Bootsect.dat file is corrupted, NTLDR is missing/compressed on x86 pc with WinXP Home Edition Sp3 and Ie8

Anonymous
2014-02-24T05:47:39+00:00

I have a x86 pc with WinXP Home Edition SP3 and IE8. 

While preparing for an eventual upgrade to Win 7, I have been considering repartioning and multibooting my HDD. 

I have been trying to get WinXP operating as best as I can.  I also have been checking out how to use the Windows Recovery Console to reinstall WinXP and transfer files for a clean reinstall.

I discovered while checking "All Boot Paths" at Start\Run\msconfig\BOOT.INI that one Boot Path was highlighted with errors indicating that the "File is Corrupted because a disk read error occured" and that NTLDR is missing or corrupted.  In fact, it is garbled.  It points to "Microsoft Windows Recovery Console/cmdcon".  I have not used the Recovery Console, ever. 

I have a Gateway 5310S desktop (retail) and no original XP disks, apparently. 

I do have, but have never used, a 4ea. set of Recovery CDs dated 5/12/05 that I must have created after purchase.

I also have been having numerous, odd, problems that come and go, including trouble displaying various websites, Yahoo Home Pages, and eMail that keep going into compatibility mode or blanking outright.  The video and audio on Hulu and online video services are always out of sync.  I have problems editing posts on sites like this even though I can edit my profile pages just fine.

This particular set of problems started occurring recently and very suddenly, from one day to the next.  This was after it had actually been working fairly well for a change. 

I have no idea how long the boot.ini file has been corrupted, I actually discovered it by accident.

I also can not reinstall certain programs such as Family Tree Maker 2005 and 2008 after it was suggested to me by ancestry.com to uninstall/reinstall.

I have the latest Java and Adobe Flash Player.  I have defragged and disk checked my drives. 

I have used CCleaner to remove temp and junk files daily.  I have run Hitman Pro, MBAM, MBAR, MSE, and SAS multiple times with no viruses or malware detected. 

And, as I had mentioned above, I am having problems with the editor on this site, right now.  Sometimes it just freezes and I have to exit to clear.  Other times it duplicates entire sentences.  It also flip/flops between a full page editor and, like now, a half page editor window on the left half of the page.

Any suggestions you folks can come up with would be greatly appreciated.  This is getting really annoying.

Thanks

Vernon

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2014-03-05T08:10:47+00:00

when you check out the boot.ini paths, and the recovery console is installed, you will always get an error stating that the boot path is invalid.

if the recovery console is indeed corrupted just uninstall, you can reinstall or burn a cd with the recovery console.

go here for instructions on deleting the recovery console.

===========

Here's how to make a bootable xp recovery console cd

Courtesy of JoseIbarra

You need to start by booting into the XP Recovery Console using a CD you can make (no XP media required) and run a chkdsk with error correction enough times until it runs clean and if that doesn't work, you can create a new boot.ini file (it is usually one of those two things).

Here's how:

Use the XP Recovery Console to verify the file system on your HDD and correct any problems and then try to boot your system - this may be all you need to do.  Or, you are welcome to just start trying things that might work.

Boot into the Windows Recovery Console using a bootable XP installation CD.

If you have no bootable XP media (or are not sure what you have) create a bootable XP Recovery Console CD and be sure what you have (no XP media required).

This is not the same as any recovery disks that might have come with a store bought system.

You can make a bootable Recovery Console CD by downloading an ISO file and burning it to a CD.

The bootable ISO image file you need to download is called:

rc.iso 

Download the ISO file from here:

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/?p=8    (courtesy of Daavee)

Use a new CD and this free and easy program to burn your ISO file and create your bootable CD:

http://www.imgburn.com/

When installing ImgBurn, DO NOT install the Ask toolbar.

Here are some instructions for ImgBurn:

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61

It would be a good idea to test your bootable CD on a computer that is working.

You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk.  These adjustments are made before Windows tries to load.  If you miss it, you will have to reboot the system again.

When you boot on the CD, follow the prompts:

Press any key to boot from CD...

The Windows Setup... will proceed.

Press 'R' to enter the Recovery Console.

Select the installation you want to access (usually  1: C:\WINDOWS)

You may be asked to enter the Administrator password (usually empty).

You should be in the C:\WINDOWS folder.  This is the same as the 

C:\WINDOWS folder you see in explorer.

The Recovery Console allows basic file commands like: copy, rename, replace, delete, cd, chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr, etc.

For a list of Recovery Console commands, enter help at the prompt or read about the XP Recovery Console here:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx?mfr=true

A good idea before starting things is to first verify the integrity of your file system using the chkdsk command.

From the command prompt window run the chkdsk command on the drive where Windows is installed to try to repair any problems on the afflicted drive.

Running chkdsk is fine even if it doesn't find any problems.  It will not hurt anything to run it.

Assuming your boot drive is C, run the following command:

chkdsk C: /r

Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find.  

It may take a long time for chkdsk to complete or it may appear to be 'stuck'.  Be patient. If the HDD light is still flashing, chkdsk is doing something.  Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress.  It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.

You should run chkdsk /r again until it finds no errors to correct.

Remove the CD and type 'exit' to leave the RC and restart the computer.

You do not have to adjust the BIOS again to boot on the HDD since the CD will not be present.

===============

as for the other problems:

have you used any registry cleaners??

these can harm your system

since you appear to be infection free, it would seem that some part of your cleaning process has deleted a necessary file.

===============

checkdisk with the /r parameter should be run. and run again until no errors are found.

==========

are you fully updated and patched at Microsoft updates??

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-03-13T15:15:39+00:00

    JEEZ, ElderL,

    Did you not get your coffee this morning? 

    Besides, just what's up with the tone of your post, anyway?

    I have worked with Elizabeth23 (and others) before and she has offered quite a bit of help and suggestions and references and websites on this or other problems. These methods just have not produced a solution yet.

    And, by the way, nobody has asked for me to provide the boot.ini file (not even you) before this, else I would have readily done so.

    What have you suggested other than a rant out of the wild blue!?

    And just to let you know, I didn't even know that I have a SATA drive in my system before this.  How do you know this?  By the make and model that I had posted?

    And I am confused, you say that using Recovery Console will not help or work in this case. 

    Then just why, then, is Recovery Console even installed on my system if it is useless?

    And where in the literature does it even say that having a SATA drive would prevent me or anyone else from troublshooting a Gateway PC?  I have not seen that anywhere, even in the instructions on how to create a bootable disk.

    Anyway, no one (until now) has commented that these methods that Elizabeth23 suggested wouldn't actually work because of this SATA drive. 

    I guess that I can't put "mind reader" on my resume yet.

    You said: "To do that, you need a genuine bootable XP installation CD that is the same Service pack you have installed.   

    How are you going to do it?

    You won't. If you have SP3, you better make one because I'll bet you don't have it."

    That's true, no installation CD came with my computer, and I only have the so-called "recovery disks" that I had to make the first time I turned the system on. 

    And, yes, I do have SP3, because I followed Microsoft's advice to keep current with updates.

    Now, would it have hurt you to have included a WAY to actually create a CD (or some other method) with SP3 in your reply?? 

    Or am I just doomed to not have a solution just because I bought a Gateway system without knowing all this in advance?

    Besides, just WHERE have YOU been all this time?

    So, go get some coffee or perhaps decaf, take a deep breath, then get back to me with something that is actually useful! OK?

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-03-13T16:25:29+00:00

    Yeah - I quit my coffee drinking.

    My title is "Solution Provider".

    Let me tell you how things work.

    When you install XP, you have an option to also install the Recovery Console.

    If you bought your system at the store, it is extremely unlikely you will have the XP Recovery Console installed.

    The RC is not the same as installation or recovery CDs that may have come with your system.

    If you have SP3 and want to install the RC, you need to have a genuine bootable XP installation CD with SP3 on it or you will not be installing the Recovery Console.

    Suggesting to install the Recovery Console makes no sense unless you are sure the user has genuine bootable XP media.

    The fact of the matter is, most people around here don't have any genuine bootable XP media.

    One of the big problems here is the MS Answers forums failure to prompt for fundamental system information when a new question is asked.   I have already harped on that and been banned twice.

    You can make one or I can sell you one - I have about 50 brand new XP CDs right from Microsoft.

    You cannot:

    "...use the Windows Recovery Console to reinstall WinXP and transfer files for a clean reinstall."

    That is not what the Recovery Console is for, that is not what it does and that is not how it works.

    I have posted here a thousand times how to make a Recovery Console CD, but times and technology change.

    If your system is more modern and running SATA drives those instructions won't work anymore.  You can make the CD and boot on it, but it will not help you.  It is no longer they way to go.

    In a single partition installation XP doesn't even need a boot.ini file to load.  If your's is afflicted. then you need to copy and paste it here so somebody can look at it.  Duh.

    Then you better describe what numerous, odd, problems means.

    If your video and audio on Hulu are not in sync, somebody should ask you about your video and audio drivers and get the details.   Duh.  That should be the first question.

    This stuff is not that hard and you are not doomed.  I am running a Gateway cowbox right now.

    Do you want to fix things or do you want to try things?

    Since your issue has no gone to three pages of trying things - I quit after two pages.

    In the problem solving world on the planet called Earth - that is ridiculous.

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