GAHHH. Please Help!! Black Screen after install of XP sp3

[JWinton72]

If I've posted this in the incorrect forum, please move to me to where I need to be. thanks.

Okay, Here Goes:

Last night, I had the yellow shield stating updates were ready for install. As usual, I clicked it and it was Service Pack 3. I exited all programs and let it go along it's way and install.

After it finished it's installation, it ran scandisk upon boot and had quite a few errors and fixes that it stated it went through.

When it finally got done with all that stuff, it went straight past the Windows splash page to nothing but a blank screen and an error box that is titled "lsass.exe - Bad Image" and states in the error box "The application or DLL C:\WINDOWS\system32\MPR.dll is not a valid windows image. Please check this against your installation diskette."

I click "OK" and go to a useless black screen from which my only option is to hold the power button down to restart. No task manager or anything responding. No left or right clicking response and no response when I hit the "windows" button on the keyboard.

Now, onto Safe Mode Start results:

Same error message pops up and I click "OK". The screen DOES say SAFE MODE in all four corners and across the top is "Microsoft (R) Windows XP (R) (Build 2600.xpsp.080413-2111: Service Pack 3).

Still no response to any action I attempt. No Task Manager or anything.

I'm SERIOUSLY stuck here.

I ran Recovery Console off an XP sp2 install cd and did a fixboot and a chkdsk just to see if I got anywhere with that, but did not.

I'm running a Toshiba Satellite A105 with XP Media Center Edition 2005 with an Intel Centrino (I know, not the best chip, but I got it at a good price).

Again, please let me know if there's anywhere to go from here or should I maybe purchase a Vista Upgrade Disk and go ahead and try to upgrade from XP at this point.

Thanks,

Jaime Winton

P.S. Sorry my post was soooo long, I was trying to be as thorough as possible with the description of events.

 

[~Candy~]

When using the recovery console, just choose a system restore point.

I'm assuming you tried good last known configuration?

 

[JWinton72]

Yes, I did try to use "last known good configuration" I'm just not overly familiar with the recovery console I suppose. I honestly didn't realize there was a restore point option in it. But obviously that would make sense for them to have one on there. I will try that now.

Can you please be a little more specific on which command I use in the console to get to the point to be able to choose a restore point?

I'm really not an idiot , but haven't had to use recovery console but like once or twice and it was more of a fixboot type issue.

Thanks

 

[~Candy~]

I didn't think that you were an idiot. Hopefully most of us will never have to worry about using a restore point in this fashion.

See post # 8 in that thread.

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt-2000-xp/751408-my-laptop-battery-drained-out.html#post6142288

 

[JWinton72]

Here's that post:

"1) Start your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt logging on as an account with administrator rights.

2) Type %systemroot%system32 estore strui.exe and Enter at the command prompt to start the System Restore feature."

I attempted to do step one but it went back to the black screen with the safe mode annotations.

Am I supposed to just skip to step 2 from a C prompt in the recovery console?

 

[~Candy~]

If you got to a command prompt, then yes. Skip to step 2.

Be sure you are not choosing SAFE MODE only. You want SAFE MODE command prompt.

Also, just to be certain, you are tapping the F8 key upon restarting the computer, and you are presented with multiple startup choices.

 

[JWinton72]

Yes, I'm tapping F8 and getting to the list of options and selecting "Safemode with Command Prompt"

At just a command prompt (C:\) I typed "%systemroot%system32 estore strui.exe" as stated in the post that you referred me to and got a reply of "The command is not recognized Type HELP for a lilst of supported commands."

I copied the command directly from the post you referred me to, is there not supposed to be an "r" after system32? J/W..

Please advise

 

[JWinton72]

Also, I've been sitting here trying over and over again to boot the SAFE MODE with COMMAND PROMPT option and it doesn't do what I've asked. It just keeps booting all the way into regular safe mode and giving me the same error box that I've been getting all along.

The only way I can get to a command prompt at all is to boot from the CD and select "R" for recovery console. That takes me to "C:/WINDOWS>"

I'm just completly lost at this point

 

[~Candy~]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

Geesh, I can't believe that I didn't notice that. Sorry

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt
1. Restart your computer, and then press F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in Safe Mode with a command prompt.

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315222 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/) A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP
2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.
3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.




Usually I use MS links, but for whatever reason that page wouldn't load for me earlier ..... ggggrrrrrrr

 

[~Candy~]

So, if you are at the command prompt the way you described, try typing it like it is above. Hopefully that should work.

 

[JWinton72]

I cannot get my computer to do the proper function when I select safe mode with command prompt.

It keeps booting as if I had just chosen the normal safe mode.

I read the article and it says that the command does not work from a command prompt in the recovery console. There IS a command in the recovery console called systemroot. I have NO idea what that command does and would not attempt it blind.

Is there any other way to get to a command prompt when the system wont cooperate and boot the "safe mode with command prompt" option?

Should I just go get a Vista upgrade and go from there? The system does say vista ready on it, but I had been putting off going to vista because I have 6 computers in the house and don't want to have networking issues if I have one with vista and the rest with XP....

Please advise.

Thanks

 

[~Candy~]

I would not recommend upgrading to Vista, as I have no idea whether your system can support it.

At the command prompt that you can get to, go ahead and try the system restore command as posted correctly above. The worst that it will do is return an error message about being an invalid command.

 

[JWinton72]

The system says on the sticker that it is vista ready and I'm increasing my RAM to 2.5gigs.

I believe at this point, the only option is to attempt an upgrade or a repair
installation so I don't lose my data.

Thank you very much for your time in trying to assist me with this.

Hopefully the upgrade will work and I wont lose data

Again, thanks so much for your time and effort on this. I truley appreciate it and was trying to resolve the issue without having to upgrade but do know that the system was produced to upgrade to vista when it was released.

 

[Rich-M]

Whatever you do do not do an upgrade to Vista, believe me that will solve nothing and will confound these issues. Clean install would be fine but you need to get your data off first and you can do that by reading the hard drive in another pc first.
BTW Safe Mode with Networking would not look any different than safe mode it's just you can use the internet. I am wondering if from safe mode with networking you can move data off with a flash drive or usb external drive...with networking I know you could and then just clean install XP or Vista.
That error is a boot config error. have you tried booting to Recovery Console and at the prompt type in bootcfg /rebuild and then hit enter and try again.(note the space before the "/".)