Windows won't boot properly

Well, it looks like I've sabotaged my own computer.

I waw running MSCONFIG and trying to eliminate some memory hogs from my Start-up menu and when I restarted my system to accept the changes, I get a screen telling me that Windows did not start successfully.

I then get 4 choices:

1. Safe Mode
2. Safe Mode with Command Prompt
3. Safe Mode with Networking
4. Start Windows normally

I've tried to boot the computer in all 4 of the above modes but Windows fails to load and I end up at the same screen aksing me what mode I want to boot in.

DAMMIT!

I'm running Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 on a Gateway PC with a 2.0Ghz Pentium 4, and 768MB of RAM.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I would hate to do a complete reinstall and risk losing everything on my hard drive.

Thanks!

 

if you have all the installers for your programs then you can do a fresh install of windows and keep all your files.

if you boot up the pc with the XP disc and go to do a fresh install it gives you the options to either format the hard drive or leave the current file system intact. if you choose to keep the file system it will give you the option to use the existing windows directory to install. choosing that means that you will only delete the operating systems folders but all your ffiles will stay safe in the documents and settings folder.

you need to make sure that you havnt made your files private in order to do this otherwise you wont be able to access your files

 

So basically, reinstall windows, but dont format your hard drive just overwrite the current operating system.

 

You can reach the net so look for a boot cd, 1 of my fav is hirens boot cd, its up to v 7.7. And also the rage is using a windows PE boot disk. That is windows pre installation enviroment. Most come with all sorts of rescue tools(virus scanners-windows recovery, hdd tools, etc,etc ). It sounds like there is corruption in your boot strap loader and can easily be fixed. If you know bit torrent then go to the piratebay.org and search for boot cds there, if you dont know torrent sharing then just google for boot cds or hirens boot cd. If you cant find anything then pm me.
Ed. I dont think XP home Ed will handle a fix and replace. Me thinks XP pro corp will do that for ya.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I appreciate it!

 

I was going to ask you. What progs are hogging your ram? Cause maybe its a good idea to change the start-up options of a prog by using the options in the progs interface ( i.e. When you start the prog up then look for an option where you can change the start-up configuration of that particular app ). This is better than using msconfig to deselect a prog from the start-up menu, It is always good to use when you have installed a P2P prog and you want to dissable the ad/spyware that come along with itAnd remember that windows PreInstallation Enviroment is very easy to use. What it is ( windows PE ) is a windows installation on a cd ( cdfs file system)that means that when you boot from a windows PE BOOT CD then windows starts up from the cd and you can access the drive that contains your crashed/corrupt windows and fix it. Pretty basic explanation but effective I think!!!

 

@ joe777.

wheatking cant even boot into windows how is he supposed to know whats hogging his RAM???

 

stick yer windows disk in and at options do a repair
once into the options in repair just fix boot mbr and that should allow you to boot into windows normally

i think lol

 

NADIRs suggestion may work but if it doesnt go for the reinstall as i said earlier

 

yeah so basically, pop in the cd, boot it, go to recovery console and type fixmbr or fixboot (type help | more to get the full list of commands) and you are on your way

 

I tried to repair my XP installation, however I got a message saying my hard drive was either damaged, unformatted, or formatted improperly.

In the end, I re-formatted and re-installed XP.

Now I have an all new, freshly-installed version to screw up at my leisure!

 

you shouldve tried my method lol... ill guess youll never know if it would have worked now

 

If you open the task manager and click on the tab processes then you can see what is what with your mem hogging apps. press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open task manager or right click task bar and select task manager. I think you know that though. And while your there in the Tskman then click on the tab PERFORMANCE and see how much mem is being used while your using the pc for stuff.

 

:/