I'd also advise you to unplug all devices from your machine: If you're staring at a black screen before or after the Windows logo appears and don't get any error messages at all, you're usually looking at some form of hardware detection error. If that's not working, Windows Startup Repair and Safe Mode are your anchors. That's why it's smart to use this mode before you run Safe Mode. You can invoke a "Last Known Good" mode you by hitting F8 repeatedly just before the Windows boot screen appears - it works more often than you might think, as it restores all changes made to your hardware profile and registry made during your last session (or successful boot). Press ENTER to initiate the scan.Of 2 Try some quick troubleshootingīefore really digging in and mucking with boot and system files, you should try these troubleshooting tips. Most users will probably need to scan the C: drive, however, the volume you scan depends on your computer's configuration and the problems you are experiencing. Where volume is the disk you would like to check. Remember to eject your Windows XP CD before your system tries to boot off of it. To leave the Recovery Console and reboot your computer, type exit and press Enter.When the scan is complete, a report will display.
If you are uncertain what password to enter here, try leaving the line blank and just pressing ENTER. You may have set this password when you first were configuring your computer. This is the password set for the user Administrator.
NOTE: If you are unable to access the recovery console, your CD may be damaged, or the problem could be more severe and require professional system recovery.
It is highly recommended that you upgrade to Windows 10 or 8. No further development will take place on these products and security updates are no longer issued. These products are no longer actively supported by Microsoft. If we are unable to resolve your Windows 9x/2000/XP/Vista issue, you may be able to find help in Microsoft's Knowledge Base. NOTE: Windows 95/98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista are no longer supported by the Help Desk. Microsoft provides a disk utility, CHKDSK, that can help determine the state of your hard drive. If you cannot boot into Windows (normal or safe mode), it may indicate that the file system on your hard drive, or the hard drive itself, is damaged.