Frustrating problem with Xp and Dirty Disk

rizla01

This is more of a severe annoyance than a serious problem but I would love to resolve it if poss.

A relative has an old HP iMedia 1324 PC and I recently installed XP on it for her.
During the install I ended up with some Malware/virus when installing drivers Etc. On advice from here I cleaned it and got rid of the problem but I am still frustrated by one last issue.

After the XP boot screen I get a light blue screen telling me it is checking disk - hit any key to stop Etc. Hit key and it boots and performs fine OR let it run completely (a few minutes) then get a message saying Windows will now start and 15 hours later it wont. Reboot straight away and it boots up with NO issues but then the NEXT time its back to square one. (Hit any key to stop...Etc)

She COULD put up with this forever but it would be nice to get it working right.

I have searched online and have run ChkDsk with different /suffixes but no use.

I ran some disk check (A while back) and it reported disk as 'Dirty'.

I think I read somewhere that I need to boot up from a memory stick (Or external drive) that has XP installed on it, so that I can make the required change to the registry as XP wont allow the change whilst it is in operation, but this seemed a bit extreme.

Anyone got a better answer to this problem?

somersethillbilly

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/831426

See "Method 2"

espresso

Have you tried the M$ suggested solutions here

rizla01

Yup. Been there and done all of those things to no avail.

AND also ran Chkdsk C: /f/r/v and left it overnight. No better.

closed

boot from xp disc, and run chkdsk C: /F from there.

or disable autochk with autoruns

or wipe it, full format, reinstall.

NiftyDigits

No such animal as an HP iMedia. Sounds like a Packard Bell. NEC based.

That would explain why you couldn't find the Drivers on the HP website.

Drivers are here

rizla01

Yep. It IS a Packard Bell.

Thank you both ND and CLOSED.
Problem now solved.

Used the info that you gave me ND, and carried out a repair from Boot Disk as you suggested Closed.

Easy really.

NOW. Can either/both advise please (This is complicated).

I have a Windows 7 e5300 with a 160 Gb HD but with only a single HD bay (Small form STONE Computers) but best I have at present.

I also have a horrible Vista e1400 with a 500Gb HD
and I have a spare 80Gb HD.

I plan to use EOMEI Backer to copy the VISTA system files from the .5Tb HD to the 80Gb and install that into the vista (e1400) machine. (To sell on for what I paid for it (£40))

THEN
Copy the System Files from the Windows 7 160Gb to the .5Tb HD and install that to the Windows 7 machine and then keep the 160 Gb to use as an External Caddy.

Part reason also is that I have a dead Dell Dimension which has a lot of files on its 250Gb HD and I would like to have those to hand and I can copy them onto the .5Tb as well.

Is all this feasible provided the HD types are all the same connection (Or I buy required adaptors)


Sorry to ask but I would like to know what issues I may face beforehand and your brains and wisdom are appreciated. Thanks

closed

don't know what EOMEI Backer is.

if you want to swap discs about, use macrium, backup all the discs to a usb drive, swap the drives internally, and restore from backup one at a time,, one possible problem you may encounter is related to them being different types, eg sata/pata, and size may be relevant if you have a lot of data

if youre selling one on, a full vista format and reinstall is better, for security reasons.. but it may not be worth the effort

Jivesinger

closed wrote: »

don't know what EOMEI Backer is.

I'm guessing Aomei's backup (I think it's actually called Aomei Backupper)

rizla01

Hi Closed.

Are you saying backup ALL of the operating systems to one flash drive rather than do each one individually?

I only have an 8gb drive?

Is this method wise?
http://blogs.technet.com/b/chenley/archive/2011/10/06/how-to-build-a-bootable-usb-drive-or-how-to-install-an-operating-system-from-a-usb-device.aspx


A re-install to the Vista pc I'm not bothered about. Like you say, it'll be cheap and any data isn't mine as I only got it last week.

And yes, its AOMEI BACKUPPER (Thanks for that Jivesinger)

Its a bit of free back-up software that seems pretty popular at present and I also have their partitioner (Pro version)

closed

Flash drives are limited, hard disks are much more useful in this scenario.


assuming they are all sata

buy an external usb caddy

install macrium or use aoemi

clone the vista system to the 80GB drive
install the 80GB drive into the vistsa system and sell

now you have a 500GB,

clone the W7 system to the 500GB drive
install the 500GB as the new c drive into w7 system

--

or reinstall OS's onto the hard disks, then copy the data,, but you'll need the installation disc or similar