Member Avatar for j2130

I'm having an issue with my compaq presario desktop when i boot into windows it hangs just before the windows log on screen and so far i have been unable to boot the comp into safe mode any help figuring out the problem would be appreciated

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Dani AI

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Quick summary and priority: reports the machine hangs just before the XP logon and HDDRegenerator already found a bad sector. Preserve recoverable data first, then test the drive. Imaging a failing disk before doing more repairs gives the best chance of getting files back and of avoiding further damage — use a sector-level tool such as GNU ddrescue to copy the disk to another drive before attempting repairs. (gnu.org)

Basic checks to do now (fast): confirm the BIOS sees the disk, reseat or swap the data and power cables, and try a different SATA port or a USB enclosure. If the BIOS does not list the drive, the problem is likely hardware (cable, power, port, or the drive electronics). Also note that the XP Recovery Console can fail to access SATA drives on some systems without drivers, so a Linux live USB is often the easiest environment to mount and image the disk. (makeuseof.com)

If the drive is visible, create an image with ddrescue and keep the mapfile (it lets you resume). Example (run from a Linux live session; replace device names safely): 

ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdX /media/external/image.img /media/external/image.map

After imaging, run the hard-drive vendor diagnostics (SeaTools, WD tools, etc.) against the original drive to see if firmware-level repairs or reallocation are possible. If diagnostics pass you can try logical repairs (Windows chkdsk C: /r from Recovery/Repair environment) against the image or the original only after imaging. (gnu.org)

When to replace or call pros: if SMART shows growing reallocated/unrecoverable sector counts, vendor tests fail, or the drive is noisy/unreliable, replace the disk — continued use is risky. If data is critical and imaging fails, stop further writes and consult a professional recovery lab. Manufacturer tools and vendor RMAs are the normal next step for faulty drives. (seagate.com)

Notes tied to the thread: was right to suggest alternate boot media for inspection; and were correct that chkdsk and vendor tools can help, but only after imaging — otherwise repairs can make recovery harder.

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All 18 Replies

Member Avatar for flagstar

Just asking...
What did you do the last time you used it before this problem occur?

Did it hang on windows xp splash screen or at the logon screen or in between both of it?

Member Avatar for mjdodd

Ifd you canuse some other boot media such as a liux type startup disk then the place to look is in the windows file where there are two files that may help.
Boot.ini tells the machine what it should do
boot.log (or similiar name gives a record of what it actually did at boot time. The last line in that file will be the one that it fell over on.

you can also by repeatedly pressing F5 at boot up go through the booting sequence one command at a time and then find the one that is causing the problem.
M

Member Avatar for j2130

Just asking...
What did you do the last time you used it before this problem occur?

Did it hang on windows xp splash screen or at the logon screen or in between both of it?

the computer is my mom's so i don't know what she was doing before the problem it boots up to right before you enter your windows password and just hangs when i restarted the computer the first time it did it i got a bsod and then it wouldn't recognize the hdd after turning the computer on the next day.

Member Avatar for j2130

Ifd you canuse some other boot media such as a liux type startup disk then the place to look is in the windows file where there are two files that may help.
Boot.ini tells the machine what it should do
boot.log (or similiar name gives a record of what it actually did at boot time. The last line in that file will be the one that it fell over on.

you can also by repeatedly pressing F5 at boot up go through the booting sequence one command at a time and then find the one that is causing the problem.
M

I have linux media to boot the computer so i'm going to try that later and i'll post with the outcome

Member Avatar for flagstar

I'm sure Linux will boot just fine... The problem lies within Windows itself... or most probably the problem lies within your HDD.

Use HirenBoot or MHDD to diagnose your HDD... Your desktop may have built-in HDD diagnostics in BIOS so you can use it instead...

Member Avatar for jingda

Or maybe your hard disk crash, let's hope that is not the case.

Member Avatar for jeannot

I don't know if this is working, try HDDregenerator it's windows based.

run this from another computer and make a boot disk/USB.
HDDregenerator looks for bad sectors on the harddisk and attempt repairs.
or you can look only where the bad sectors are.

gr jeannot

PS: I hope this wil work for you

Member Avatar for gerbil

Oh dear. All that for just $60... bargain. Quoting from the HDDRegenerator site:
"Bad sectors are a part of the disk surface which contains not readable.. information. As a result .. you may have difficulties to read and copy data from your disk, your operating system becomes unstable and finally your computer may unable to boot altogether. When a hard drive is damaged with bad sectors.... you risk losing information stored on it. The HDD Regenerator can repair damaged hard disks without affecting or changing existing data. As a result, previously unreadable and inaccessible information is restored."
I like that. If data is recoverable from bad sectors then Windows chkdsk program will restore it for no cost.
If bad sectors are not recoverable then HDD manufacturers have free utilities which evaluate sectors on a disk, recognize those which are bad and with truly irrecoverable data, and then give you the option of writing zeroes to those sectors - the drive firmware is then forced to return those sectors to usable status. These utilities will also recover readable data as per chkdsk. All free.
j2130, may I suggest that you try running chkdsk from a Windows Setup disk? Use Setup to start the Recovery Console; "chkdsk" is a command in there. Running "chkdsk /?" will give you a list of available parameters.

Edited by gerbil because: n/a
Member Avatar for j2130

Oh dear. All that for just $60... bargain. Quoting from the HDDRegenerator site:
"Bad sectors are a part of the disk surface which contains not readable.. information. As a result .. you may have difficulties to read and copy data from your disk, your operating system becomes unstable and finally your computer may unable to boot altogether. When a hard drive is damaged with bad sectors.... you risk losing information stored on it. The HDD Regenerator can repair damaged hard disks without affecting or changing existing data. As a result, previously unreadable and inaccessible information is restored."
I like that. If data is recoverable from bad sectors then Windows chkdsk program will restore it for no cost.
If bad sectors are not recoverable then HDD manufacturers have free utilities which evaluate sectors on a disk, recognize those which are bad and with truly irrecoverable data, and then give you the option of writing zeroes to those sectors - the drive firmware is then forced to return those sectors to usable status. These utilities will also recover readable data as per chkdsk. All free.
j2130, may I suggest that you try running chkdsk from a Windows Setup disk? Use Setup to start the Recovery Console; "chkdsk" is a command in there. Running "chkdsk /?" will give you a list of available parameters.

Well HDD Regenerator found a bad sector on the hdd and it was supposedly repaired when i restarted the computer chkdsk ran and recovered something i don't know exactly what then the computer restarted and it got as far as windows is starting up and it just hanged

Member Avatar for jingda

So is your first problem better or it became worse after using HDD Regenerator?

Member Avatar for j2130

So is your first problem better or it became worse after using HDD Regenerator?

unchanged actually hdd regenerator neither solved nor helped my problem the computer still hangs

Member Avatar for jingda

Did you add any new hardware parts recently? Try using another hard disk and see whether that works. If that works, that means your first hard disk may be crashed.

Member Avatar for gerbil

If you saw chkdsk run without any action from you then it likely means the session manager [via autochk] detected a disk had not been shut down correctly.
Because you have not logged on yet [or seen the Welcome screen] the registry has not been updated yet to reflect a good logon, so you should try using your F8 key during startup to gain access to the Advanced Options screen -choose Last Known Good Configuration.

Member Avatar for flagstar

If HDDregenerator or similar HDD checking program found bad sectors on your HDD (usually only one bad sector would be enough to label it as spoil), it would be best to buy a new one instead or if that HDD still under warranty, just RMA it.

HDD with bad sector mostly unrepairable and would cause a lot of problem to work with it. From my experience, HDD repairing software would not actually repair those bad sector, it just make HDD to ignore those sector and work like normal but it would be useless if those bad sector do happen on WINDOWS directory...

Member Avatar for gerbil

I think a sector is first picked as being bad when it is shown as containing data, but that data is unreadable or in disagreement with the file table. The data may be recoverable [an advantage of NTFS], it may not.... but if writing zeroes to that sector is possible then it will have its defect status revoked by the drive electronics.
If again it fails [weak magnetics, say] then once more it will be marked and perhaps mapped to a reserved sector on the drive.
You can use something like siw.exe to see how many spare sectors have been reallocated on your drives if they support SMART. There may also be a count of uncorrectable sectors.

Edited by gerbil because: n/a
Member Avatar for j2130

If HDDregenerator or similar HDD checking program found bad sectors on your HDD (usually only one bad sector would be enough to label it as spoil), it would be best to buy a new one instead or if that HDD still under warranty, just RMA it.

HDD with bad sector mostly unrepairable and would cause a lot of problem to work with it. From my experience, HDD repairing software would not actually repair those bad sector, it just make HDD to ignore those sector and work like normal but it would be useless if those bad sector do happen on WINDOWS directory...

I think replacing the HDD would be the best option at this point

Member Avatar for jingda

You know that doing that will cause you to lost all your data unless you have back it up.

Member Avatar for flagstar

You know that doing that will cause you to lost all your data unless you have back it up.

He can back it up after he change his HDD and connect the faulty HDD and copy files that's still readable...

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