Originally Posted by Raftacon

Alright, a problem that's fresh, as it just occurred today, I'm looking for some help, hoping I could come here to find some.

I booted my computer up this morning, it came up to my COMPAQ first screen, red-and-white, where F10 is System Recovery, F1 is Setup, and 'Esc' is Boot, so then, instead of the usual black screen with the flashing white underscore sign in the top-left corner of the screen, it came up with the usual Windows error message if something had gone wrong:

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

"If your computer stopped responded, restarted unexpectedly, or or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, chose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

"If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset button pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows normally."

> Safe Mode
> Safe Mode w/ Networking
> Safe Mode w/ Command Prompt

> Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)

> Start Windows Normally

(30-second timer down below)

So, I've tried out EACH of the options to no avail. When trying to turn on any of the three safe modes, it lists "Loading ..." and names of files, about 30 - 40 of them scrolling by fast, as the screen goes black, and the system reboots.

For the LKGC & SWC commands, it goes to the "Windows XP - Home Edition" symbol-loading bootscreen, with the bar and the blue bubbles filling it up, and it flashes across a few times, and it usually takes about 15 - 30 seconds for it to finish and move on the User Select Screen, but this takes about 5 and reboots the computer.

I do have two DVD Boot Disks for my computer to restore the computer, but at the COMPAQ screen, pressing 'Esc', it comes up with the white-on-black writing that lists the components on the computer, as it moves to a screen with a black background, and blue box, where I can select a boot device: PM-SAMSUNG SP1614C (I'm assuming the harddrive) & 3M-TSSTcorpCD/DVDW TS-H552B (which I know as a fact is my CD / DVD combo writing n' reading CD drive.

If you select PM-Samsung, or loading the defaults as instructed (F4), it'll kick you to the WinXP load screen with the blue bubbles & reboot back to the red-'n-white COMPAQ screen. But, if you select CD/DVDW, with the DVD Disc #1 out of 2 in the drive, it'll come up with three letter choices, one to quit out of the menu, one to go to System Recovery, and one to do a complete restore of the hard drive to factory settings. Leaving that as a last resort, I haven't tried that yet, because I have some important documents on there I haven't backed up yet onto a CD because the computer is only about a month old, but I like my computer and don't want to have to take it back.

Now, I have gone into the BIOS setup (F1), but don't really know if to / what to mess around with in there. Finally, the Sys. Recov., whether through the 'Esc' Boot process for the DVD, or through 'F10' at the COMPAQ screen, it'll load to a black-and-white PC Recov. loadscreen, and then a red-and-black COMPAQ loadscreen, and then it takes you to the traditional blue-'n-white PC Recov. screen with info about the process(es) and you can press 'Okay', but where the choices are to do Indestructive, Destructive, or Sys. Restore, are supposed to be, and error message, stating:

"The section IDA_CREATE_USER_DRIVE_U does not contain a valid dialog template."

You can press okay, but it stays at a plain light-blue screen (not Blue Screen of Death) for about 5 minutes until it kicks you to the five-option black-'n-white screen.

Those are my choices: please help me. Thanks ahead of time, friends. =P

--Raftacon

->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-

>-> System Stats / Components <-<

-> COMPAQ SR1426NX
-> 1.5 GHz Memory
-> 160 GB harddrive, about 80GB already used
-> Radeon 9250 Video card
-> Sound card is built into the motherboard

->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-

<-> **UPDATE** <->

"An indication of the worm's infection of a given PC is the existence of the file C:\WIN.LOG or C:\WIN2.LOG on the PCs hard disk, as well as seemingly random crashes of LSASS.EXE caused by faulty code used in the worm."

This is the definition of the Sasser worm, and I didn't have either symptom, so great thing it's not that worm. =P

<-> <-> <-> <-> <->

**UPDATE -- Odd Blue Screen**

Alright, when I F8 repeatedly at the startup screen, it comes up with two options: Recov. Console & Windows XP Home Edition. Although I really don't want to hear bad news, I'd like somebody to decode what this blue screen means when I try either option:

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

"UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

"If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen,[which it wasn't] restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

"Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need.

"If the problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

"Technical Information:

"*** STOP: 0x000000ED ( 0x89CA4308, 0xC0000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000 )"

Any help's appreciated to this mystery.

**ALERT** CPU Temp = 118 - 120 degrees Fahrenheit, 48 - 50 degrees Celsius ... is this normal temp. or overheating??

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If nothing else, please help me figure out how to get to command prompt through all of this mess, and I can pick up from there, if nothing else.

Thanks in advance.

--Raftacon