Laptop Booting problem

[Tarkin]

Hi

I have a Toshiba Portege S100 Centrino P-m 740 1.73 Ghz / 512mb 60gb Dvd/cd-rw Wlan 14.1-tft Xga Wxp Pro Uk

A couple of days ago, while XP was just loaded, I switched off (hard reset) the laptop by mistake. I somehow must have done something wrong as I cannot get back to a normal XP session.

I am faced with this constant loop:

Laptop starts>boot sequence>Win XP logo appears>Blue Screen of Death>Laptop re-starts>...and so on.

The Blue Screen appears very briefly so I do not get sufficient time to read the message.

This happens in every configuration I try (safe mode, last known good configuration, etc.)

As usual with these sorts of things, I did not back-up my data and I am desperate to preserve the data on the hard disk!

Any help would be most appreciated

Thanks

[JakeD]

Hey Tarkin. Chances are you that you can recover this way. I've done it a few times and it worked everytime. It's a little cumbersome, but it works.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Hope this helps.

[Tarkin]

Thanks...but...

I do not believe it is do with the registry, more likely to be a corrupt MBR

Also, I cannot get to Recovery Console as Win XP set-up does not detect hard drive (but BIOS sees HD)

Thanks anyway

[JakeD]

either way, you'd need to get to the recovery console. the recovery console will let you repair the mbr. do you have the windows xp cd?

[Tarkin]

Jake, I would love to get to the recovery console...if only someone could tell me how!


I can't get XP Recovery Console to start

> When I boot using Windows XP CD, I get a message stating that my hard drive is not detected and the machine will reboot.

By the way, the Windows XP CD I have is the Home version not the Pro

[lgbpop]

Tarkin, you'll need to go into the BIOS and change the boot order to CD drive first, HDD second. You wouldn't see the above message if you were booting from the CD. Right now the boot order is going to the hard drive first.

While you're in the BIOS, go into Power Management and look for a setting that controls computer action following a power failure/power-off state; change it to remain off. The next time you attempt to boot from the hard drive and get the BSOD, it should stay on long enough to read the shutdown code.

[Tarkin]

Hi lgbpop

Yes, I have already managed to get to the BIOS and changed the boot sequence so my laptop does indeed boot from the CD - I would not have access the XP CD otherwise.

The BSoD message is:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Disable or uninstall any anti-virus, disk defragmentation or back-up utilities. Check your hard drive configuration, and check for any updated drivers. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x00000
024 (0x00190203, 0x86f89268, 0xc0000102, 0x00000000


Frankly, after posting this issue to a dozen of forums on the web, I have come to terms that fixing my laptop in its current state is a vain exercise since I was offered a range of warnings and solutions with varying degrees of complexities

I am about to take steps to recover my data by taking the HD out.

[Train]

Have you run chkdsk /f on that drive?

Scroll down to Stop 0x00000024 for more that help out.
http://www.updatexp.com/stop-messages.html

M$ KB on that stop message.
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q228888

[Tarkin]

Can't find the chkdsk /f ...

[Train]

Click Start, Run [type in CMD} and click OK
type in chkdsk C: /fIt will look like this:
C:\Documents and Settings\your name>chkdsk C: /f
now hit enter.

If you are prompted to schedule CHKDSK to run the next time the computer restarts (because CHKDSK may be unable to gain exclusive access to the drive under Windows), type the following text,Y, and then press Enter:

Close the box and reboot the computer.

While Windows is loading, CHKDSK should automatically run and check the drive that you specified earlier.

[Tarkin]

Hey, I can't get to Windows XP OS environment! Since I cannot even access the HD

[Train]

Can you access Safe Mode?

[Tarkin]

For the record and to bring the issue to a close...

I eventually took out the hard disk from the laptop. I managed to connect it to my desktop PC. I retrieved ALL my files (XP did not detect them, I had to use a powerful program from Ontrack - www.ontrack.com).

Let's look on the bright side:

1. I retrieved all my data without fault and intact
2. I learned a lot in the last couple of days
3. I have now a much faster working laptop following a re-format and removal of old junk!

Thanks for all your help

[Train]

Glad to hear the good news.