Can't Boot!

[kyairan 0]

Ok, I don't know what has happend at all, I turned my computer on about 10 mins ago and it loads up to the windows loading screen, the screen then goes black as if it was just about to load the desktop but stays black with no activity at all. I can't even load safe mode it just hangs on loading "iomdisk.sys" which is the zip drive driver I think.

 

Please someone help.

 

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Windows XP Professional

Athlon 1800+ XP

512MB RAM

Soltek 75DRV2 Motherboard

Asus V7700 Deluxe Geforce 2 GTS VIVO

AC'97 Onboard Sound

Dlink 100Mb Network Card

Zip Drive 100 USB

40gb Quantum HDD

[Sampson 0]

Does it give you a message on the screen and what is it?

 

Easiest thing is to make sure the USB cable to the Zip drive is plugged in. Change the USB port, to see if that helps. Disconnect it to see if XP will by-pass it. If none of the easy things work, then you might have to rename the iomdisk.sys

 

You can go into your BIOS and change the boot drive to CD. Put your XP disk in your CD. You will be given some choices like install XP or fix. You will eventually be given a C:\ prompt.

 

You will have to maneuver to the subdirectory (usually c:\winnt\system32) where iomdisk.sys probably resides. Rename it, then reboot.

 

Here's the problem. Sometimes removing the driver will let you reboot, and sometimes it gets you into a deeper hole especially if XP is confused and thinks your Zip drive is a hard disk. So, you may have to reinstall XP anyway.

 

What were the last things you were doing before you logged off? Had installed new software?

[BladeRunner 0]

Have you tired an F8 boot followed by "Last known good configuration" ?

That option has saved me many a time.

[kyairan 0]

This is the strange thing, I hadn't installed anything recently. I'll try to rename the iomega file and see if that works. It just started happening today.

 

The first thing I did after finding out that driver wasn't starting was to check the cables and so forth, even disconnecting everything but the essentials makes no difference.

 

I'll let you know what happens with the file renaming.

Thanks for your reply.

[kyairan 0]

Last known configuration did the same

[kyairan 0]

Damn it, I renamed the file and it got a little further but then gave me the finger with a BSOD, saying that the computer was stopped to prevent further damage to the system. You might be right about it thinking it is a hard-drive, can I install over the top rather than format? I have lots of stuff I need to keep.

 

Could it be a virus? I have Macaffe antivirus 6.0 but haven't done a full scan for some time.

 

Could it be anything to do with the VIA busmaster drivers for the KT266a chipset? I hear they can cause corruption.

 

Should I not install the iomega drivers from the iomega web-site in future?

 

Sorry for all the questions.

[Dirty Harry 0]

Sometimes this helps:

F8 boot to safe configuration (the one w/o any drivers etc), power down properly and boot normally. Its cheap to try!

 

H.

[Palos 0]

Is your C: (boot) partition formatted in NTFS or FAT32?

[Sampson 0]

Murphy's law at its best. The answer is yes you should be able to reinstall without reformatting. Disconnect your Zip drive for sure. You may have to reinstall some of your programs. XP may install its generic Nvidia drivers and you may want to reinstall the software for your Asus card later. Anyway.

 

Boot from your CD as before. You’ll want to recover your current Windows XP data, so type r to select the repair option. When the Welcome to Microsoft screen appears, click the green arrow icon at the bottom of the screen to continue. Then follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

 

When you finish. You should be up and running. Go to your Device Manager to make sure that you have no conflicts or exclamation points. You probably won't, but it is best to check.

 

Could a virus have done this? Possibly but not probable.

VIA chipset? Possibly. They have given some a lot of trouble. I wouldn't be too quick to lay blame at anyone's door. VIA sometimes has trouble with many devices on the same IRQ.

My personal philosophy about installing new drivers is - don't if things are working fine. It is good to download the drivers from the manufacturer's website to keep on hand in case you run into a problem.

[kyairan 0]

Ok, firstly its formatted to NTFS.

 

Thanks for everyones suggestions, I'll try them after I finish work.

Hopefully my next installation will last longer than 2 weeks.

 

Thanks.

[shassouneh 0]

Do you have another OS installed by any chance? If so. try booting with it. If it boots fine, then at least you know its a windows problem. If NOT (doesn't boot with another OS that is) you may have hardware issues involved

good luck