Member Avatar for sephticle

alright. I'm getting that error when I try to load up my computer, and I don't know how to fix it. Once it finishes checking the drive for consistency, it just sits there...and just sits...leaving that screen up...never moving. it's really annoying..

I actually sat and clicked around blindly with my mouse, and it ended up logging me into my guest account (I'm guessing it was the guest account.), but I couldn't see anything on the profile..it was still the "checked for consistency" screen, but it was playing a video on AIM in the background of the screen.

oh, and if I shut it down via power button after it finishes checking, it doesn't do it again...but just goes to an all black screen as the log-in screen, without a visible mouse cursor.

the drive is C drive, and it's the whole FAT32 or whatever. is any of you could help, it would really be appreciated.

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This looks like two related but different failures happening at boot: a disk/FS problem that forces CHKDSK to run, and a desktop/graphics or user-profile problem that leaves the machine stuck on a blank/logon screen (the AIM video showing under the CHKDSK text suggests the shell started but the display or profile didn’t initialize fully). Both hardware (failing platters/SMART errors) and software (corrupt FAT32 structures, damaged default profile, or a video driver/explorer failure) are plausible. Good notes from (disk diagnostics) and (graphics/driver angle) — both lines of investigation are important.

Priority: safeguard data before running repairs that can change files. Make a copy of critical folders (Documents, Desktop, My Pictures, application data) by either booting a Linux/Windows PE live USB or removing the drive and attaching it to another machine. Chkdsk with recovery/sector-recovery options can sometimes make damaged files inaccessible, so backup first.

Recommended troubleshooting sequence (ordered):

  1. Attempt minimal-driver boot (Safe Mode / low-resolution video) to test whether the desktop appears. If a usable desktop appears, uninstall/reinstall the video driver and run the filesystem check from a command prompt.

  2. Run a full filesystem scan from an offline prompt: 

    chkdsk C: /r

    Allow it to finish (this locates/remaps bad sectors). Run it from Safe Mode command prompt or the XP Recovery Console if normal boot fails.

  3. Run prolonged HDD diagnostics (manufacturer long test / SMART scan) from a bootable diagnostic utility or the drive-maker tool. Replace the drive if SMART or extended tests report failures.

  4. If the system boots but the usual user profile is broken (Guest loaded, empty desktop), recover files from the old profile (copy Documents and AppData) and create a fresh user profile or perform a System Restore to a pre-failure point.

  5. Only consider repair-install or running fixboot/fixmbr if clear boot-record corruption appears.

Quick tips: from a black logon screen, Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) can reveal whether explorer.exe started; launching explorer.exe will return the shell if the shell simply failed to start. Always keep backups of irreplaceable data; replacement drives are inexpensive compared with lost files.

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Member Avatar for alc6379

Have you run any diagnostics on your hard drive? It's possible that you could have makings of a bad drive.

Member Avatar for DjLizard

Well it sounds more like the video driver didn't initialize properly - try tapping F8 before the Windows logo appears and choosing "VGA mode". If you are able to get into Windows, install the latest video driver you can find.

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