Member Avatar for hansbanana

Can someone help?

My computer got turned off at the wall by mistake and when I turned it on again the usual message came up:

'We apologize for the inconvence etc...

choose an option...

Safe Mode
Safe mode iwth networking
Safe mode with command prompt
LAst known good configiration
start windows normally'

Yet when I highlight an option and hit enter all it does is start up again and go to the same boot menu?

What can I do to stop the loop and see the wndows sign etc. and then login to my account?

Thanks!

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Dani AI

Generated

A short diagnostic summary and practical next steps.

Abrupt power loss commonly damages the small boot pieces or the on-disk metadata that Windows XP needs to hand control to the OS. When every choice on the "Windows did not start correctly" menu simply returns to the same menu, the fault is most often at the boot-file, boot-sector, or partition level rather than inside a signed-in Windows session. was right to start with a repair environment and a disk check; if that did not clear the loop, the following recovery actions are the usual next moves.

From the XP repair/Recovery Console (boot the XP CD, choose Repair, then enter the console) these commands are useful:

fixboot c:
fixmbr
bootcfg /rebuild
copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

Replace d: with the CD/DVD drive letter if different; c: is normally the system partition. fixboot rewrites the partition boot sector, fixmbr repairs the master boot record, bootcfg /rebuild attempts to regenerate boot.ini, and copying the two small files restores missing boot files. Note that fixmbr can affect multi-boot setups — back up data first if possible.

If those steps still loop: confirm the drive is detected in BIOS, reseat or replace the data cable, listen for clicking, and run a vendor SMART/diagnostic tool (or boot a Linux live USB/Windows PE stick to copy off important files). Memory faults can cause similar instability — run Memtest86+ if available. If recovery commands fail, an in-place repair install from the XP setup will reinstall system files while keeping applications and data; as a last resort, back up and perform a clean install. This expands on ’s suggestion and covers the typical safe escalation path for a looping XP boot menu.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for gerbil

If you have an XP installation disk, or can borrow one, then start the Recovery Console [via Repair an existing installation option] and run...
chkdsk /p

Member Avatar for hansbanana

thanks so I did that- tried to repair it using a windows XP cd but to no avail. All it did was give me the option to restart by typing in 'exit'. So I did but the restart just brought me back to the same boot menu.

Should I try setting up windows XP ie installing it?

Member Avatar for hansbanana

P.S. sorry I took so long to reply I was searching for the CD...hope ur still there gerbil:)

Member Avatar for gerbil

Hans.... yes, the RC does show you that command, exit. Go back to there, and type in the command I gave you...
chkdsk /p

Edited by gerbil because: n/a
Member Avatar for hansbanana

great i'll try that in the morning nd let u kno how it goes so i guess just keep checking up on this thread:)

thanks for the code etc.!

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