Troubleshooting Windows Boot Up Problems (In case it's a software issue)

In case it's a software issue


Errors like these are very common with Windows XP, which I'm sure many people still use. Some of these error messages can be the solved if you know what to do for a different error messages. I've listed below some of the most common ones and what they mean. There are two types of error messages that appear, the 'black screen' and 'blue screen' errors. The black screen errors usually appear before the splash screen (ie, the Windows loading screen) and the blue screen errors usually appear just after the splash screen, and are known as BSOD or Blue Screen of Death. Here are some of the errors you could get before the splash screen


1. "Invalid Partition Table", "Missing Operating System"

This message appears when the Master Boot record is corrupt. This can be due to either hard drive errors or even a virus infection.

2. "NTLDR is missing" , "A disk read error occurred"

This time it's the Boot sector that's corrupted which can again be due to a bad hard drive or a virus.

3. "Could not read from selected boot disk" or Windows reboots in a loop just after the splash screen

A file called "Boot.ini" is either corrupt, missing, or needs updating. This is something that happens quite often actually and is really frustrating when you don't know what to.
Blue screen errors are usually due to a hardware failure or a driver conflict. If you get this then you should follow the steps in the first section on hardware. So now that you have these errors, here are a couple of things you can do to fix it before doing anything drastic like re-installing Windows.

• Try using the "Last Known Good Configuration" method by hitting the F8 key after the POST screen. If you're lucky then you could take the easy road out.
• Repair: Run windows repair by inserting the Windows CD in the drive and booting from it.
  

In case you get one of the above messages then you can attack it directly with a specific command. First you have to open the Recovery Console by booting from your Windows XP CD.

Press 'R' to activate Recovery Console.


You'll then get a Command prompt screen asking you the select the XP installation you want to repair. If you have a password then you'll have to enter that.

After this it's just a matter typing the right command to fix the problem.

1. For a corrupt master boot record type in 'fixmbr' and enter.
2. For a corrupt boot sector, type in 'fixboot'
3. For a corrupt or missing boot.ini, type in 'bootcfg/rebuild'

In most cases these commands will fix and rebuild any corrupt files that prevent Windows from starting up. Let's say this works and you're able to boot into Windows but it's not stable or it keeps freezing up, then you can use the System Restore feature. If everything else fails then your last option is to re-install Windows. As a rule of thumb, always remember to store your sensitive information in a different drive, so when a situation like this arises, you won't lose any data. Many people tend to dump their data in 'My Documents', which ideally must be avoided. Simple steps like these can save your precious data in time. That's all for now folks. Feel free to share any tips and tricks you may have below.

Installing Windows through a USB device

Installing Windows on a Netbook Jayesh Limaye Aug 07 2009 Netbooks have been gaining immense popularity. They are small, portability and have really long battery life. Some come with Linux, while others come with Windows. One thing that is common to Netbooks though, and one major drawback that is usually mentioned, is that they do not come with an optical drive. It is therefore ironical that some Netbooks come with a bunch of optical discs, and these include the OS installation disc. This is a major disadvantage as you are in a fix when your operating system gets corrupted and you need to reinstall it. All you can probably think about is to install it using an external optical drive, but not many happen to have such a drive. So what can be done in such a scenario? Most of us have USB Flash drives. Making a USB Flash drive bootable and using it to install your OS is a very viable way of going about things. In this workshop, we shall show you how to install Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 using a USB Flash drive. The hardware required for this workshop are: a USB Flash drive (at least 4 GB), and a Netbook. The software required is installation files of Windows XP/Vista/7 and Komku software pack. You can download the latter from http://www.mediafire.com/?zlvkwwzmjmt. If that link doesn't work, you can download it from http://depositfiles.com/files/k3gqjx9xy, or http://w18.easy-share.com/1702424224.html or http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HB3AK6HJ. Komku software pack contains Bootsect.exe (a boot sector manipulation tool), usb_prep8 and PeToUSB. Run the self-extracting file Komku-SP-USB.exe. Extract the contents of the software pack to a folder. Formatting the USB drive in Windows XP The first step involves making the USB Flash drive bootable. Assuming that you have Windows XP, you cannot use the diskpart utility (which you can use if you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, as we will explain later). You have to use PeToUSB in this case to format the drive. This utility is located in the PeToUSB folder. Choose USB Removable and select the USB drive you want to format. Under Format Options, mark the checkboxes Enable Disk Format, Quick Format and Enable LBA (FAT16X) as shown in the figure. Click on the Start button. You will be asked to confirm the format; click Yes. Formatting the USB drive in Windows Vista/ Windows 7 If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, open command prompt by running the command "cmd". Type the following commands in that order. diskpart list disk select disk 1 (here 1 is the number corresponding to the USB disk, so you can replace it with what is shown in your system) clean create primary partition active format fs=fat32 quick assign exit DROPDOWN__PAGETITLE__Formatting the drive __/PAGETITLE__DROPDOWN Making the drive ready to boot and install Windows XP After the formatting is done, run the command "cmd". Since the content of Komku-SP-USB.exe extract to C:\Komku by default, we shall assume that you have all the files extracted to that location. Type the following commands and press Enter after typing each line. C: CD\Komku\bootsect bootsect /nt52 J: Here we are assuming that J is your USB Flash drive. You will see the message "Successfully updated filesystem bootcode. Bootcode was succesfully updated on all targeted volumes." and return to the command prompt. Your drive has been prepared to boot now. Continue typing the following commands. CD../usb_prep8 usb_prep8 Assuming that you have already popped in the XP installation CD into the drive, now press 1 and Enter, then select the XP Setup source drive and click OK and you will be returned to the main screen. This method creates a virtual drive and by default, the drive letter T is assigned to this drive. If you do not have any drive, with letter T, then leave this alone, else type 2 and press Enter. You can now change the letter to assign a letter not assigned to any drive. You will again be returned to the main screen. DROPDOWN__PAGETITLE__Drive ready to boot in XP 1 of 2 __/PAGETITLE__DROPDOWN Now press 3 and press Enter to specify the target USB drive letter. You will be returned to the main screen again, after which you can press 4 and press Enter. This will create a new temporary image with XP LocalSource and copy it to the USB Flash drive. A warning message will appear "WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE T: WILL BE LOST! Proceed with Format (Y/N)?" type Y and press Enter as this message is for the virtual hard drive, so there is nothing to worry, your data is safe. When the virtual drive format is completed, you must press a key to continue. You will now see that the files from Windows XP source are being copied to the virtual drive. You will receive a message "Making of LocalSource folder $WIN_NT$.~LS Ready", so press any key to continue further. Now you will get the message "Copy TempDrive Files to USB-Drive in about 15 minutes = Yes OR STOP = End Program = No", click Yes. Click on Yes again at the next message. Once the file transfer is done, you will receive a message "Would you like to unmount the Virtual Drive ?" Click Yes and wait for some time. Press a key to close usb_prep8. That's it; your bootable USB Flash drive is ready to install Windows XP. To install Windows XP on your Netbook, you must set the Netbook to boot through the USB Flash drive. To achieve this, go to the BIOS and make USB HDD (or USB ZIP) as primary boot device. On the first boot, select "TXT Mode Setup Windows XP, Never unplug USB-Drive Until After Logon". Start the installation of Windows XP as usual. Once the Netbook restarts for the first time, select "GUI Mode setup Windows XP, Continue Setup + Start XP" and continue the XP setup. Reset the boot order to boot from the internal hard drive after Windows XP is installed and running. DROPDOWN__PAGETITLE__Drive ready to boot in XP 2 of 2 __/PAGETITLE__DROPDOWN Making the drive ready to boot and install Windows Vista/ Windows 7 This is a lot simpler than what we had to do for Windows XP. Assuming that E is your optical drive letter where the Windows Vista / Windows 7 DVD is inserted, open command prompt by running "cmd". Type the following commands. E: CD boot Bootsect /nt60 J: Simply copy all the files from the DVD to the USB Flash drive. To install Windows Vista/ Windows 7 on your Netbook, you must set the Netbook to boot through the USB Flash drive. To achieve this, go to the BIOS and make USB HDD (or USB ZIP) as primary boot device. Start the Netbook, press a key to boot through the USB drive, and install Windows as usual. Remember to reset the boot sequence to boot from the internal hard drive when the system restarts the first time during the installation. DROPDOWN__PAGETITLE__Drive ready to boot in Vista, Windows 7 __/PAGETITLE__DROPDOWN www.TechTree.com