PC not loading Windows

**RyanbATC** · 09-13-2009, 05:23 PM

My wife's Dell is pretty old now at 6+ years.

Yesterday upon power up I get a black screen with white text stating something like "sorry for the inconvenience but Windows did not load successfully, it may be due to a recent hardware change" and so on

So what might be the problem? I checked all the connections - everything was secure and appeared as normal. I wasn't even able to run safe mode with cmd prompt (in attempt to run CHK DSK). The power supply fan was spinning as well

I can get into BIOS, and I can change boot order. I put in a Windows XP install CD and it loaded up the setup files ok, but I don't want to format anything yet. There's data on the HDD that could be important. I don't have an extra HDD to test with...

Any ideas?

**tommchowat** · 09-13-2009, 05:53 PM

Is there an option from the Windows CD to "repair" the installation? I know that on Vista there is this option and it will check why Windows can't start and attempt to repair it.

**RyanbATC** · 09-13-2009, 05:55 PM

Yes there is that option. I didn't want to click that yet until I knew nothing important would be overwritten. I dont care if the windows file are over written, but like pics and stuff, I don't want them to be lost.

**tommchowat** · 09-13-2009, 05:57 PM

I don't think it overwrites anything... I had to use it once and I seem to remember that it said that none of my files or folders would be modified. Don't quote me on that though...!

**RyanbATC** · 09-13-2009, 06:16 PM

As an update I attempted to run the repair option. It didn't do what I thought but it did get me a temporary command prompt - which is what I needed. I ran CHKDSK and the scan found errors on the hard drive. Which was my initial conclusion as to why it wasn't loading XP.

Let's say I want to read the drive from my system. It's not a SATA drive I think its EIDE or whatever those old ones are. How would I go about doing that.

Or, is there something else I should do to remedy the problem?

**jcmissionary** · 09-13-2009, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by RyanbATC

As an update I attempted to run the repair option. It didn't do what I thought but it did get me a temporary command prompt - which is what I needed. I ran CHKDSK and the scan found errors on the hard drive. Which was my initial conclusion as to why it wasn't loading XP.

Let's say I want to read the drive from my system. It's not a SATA drive I think its EIDE or whatever those old ones are. How would I go about doing that.

Or, is there something else I should do to remedy the problem?

You can get a USB adapter set for an IDE hard drive. Last I checked, they ran about $15 at new egg. I had to get one when I got a new laptop but still needed data off my old drive. The kit I bought also included an enclosure to protect the hard drive.

**RyanbATC** · 09-13-2009, 06:40 PM

Ok thanks, an update again:

I *think* I have it solved.

What I did was insert the original Win XP CD and choose the "repair" option. I then ran CHKDSK, which gave some errors. I then booted into safe mode finally (successfully) and the Windows desktop and all files appeared to be intact. Then I powered off, rebooted without the CD in the drive, and loaded Windows as normal. Things appear to be back..... hehe time will tell.

This PC is definitly on its last leg. I can't believe it's lasted 6 years lol

**jdk2** · 09-13-2009, 07:34 PM

Back up those files you said you needed now. Put them on a flash drive so they're safe when the inevitable happens

***loki*** · 09-13-2009, 09:21 PM

I agree with the backup suggestion. Backup everything you aren't willing to lose right away. With hard drives it isn't a matter of if they will die, it's a matter of when. And when you take into account that most of the manufacturers only provide 3-5 year warranties, a 6 year old drive is not one I would trust without a good backup system in place.

**angels355** · 09-14-2009, 01:38 AM

Get to know the ubuntu live disk, you could in the future save your files without the need to boot into windows.

Hard drives fail frequently. They can also get hot speeding up their failure or causing it. Friends of mine put fans in front of their hdd's, but in my opinion they put them too close, I'd put them a little farther away, I worry about the magnetic field from the fan erasing or corrupting data on the hdd. I used to erase data for a living at DEC.

Although that was not my only talent, I could inspect the cafeteria menu very well also!

Have your computer thoroughly cleaned out. Because of the great air circulation Dells are often dirt brown inside covered w/ dirt and dust, gross!

I'm running a 600 mhz p3 Dell right now doing a flight sim flight, it kept on running fine (fs2002) while my amd 2800+ system w/ 256 mb ati card suddenly froze during an fs9 flight. I like old Dells.