Will Only Start with Safe Mode Option

[Quarkrad]

Recently rebiult PC following unrelated issue - 6 partitions in total on HD, 4 XP and 2 storage; all NTFS. I am suffering a problem I had before the rebuild - I thought/was hoping the rebuild would cure it. I have no 3rd party boot manager, I just use windows - i.e. after the bios I get a DOS'y type window with the 4 OS showing (I have given these specific names like Dad, Ian, Video, and Audio). The problem is that 9 out of 10 times the PC will not boot cleanly into what ever partition is selected - the screen goes to the one giving the safe mode, last good configuration, etc options (the as pressing F8 after the bios boot). Sometimes the Last Good Configuration works but mostly I have to go through the Safe Mode routine and then into the OS following a restart. I have got use to this but it is annoying when you need the PC to boot quickly. I have checked the HD using chkdks and 3rd party utilities - all appears to be OK. Numerous (many many)runs through the XP boot disk using Repair Console and rebuilding partitions and fix boot/mbr have been completed. Any ideas on what I could do get consistant clean boots would be appreciated.

 

[geirendre]

Have you checked the eventlog for clues?
You might need to do it in all 4 OS-es!

HTH.

 

[linney]

Have you tried setting the Bios to use its Safe defaults settings? Is there any Bios update available?

Can you boot up into Safe Mode (proper) by using the F8 key after highlighting an operating system choice? This is a slightly different screen than the one I think you are describing, which is the one seen when Windows fails to start correctly.

Have you played around with modifying the Boot.ini file and removing listed operating systems to see if that makes any difference?

See if these (next) boot successfully for you.

How to Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Windows XP (Q314079)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q314/0/79.asp

Q305595 - HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q305/5/95.asp

A Discussion About the Bootcfg Command and Its Uses

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q291/9/80.asp

 

[Quarkrad]

Sorry for the delay. Changed boot.ini to only 1 option (Dad) - on restart there were two options Dad & Windows(Default). First time I booted to Dad all was OK - the 2nd time I had to go through Safe Mode. When in safe mode I saved the System and App event logs - there were some errors although most looked like things missing at load up which look to me seem normal as obviously a lot of drives/files are not loaded in safe mode. May need some advice on what to look for. (What application is used to read these event log files? I tried notepad but it is not the correct one?). Thanks.

 

[linney]

How to view and manage event logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

You are correct, Safe Mode will give you some false errors in the Event Viewer. Look at the date and time to match what any real errors are and ignore those which correspond to Safe Mode.

 

[DTracy]

Did you cut and paste the four separate instances of the operating system or did you install each separately. It sounds like the former and each OS is configured to the primary disk partition rather than their individual partitions.

Regards,
David.

 

[Quarkrad]

Each partition was installed individually. looking at the disk via Partition Magic C drive is the primry - all te others are logical. I have suspected my HD is 'going' for sme time and seachin on the web a number of people have suggested that when chkdsk has to clean numerous Orphaned Files and reallocate this could be HD trouble. As this is the 2nd time this has happened. especially after a complete rebuild, I am leaning toward the HD as the suspect in all this. I beleive the sfteare/configuration is quite sound.

 

[linney]

The drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software that is bootable and which will thoroughly check the condition of your hard drive.