I have a problem with one of my PC's. Yesterday evening the pc crashed, when I rebooted it the normal start up programs didn't appear and most of the desk top icons can only be started by using the right mouse button and then the start option. In control panel some functions are not availble ie install/uninstall.

All of the windows office etc are OK and I can use the internet and email.

So late last night when I had backed up all the important stuff I put the XP disc in and tried the sfc /scannow funtion in the RUN menu, but it opened the window 'open with'

I then rebooted from the XP CD and went for the repair option after about 30 minutes a message appeared 'cant find a file in i386, I used the retry with no luck and then went for continue without loading this file. About another six files followed with the same problem. When the pc rebooted at the end of the sequence it was exactly the same as before.

When I open explorer I can see the files on the cdrom that it would not load. Any ideas on how to reslove the problem?

Have you tried performing a System resore from a Restore Point?

Problem with the Recovery Console/Repair Option is that often the install CD is not at the same service pack level unless you slipstreamed SP3 onto the install CD and Windows isn't keen on that..

if system restore doesn't work i think you might have to backup all your docs and wipe your machine and use the XP cd to rebuild it. you will also need to make sure you have the drivers CD that came with your computer

No need to rebuild

Boot from XP CD and select option r to repair when prompted. It may ask for Administrator credentials. Enter these and then do chkdsk /r.

You can also do this from start, run, cmd from XP if you can boot into it and get that far.

If disk is branded HP, Dell etc your CD may well restore the PC to factory condition, wiping drive and partitions on it - so back up first!

Sounds like you've got a virus of some sort. Most these days will lock out admin functions that help repair PC issues to stop you detecting and removing them. Your Issue could be as simple as a virus/malware check. Just dont trust any security software loaded on the machine as many infections also hijack security software.

Thanks for the replies, I've tried most of the recovery suggestions without any success. Last night I ran a registry check and it showed quite a few dll files missing, it repaired the problems and the pc is running better with a few minor problems remaining.

Did you do the chkdsk /r?

Did you do the chkdsk /r?

I can't see that fixing the problem of not being able to access files on the installation CD... Suppose it could check the health of the main boot disk though

/r repairs any missing files....

/r repairs any missing files....

Sorry jrw, but checkdisk doesn't replace anything. It repairs files that are corrupted, if it can, but it won't replace stuff that's missing & it won't replace corrupted files with a good copy.

It won't make things worse though & might improve things. If it reports bad sectors then the hard drive is probably on it's way out & will need replacing asap.

Ian..

Edited 25 November, 201015 yr by Norton Ian

Sorry jrw, but checkdisk doesn't replace anything. It repairs files that are corrupted, if it can, but it won't replace stuff that's missing & it won't replace corrupted files with a good copy.

It won't make things worse though & might improve things. If it reports bad sectors then the hard drive is probably on it's way out & will need replacing asap.

Ian..

Oh ok - I have only done a good 100 workstations this year using this method, ranging from Blue screens, looping boot and system32 files that are missing.....

Oh ok - I have only done a good 100 workstations this year using this method, ranging from Blue screens, looping boot and system32 files that are missing.....

It may have repaired your workstations but it did so by repairing existing files. Where would it get the files from to replace the missing/bad ones? Even it it could.

Ian

It may have repaired your workstations but it did so by repairing existing files. Where would it get the files from to replace the missing/bad ones? Even it it could.

Ian

The XP CD its booted off or if you do from within workstations the i386 folder.

Don't think it can repair files when they aint there like when you get the system32...is missing etc. It rarely fails to work and avoids having to do a disruptive (for the customer) rebuild.

At work we all do it and so far this year we have only had to rebuild 2 workstations where it has failed to work.

Ask Microsoft how it works, i don't particularly care as it makes my job a million times easier. Try it yourself the next time you have a none booting system or file corruption.

The XP CD its booted off or if you do from within workstations the i386 folder.

Don't think it can repair files when they aint there like when you get the system32...is missing etc. It rarely fails to work and avoids having to do a disruptive (for the customer) rebuild.

At work we all do it and so far this year we have only had to rebuild 2 workstations where it has failed to work.

Ask Microsoft how it works, i don't particularly care as it makes my job a million times easier. Try it yourself the next time you have a none booting system or file corruption.

Sorry to be pedantic but that's a repair install from the XP Cd. That isn't chkdsk repair. Chkdisk is only a small program & has no idea what files should or shouldn't be there & definitely won't replace any missing files.

I've been a computer engineer for over 30 years btw.

Ian

I know what a chkdsk is and what it does, but i am saying that it works. I don't know how but it saves on a faffy repair install. I've been doing it for 10 years now do i think that i should also know that it works.

Boot off CD, press r when it detects windows and type in chkdsk /r in the command prompt window.

I know what a chkdsk is and what it does, but i am saying that it works. I don't know how but it saves on a faffy repair install. I've been doing it for 10 years now do i think that i should also know that it works.

Boot off CD, press r when it detects windows and type in chkdsk /r in the command prompt window.

If that's working then it sounds like there's a lot of dodgy hard drives out on your customer sites.

chkdsk /r locates bad sectors and recovers readable data from them

Essentially it's moving readable data from damaged areas of disk, that is all it does. it is not replacing missing files, but is potentially recovering files that can't be read by Windows

I'm not arguing with any of you. None of these have bad sectors as it never reports that it has repaired or blocked any, it usually reports back that it has fixed or replaced one or more files..

Think what you like but im gonna stick to what i know works.

Its only at stage 4 & 5 of the chkdsk that it looks for dodgy sectors:

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/chkdsk.htm

I know what a chkdsk is and what it does, but i am saying that it works. I don't know how but it saves on a faffy repair install. I've been doing it for 10 years now do i think that i should also know that it works.

Boot off CD, press r when it detects windows and type in chkdsk /r in the command prompt window.

I apologise. I misunderstood. You are using checkdisk from within the Recovery console. That's a different animal to the one I was thinking of. We never use the Recovery console as we have had so many repeat calls after using it that we will replace the drive & reload rather than using it. We use image disks as our customers have hundreds of pc's set up the same way. The image disk makes a reload much faster than an ordinary windows install.

Ian..

I apologise. I misunderstood. You are using checkdisk from within the Recovery console. That's a different animal to the one I was thinking of. We never use the Recovery console as we have had so many repeat calls after using it that we will replace the drive & reload rather than using it. We use image disks as our customers have hundreds of pc's set up the same way. The image disk makes a reload much faster than an ordinary windows install.

Ian..

Normally we would do that but more and more they have bespoke apps installed, gigs on photos in their C: drive (when they have and know full well they have a personal network drive) so i just usually do that as a first resort to save moanings and repeat visits later on!

Boot off CD, press r when it detects windows and type in chkdsk /r in the command prompt window.

Thanks for that jrw. I ran this last night when I got home and everything is running nearly normally. The only issue I have is the annoying 'run as' window appearing when I open an icon with a double left click. I have to select the user & password everytime. I think this appeared after I ran the registry cleaner the other night.

I'm also thinking of upgrading XP to WIndows 7 and vista on my laptop to windows 7, is that a good move to make?

now you have done the chkdsk /r , the repair install of XP should work better as it will be able to correctly overwrite the files. The reason for the previous failure could be that the files were not able to be overwritten due to coruption.

Lesson to note, if this happens again, simply reboot from XP CD and do the Recovery console and chkdsk and this should get you up and running again without any further problems.

Great to see that my advice (which doesn't do anything :wonder: ) has worked!

Looks like you have corrupt the user accounts somehow. Set up another Admin account then set all the other accounts to limited, log into them, log out then set them back as Admin. This should help Windows sort itself out!