Can't Start My PC in Safemode

[SonnyUK]

Hello Everyone,

Windows XP
McAfee Total Protection

A few days ago I had a number of alerts about programmes trying to access the internet. My McAfee software notified me that it had deleted some of these programmes, so I decided to restart my PC and run a full scan.

I used msconfig to change the boot options to start in safe mode. This is where my problem is. The PC begins to boot in safe mode but gets to a screen asking me to choose an option to either start in safe mode; safe mode with networking; safe mode with command prompt; last known good configuration; or start Windows normally. No matter which option I choose, I end up in the same loop of restarting and coming back to this options page.

I bought the PC second hand with Windows already installed, but no installation CD. I had nearly a year of trouble free use before this problem.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Best wishes,
Sonny

[BurrWalnut]

If you think it’s caused by malware and cannot start the machine, try the free Linux Avira Antivir Rescue system, here http://www.free-av.com/en/tools/12/a...ue_system.html

Download it on a working machine, then insert a blank CD-R in the drive, double-click on the filename and follow the prompts to burn it. The file is about 50MB in size. On the infected machine, boot from it and when the loading has finished, click on the UK flag, then Start Scanner. Depending upon your computer, the scan will take about 30 minutes.

[SonnyUK]

Sorry for the delay in replying. I'll give it a go and let you know what happens. Thanks for taking the time to answer my plea for help!

[SonnyUK]

Before I tried to use the recovery disc, someone who's a lot more techie than me offered to try and sort the problem out. He removed the hard drive but was unable to sort it out because the OS was not responding. I put the hard drive back in my PC and now I have an message that there is a boot disk error. I did then try the recovery disc as suggested but it didn't work.

[BurrWalnut]

You need to borrow an XP CD from a friend and run these two commands, as follows:

Boot from the XP CD and select the first repair option (R) which will take you to the Recovery Console prompt.
Type fixboot c: (note the space) and press Enter.
Type chkdsk /r (note the space) and press Enter.
Restart the computer.

[SonnyUK]

Thanks for your reply BW. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but will this reformat my drive?

[BurrWalnut]

No, as the names imply, the two commands will correct the boot file and check the disk for errors.

[SonnyUK]

Thanks once again! I'll give it a go and let you know what happens.

With very best wishes,
Sonny

[SonnyUK]

I tried booting from an XP CD and followed the steps you suggested. After entering chdsk/ r I got the message that there are 1 or more unrecoverable disk errors, and no option to restart. I switched off by pressing the power button and when the PC restarted I was still at the same stage. Any ideas?

Thanks once again!