boot loop after tech help!

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:57 pm

I let DSL tech support do a remote on my system as we tried to figure why about 1/3 the net would not work but other 2/3 was working.

Well, long story short, he made some changes on my system, try to boot into safe mode, now i am in a reboot loop!
I get to the black screen to choose boot mode, safe, safe with network, etc.. last known good, or start normally.
All of the options just cause the system to reboot and returns to that same screen!

I have bought a new HD and setup WIN XP on it and now can get to the net again. If the main (old) boot drive is installed when I boot up, XP says their may be errors and tries to run CHDSK every-time! I quickly abort that!

Do you think tech support messed up my MBR or what? How might I fix that drive now so it boots as it should?

I know better than to allow remote access, but I was sick and feeling bad, not thinking to good I guess.

It all started out because some websites were not loading at all but others were just fine. We had some really bad storms around here so I just called to find out if anything in area was down that could have been causing it. I was told like 9,000 people with out service not taht far away but it should not be effecting me, the sites were of course loading fine for them. So that's how it all started, I just wanted to know if the severvice was having troubles!
I later found out some other folks were having similar troubles also at that time, so there was nothing wrong with my system!

Trying to find all my misplaced disks now.
I just moved everything around and packed a ton of stuff last few months, don't know where my Spinrite, system, etc... disk are even at yet.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:47 am

NEVER EVER ALLOW YOUR ISP TO CHANGE SETTINGS ON YOUR PC. Trust me on this.

That said, I don't necessarily think this is directly related to anything they did..

The very fact that Windows wants to run chkdsk means that - at the very least - you have file system corruption. The problem is that file system corruption can be caused by a weak or bad sector. If that's the case, running CHKDSK on a bad sector will only make things worse.

You can download a new copy of Spinrite anytime. That's a lifetime license. The FAQ here has instructions for obtaining a new download: http://www.grc.com/sr/faq.htm

You need to run a sector scan on the drive. I would recommend doing this with Spinrite if you own a copy (do a level 2 scan for now). If you don't own Spinrite and don't want to spend the money, next best thing is a sector scan: Right-click on the drive (if there's more than one partition you need to do it for each one), select properties, then Tools tab, then the Check Now button and then check "Scan for & attempt recovery of bad sectors" (uncheck "Automatically fix file system errors".

This will take a LONG time - a few hours maybe.

Afterwards you should then do the "Automatically fix file system errors".

See if that allows the drive to boot. If you own Spinrite, follow up later with a level 4 scan (which may take all day depending on the size of the drive). Backup your data and consider the drive questionable - especially if it's more than 3 years old.

BTW, if you haven't done it yet, power cycle your router and any switches and access points on your network. Sometimes after a storm or power surge, a switch's routing table can become corrupt. That's the primary cause whenever I see a network where no one can get on a website that's accessible to people outside that network.

Hope this helps...

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:11 pm

Yeah, first thing that came to my mind is that the disc is going south.

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:03 pm

OK, I'll give that a try.

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:02 pm

Ok.
I am running Spinrite level 2 on that boot drive right now.

When Spinrite is done, what is now the best way to image the drive and or backup?
I think I have DIY Irecover around here also, and I saw Ghost 2003 which would be the newest I have I think.

The system I run for most things and online is Win XP Pro, and my main system is Win7 64 bit.

Things are a mess around here, been moving things, starting a bit new business not going to well yet, and had to have the computer online and running for some orders I had to get out so been slow finding things and trying to fix this.

I might have been doing better, but that tornado that hit the Branson, MO area lost me a lot of orders! Lot's of work and time getting orders, and with half standing buildings around most those been canceled now.
Luckily not many killed or hurt bad, it could have been allot worse, but at least it was mainly the tourist area hit worse and being off season not many there.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:01 pm

Make sure to run chkdsk on the partitions afterwards. You can connect it as a spare on another PC or boot a Live CD like the MiniXP on Hiren's CD and then run chkdsk on it.

Ghost will probably work on it, but I haven't used it in ages. There's a very good free disk cloning utility called Easeus Disk Copy: http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/

It's quite possible that drive will be okay after you Spinrite it and chkdsk it, unless you see red indicators in the SMART screen.

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:18 pm

I downloaded the easeus disk copy now also

Spinrite did not show any errors or repairs or anything bad on the graphics screen, just everything processed, but in the details screens there was mention of 64 somethings? LOL
I forgot what it said now, but did not look to be anything serious, hopefully that was the problem. I have not tried installing back in this system and booting yet since it's been tied up last couple days when I been around or I been gone the rest of the time.

Will probably try chkdsk and backup on it first later tonight, then install and try to boot tonight or tomorrow.

I also had another drive I was trying to get working, was dropped! It was read fine at first by windows after dropped, then trying to read a folder it started making a scratchy noise. Spinrite says try something else, says something about partition errors. Takes a long time for bios to read and show it installed, and long time for spinrite to detect it also and show the info on it. Maybe a lost cause on that one?
But it does show the partitions that should be there, so the drive must be reading something I think?

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:14 pm

ok, ran spinrite level 2 and let chkdsk run. No real errors, or nothing serious anyway, showed up.
Drive seems good and all's fine, other than still in the reboot loop though!

I get to the black screen select safe, normal, last known good, etc.. and all options XP looks like it tries to load then reboots and right back at that black safe mode screen again.

I just got done with a full backup for that drive now with Easus, so all files should be safe on my new drive.

I'd like to get booting back off that drive again if I can, I just installed tons of new software last few weeks, it was a nightmare the first time around and I hate to think of doing it again!

I have the boot.ini, config.sys, autoexec.bat, etc... files. Any changes in could make in those to pass the safe mode screen? I have the windows folder and all files backup up also of course if I need to make a change in a file in there.

Could I do a fresh install of that version of windows and perhaps copy a couple main files over to that drive to fix the reboot problem?

Normally I'd have back ups, but I been doing so much recently and did not have enough hard drive space till I just bought this new drive.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:33 pm

Have you run a CHKDSK on that drive yet? Spinrite just corrects sector level problems, not file errors.

FYI just because Spinrite didn't detect a problem, doesn't mean there wasn't a problem. Spinrite forces the drive's error correction system to swap out a questionable sector that it would otherwise ignore, and there would be no indication of it. The only time you get any indication of a problem in Spinrite is if there is a REALLY bad sector that's unreadable. Then Spinrite overrides the drive's internal error correction and spends a considerable amount of time trying to recover at least part of the lost sector.

Anyway, this is what I recommend:

- Run CHKDSK on the drive (boot from a BartPE CD, or install the drive as a spare on another system and then run chkdsk <drive letter): /f

- Try booting again. If it still fails, you likely have a corrupt registry. If you do, a repair install is not going to help so you have to address this first. You do that by restoring a backup copy of the registry which should get you into Safe Mode and then you can use System Restore to go back to a restore point before all this happened. Instructions here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Microsoft's method in that article is VERY tedious because they do it from the DOS command line in the Windows Repair console. It's much easier to do it from Windows by booting from a live CD (BartPE, Hiren's MiniXP, etc) or installing the drive as a spare on another Windows PC. Then you can do the procedure using Windows Explorer which is a LOT easier.

As a last resort (in case it turns out not to be a registry issue) you can try performing a Windows Repair install: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrep ... all.htm#RI

Hope this helps...

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:50 pm

Yes, I ran CHKDSK on the drive today but still in the loop.

I'll read through the info and try the restores.

So is it likely then that the changes the tech made with remote access could have corrupted the registry then? Everything was fine until he made changes and this reboot mode started right then!

By the way, I need to get down to FL sometime before long, thinking I'll miss Daytona now though. Anyway if you want to meet up while I'm around I'll buy you lunch when I get there. Mom picked up some printers for me on clearance from Staples awhile back, I need to to visit her in Longboat key and pick those up also.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:07 pm

Have you tried a boot CD such as Hiren's BootCD: http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

I've used that program several times to get me to use a program on the disk that will restore previous XP restore points. You could use it to restore it prior to the guy that screwed it up. Worth a last shot.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:08 pm

I don't think the tech who remoted in screwed it up. I think something just glitched.

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:47 pm

Well, I got booted into safe mode now after I copied the 5 files from repair folder into the config folder as it said.
Now the problem is after about 3-4 minutes in safe mode the system just turns off!

Not a problem with the computer itself, I been running the new drive with a fresh install on the system just fine with no shut downs before.

I had got to the point of setting folder view to show all hidden files but not got into the "System Volume Information folder" yet.

Any idea why the computer would just suddenly shut down in safe mode when sitting idle and not doing anything with it?
I was reading the docs and thread from a laptop online so the system should have just been sitting idle.

edit, I got in the folder now, but it shut down again before I could do anything.
Next try I should get it hopefully if I work fast LOL

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 4:13 pm

OK, I used the other drive to boot with, moved the 5 files as said and now I am back into that same boot loop! I used files dated as 1/21/2012, I also tried to use files from 3-1-2012 which was the day I think the problem started but I thought would be good and from before the boot lops began.

So now, if I used the Repair files I get into XP Pro for a couple minutes but system shuts down for no real reason. If I use the 5 files from 2 months before the problem started I get back into the boot loop again.

I have had both new 2T drive with fresh install, and the drive with problems installed and been using the system for maybe an hour or so, no shut downs since I am booting new drive with fresh install. I am not having any trouble reading the drive with the old install I need to fix, it's running as a slave right now and seems fine that way?

I'll try again. Never give up, never say die! LOL
I have to leave a bit again so try more later tonight or in morning.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:29 pm

Last resort is to do a Repair Install. Might not be a corrupt registry but maybe a corrupt system file or maybe a failed Windows update install.

Repair install should reset things if that's the case. I'd leave the registry as a restored copy from a month ago.