Now my PC has gone belly up

bast_imret

bast_imret

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Oct 26, 2004
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Ok, I had a problem that arose tonight starting out with the message

\windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupt

when I would boot up. So I tried logging into the recovery console, and ran a chkdsk /r, which took awhile, but came back and said it had repaired some issues. I then ran a chkdisk /p and it seemed to look ok.

I rebooted, and still got the same error message. So then I decided to try a method that I found in a few different guides, such as http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm

Only problem was, when I got back into the recovery console, any command I type in gives me a

"The path or file specified is not valid."

message, even if I just do a CD .. to change to the parent directory.

So I tried running chkdsk /p again, and now it tells me

"The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems."

So now I'm in quite a pickle, cause if I try the fixmbr command, it doesn't appear to do anything, just gives me another prompt, and if I try to use the fixboot, it says

"FIXBOOT cannot open the partition."

So now I'm stuck and frustrated, cause now I can't even get anything to work in recovery console. What should be my next step here? I really don't know what caused the problem.

When it started, I had my PC hooked up to my TV and was trying different custom resolutions with Powerstrip. I came across one that didn't work. The screen flickered to black, like it normally does when changing resolutions, but then it never came back up. I just figured it was a resolution the PC didn't like with the TV, so I shut it down, and rebooted, and since then I've had the \windows\system32\config\system error.
 
Haven't changed a damn thing hardware wise, other than hooking it up to my TV monday night so we could watch an old episode of Prisonbreak. Worked fine. Then I was playing with powerstrip last night, and boom, shit went to hell like I described.

Software wise, I installed BF2 a couple weeks ago, that's about it.

I downloaded the diagnostics tool from western digital "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic", burned to a CD (on my laptop) and booted into the diagnostics evironment. Ran the quick test and it came up:

TEST COMPLETED WITHOUT ERRORS
ERROR/STATUS CODE: 0000

Ran the extended test last night and this morning it shows the same results, no errors. So it appears that it's not a physical problem with the drive.
 
The only other option I can think of right now is to load XP on my old 40GB HDD I have sitting around, slave the main drive to it, and see if I can pull files off that I need. Then reformat the main drive and start fresh. I'd like to avoid all that work if possible though.
 
boot to ntfs dos or slave the drive and examine the file...it's usually fairly evident where things went awry if you can get a look at it
 
My first guess is that it's bad sectors on the drive...even though you scanned it with a full scan. I had a drive do the same thing a couple of years ago and I found bad sectors during a full reformat that the scan tools didn't find. You've already mentioned my next piece of advice which is to slave the drive and back it up.
 
When something very similar to this happened to me, it turned out the HDD was going bad. A couple bad sectors, I fixed it, then a couple more would pop up a week later. Eventually, the BIOS wouldn't even recognize the drive.
 
theacoustician said:
When something very similar to this happened to me, it turned out the HDD was going bad. A couple bad sectors, I fixed it, then a couple more would pop up a week later. Eventually, the BIOS wouldn't even recognize the drive.
Click to expand...
don't tell me that. My fucking OS just blew up too. Imma run scanrite on the drive while im on vacation, as it will probably take that long to scan.
 
fly said:
don't tell me that. My fucking OS just blew up too. Imma run scanrite on the drive while im on vacation, as it will probably take that long to scan.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but same symptoms and that was my result. Maybe yours if different.

BTW /P isn't a valid switch for chkdsk. You want to use /f for "fix errors as you find them". It'll tell you that it can't do it while Windows is running and you'll have to reboot to get it going.
 
theacoustician said:
Sorry, but same symptoms and that was my result. Maybe yours if different.

BTW /P isn't a valid switch for chkdsk. You want to use /f for "fix errors as you find them". It'll tell you that it can't do it while Windows is running and you'll have to reboot to get it going.
Click to expand...


Ya it is, it's just a check without fixes. It essentially forces a standard chkdsk command.

Edit: from http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../proddocs/en-us/bootcons_chkdsk.mspx?mfr=true

Used without parameters, chkdsk displays the status of the disk in the current drive.

drive:

Specifies the drive that you want chkdsk to check.

/p

Performs an exhaustive check even if the drive is not marked for chkdsk to run. This parameter does not make any changes to the drive.

/r

Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. Implies /p.
 
theacoustician said:
When something very similar to this happened to me, it turned out the HDD was going bad. A couple bad sectors, I fixed it, then a couple more would pop up a week later. Eventually, the BIOS wouldn't even recognize the drive.
Click to expand...

see my earlier post which had less description of the same problem. This is the same as how it worked out for me. After a week or 2 every time the drive would power down and back up more bad sectors until it eventually started going. ka thunk, ka thunk, ka thunk. Not a good sign.
 
bast_imret said:
Ya it is, it's just a check without fixes. It essentially forces a standard chkdsk command.

Edit: from http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../proddocs/en-us/bootcons_chkdsk.mspx?mfr=true

Used without parameters, chkdsk displays the status of the disk in the current drive.

drive:

Specifies the drive that you want chkdsk to check.

/p

Performs an exhaustive check even if the drive is not marked for chkdsk to run. This parameter does not make any changes to the drive.

/r

Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. Implies /p.
Click to expand...
Ok but
chkdsk.JPG

:confused: :confused: :confused:
 
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