Member Avatar for KaruiKage

So I'm getting pretty frustrated with this problem, and had avoided asking any tech forums until now because I really had nothing to go by.

So I have my girlfriend's computer. Built it myself, worked fine for months. A friend used it while she was here, just played WoW on it. When she left, I deleted her user account. It seemed to cause some problems, so I backed up data on the D: partition (hard drive is one 350 GB hard drive separated into two partitions) and re-formated the C: drive. Everything *seemed* to be ok, but now we've started having problems.

Every so often, the computer began to lag a lot and eventually freeze. On reboot, sometimes it would load, other times the black screen of doom happened. Right after the good ole white text on black screen went away and the XP Logo *should* pop up, nothing. Just a black screen. No XP logo, no loading bar, no nothing. Sometimes, rebooting would fix it temporarily. We got to the point though where we couldn't get past it, so I reformated C: again.

Everything seemed ok for a day or two, but now I'm back to the black screen. The last error we had right before this was something with the userinit.exe and another file. Upon rebooting, we now get the black screen that we can't get past. Once again, no XP logo, no nothing.

I tried going past it by hitting F8 and doing "Revert to last good startup" or whatever it is called. No go, black screen. I finally made *some* progress (I think) by attempting to start up into Safe Mode. Still no go, but instead of a black screen, I get the following on top of it:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\KDCOM.DLL
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\BOOTVID.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\config\system

That's all the text we see. It just sits there, has been for the last 10 minutes. I've shut it down now that I got the text, but am at a loss with what to do. My girlfriend has her laptop to use in the meanwhile, but I want to figure out what the heck the problem is with this computer. It was working fine for months, so I don't think it's a hardware issue. I don't have any idea where to begin testing, and appreciate any help you guys can offer.

Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Netking27

Dani AI

Generated

As reported by , the machine gets as far as the very start of Windows boot then either shows a short list of core files and stalls or goes straight to a black screen. That pattern — repeated reinstalls (XP then Vista), slow behavior, eventual BSODs — strongly favors hardware/drive problems over a simple corrupted install. Kernel-and-registry-stage failures most often mean the disk cannot reliably read the blocks Windows needs (or, less commonly, bad RAM/cabling/PSU).

Non-destructive checks to run first (do these before more intrusive repairs):

  • Boot a known-good Live USB (Linux or WinPE) and confirm the disk is visible and files can be read.
  • Check the drive’s SMART status and run manufacturer short/long tests.
  • Run a full memtest86+ pass from USB to rule out RAM.
  • Reseat or swap the SATA/IDE cable and try a different port; confirm BIOS sees the drive.

Example SMART check from a Linux live environment:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda

If hardware tests pass, attempt software-level repairs (Vista/WinRE shown as an example):

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

For XP-era systems, the Recovery Console can replace corrupted registry hives from the repair copy or restore the boot record — do this only after confirming the disk is not failing.

If SMART or surface tests show reallocated/uncorrectable sectors, prioritize data rescue and disk replacement. Clone the drive before further writes using a forensic/imaging tool (example with GNU ddrescue):

ddrescue /dev/sda disk-image.dd rescue.log

(restore from the image or send it to a recovery service if data is critical).

This advice builds on ’s partition/boot checks and the reformat/backup suggestions from , and : back up first, run non-destructive diagnostics, and if long tests indicate failure, replace the drive rather than repeating reinstalls.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for cguan_77

delete the c drive partition then start from the basic, partition - format - install OS.. and make sure that there's no virus in your D partition..check if it helps..

Member Avatar for KaruiKage

I tried completely re-formatting both, and even installed a different OS (on the off chance something was wrong with my XP CD). Installed Vista Ultimate, and it *seemed* to work for a bit. But then slow downs began to happen, I had to reboot a few times, and it eventually went to a blue dump screen whenever it should have loaded Windows. Even a repair didn't work.

My best guess is the hard drive is just going kapoot.

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

you might be right, but i would investigate what partition windows is installed on. and is the partition active/bootable. if after investigating this and it does not fix the problem you might want to check the hard drive. run chkdsk /f then run fdisk to set the active partition.

Member Avatar for sittas87

Backup data delete both partitions and create a new 'clean' partition.install OS after full format.

Member Avatar for Netking27

best would be a clean format after of course u had backed up ur data..


checking ur hd could solve the issue

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