windows xp major problem
 

ok for some reason windows xp pro decided to blank screen me while i was using it, now i seem to have lost ALL of my files, as i had to give it a hard reboot.......

so how can i recover them ? (over 100gb!!!!!) :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

tried a system restore....no cigar

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Can you load in safe mode ( rapidly press f8 when you turn the machine on and select safe mode ) From there open a command prompt and type "chkdsk c:" If the problem is a currupted file system then this will fix it.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

remember the golden rule and always BACKUP!!

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Have you tried the XP Recovery Console using the Win XP CD ROM?

Re: windows xp major problem
 

ill give that a whirl now :)

got this info

C:\Documents and Settings\kronas>chkdsk c:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is recovering lost files.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)..
Security descriptor verification completed.

Security descriptor verification completed.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the vo
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.

120624020 KB total disk space.
100250620 KB in 66797 files.
26820 KB in 4837 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
154420 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
20192160 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
30156005 total allocation units on disk.
5048040 allocation units available on disk.


on the first load up, xp said it 'could not load my personal settings, and it could not find my desktop :disturbd:


thanks for the helpful advice :rolleyes: i was trying to last night, norton ghost kept on freezing :rolleyes:

thanks to all who helped so far :)

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Run chkdsk with the /f option m8.. Its sounds like currupt files are your culpret.

If you are going to use the recovery system make sure that you choose the second autorecover option and not the first one that is offered.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

OMG 100gb of Avril!!!

Re: windows xp major problem
 

done that no help :(

i choose the option to press 'R' to repair it just brings me to the c:windows prompt what do i do after that.......

and it seems my bios is having troble detecting whats on my IDE cables :disturbd:

Re: windows xp major problem
 

hard drive failure? does it find any ide devices dvd?

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Thats the first one he mentioned kronas. That doe's give you the command prompt. Try again for the second ;)

Re: windows xp major problem
 

im on the pc now, it finds my hard drive (sometimes) but it takes ages to find my cd-rom drives, after a hang, i hit f4, brings up my drives i continue.....

but its the fact that all my files are missing on the drive that bothers me right now!!!!!

Re: windows xp major problem
 

This is because the repair option is just to give you a command line so that you can try and fix your pc at a lower level. It is doing what it should but you need to know what to do next.

What happens when you use the /F option, can you provide the results? If you run it again, is the same error still showing.

Also, there is another command that you can use if all else fails, its called FIXMBR and you would run it from the dos promt in the repair option. This will rebuild your master boot record, but if it cant be rebuilt you hard drive is fooked from a software point of view and will need a reformat.

You say that the BIOS is having problems with seeing your hard disk though, this could be the cable but is more likely to be the disk and it makes it much more likely that this is a hardware and not a software problem. You just got to swap it out and see if the problem goes away.

If it does you know your hard disk is a gonner, and if its under a year old you could send it back to the manufacturer to get them to attempt a data recovery on it.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Or when you get to the part that asks's if you wont a fresh installion or fix you choose fix and it repair's everything for you from there. Again this is the second option

Re: windows xp major problem
 

when i do it in safe mode it states that it cannot be done because the volume is being used, so it then says would you like to schedule it upon next boot, which i did and it all checked ok.......

it told me my current boot record is 'invalid or unrecognizable' and if i continued my current partition may be unreadable.

problem solved via CMOS clearence.

its out of warranty :(


thats the one i went to.......

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Can you check the drives SMART status?

With a program like Active smart or speedfan?

This COULD (as it's not always accurate) give an indication of immanent drive failure or any problems.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

i also noticed some programs dont work, the icons are default windows ones, non animated and it trys to find the shortcuts.......

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Those seem ok....

Sorry - it was just an idea :(

Re: windows xp major problem
 

someone please help !!!!! it seems i have lost alot of my stuff, a long list of favorities in internet explorer, shortcuts, folders, files, :( :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Are you running with fat32 or NTFS m8 ?

It still sounds like a currupted file system to me !

Re: windows xp major problem
 

NTFS

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Does the system give the file system a clean bill of health when you run it ? Go into my computer and right click on the c drive. Select scandisk and tick both the boxes. The system will then want a reboot. Let it perform a complete scan of the drive ( it will take a while ) as soon as that is done and you are back into windows run a system restore incase the registry has been damaged.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

It may not help this either but worth a try. Run this command on start menu,run "sfc /scannow" You will need the windows xp cd in the cdrom drive by the way

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Ok - I took this from the Microsoft Website (check the bit in bold)

Fixmbr Repairs the master boot record of the boot disk. The fixmbr command is only available when you are using the Recovery Console

fixmbr [device_name]

Parameter

device_name

The device (drive) on which you want to write a new master boot record. The name can be obtained from the output of the map command. An example of a device name is:

\Device\HardDisk0.

Example

The following example writes a new master boot record to the device specified:

fixmbr \Device\HardDisk0

Note

If you do not specify a device_name, a new master boot record will be written to the boot device, which is the drive on which your primary system is loaded.

If an invalid or nonstandard partition table signature is detected, you will be prompted whether you want to continue. If you are not having problems accessing your drives, you should not continue. Writing a new master boot record to your system partition could damage your partition tables and cause your partitions to become inaccessible.

---------------------

So what that means is that it has detected a problem, as this CAN cause you to loose ALL data in the event of failure, use this ONLY as a last option, but i think this will fix your issue. If it doesn't and it all goes wrong though, sorry - but i cant think of anything else.

Incidentally, i have used this command before and it did fix an issue and did not erase all my data - but - i cant guarantee it.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Actually, this is starting to make more sense, lets recap the evidence

Your Screen Blanked - NOT blue screen - indicates hardware issue or power fluctuation...

BIOS corrupted - cleared by CMOS clearance - again symptoms of a power spike.

And finally FIXMBR shows an invalid boot record, this could occur if your hard disk is writing at the time of the event above.

All speculation - but my raja sense is tingling....

Re: windows xp major problem
 

tried it.........didnt help :( :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Damn,
Ok, what happens when your system starts to load - how far does it get? Does it fail at the same place every time? Where does it get to before it fails?

Re: windows xp major problem
 

it loads, its just the files are not there, internet explorer favorities, and shortcuts dont work......

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Is it only windows files or is all your stuff gone too?

Re: windows xp major problem
 

If the system is working look at http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm
for a free tool to find the files.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

ooer - it's gone quiet, are you still there Kronas? - it seems weird that you have a working system with only 'some' files missing? - were you sharing any folders when it happened?

- and my sympathy, :hugs: :pp .I know how I felt when a recent power supply failure wiped out everything except the graphics card & cd/dvd drives on my pc - I had backed up a lot of it, but, inevitably, it is the newer stuff that is the most precious :(

Re: windows xp major problem
 

it died completely last night.............. just getting everything set up norton drivers etc :sulk: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Did you get your files back??
If you didn't and the drive is not being used at the moment PM me and I may be able to help you get them back ;)

Re: windows xp major problem
 

you should have told me earlier :( i sent it back to the manafacturer, they just shipped my replacement drive today.

edit: while im here, when i get the new drive im going to use norton ghost to clone my existing drive to the new one, but how do i format the secondary drive so i can use it ?

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Do you have an OS installed on an existing drive that you can boot into? If so just install the drive in the PC and it will show in My Computer, all you then need to do is right click on the drive from My Computer and select Format. (it will be autodetected)

Or if it will be a case of a completely new install from scratch, just boot from the CD-ROM with your XP Install disk and it will give you the option to format the disk during setup.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

cool, yes its an existing drive (the one im on posting this) :)

thanks for the info :)

Re: windows xp major problem
 

1 More thing, if your usign XP and you wish to change the drive letter that it gets assigned, then goto Administrative tools and select Computer management.

In there is an option called Disk Management, you can change the drive letter assignments, partition and format your disk from that utility if you want.

A Handy little utility to know about.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Sorry about the delay mate, but I only got hold of something that would have got the files back today.
For future reference, if you have the problem again let me know ;)

Re: windows xp major problem
 

if my memory bank can store it i shall retain for future reference ta :erm: :D

Re: windows xp major problem
 

something I just thought of, if the HD is recognised by the bios, setting it up as a slave might get data back, even if it won't boot?

I wish I could have done that when mine failed, any pc I put that HD in, wouldn't even post :(

Re: windows xp major problem
 

well i did try it as slave but the pc would not boot, and all you heard was clicking from the drive..........

Re: windows xp major problem
 

Is that your new drive?

That SHOULD NOT happen, sounds wrong. Jez i hope you dont have anothe duff disk.

Re: windows xp major problem
 

lol no, i was refering to homealone, he suggested maybe trying his drive as slave if he could get it to work, but he didnt try it, i pointed out i have. :erm:

Re: windows xp major problem
 

sorry , didn't mean to confuse anyone - Kronas has it right :)

Re: windows xp major problem
 

I just had a few brief thoughts about the original problem, once before i had a windows profile go corrupt and cease to function, anoyingly i'd selected encrypt this account so only that account could get to its data.
In the end i just had to use the new account it created, everything in the original was lost, luckily for me that wasnt particularly much stuff as anything important is stored on a seperate hard drive to the os (os is on a raid 0 array for pure speed)

K