Help! System Won't Boot

[TromboneAl]

Today, even though my motto is "Never ever update or upgrade." I ran Windows Update on my Win 2000 system and installed 52 critical updates.

Now the system crashes to blue screen during boot up. What a house of cards!

I've tried repairing the installation twice with no success even with my emergency repair disk. I have a full backup from two days ago, so once I get the system to boot I should be OK.

My next step (tomorrow) will be to do an actual reinstall, but maybe one of you has some other tips. It's nice to not have my business depending on getting things working for a change, but I still want to get it up and running soon.

Any suggestions on getting it to boot?

Thanks.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Why are you running Win 2000 instead of XP?

MY motto used to be never to upgrade also, but I have modified it to 'Never be the first few million to upgrade' - By then the bugs are out and you can benefit from the technology.

Try booting from the Windows CD, in case your boot track is screwed up. That should do it.

 

[soupcxan]

What is the exact STOP error you're getting on bluescreen? you can try searching on google or google groups to see if there's a fix for it before you nuke the whole thing.

 

[Brat]

My DH's Outlook calendar stopped working about two months ago. Our MS programmer nephew stopped by tonight, swapped professional advise. He looked at the errant computer with Win 2000 and found a new program installed in early September... quick access to Google maps and directions DH thinks. Program removed, now Outlook works fine.

 

[azanon]

My tip is to buy Windows XP.

 

[Mwsinron]

Too hard to troubleshoot over a message board. But good news Vista is comming out early 2007. I wouldnt get XP because of that. Windows 2000 was never really meant to be used for home use.

 

[JohnP]

T-A

Turn on the computer and while the initial screen is on hit the 'F8' button repeatedly until the 'Safe Mode' page comes on - chose the basic 'safe mode' and let it boot up. When in Windows then you can search for possible problems or maybe uninstall your latest update.

Good luck

JohnP

 

[OAG]

Minor add to JohnP's reply: When you get to the boot menu one of the options I believe will be to boot to the most recent mode that worked (or something like that). Then you should be fine. Surprised that the Windows update did not work. I have been using Vista RC1, Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home (not all at the same time) and set autoupdate in each OS -- always seems to work just fine. However, you have Win 2000 so maybe that one does not work so well.

My motto however, when it get too frustrating to trouble shood, just do a reformat of the HD and reload the OS. With these little JumpDrives and other Flash Drives it seems (at least in my case) really easy to back up the data and just to a reload.

 

[riskadverse]

I'd be inclined to try an upgrade to XP before restoring your backup. I've found XP to be more stable than 2000. If the XP upgrade doesn't work, you can always go for the restore of your backup.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

T-A

Turn on the computer and while the initial screen is on hit the 'F8' button repeatedly until the 'Safe Mode' page comes on - chose the basic 'safe mode' and let it boot up. When in Windows then you can search for possible problems or maybe uninstall your latest update.

Good luck

JohnP

Or just reach down and jerk the cord out of the wall. That works for me sometimes.

JG

 

[azanon]

Too hard to troubleshoot over a message board. But good news Vista is comming out early 2007. I wouldnt get XP because of that. Windows 2000 was never really meant to be used for home use.

Ive heard Vista remains very rough around the edges. I dont recommend being an earlier adoptor of Vista, based on what Ive read.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Too hard to troubleshoot over a message board. But good news Vista is comming out early 2007. I wouldnt get XP because of that. Windows 2000 was never really meant to be used for home use.

I've always had Windows since I left the workplace, 95, 98 and now XP.
I never even knew there was a Windows 2000.

JG

 

[TromboneAl]

Thanks guys. I tried all the F8 booting options (safe mode, logging, etc), and it won't boot with that. It can boot from the Windows 2000 CD, but only to the Repair or Reinstall options. Reinstalling will probably work, but it's going to take a while.

The main reason I haven't upgraded to XP or even reformatted and started from scratch is that I would have to reinstall over a thousand things. And for many of those, it would involve installing the original from CD, then tracking down and reinstalling all the updates.

As a result the system is totally bloated and messy from all the apps I've installed and uninstalled over the last seven years.

My plan is to get a new machine, with XP preinstalled, in February. At that point there's a decrease in my obligations to help the person who bought my software business, so it will be less critical that I be able to run all my old apps.

 

[azanon]

My plan is to get a new machine, with XP preinstalled, in February.

I hate to counter what i just said, but if you were going to buy next February, might as well get Vista then because it is going to be released to the home user in January 07'.

My point should have been, Vista isnt worth waiting on if you need an operating system now because of the kinks in the OS.

Have you considered a Mac? If i wasnt a gamer, i'd probably give a Mac a hard look.

 

[TromboneAl]

No, I'd definitely want to give Vista a year or two before I go to that.

I've now done a reinstall (repair type), and even that didn't solve the problem! So, now I'm doing a fresh install, hoping that my system state backup to tape from last week will let me restore the system to what I had then.

 

[azanon]

No comment on the Macs? You seem like the kind that prefers a user-friendly PC. That's Mac all the way.

 

[TromboneAl]

No, no comment on the Macs.

 

[TromboneAl]

I have my new W2K system up, but I can't get the tape drive installed. It just won't find the driver on the CD for some reason. The tape company (onstream) is out of business, so no luck there.

 

[eridanus]

Have you considered a Mac? If i wasnt a gamer, i'd probably give a Mac a hard look.

Dual boot on an Intel chip. My next machine -- for work and home -- will be a Mac.

 

[TromboneAl]

OK, making progress. I couldn't find the appropriate tape drive driver, but I was able to restore the driver directories of Windows using a DVD backup (this involved a bunch of catch 22s and about 5 reboots), and now I have my tape drive installed.

Next step will be to restore the system state from last week.

QUESTION: Should I then restore the Windows directory from last week?

 

[WanderALot]

Hi T-Al,

Check out this link and see these OnStream tape drivers work for you. I have no experience with these drivers or the drive for that matter.

http://www.storagedrivers.com/companies/761.htm

 

[wallygator69]

Hi,

Bought about 10 PC's in my life. Every 3 years throw it out buy a new one. So much for LBYM..

Just bought an IMAC. Very fast. Some issues with Quicken and hvaing to buy a MAC version of OFFICE.

Also some programs you need to look for Applications/Downloads to get them to work. But enough was enough with PC's.

If I wasn't mostly FIRE'd and was still working I'd have the time to spend working with Apple's great Tech support. Retirement is too busy and I just putter around an hour or so on it slowly figuring itout. I'm and Engineer so wht read when you click and potentially really screw tings up..

Best Regards,

W

 

[TromboneAl]

I may have to just give up and buy a new computer. The tape drive just gives "device errors" after spending a few hours reading the tape.

I have a backup of the C: drive on a DVD. But I'm guessing that I couldn't just restore to the windows directory. I could restore to another location, and then copy it over using the recovery console.

 

[riskadverse]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can upgrade to XP without losing any of your applications. Since you are hosed already and restore of a backup is your best solution, an attempt to upgrade before the restore would be a possible salvation with no downside.

 

[Brat]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can upgrade to XP without losing any of your applications. Since you are hosed already and restore of a backup is your best solution, an attempt to upgrade before the restore would be a possible salvation with no downside.

Not necessarily so. DH has AutoCad 2000 and they didn't OK the upgraded OS.