootcfg from scanning. Use chkdsk
> to detect any disk errors.'
> As a result I cannot add/rebuild etc.
> At the moment, if I type anything else in the command line I get 'this
> command is not recognised - type help for list'
> 2nd run - at the REC Con window the entry is slightly different -
> there is the informative bit is the same, but I then have -
> The path or file specified is not valid.
> C:\>
> If I add chkdsk I get 'The specified path is not valid or there is no
> disk in the drive'
> If I add any of the boot choices I am again told that it cannot
> perform due to corrupt system - as before. The same for autochk.
> Rgds
> Antioch

When you had reported that SeaTools for DOS indicated your hard drive
was healthy, I assumed the hard drive was healthy. But it seems those
results were very inaccurate! You most likely will need to purchase a
new drive. Sorry that it has to be this way!

You could always use another PC (a healthy one!) to scan the hard drive
if you want to be 100% positive. Or there are certain CDs you can use
(like UBCD4Win) that contain drive diagnostics.

I don't believe you specifically identified the make and model of this
HDD. I will verify that you used the correct utility.


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