XP won't start, not in safe mode, not from Windows CD

[gayle8675309]

I'm having a recent problem with my XP desktop. It will not start up. It tries to start up, but then just stalls at a black screen. I've tried choosing the Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt and Last Known Good Configuration(your most recent settings that worked) and Start Windows Normally. None of these options get past the black screen.

How do I get Windows to load from the CD? How could I possibly run scandisk? (I read some of these suggestions on other threads here.)

When I try to run safe mode with command prompt I get a whole page of this (I'll type a few lines):

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\FONTS\vgaoem.fon

The rest of the lines are the same except for the last part...the part AFTER the WINDOWS\
Some errors listed are: AppPatch\drvmain.sdb
System32\DRIVERS\ASCI.sys
System32\Drivers\WMLIB.SYS

and on and on and on.

What should I do? I'm just trying to get it to boot up one more time to get my pictures, etc off of it, then I'm going to format the C drive and reinstall windows.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Gayle

[caperjack]

How do I get Windows to load from the CD? How could I possibly run scandisk?

actually windows won't boot from the cd,but you can run the recovery console ,,when first booting computer hit DEL to enter setup/bios ,and go to boot section and choose cd-rom as first boot device ,then booting to the winxp cd ,chose R ,for repair ,then 1 for c:\windows and just hit enter if asked for password ,then at the prompt type in chkdsk /f , note there is a space between the k&/
depending on your computer maker you may need to hit f2,or f11 to enter setup instead of DEL,it should tell you on the first boot screen

[gayle8675309]

actually windows won't boot from the cd,but you can run the recovery console ,,when first booting computer hit DEL to enter setup/bios ,and go to boot section and choose cd-rom as first boot device ,then booting to the winxp cd ,chose R ,for repair ,then 1 for c:\windows and just hit enter if asked for password ,then at the prompt type in chkdsk /f , note there is a space between the k&/
depending on your computer maker you may need to hit f2,or f11 to enter setup instead of DEL,it should tell you on the first boot screen

Thanks for your help...I did all that and was able to run the check disk. It said that it found and repaired (or fixed, not sure of the wording right now) one or more errors. So then I restarted and hit the DEL key and changed the boot up order to boot up from the hard drive. But I still can't get past the screen with all the commands on it. I've tried booting from regular Windows...last known config that worked, safe mode, safe mode with networking. No go on any of them.

By the way, I have a DELL computer.

Any other ideas or did I do something wrong? Thanks so much.

Gayle

[caperjack]

try removing the power cord ,and holding in the power button for about 40 seconds ,then plug it back in and turn it on again .if nothing ,are you comfortable taking the side of the case ,and removing the ram ,if you have 2 sticks of ram ,remove one and try turning it on again .if nothing different ,take out the other and replace it with the first one .and try again , remember to unplug the tower and hold the power button in for 30-40 seconds when removing ram also,oh yeah if you only have one stick of ram you can't do this .
this is what ram looks like .
http://www.kingston.com/ukroot/press/primages/image_files/new_flash/Kingston/sdram.jpg

[gayle8675309]

Thank you caperjack...I tried to hold the button and then pulled out the power cord...no luck. I'm going to wait till tomorrow to try taking the RAM out...my husband is better at hardware problems than I am...I'd rather he break it beyond all recognition than me! LOL. Thanks.
Gayle

[caperjack]

Thank you caperjack...I tried to hold the button and then pulled out the power cord...no luck. I'm going to wait till tomorrow to try taking the RAM out...my husband is better at hardware problems than I am...I'd rather he break it beyond all recognition than me! LOL. Thanks.
Gayle

your welcome ,and it pull the power cord out ,then hold in the off /on button

[jimbojone]

ram is a possibility, get yourself a copy of memtest,(it's free, just google it) and run it to see if thats the case, that ways you wont have to pull the ram. if the memory tests fine, i would say to simply format the machine. its possible the installation is corrupt, or the partition may have been damaged.

[gayle8675309]

ram is a possibility, get yourself a copy of memtest,(it's free, just google it) and run it to see if thats the case, that ways you wont have to pull the ram. if the memory tests fine, i would say to simply format the machine. its possible the installation is corrupt, or the partition may have been damaged.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I can't even get the desktop to come up, so I won't be able to download or run any program. This is getting to be a royal pain! :(

Gayle

[jimbojone]

no, i ment download it on someone elses computer :P