Here's a look at the likely culprits and what you can do to fix the problem. When your computer hardware appears to power up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won't boot properly, you have to begin a troubleshooting expedition that includes getting into the operating system, determining the problem, and then fixing it. To help you get started on this expedition, here are 10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot.
This entry was originally published as an article on January 26, One of the first things you should reach for when troubleshooting a Windows XP boot problem is a Windows startup disk. This floppy disk can come in handy if the problem is being caused when either the startup record for the active partition or the files that the operating system uses to start Windows have become corrupted.
To create a Windows startup disk, insert a floppy disk into the drive of a similarly configured, working Windows XP system, launch My Computer, right-click the floppy disk icon, and select the Format command from the context menu.
When you see the Format dialog box, leave all the default settings as they are and click the Start button. Once the format operation is complete, close the Format dialog box to return to My Computer, double-click the drive C icon to access the root directory, and copy the following three files to the floppy disk:.
After you create the Windows startup disk, insert it into the floppy drive on the afflicted system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. When you boot from the Windows startup disk, the computer will bypass the active partition and boot files on the hard disk and attempt to start Windows XP normally. You can also try to boot the operating system with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. This feature will allow you to undo any changes that caused problems in the CurrentControlSet registry key, which defines hardware and driver settings.
The Last Known Good Configuration feature replaces the contents of the CurrentControlSet registry key with a backup copy that was last used to successfully start up the operating system. When you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options menu. Keep in mind that you get only one shot with the Last Known Good Configuration feature.
In other words, if it fails to revive your Windows XP on the first attempt, the backup copy is also corrupt. System Restore runs in the background as a service and continually monitors system-critical components for changes.
When it detects an impending change, System Restore immediately makes backup copies, called restore points, of these critical components before the change occurs. In addition, System Restore is configured by default to create restore points every 24 hours. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Thread starter Rick Start date Oct 20, Indications : May allow Windows to load properly if there are critical driver, software or registry problems which have rendered the system unbootable.
Blue screens, hanging, errors etc.. Note: The system repair function will remove any updates you have previously installed that are not included on the CD. It may be necessary to reactivate your Windows XP as well.
Often times, when Windows is rendered unbootable, there is a good reason. This can often be due to hardware failure bad hard disk, memory or CPU for example. In these cases, the system repair function will not work. System repair will only repair your software. I strongly recommend you run a disk utility on your hard drive before performing a system repair.
Please make sure it is the same version of Windows that is currently installed on your computer ex. Newer versions will work as well ie. Once completed, you will be confronted with "Windows Setup".
You will be asked to setup up Windows, or repair Windows with the recovery console. Reactions: Gareis. You have two options: 1. Your notebook will report an error and prompt to press F1 to enter setup. Do exactly that. Compaq users will usually have to press F IBM typically uses F1 or F2. When you enter the BIOS setup, you need to change the boot order. Each BIOS is different, but here is an example:. Well done, my dark apprentice Don't forget to mention the 87MBs of windows updates you need to do this several times because there are updates for some of the updates, really!
I can't wait for winxp sp2 to be released, so that I can slipstream my CD and avoid the large update requirements. Glad I have broadband. In a lot of the newer computers with 1 gig of ram fast ram, several drives, tons of lights and big coolers can over tax the power supplys that where working just fine before.
Power supplys problem can cause random reboots if theres not enogh power to run everything. This can also blow voltage control Caps. If your computer shuts off and won't even post the bios, look at your power supply it my be at it's limit.
I cannot find what that could be. Originally posted by mere24 i am on the new set up but stuck. Click to expand Rick, Thanks a bunch! If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because the partition boot sector has been corrupted, you can use a special Recovery Console tool called Fixboot to fix it. Where [drive] is the letter of the drive to which you want to write a new partition boot sector. The master boot record occupies the first sector on the hard disk and is responsible for initiating the Windows boot procedure.
The master boot record contains the partition table for the disk as well as a small program called the master boot code , which is responsible for locating the active, or bootable, partition, in the partition table. Once this occurs, the partition boot sector takes over and begins loading Windows.
If the master boot record is corrupt, the partition boot sector can't do its job and Windows won't boot. If you suspect Windows XP won't boot because the master boot record has been corrupted, you can use the Recovery Console tool Fixmbr to fix it. For example, the device pathname format for a standard bootable drive C configuration would look like this:.
When Windows XP encounters a fatal error, the default setting for handling such an error is to automatically reboot the system. If the error occurs while Windows XP is booting, the operating system will become stuck in a reboot cycle--rebooting over and over instead of starting up normally.
In that case, you'll need to disable the option for automatically restarting on system failure. When Windows XP begins to boot up and you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options Menu.
Now, Windows XP will hang up when it encounters the error and with any luck, it will display a stop message you can use to diagnose the problem. If you can't seem to repair a Windows XP system that won't boot and you have a recent backup, you can restore the system from the backup media. The method you use to restore the system will depend on what backup utility you used, so you'll need to follow the utility's instructions on how to perform a restore operation.
If you can't repair a Windows XP system that won't boot and you don't have a recent backup, you can perform an in-place upgrade. Doing so reinstalls the operating system into the same folder, just as if you were upgrading from one version of Windows to another.
An in-place upgrade will usually solve most, if not all, Windows boot problems. Performing a Windows XP in-place upgrade is pretty straightforward. In a moment, you'll see the License Agreement page and will need to press [F8] to acknowledge that you agree.
Setup will then search the hard disk looking for a previous installation of Windows XP. This screen will prompt you to press R to repair the selected installation or to press [Esc] to install a fresh copy of Windows XP.
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