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4.2 Troubleshooting and Repair

Yes!

Your computer may reboot for no apparent reason, and without any prior warning.

This is the default behavior when Windows XP encounters a System failure. This behavior can be changed by going to the System applet in Control Panel, select the Advanced tab and click the Settings button under the Startup and Recovery heading. Under System failure, un-check Automatically restart.

* FYI: This also pertains to Win 2000 also.

by Skipdawg See Profile edited by MSeng See Profile
last modified: 2002-09-02 12:15:47

Follow the instructions in the respective Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:•How to Use a Windows Boot Disk to Prevent Boot Failure in Windows 2000 or Windows NT (Q101668)How to Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Windows XP (Q314079)

by MSeng See Profile
last modified: 2004-02-06 14:34:21

You can review the information, located at this Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource or download the information as a compressed Microsoft Word file from the link below. If you do not own Word, Wordpad will open it as well.

Note:
We recommend performing a right-click and Save Target As: FNDC_REC.doc.

by Kramer See Profile edited by MSeng See Profile
last modified: 2005-02-13 10:31:12


Event viewer can be accessed by going to START menu >> Control Panel >>> Performance and Maintenance >> Administrative tools >>> Event Viewer.

Another way to access the viewer is by going to START menu >> Run, type eventvwr.msc and pressing ENTER (works in all flavors).

To make the tool easier to access In XP, you can right click on the START button >> Properties >>> Customize >> Advanced tab, then scroll down until you see System Administrative Tools and check 'Display on the all programs menu'.
Now that you know the system error codes, you can uses the resources below to find out what they mean.

This Microsoft TechNet link allows you to enter your event information and get the details and possible fixes to correct the error.

Events and Errors Message Center

Additional information on system error codes can be found at this MSDN site: System Error Codes.

by DSmithLady See Profile edited by MSeng See Profile
last modified: 2006-05-21 10:54:07

A great place to start is Microsoft TechNet -- a full list of Server 2003 resources can be found at the following link -- Windows Server 2003 Resources.

by MSeng See Profile
last modified: 2003-05-05 20:50:58

Windows (specifically Ntldr) uses the Boot.ini file to determine which operating system options to display during the startup (boot) process. By default, Boot.ini is flagged as a read-only system file and normally does not require any manual modification. An explanation of the syntax used in the Boot.ini file can be found in Boot.ini and ARC Path Naming Conventions and Usage. This Microsoft Software Developers Network document explains further -- Overview of the Boot.ini File.

Available Switch Options for the Boot.ini File are described in this MS article.
How do I edit my Boot.ini?
From Windows:
If you just want to Remove an Invalid Entry, you can use this method.
  • Click Start-->Run. In the Open: line type msconfig and click OK to open System Configuration Utility
  • Select the tab labeled BOOT.INI
  • Click the button labeled Check All Boot Paths. A dialog box will open detailing the location of any invalid operating system locations.
  • Confirm you want to remove the entry and reboot the system.
Using Notepad:
Before editing the Boot.ini file, you must remove the file attributes that Windows uses to protect the file from inadvertent changes. When the Boot.ini file is on an NTFS file system drive, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer to change its attributes. Use the following procedure to prepare the Boot.ini file for manual editing. This procedure removes the system, hidden, and read-only attributes of the file.
  1. At a command prompt, navigate to the root of the boot directory.
  2. Type the following text at the command line:

    attrib -s -h -r boot.ini

    System, hidden, and read-only attributes are removed from the file.
  3. When your editing is complete, you can restore the file attributes to protect the Boot.ini file. However, NTLDR can use the Boot.ini file with any attribute set. At a command prompt, type the following text:

    attrib +s +h +r boot.ini

    Attributes that protect the Boot.ini file are restored.
Using Recovery Tools:
Refer to this MSKB article on using bootcfg.exe to (among other things) modify the boot.ini -- Description of the BOOTCFG Command and Its Uses.
For more extensive Boot.ini editing refer to:
From MSDN:
  • Editing the Boot.ini File
  • Backing Up the Boot.ini File

    From TechNet:
  • Reviewing and Correcting Boot.ini Settings on x86-based Systems

    From MSKB:
  • HOW TO Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP
  • HOW TO Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows 2000


  • Feedback received on this FAQ entry:
    • Editing the Boot.ini File Backing Up the Boot.ini File Reviewing and Correcting Boot.ini Settings on x86-based Systems The 3 named links above no longer go to the articles they were intended to go to. I didn't know if you knew that, but I thought I would give you a heads up.

      2008-02-13 16:18:03 (wafen See Profile)

    by DSmithLady See Profile edited by MSeng See Profile
    last modified: 2003-08-02 13:23:00

    AUTOCHK.EXE is a special version of CHKDSK that runs during the boot process.

    There are three situations that can cause this to happen:

    If you try to run CHKDSK on the boot volume - CHKDSK cannot dismount the boot volume. If you try to run the CHKDSK repair process on the boot volume, the system gives you the choice to run CHKDSK (actually AUTOCHK) on the next reboot.

    Files are open (on any volume) will prevent CHKDSK from running

    If the "dirty bit" is set - There is a system flag known as the dirty bit that indicates that AUTOCHK will be run on the next reboot. This is usually set when the system (or a program like a defragger) thinks there is an error in the volume.

    To see the status of the dirty bit, use the following command (at the Command Prompt):

    fsutil dirty query c: (assuming, in this case, the C: Drive)

    If AUTOCHK tries to run, you should allow it to run until completion. After it runs, you can check the completion status in the Event Viewer (applicaton log). Simply look for entries with Winlogin as the source.

    If after running AUTOCHK to completion, it wants to run again, this may be the sign of a persistent hardware problem. At that time, one should consider running the manufacturer's diagnostics on the hard drive.
    Supporting documentation:

    by cprgolds See Profile edited by MSeng See Profile
    last modified: 2011-02-09 19:31:01