Big Bill wrote:

> Can't boot into XP Pro SP2 past the logon screen, it goes dark. This
> isn't the graphics issue that can do that, I already had that and this
> isn't it.
> Some history - I tried booting into safe, safe was fine. I ran chkdsk
> in safe, or asked it to run on next boot rather, now I can't get into
> safe either.
>
> If I boot into normal etc. I get chkdsk running all the way through.
> It finishes, reboots, says the disk's fine (phew!) and hangs.
>
> If I try to boot into safe then it hangs after press "esc to not load
> SPTD.EXE"
>
> I have a boot thingy with FreeDOS on it, that won't run either so I
> can't get to my files (sob!). I get error message PANIC mcb chain
> corrupted.
>
> Not too healthy, I'm thinking.
>
> What do we think then, team, do I have to go for some kind of Windows
> repair, get the XP CD out and hit repair, or maybe download that
> recovery console microsoft have got, burn that onto something and try
> it?
>
> I'd welcome any advice. It might be of note that some weeks back I
> installed a new graphics NVIDIA card and that the day the machine went
> wrong was the hottest day of the year, humid etc. Um. I'm wondering if
> some goodies aren't damaged in there. Mind, chkdsk does say
> encouraging things about the disk so maybe not...

The SPTD.EXE is from Daemon Tools or some other drive virtualization
program. It is well known that programs like this can cause major issues
because of their low-level drivers. And/or your hard drive may be damaged.

1. Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive
mftr. Obviously you'll need to download and create a bootable CD (with
third-party burning software since XP's built-in burner doesn't do this)
from a working computer.

If the hard drive fails any physical tests, it's dead. The only way to get
data off it will be to send it o a professional data recovery company like
Drive Savers (my preference) or Seagate Data Recovery. General prices run
from $500USD on up. Drive Savers recovered all the data on a failed laptop
drive for one of my clients and it cost $2,700. He thought it was worth the
money; only you know what your data is worth. I understand that some
insurance companies are now covering data recovery charges so check with
yours.

Drive Savers - http://www.drivesavers.com
Seagate Data Recovery Services - https://www.seagatedatarecovery.com/

2. If the hard drive tests OK, then I'd pull it and slave it in another
working machine to pull the data off.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!