[Fjamming]

This comp may be on it's last legs. It's 3 years old and last night it wouldn't boot up any more. I can get it to boot into windows in safe mode, but even that takes forever. I can't run scandisk or diskeeper in safe mode. I religiously defragments the drive. I was able to run AVG (antivirus) and said boot sector was unreadable. Before I start with a fresh install, do I have other options to try and fix this? I really don't want to re-install due to the large amount of data and customization that could would need to be redone.

I tried to boot from CD where I've loaded Windows's Media Edition CD. It say starting windows but then sits there (I've waited 30 min.).

Thanks in advance.

 

[GTKrockeTT]

has it been a progression of poor performance leading up to this, or was a sudden event? are you running XP on this box, if was the latter, have you tried doing a system restore? sounds like you might not have any choice but to re-install.

 

[fj4fun]

for xp use command FIXBOOT at the recovery console prompt use this to recreate your master boot record hope this helps

 

[FJ-Piper]

did the previous suggestions work?

 

[Fjamming]

Doug, it occasionally will hang on boot up. When I reboot, it's fine.

fj4fun, where do I use that command? When it run last known configurations? In command prompt when booted up in safe mode?

 

[fj4fun]

you need to boot from the xp disk and select the repair option for hard disk drive C: example C:\WINDOWS then enter fix boot

 

[Fjamming]

kk. I'll try that right now.

 

[skersfan]

I had this same problem last week. Got it fixed as stated above, but the HP test showed that the hard drive was failing. Ordered a new one last week.

 

[Fjamming]

After I successfully write a new boot sector, do I restart the computer in normal or is there more that I need to do?

 

[spertierra]

You know, I have friends who defrag every couple of weeks, and they all have similar problems. Not a scientific opinion, just an observation. Me, I reboot the operating system once a year, my computers run very smooth.

 

[Fjamming]

Woots it's up! Should I just image what I have and put it on a new HD now or should I reinstall?

 

[CADavebert]

Woots it's up! Should I just image what I have and put it on a new HD now or should I reinstall?

Probably a hardware problem, and the HDD could fail soon. Taking an image and putting on a new drive might be a good idea.

 

[Fjamming]

It now won't boot again. I should've imaged it before I shut it down, but I was on my way out. I hope I can get it working again. It's time to check out fry's tomorrow. I seem to remember Fry's having pdf ads, but I can't find them anymore. Anyone have a link?

 

[mrsmainster]

BUY A MAC!

 

[Fjamming]

BUY A MAC!

If just to avoid Dominic's nasty porn...

 

[FJ-Piper]

If you buy another HDD, you can connect your old HDD as a secondary disk and move the data onto the new drive after you re-install. Just don't connect the old HDD until the new one is completely formatted, OS installed, patched, anti-virus and working normally. THEN, conect the old drive, and start copying the data from the old one to the new one. If a drive is failing, this will put the least amount of workload on the old drive as you are not copying every bit of information (imaging) and only getting your data. On the new system, keep all of your data in one directory with several subdirectories for organizing, then periodically back it up to an external HDD. Windows Live OneCare, an Anti malWare software from Microsoft is what I recommend. it interfaces with the windows firewall, provides protection from viruses and malware will tune up your system at regularly scheduled intervals, and back up your data (looks for pics, graphics, office docs, etc.) to an external source such as cd-rom, flash drive or other hdd. the best thing about it is it's 49.00/yr but you can install in on 3 machines. This is what I use for my small networks. anything over ten PC's and we run Client ForeFront Security, also from Microsoft.

What are the specs of your current system? specifically, whattype/size HDD?

 

[Fjamming]

Currently the drive is a 120gig that's partitioned into 2 roughly 60 gig parts. I try and keep windows and running programs in C:.

How long does a typical drive last? I had a couple of failed drives already and they seem to last only 3-4 years. Is that normal? Piper, thank you for the very detailed directions. I really appreciate that. I was thinking of putting in a new system since I have a E6600 cpu sitting around (in it's box), but I would need a new MB and and if that's the case, I know I'll probably just go all out and get graphic cards, and raid 0 SATA drives. I think I'll just get 1 drive and keep this one going for now. It's still good enough for everything that I do.

 

[FJ-Piper]

I am probably the last person to take advice from here as I conform my world around Microsoft technologies. I have 17 computers in my house, and the only ones I ever have any problems with are the ones I start to add NON Microsoft software to. Yes, it's true, I am a Microsoft whore! There are obvious exceptions like drivers for hardware devices and some big name products like Adobe Acrobat/Photoshop, etc... I do not have problems with viruses/malware or systems crashing except for one of which was originally our family Room computer but has since been hijacked by Tricia. lol This one has iTunes, Logitech web cam software, maybe some d/l viewers, etc.

Also, my customers that seem to have more support issues than the others generally have more d/l'd software on their systems. Things like AIM, Yahoo messenger, UPS software, FedEx software and some store bought items like Act!, peachTree accounting, Quickbooks, etc...

For the most part, the bigger name company's software should be OK and if it isn't, it's usually a short time before they have a patch out. This brings me to my second biggest tip I can give anybody.

UPDATE YOUR SYSTEM SOFTWARE!

If you do not want to be on the latest release (where they focus the most attention), i.e. Windows Vista
, then for Gods sake, stay current on the patches and fixes released from Microsoft on Tuesdays. it's called "Patch Tuesday" and it's when Microsoft releases all the security and system patches to fix bugs, vulnerabilities, etc...

The first thing I do to any system that I'm troubleshooting is to fully patch it. Not only the Microsoft patches but all the software. about 50% of the time, the system starts working and I'm on my way. Another 45%, after they have been fully patched, I'll move onto looking for malware and remove it, unload whatever A/V, anti-malware, etc software and that's it. The remaining 5% is hardware issues. sometimes bad memory, other times, bad hard drives. rarely a processor or motherboard or video card goes out for me but it does happen.

Just my .02

 

[keeem]

Computers frustrate me. So I gave my boss my computer so her husban could fix it and two days later I find out he deleted every single thing I had on it. I got so mad. I was told it had the worm virus.. is that common?

 

[Fjamming]

Sometimes you can download patches for those worm virus. I got one once but downloaded something from an antivirus site and it got rid of it.