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Mariyam

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Windows XP Hangs Before Getting to Login Screen

I had removed this hard drive from the machine in order to install a new one and later to see if I could get a previous one to work in it as well.  It's a dual boot - XP/Windows 7.

If I recall correctly, when I first inserted this one back in the machine I got the generic "windows can't load/start because your system file is missing or corrupt".  Well that wasn't the only problem it had, when I tried to access the "drivers" file in the windows\system32 directory, it would immediately ask me if I wanted to format my K drive.  I used a couple of utilities to get rid of the directory, copy some missing files and get the machine back in, but Windows still wouldn't load .  So I opted to repair my windows installation.  Between the recovery console and the repair option offered on the installation CD I was able to get it to start and get to the Windows Splash screen with the progress bar with the blue indicator below, but once it finishes, like I said it goes black making me think it was finally going to work, then the black screen does to a lighter shade of black (a dark gray and the only thing that shows on the screen is the white pointer which responds to the touchpad.

At this point I could make an image of the drive or an ISO and then just scrap it and do a brand new install, but it's going to take me a very long time to restore everything the way it was - it's a 500 GB forensic machine.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get it to fully load, I'd really appreciate it,  I've been working on it for 3 days (not full time) and I'm getting to the point where I'm about to force things on it that I shouldn't just to get it to start.  That or go the image route and see what I can come up with.  Ideally, I'd like to do it the right way.

TIA
-Mari
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Sam Simon Nasser
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Mariyam

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Thank you all for responding with so many good suggestions.  This is what I've tried so far:

1.  I don't think it's a RAM problem because I have 2 other hard drives (SATA) that work in the machine.
2.  If I recall correctly, I originally set it up as a dual boot because I was having problems getting Windows 7 to install in a virtual machine inside of Windows XP.  As a matter of fact I still can't get it to install.  I don't have a Window 7 boot disk, only a recovery disk that came with the machine.  My forensic instructor provided me with a copy of a TechNet version of Windows 7 which I used to create the Win 7 installation on that drive and when my XP installation originally failed, I was still able to get Win 7 to start.  It just wouldn't let me do anything because it said that the installation is unactivated.
3. I have tried the Repair Your Windows Installation option several times.  The first time, it was unable to delete some files which it stated would not cause the installation to fail and that it was okay to skip, but there were so many of them that I figured there must be some type of permission issue that might cause problems with the installation, so I cancelled it.  I changed the permissions on the hard drive (externally from another computer), ran chkdsk and tried the Repair Windows Installation again.  This time it was having problems copying files - I polished the disk, reinserted it and still it wouldn't copy the files.  So I went into the Recovery Console and expanded the files it was having problems with from the CD to the appropriate locations on the hard drive and started the Repair again.  This time it completed successfully (or so it said, apparently not) and that's how I was able to get to where I am presently.  I also ran chkdsk on it again since I never saw a completion message on the previous chkdsk but XP is still unable to start.
4.  I did try to bring up the task manager, I tried the Windows Start button, I tried holding down the Alt key and tabbing but the only thing it does is allow me to move the pointer.
5.  Using F8, I get the same results (gray screen with pointer) irrespective of the option I chose - Safe mode, debugging, Last Known Good Configuration, Directory Services Restore Mode, etc.  Looking at this screen however gave me an idea (and many of the suggestions here)

I selected disable automatic restart on system failure,  went into the BIOS and then enabled  AHCI Mode and saved.  This time when I started the computer it blue screened with this message:
   
***STOP:  0x0000007B (0xBA4D3524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Conversely AHCI Mode has to be enabled in order to access the drive that has only Windows 7 installed on it.  One of the drives has only Windows 7 installed, the other only XP,  while the one that I'm having problems with is the dual boot drive, but it hasn't ever previously been a problem.  This problem is a recent development which began sometime within the last 10 - 14 days or so.

Perarduaadastra, very good suggestion just not there yet financially otherwise I would have a professional version of Windows 7 on the laptop that I can use for development instead of the restricted home version.
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ASKER

I hope the division of the points isn't going to be a problem.  The reason I did it this way was because all of the suggestions were valid and things I have tried with the exception of doing a separate virus/malware search, meaning using a utility other than the one currently installed with current virus signatures and scanning.

This is the very first time I have ever witnessed a drive failure, but apparently Windows being unable to write to the drive was either a precursor to the failure or something on the drive caused the failure (?).  It's presently clicking so I know what that generally means.  I have heard that some viruses can cause hardware failure but I'm not real clear on how that is possible other than just wearing out a component prematurely?

Anyway thanks for all of the suggestions.  Any time I have to stop and think about how to explain the help I need, it helps me think things out a little more clearly for myself and all of your comments were thought provoking.

-Mari
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**** Update 5-28-12****

Thanks to this gentleman (and his cat), my hard drive has stopped clicking & I'm presently in the process of creating an image of it that I can use to recover the data if it goes ahead and fails completely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCx3GOcRMIk&feature=related

I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to revive it at all after the clicking began but thankfully I have.  I'm going to try to glean an .iso from the image afterwards and see if I can restore it to a new drive and and see if I have the same problems in order to try and narrow down if it's a hardware or software related issue.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed.