[Elvandil]

Sorry it didn't work out better. If you use that drive again with XP, remove the partitions and create new ones during setup to really clear it off before installing again. You may want to try some diagnostic software from the manufacturer before trusting it too much.

I guess I'm gonna have to do what I suspsected from the beginning, and thats start from scratch. that seems to be the end to all of the problems that I've had in past,

And, look at some imaging program, like Acronis True Image. Even a month-old image is better than starting over. It will pay for itself in time and frustration-removal even if you only need it once.

But, I'll cross my fingers that you will be able to boot. Nevertheless, it is good to be prepared for the worst case scenario. If you can get the file system repaired, you can attempt a repair installation.

[cptspanky]

pressing space didn't stop chkdsk, and if I reboot normally instead of it freezing when it tries to load a347bus.sys it comes up with a blue screen. oh boy. reformat it is.

[Elvandil]

Next time, set a password that you know so that you can get into the Recovery Console (or remove the requirement for a password using Group Policy or regedit).

If you were able to get into the RC, you could disable any driver that caused problems. It may not be a347bus.sys that is causing the problem. If you see it on the screen, it may actually be the driver that loads immediately after that is the problem.

I'd reformat after recovering all I could---no sense in trying to use a damaged installation until you end up with even more problems.

[cptspanky]

next time I'm installing XPPro so that I don't have to deal with all the restrictions of XPHome, thats for sure. the only reason I have XPHome on it now is because thats what it came with.

[Elvandil]

Good luck. Let us know how you make out.

Why was your post deleted before? I see no reason why this thread would be.

"pressing space didn't stop chkdsk"

The timing is difficult. You have about a quarter-second window of opportunity. If you try it 100 times, you may hit it once.

[cptspanky]

hey if you read this I tried to reformat the SATA drive and it just froze at 0%! I left it overnight but it made no progress! whats the deal?

oh and I tried the Maxtor diagnostics but it didn't detect the drive, I think because its SATA and not IDE.

[Elvandil]

How are you formatting?

You should probably start at the very beginning with that drive and remove the partitions, create new ones, and then try to format.

[cptspanky]

I booted from the windows cd and reformatted. I tried deleting the partition so that it says [New (Raw)] instead of [NTFS] but it still either stops or runs incredibly slowly. I tried doing the quick format and it worked and i was able to boot into XP, but is that the same thing, or, more importantly, will it solve the problem?

Also someone mentioned to me that it may be the controller that's messed up. Is that possible?

[Elvandil]

It's really better to do a full format with NTFS. When it says "RAW", you have removed all the partitions. You need only create one for XP and leave the rest RAW since you can partition and format that later from XP's Disk Management.

The point is that if you remove the partitions and start with new ones, and then format, at least the file system will be eliminated as a possible culprit if you have any further problems.

[cptspanky]

wait so should I do a full reformat of the entire drive or do a full reformat of a small section, install XP on it, and then do a full reformat of the unpartitioned space? (or some other combination that I missed?)

[cptspanky]

i had an online chat with a dell representative, and they told me to press F12 three times quickly at the bios startup and it took me to some secret menu with a hard drive diagnostic. I ran it and it failed, turned out it had a read failure and needs to be replaced, but it covered by warranty! woo hoo! so, i guess you could say thats solving the problem.

[Elvandil]

"Secret menu", huh? It would seem that Dell would save tech support money if they had fewer secrets. But, that sounds like good news for you. Hopefully, your problems will be over.

[CaNNoN_FoDDa]

I had a similar problem and solved it.

To review what the problem is exactly:
(With a Maxtor SATA HD)

1] Start up normally= gets as far as the windows loading screen and goes into a boot cycle

2] Last known good configuration= as above

3] Safe mode/Safe mode with networking/Safe mode with command prompt= fails while loading a347bus.sys (driver for Alcohol 120% virtual device) and goes into a boot cycle.

4] Boot from WinXP disk and attempt system recovery= BSOD and boot cycle

5] Boot from WinXP disk and attempt reinstall= BSOD

6] Installing hardrive on new system as secondary= goto 1

7] Hot-swapping drive into an existing system (Windows or Linux)= drive not detected

8] Attempting to reformat the HD using WinXP Pro CD= BSOD

At this stage i thought i was going to have to RMA the drive (it was within warranty) or get a new one, so i ran PowerMax (Maxtor's advanced hardrive diagnostic and repair utility) thinking i could get an error code to RMA with.
I was more than slightly surpised when PowerMax solved the problem by deleting the bad sectors. My computer now boots normally and has no problems. Naturally the first thing i did was uninstall Alcohol 120% and check that all the drivers and reg keys were deleted during the uninstallation (they were).