Resolved HDDs became corrupted after low CMOS battery

I opened my son's computer to test something and ended up with a CMOS error which escalated till both HDDs are no longer functional. I put one of them in my computer, and it messed up my msconfig, pointing the boot.ini at partition 3 rather than partition 2, even though the editable page for boot.ini never changed from partition 2. I'd like to fix the partition number on my msconfig, so I can open my primary HDD and then address my son's computer, if at all possible saving whatever files I can from that computer. Unfortunately, his backup was the other HDD on his computer, and I can't access that, either. I notice that every combination on my son's computer now comes up with "Non-System disk or disk error," including both HDDs, any disk I put into the CDROM, along with the 6GB HDD I just installed with WinXP on that computer.

 

I realized after the fact I had put his primary HDD into my computer without switching it to slave first. Before I do that again, I want to fix my msconfig, as I can no longer start my primary HDD (boot.ini is no longer pointing to a bootable partition). That was a result of starting my computer up with two primary HDDs.

 

Does anyone know how to edit msconfig?

 

Barry, I lost your contact but yes see if Spyware Dr. Mattman or PeteC or Evan Omo may help.Neil.

 

Barry Have a look here: How to Repair or Replace Boot.ini. in Windows XP.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/repairbootini.htm

Neil.

 

Neil and Evan, thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, they didn't work as planned. In following the instructions, only one OS was found on F. I chkdsk /R each partition, though my 2 storage partitions took a long time to do. Here are the results:
C -- checked out fine
D -- has one or more unrecoverable problems
E -- Repaired
F -- Repaired
G -- Repaired
H -- has one or more unrecoverable problems
I -- has one or more unrecoverable problems

When I did bootcfg /Rebuild, after each disk check, I always got the same answer:
Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations.
This error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which could prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any disk errors.

The funny thing is I am now writing this using my primary drive. I have no idea what makes it work, but if I follow the directions Evan gave, but don't press a key after choosing CDROM in step 4 of 12, it boots normally to my primary drive. When I run msconfig, it reads the way it is supposed to read. Unfortunately, when I restart my computer normally, I continue to get the missing Hal.dll error. So I know this drive does work, but something is still messed up. I guess I could continue to boot from the CD, but is there a way to fix this, or did I permanently destroy this HDD by starting the computer with two primary drives in it?

I'm open to any suggestions you or anyone else might have. Thanks for the help.

 

Might want to run Hard Drive Diagnostics first. Download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) to CD. It has Hard Drive diags (plus much more). Simply boot your computer from this CD and select the utility you want to run.

Note: If you aren't sure who made the hard drive in your computer, use Seagate's Seatools as it will work with most any make of drive.​

The following instructions may prove helpful for burning the UBCD .iso file to disc: How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD or DVD?

If the drive passes the diagnostics, try this. Boot from your XP Setup CD, enter the Recovery Console, get to the command prompt and type each of the follwing five commands, pressing [Enter] after each one:

2. cd /d c:\
3. attrib -h -r -s c:\boot.ini
4. del c:\boot.ini
5. bootcfg /rebuild
6. fixboot

Cross your fingers and try rebooting off the hard drive.

 

Hi Doc, thanks for the link to UBCD. I ran the ESTool V3.01v HDD diagnostic tool for Samsung drives. After 3 hours, it stated:
Your HDD has no error!!!
If your computer still have some problem, please check the virus, operating system or connection cable to your system.
Service Code => SJ25: Test OK

I then attempted to follow your other instructions, but I think you are assuming I know something I don't know. Recovery Console still only sees F as the only OS. I chose F and then entered your letters, but it said it wasn't valid. Apparently, cd gives system information on a drive, but it can't seem to see C or D. Does attrib connect with cd? If so, do I have to do -h -r -s each as separate tests? Please walk me through this, as nothing seems to be working.

Thanks for helping.

 

That's good news.

That is not good news.

If the first command doesn't land you at a C:\> prompt, something's wrong.

In that first command, "cd /d c:\ ", the "cd" simply means change directory, (directory=folder), the "/d" switch tells it to also change the current drive if necessary, and the "c:\" is where we want to land, (in the root directory "\" of drive "C: ").

The "attrib -h -r -s c:\boot.ini" command is removing, (the minus sign means remove), the "h" (hidden), the "r" (read-only), and the "s" (system) file attributes from the "c:\boot.ini" file, (so that it can then be deleted and rebuilt). Exactly what the other three commands do can be found here: Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users

You're welcome.


I think the next step would be to try XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option

 

I disconnected my backup drive from the computer and started it up. The bios screen loads very slowly, but does see the primary drive. I entered BIOS and saw that the drive is seen and bootable. I then went into recovery console where I entered fixmbr after the c: Supposedly, it wrote a new boot record, but nothing was found when I did bootcfg /list, and it didn't see anything to /rebuild. I also couldn't get my primary drive to start up without my backup drive connected. I got the missing Hal.dll error, again.

I guess it is time to repair my XP installation. I started working with the instructions but I want to make sure I am doing it properly. First, let me make you aware of the fact I have 3 partitions on the drive. The first is a small FAT32 partition (C), the second is my operating system partition (D) and the third is my storage partition (E). I also have XP SP3, yet the instructions you gave were for slipstreaming XP SP2. I've downloaded the new deploy cabs for both SP2 and SP3, along with the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers, along with the one for SP3. I've read that SP3 has all previous updates, including SP2, so I guess I'd just slipstream SP3 into my WinXP. Please let me know if that is accurate.

I'll await your instructions before I take any further steps. Thank you for your help.

 

1) What's the purpose of a separate FAT32 C: partition and then the Operating System installed on partition D:?

2) Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers

(That's only up until the release of SP3 on May 6, 2008 of course).

 

On a rare occasion, I've found myself using DOS utilities that needed to be run on a FAT32 partition. Also, in my early training, I was taught that many hackers look for the C drive, so, for security reasons, it's best not installing the operating system on the C drive. This partition is just 4GB.

I have already downloaded the SP3 Network Installation Package.

I understand that SP3 only covered updates until its release. I've kept current since then. I sense the repair will take everything back to SP3, so I'll have to do more updates.

Let me know if I am to follow the instructions in the link you gave previously or if there is another process for SP3 slipstreaming.

 

Same slipstream procedure, but here are some instructions for SP3: The Elder Geek > Slipstreaming Windows XP CD Using SP3

 

Thanks, Doc. I need to leave for work, but I'll address this tomorrow.

Tony, I've never had a problem with having my OS on my D drive. I understand boot.ini is written on C, anyway. I tried all combinations in recovery console. My OS isn't recognized on that drive, so nothing was working. It still makes sense to me to have 3 partitions, so that's what I'll continue to do, unless I'm given the logic for a change. Having it this way has come in handy when my OS has crashed, as I was able to reinstall my OS without losing any of my files. I tend to do what makes sense to me rather than follow the crowd.

 

I have multiple partitions on my XP and Windows 7 machines, and I, like you, use the extra partitions to store music, photos, emails (pst file), etc., but I always keep the operating system on C drive (less chance of Windows getting confused in my opinion).