Re-Installing Windows XP in "Repair" Mode... DVD Combo Drive Issue
My computer recently started locking up within a minute of booting up. I tried fixing the proglem by booting into "safe mode" and then choosing a Restore Point to a couple months in the past. This did not resolve the issue. In fact, it caused a new issue. After rebooting, a Nero Check box popped up and informed me of some DVD drive issue that it needs to fix, by rebooting. So I did, but it did not fix it. I noticed in Device Manager that my DVD drive was not working properly (the yellow question mark next to the drive). So I booted again into Safe Mode because that is the only way I could boot up without locking up. Then I uninstalled Nero. But the DVD drive still had the yellow question mark in Device Manager. At this point, I SHOULD HAVE tried to resolve that issue, but I decided to use my Windows XP SP2 disk to re-install windows and try the "Repair" mode to refresh my windows installation, hoping that would resolve the issue. It booted fine, from the windows cd and started the repair. About 20 minutes into the installation, it said that it needed to reboot in order to continue to the next step. Now this is where my situation got worse. It rebooted and asked me to insert my windows cd, but now it won't recognize the cd cause of the previous DVD device issue. So I am stuck. I can reboot my computer all day long and it will not get out of the Windows Setup. It is basically in the middle of a windows repair installation, with a dead dvd/cd drive and can't move on to the next step in the repair installation sequence. HELP.... I called microsoft, but they were of no help. They told me to call a hardware technician to fix the dvd/cd drive. Then they will help me after that. But I think there is a way that I can do this myself. --- When I am in the windows setup screen, which asks for me to insert the windows cd, I can press Shift-F10 and get to a command prompt. So I think I can work from there to resolve the dvd/cd drive issue. I just don't know how. I figure I can download a device driver from the dvd manufacturer's website and put that on my thumb drive then from there I can xcopy it to my c:drive and get my dvd/cd drive working. Is that possible? If so, where do I copy the file to? Or is there a way to access my windows registry and manually edit it to resolve the issue? I've heard about regedit.... can I use that? --- What should I do next?
Any help is appreciated... Thank you.
Thanks Noggin... sorry it took so long for me to reply.
I have two DVD-RW drives. Both are non-operational (driver issues). I mentioned the ASUS DRW-1608P2 and the other is a NEC ND-3520A.
My motherboard is a Chaintech. The numbers on the board are M101 431.
Does this help you?Thanks Noggin... sorry it took so long for me to reply.
I have two DVD-RW drives. Both are non-operational (driver issues). I mentioned the ASUS DRW-1608P2 and the other is a NEC ND-3520A.
My motherboard is a Chaintech. The numbers on the board are M101 431.
Does this help you?
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Re: Re-Installing Windows XP in "Repair" Mode... DVD...
It looks as if the dvd drive is the problem, or the ide channel connector that the dvd drive is connected to, because rom drives will work without anything other than the standard firmware that is built in.
you can try connecting the dvd drive to the same ide cable from the motherboard that your hard drive is connected to ensuring you set the dvd drive to 'Slave' as the hard drive will be 'Master'.
If you have a SATA (flat thin red cable) and not an IDE (flat wide grey cable) hard drive then just try the dvd drive in another ide connector there will be two on the board IDE1 and IDE2 or IDE0 and IDE1.
If you still have no dvd rom access then the hardware (drive) itself may be faulty and replacing it will solve the problem costing around $60 to replace and very simple to fit.
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Re: Re-Installing Windows XP in "Repair" Mode... DVD...
What Motherboard do you have? What DVD drive do you have?
It sounds like the best thing to do would be to clear your CMOS and start from scratch. This should resolve any driver/windows/bios related issues with your drive, and allow you to install windows as normal.
There is always the possibility that there is actually a hardware fault with your dvd drive - do you only have the one connected, or do you have a second drive.
Please post back with your motherboard details (easiest way to find this if you don't know is to open the PC case up, and read it off the board itself - usually will be printed in quite large letters, often between two of the expansion slots - and should be something like "P5LD2" or "2e6av2" or similar)
The method to clear your CMOS will depend on the type of motherboard - it is not a complicated job although on some boards it can be a bit fiddly. You need to be competent enough to work inside the pc case without damaging anything.
Hope this helps :) Waiting for your details.
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Somehow your MBR (Master Boot Record) likely got corrupted or possibly your hard drive went bad coincidentally.
Simply, you will start your computer from your Windows CD/DVD install disk, then when at a DOS prompt ( D:\ ) you will then type: FDISK /MBR (press enter).
I see you are having issue installing windows, getting an error the the Boot Manager is missing...
The windows Disc that you have is this a burnt copy? possible that the installation files on the Windows you have is incomplete.
But if I may ask before you tried installing this Windows what windows did you have on your computer?
Have you tried booting the disc directly from the CD drive instead of installing it from within windows.
Go into BIOS and change the boot configuration of you Computer make sure the the CD/DVD drive is selected as the primary boot option before the hard drive, once that is done restart your computer make sure that you Windows disc is in the cd/dvd drive, you should get a prompt on the upper left saying to boot from cd press any key - press Enter right away once you see that prompt this should boot from the disc for the installation to continue but if still it looks for the Boot Manager the copy of your installation disc maybe incomplete.
Also you can try to wipe clean you hard drive and try again again with the installation.
Shut your computer all the way down. As soon as you turn it on, start hitting F8 about 3-4 times, that will take you to an advanced options menu. Select "Last known good configuration" and that should work
Hp Support ---->Link. or :
Cause 1 This issue may occur if you have a CD, a DVD or a floppy disk in your CD, DVD, or floppy drive when you start the computer.
Cause 2 This issue occurs if one or more of the following
elements are corrupted and will not load during the boot sequence of the
computer:
Master boot record
Partition tables
Boot sector
NTLDR file
Method 1: Troubleshoot the specific element that causes Windows not to loadNote This option requires that you perform
multiple steps to determine the exact element that causes the issue.
This option may allow for you to keep customizations in Windows.
Restart
your computer in safe mode. To do this, press the F8 key while Windows
is starting. Then, create a Windows XP boot disk to start the
computer.
For more information about how to create a Windows XP boot disk, click
the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
305595
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305595/
)
How to create a bootable floppy disk for an NTFS or FAT partition in Windows XP
315222
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/
)
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
If you can start the computer from the boot disk
without receiving an error message, the damage is limited to the master boot
record, the boot sector, or the NTLDR file. After Windows XP is running,
immediately back up all data before you try to fix the boot
sector.
Use Disk Management to view the partition information and to
verify that the disk partition (or partitions) is correct. To use Disk
Management, follow these steps:
Click Start, right-click My
Computer, and then click Manage.
Expand Storage, and then click
Disk Management.
If invalid partitions are present or you cannot start your
computer by using a boot disk, consider reinstalling Windows XP on your computer
and restoring your data and configuration information from a recent
backup.
If you do not have a current backup copy of the data on the
computer, contact a computer specialist to determine the best method of data
recovery and configuration.
Run a current virus scanning program to verify that no
virus is present.
Repair the master boot record by using the FIXMBR command from the Windows XP Recovery
Console.
You have corrupt or deleted windows files or possibly a hardware error. The first thing is to try a repair using a Windows XP CD that came with your system.
XP REPAIR INSTALL
1. Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
2. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below. This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer: To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup: do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you do not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
5. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair.
6. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
7. You will need to apply Windows updates after this procedure.
You might want to try going into setup and setting your boot drive options to DVD drive as your 1st, HD as 2nd and Floppy as 3rd. Put your windows disk in the DVD before boot and run the program from DVD.
Open a command window...
(start, run, "cmd.exe", <enter>)
At the command prompt, type:
"CHKDSK /F"
It will probably say something about cannot lock the volume, do you want me to schedule a disk check at next startup? Say yes and reboot...
2nd:
Does the other laptop work, and does it have a functioning CD drive?
Yes?
Copy the I386 directory of the XP install CD to the USB Hard Drive using the working laptop.
Then, boot "bad" laptop into safe mode.
Plug USB HDD into "bad lapttop", hope it is recognized and copy the I386 directory to the c:\ drive.
After the copy is complete, run
C:\i386\WINNT32.EXE
Choose upgrade if you wish, but I'd have the program replace the existing windows installation. Leave the HDD as is if asked, do NOT format it. This way, you can navigate around and find your "old" data on the HDD after Windows has finished installing.
Have your installation Key/Serial No. at the ready.
You should re-install the winxp again.
For doing it without losing any existing data, do it as per the following instructions:
- Boot your computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive.
When you see the welcom setup screen, chose the "To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER" option.
DO not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R" !!!!
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair.
Setup will copy files to the hard drive will reboot tour computer and will start winxp installation.
Good luck !
Thanks Noggin... sorry it took so long for me to reply.
I have two DVD-RW drives. Both are non-operational (driver issues). I mentioned the ASUS DRW-1608P2 and the other is a NEC ND-3520A.
My motherboard is a Chaintech. The numbers on the board are M101 431.
Does this help you?
SOLUTION: I solved the problem by re-installing a "fresh copy" of Windows and reloading my drivers and programs, etc.
Aaron
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