main PC won't boot Any techs out there ?

[peanut]

my main pc packed up this morning. I can't access my bank account, payslips timesheet nothing grr

posts but Won't boot to windows freezes on the scrolling ribbon
Cannot access safe mode, it freezes on loading the last driver SYS.MUP
I Slaved the drive on another PC and pulled off all important files but cannot find a way to get my Outlook express emails off ?

Fdisk shows partition is ok
scandisk no probs found
CHKDSK /r found and fixed one problem (took ages)
tried fixboot no help
Tried repair from Windows XP disk no joy
Tried re-installing windows and selecting repair still no joy.
tested ram in another PC ok
tested drive in another identical pc no boot


I am certain that this is a hardware/driver issue. last thing I did before switching off last night was plug in Nokia 5800 cell fone USB but forgot this PC doesn't have the drivers or software installed.
PC recognised the fone as a 'camera' ? and I transferred my images off the fone ok

is there an experienced IT tech out there please that can help resurrect this drive please.

 

[fossyant]

You haven't got any memory cards plugged in on boot ?

Also are the drives SATA - if so, disconnect each cable, at drive end, and board end and re-connect (they seem to develop poor connections) - I had intermittent issues with mine for some time, until I eventually replaced them (known issue with SATA).

Check all fans are working !

 

[peanut]

thanks fossy but I've checked all the obvious stuff.I'm pretty conversant with PCs
This problem needs a proper IT techy .its almost certainly a missing or corrupted driver or a missing boot sector file .I need to find a way to repair the Windows installation

 

[very-near]

Pop the RAM out and re-seat it. stick your thumb on the chips as well, and ensure any additional cards are seated. The heat cycle causes chips to creep in their sockets.

 

[peanut]

thanks for your suggestions guys but I'm not looking for guesses just a qualified IT tech please. thanks anyway.

 

[very-near]

thanks for your suggestions guys but I'm not looking for guesses just a qualified IT tech please. thanks anyway.

This is good advice from someone who has been building and repairing PC's for 20 years as well as being a departmental head in the leading electronics firm in my area making flight deck display instruments. It is not a guess and it is not 'my' advice.

(although I've been building my own since 92)

 

[peanut]

thank you for your advice but this problem isn't memory which has been verified ok
The drive won't work in another identical PC

 

[Bman]

Memory could cause windows to not load. The POST may not spot a problem, but when windows tries to use the RAM, it could corrupt the loading of the OS.

But I dont think thats the problem. I would bet on the actual files you mention "SYS.MUP" being corrupted. I wager a Hard drive problem.

If the only data you still want is your outlook express files, they are recoverable (everything is to a certain extent)... Recvover it, then try reformatting it, reinstalling windows then running some simple test programs to test the RAM/disks

the data is stored here :

%userprofile%Local SettingsApplication DataIdentities[Your specific SID]MicrosoftOutlook Express

%userprofile% is usually c:documents and settings[username]


Assuming your using Windows XP

 

[peanut]

try reformatting it, reinstalling windows then running some simple test programs to test the RAM/disks

this would cause me at least 10 hours work to reinstall everything and reconfigure all the settings etc etc .
I'm going to try to recover the drive first before reinstalling

 

[beanzontoast]

Caveat: I'm not a pc engineer - just trying to help

If you can get into bios and change the boot device order to tell it to boot from cd or usb before the hd, could try booting using Linux from a live cd distro or a distro on a usb stick. If it works, this should at least allow you to access the contents of the hd.

 

[peanut]

Caveat: I'm not a pc engineer - just trying to help

If you can get into bios and change the boot device order to tell it to boot from cd or usb before the hd, could try booting using Linux from a live cd distro or a distro on a usb stick. If it works, this should at least allow you to access the contents of the hd.

thanks for the suggestion. I can access the bios without problem and also access all the hard drives contents because I slaved it on another identical PC . I managed to take off most of my files and exported my mozilla favourites . what i don't seem to be able to achieve is restoring or repairing windows . I want to salvage this drive because it will take more than 8 hours to reinstall everything and reconfigure .

I need the help of someone who is familiar with dos commands and boot file repair proceedures.

 

[Crackle]

Have you tried Windows own fixboot aka

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/newbootsector.htm

Have used it once myself on an XP m/c (is yours XP?)

 

[peanut]

Have you tried Windows own fixboot aka

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/newbootsector.htm

Have used it once myself on an XP m/c (is yours XP?)

yes tried that thanks (see first post)

 

[Crackle]

yes tried that thanks (see first post)

Sorry, missed it in the first read.

 

[peanut]

Edited for bongman
thanks for all your help and suggestions . Apologies for me being a grumpy old git .

I've learnt my lesson.............Honest.

Tomorrow I'm going to clone the drive and back everything up.

still not worked out exactly what happened but something changed all of the settings in the Bios. I think I may have a virus so will run all the anti virus and malware stuff later and check my firewall.
Will also check that my partner's cellfone hasn't got a virus which was downloaded to my PC last night.

Solution:... I went into the bios and changed lots of settings pretty much by guesswork.
APIC Mode enabled
Prim Master UDMA :- change to Auto
Prim slave UDMA:- change to auto
Sec Slave UDMA :- change to auto
Sec Master UDMA:- change to auto
IDE prefetch :- change to enabled
IDE Block Mode :- change to auto

exit and save and then re-boot and windows loaded.
Mouse didn't work
change mouse reboot mouse ok
check everything found one odd task running in the background E_S40RP7.EXE ??? ended it.
Now I just need to reinstall grafix adapter and get my screen back to its correct resolution and I'm sorted.

Oh and make a note of the ID and Password for the 20 or so forums I visit and the 2x online bank accounts etc etc