Microsoft Windows Troubleshooting Guide
- Introduction
- Malware Removal
- Fixing Networking Problems
- Repairing a System that Won't Boot
- Optimizing Windows
Repairing a System that Won't Boot
Sometimes, a problem with Windows will put the computer in such a state that it will simply not boot up. The causes of this is many various reasons, the most common causes of this is:
- The Windows Partition needs to be checked for errors
- The Boot Loader gets corrupt
- The Windows Registry is corrupt
- System files get corrupt
Unfortunately, to usually fix these problems will usually require you to either put the hard drive into another working system, use a Rescue CD, use the Recovery Console, etc.
The first step is to see what state your Windows installation is in, for instance, will it attempt to boot into Windows and simply restart or bluescreen, will it boot into safe mode but not in "normal mode", will it simply not even try to boot, etc. The easiest way to see if it is a problem with a boot loader, or something past the boot loader is to simply tap "F8" as your computer is booting to see if you get the Windows Boot Menu or not. If it does not come up, you may have a problem with the boot loader, if it does come up the problem with the system is with Windows itself and not the boot loader.
Using the Boot Menu to Troubleshoot Bootup Issues
If you are able to get to the boot menu, you can quickly try to use the "Last Good Configuration" option as this may use an older version of the registry that will allow you to boot the computer. If that does not work, you can try booting to safe mode to continue troubleshooting. If safe mode doesn't work and your computer just restarts, you can try the "disable automatic restart" option to see if you can view the exact error that occurs. If that still doesn't work, you can try a logged boot to document what exactly is happening during boot to use as a troubleshooting guide later on (the log is located at C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt).
Problems with the Bootloader
If your system seems to simply do nothing when it starts to boot, or you get an archaic error such as NTLoader is missing, you may have a problem with your boot loader.
The Microsoft Windows NT/2K/XP/2003 Bootloader is called NTLDR, while the Vista/2008/7 bootloader is called BOOTMGR. Troubleshooting both bootmanagers can sometimes be a pain, as they are not very configurable and can sometimes be difficult to restore when they get corrupt.
GAG Bootloader
The first step I usually take when dealing with a boot loader issue is to simply attempt to boot the system using a GAG (Spanish initials of "Graphical Boot Manager") CD. To obtain the CD, download the zip file from GAG's home page and uncompress it, within the archive they include an ISO file that you can write to a blank cd and use to boot from it.
GAG's Main Screen and it's Setup Screen
When you first boot off of the GAG's CD it will guide you through a mini-wizard which include:
- To use GAG, Press 4 to select "Install GAG"
- It will ask for the type of Keyboard, usually just press 1
- Then it ask for the language to use, English is 8
- After this mini wizard, you will be presented at the Main Screen (shown above)
- Once the Main Screen shows up, press "A" to add a new Operating System
Adding the Partition for the new Entry and the new Entry shows up on the Main Screen
Once you Press A to add a new Operating System, you will be shown a list of all the partitions available on your hard drive, select the Partition that holds your Windows Installation. It will then ask for a name for the Entry, just type in "Windows" or something similar. You should now be back at the Main Screen and the Windows Entry that you just added should be listed.
If you are simply trying to see if you can boot from Windows, just press "2" (or the number corresponding to your Windows Entry) and it will attempt to boot Windows. Keep in mind that GAG does not install or adjust anything on your hard drive. If you wish to continue to use this boot manager, you must press H to Save in Hard Drive in order for it to replace your existing Bootloader.
Recovery Console Tools
Microsoft does provide some tools within the Recovery Console environment to aide in fixing a bootloader problem. Specifically the fixmbr, fixboot and the bootcfg commands.
In order to get to the Recovery Console environment, boot from your Windows Installation CD and follow the prompts until it asks if you want to install Windows or use the Recovery Console, press R here. It will then ask which Windows installation you want to log into. Usually there is only one Windows Installation, but you still must select the number (for instance 1) instead of just hitting enter, which cancels out of the Recovery Console. Upon selecting the Windows installation, you may be required to enter the Administrator Password.
Booting off of the Windows CD and running the Recovery Console from the CD
fixmbr - The fixmbr command will repair the Master Boot Record of the boot partition
fixboot - Fixboot will write a new bootsector on the system partition
bootcfg - Bootcfg allows you to adjust the boot configuration (manipulates the boot.ini file). Type in bootcfg /? to see the options to this command.
Checking the Partition for Errors
About half of the time when Windows will not boot it has to do with errors on the Windows Partition. There are various ways to check the partition for errors. For instance, you can use the Windows Recovery Console (see above) and run the following command:
chkdsk c: /p
This will run the autochk command, which is a little different than the CHKDSK command that is available within Windows. If you wish to use the chkdsk command within Windows, you could connect the drive to another working computer and run:
chkdsk e: /f
Where e: is the drive letter of the hard drive that you want scanned. If you wish to have Windows automatically check the hard drive during boot, you can enter the following command:
fsutil dirty set c:
If you don't want to put the drive in another system, you can utilize some sort of Boot CD and scan it from within the CDs Operating System. The next section covers a few of these CDs that are available.
