[unklejman]

Hello,

I hope I can get some help as I need my pc for work.

After putting my laptop into standby and later opening it, the screen didn't come on, which is normal, usually just a move of the mouse makes it come on, but this time nothing. I waited for a bit and eventually just held the power button to turn it off.

When I restarted It tells me windows failed the previous startup and gives me options. Every option ends with the blue screen which has this line:

stop: 0x00000024 (0x001902FE, 0xF675B280, 0xF675AF7C, 0xFB93C5DF)

I've already made a Ultimate Boot CD for windows and have backed up my important data, but would like to avoid a format and reinstall of the OS and all of my software if possible. I DID have some hints of malware the day before and of this occurrence that involved website redirecting and opening of new tabs when clicking on links. I have no idea if it is related.

I have Windows XP pro sp2

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Lance1]

I think that error applies to a corrupt NTFS file system. This bookable CD has the option to recover the NTFS file system. --->DiskInternals Boot CD

[unklejman]

I tried DiskInternals, but I keep coming to a screen that says iastor.sys could not be found. Press any key to continue. Then the computer restarts when I press a key.

Just a side question, I've read around that it might help to run a CHKDSK /R in recovery console. Would this help me?

[Saga Lout]

Malware has been known to emulate iastor.sys and if that's happened, it may have binned the original. I haven't used DiskInternals so have to ask does it offer you the chance to run sfc /scannow to put back essential missing files? If it does, you may need an XP CD to pop in if prompted

[unklejman]

It does not. After it checks system hardware it goes to the loading bartPE bar and then to the screen saying that iastor.sys is missing.

From what I understand, these bootable cd's should not be using my system files at all right? Could there have been a problem when it built the ISO?

UPDATE: I've tried to rebuild the iso but it still has the same error. I've search the disc that I burned and the file just isn't on there. For some reason the PE builder is not including it. Any ideas?

[Rollin' Rog]

Iastor.sys is an Intel Sata/Raid Controller driver. >> http://www.google.com/search?client=...utf-8&oe=utf-8

As a last ditch before a clean install, you might try this >>


USING THE RECOVERY CONSOLE TO ACCESS SYSTEM RESTORE


If you do not have an XP CD download rc.iso from Elvandil's post here: http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt...ml#post4622868
Burn the .iso file to CD. With Nero or Roxio you should only need to "open" the file and it will start the burner's ISO burning program.

DeepBurner can also be used to burn ISO files, I recommend the “portable” version:

http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download


Once that is done, you need to boot with either that or the XP installation CD to the Recovery Console. You may need to ensure that the CD drive is the first boot drive in the BIOS setup if it just boots to the same screen. Setup is accessed by looking for the key to press on the first data you see on the screen -- often F2

Directions are given here:

http://attachments.techguy.org/attac...chmentid=62075

There are several things to note about this operation.

1 > it is not a "reinstall" of Windows, but a method of accessing System Restore.

2 > all command lines are one line with appropriate spacing -- the doc file does not always reflect this.

3 > you must complete all 3 parts for it to be a proper restore.

4 > in the first part of this document you are given the command:

copy C:\windows\repair\system C:\windows\system32\config\system

you may get a "file not found" when running this command. If you do, substitute this command instead:

copy C:\windows\repair\system.bak C:\windows\system32\config\system


>> See also: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us

note the warning in this article. But if you have an OEM system and no other choice but a clean install -- try it anyway.

======================================

By the way, if you can access the drive using your boot disk, you can perform the operations from there if you like.

[unklejman]

I am currently running chkdsk /r at the moment.

I'm afraid I may have deleted any system restores while I was scanning for malware. I can give it a shot anyway though.

[unklejman]

Ok well since there is nothing in my System Volume Information folder then I guess I can't really do anything. I notice that some of my software works while some doesn't and my hardware is not installed.

Would I be safe just reinstalling things from this point or could there be problems down the road?

Or is there anything else I could do at this point? Maybe some how extract parts of the backed up .bak files?

[Saga Lout]

Originally Posted by unklejman

Or is there anything else I could do at this point? Maybe some how extract parts of the backed up .bak files?

You could get them out of there using a Linux Live CD which runs only in your RAM. Go to http://www.pclinuxos.com and download the latest 2009 version. With that running, go My Computer>Storage Media and pull the files you want out to flash drives or an external drive. It's probably worth salvaging .bak files - Windows might be able to do something with them in your new installation so long as you stick with XP Pro.

[unklejman]

Well I can now get into my windows install, only everything is clean. No hardware is installed and no programs installed, although my adobe stuff still works some how.

If you read the article Rollin' Rog sent me to, you can see that the .bak files are from the windows\system32\config folders. I'm just wondering if I could maybe pick and choose from those .bak files, things that I need while leaving out anything that may have been part of the corruption.

Probably not. If I don't get any new ideas before the end of the day I'm just going to wipe the partition and reinstall everything. Or if it is ok to do, I may just reinstall everything that doesn't work in the state that windows is now in. I don't want to mess up and have something explode down the road though.

[Rollin' Rog]

If you followed the instruction set I gave and there is no system volume data for restores (if you tried a reinstall they would be gone), then you are basically at the point of the original install -- and all programs installed from then would have to be reinstalled.

Yes, to a certain extent you can test different Hives from the config folder separately.

But the "system" and "software" hives will contain registry information for current installs, so if the fault is there, you are out of luck.

You could test by restoring the backups you made for those.

[unklejman]

Thanks for the info everyone. I have reformatted and am in the process of reinstalling all software.