BleepingComputer.com: Computer won't get past startup....

(forewarning, I'm sorry for any lack of knowledge here...)
So I have a Windows XP hp pavillion a720n
512 MB memory
200GB harddrive

I am having a problem getting past the startup screen. Prior to this the computer was running god awful slow, and took a long time to get to an point where you could open things...It seems to freeze and not move.
I can't use the mouse or arrow keys. On and off makes a short clicking noise from the computer....

have tried;
restarting waiting
unplugging turning back on...
ctrl alt del

The message on a black screen currently says;
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER.

I don't have / cannot find a system recovery disc I don't remember one coming with the computer (bought from best buy who knows when)...




I didn't find a board that had a similar issue if there is one a link would be much appreciated...
please try to dumb it down for me seeing that I'm only 17 and don't know a lot of computer .. "lingo" (:

I have asked someone that handles these Non- booters to look here. I cannot promise it will be tonight.

thanks(: it's okay if it's not tonight, I will be sure to keep checking back!

Does your hardrive detected in BIOS?

I have no idea what that is :\

Okay....I tried to start it in safe mode and apparently I have a corrupt or missing file. This is the message:

windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

So... everything I have found (googling) tells me I need the Windows XP CD that came with the computer...which I bought from Best Buy and did not come with a Windows XP start up CD.

I think I am looking for a simple solution to a complex problem. Can I download the Windows XP startup CD from somewhere, or is that illegal?

Argh. Any help is much appreciated!

boopme, on 17 August 2011 - 06:37 PM, said:

ha...definitely a non-booter here... Calling it a night right now, but will try again tomorrow. Still hoping for som help!

Please try the following firstly ...

If you do not have an XP installation CD, using a working computer, create a bootable XP Recovery Console CD.

Please download ARCDC from Artellos.com.

• Double-click ARCDC.exe
  
• Follow the dialog until you see 6 options. Please pick the appropriate selection, for example: Windows Professional SP2 & SP3
  
  ( Replace "Windows Professional SP2 & SP3" with the OS required. <<< IMPORTANT)
  
  
• You will be prompted with a Terms of Use by Microsoft: Please accept.
  
• You will see a few DOS screens flash by: This is normal.
  
• Next you will be able to choose to add extra files: Select the Default Files.
  
• The last window will allow you to burn the disk using BurnCDCC.
  
• Burn the .ISO image file to a CD, to make a bootable CD.
  
  (The ISO file is located on your Desktop.)

On the ailing computer, run chkdsk /r from the XP Recovery Console to repair the file system.

• Insert an XP installation CD or the newly created XP Recovery Console CD in the computer's optical disk drive tray.
  
• Start or re-start the computer so that it boots from the CD. You may be prompted to "Press any key". (If the system does not appear to be booting from the CD, you may need to enter the BIOS Setup Menu and change the boot order, so that the CD-ROM/optical disk drive is set to boot before the hard disk drive.)
  
• When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press the R key on your keyboard to start the Recovery Console.
  
• The Recovery Console will ask which Windows installation you would like to log on to.
  If you have multiple Windows installations, it will list each one, and you would type the number (that is 1, 2, or 3 etc) associated with the installation you would like to work on (usually C:\Windows) and press the <ENTER> key.
  Please advise if you are not seeing C:\Windows listed.
  If you have just one Windows installation showing, type 1 and press <ENTER>.
  
• You will be prompted for the Administrator's password. If there is no password, (and this is most likely), simply press <ENTER>.
  
• You will be presented with a C:\Windows> prompt.
  Please advise if you are not seeing a C:\WINDOWS> prompt.
  
  At the C:\Windows> prompt, type chkdsk /r and press <ENTER> (Note: There is a space between "chkdsk" and "/r")
  This will take some time to run and at times may appear stalled but just let it run.
  
• If any errors are found/repairs made, run chkdsk /r again, and repeat if necessary.
  
• Type "exit" at the prompt and press <ENTER> to close the Recovery Console and restart your system.

Does Windows start normally now?

thanks for the suggestion, I'm working at the moment but I will try it and get back to you!

AustrAlien, on 18 August 2011 - 10:34 PM, said:

Okay...I got to the point where I type in chkdsk /r and pressed ENTER. I gave me this error:


STOP: c0000139 {entry point not found}
The procedure entry point LdrSetMUICacheType could not be located in the dynamic link library ncdll.dll.


After the first time I got this error, I repeated the whole process again. I know you said it might appear to be stalled and to just wait, so this time I left about an hour ago and now am back and it is still sitting there. So I am thinking it is not doing anything here...it just quit at that error?

Anything else I can try? Am I missing a file of some sort or did I do something wrong?

Thanks again for the help!

When I said "This will take some time to run and at times may appear stalled but just let it run.", I was indicating that it would likely take longer than you were hoping/expecting that it would take. One hour is not very long ...

It may take several hours ... it may take longer than "several hours". If nothing much has happened after 24 hours, then I expect that you have something to worry about.

Oh jeesh...24 hours?! I guess "some time" is a relative thing! I thought 15 or 20 minutes was long, so an hour or so was waaaay long. I unplugged it last night thinking it wasn't doing anything, so this morning I have just repeated the whole process (yet again lol I think I have it memorized now) and will let it run this time...

Guess I will see what's what in 24 hours or so....

Thanks!

Good. You should always let chkdsk run un-interrupted to its conclusion. It will let you know ... eventually ... if it encounters a problem it can't overcome. If you interrupt chkdsk, you run the risk of more serious damage than perhaps it has already suffered.

It has been about 36 hours, we're still at the same screen.
should be still wait? Is there anything else we can do?

Kaylur, on 23 August 2011 - 06:11 PM, said:

What is showing on that screen?