I'm trying to repair a corrupted boot sequence on an XP machine. I have approached the problem from several different angles in search of a resolution with no avail. Below I've detailed the steps I've already taken thus far. I only have a copy of my XP installation disc, not the original. I receive a message that says "this program cannot be run in DOS mode" when I try to execute XP setup from a command prompt to initiate repairs. So much for the easy route. Since it's not a bootable XP disc, I created a series of six floppy discs to access the recovery console in XP. An error which reads "an unexpected error (1112760664) occured at line 1768 in d:\xpclient blah blah blah... interrups that process before the program fully loads. Then, from a command prompt, I tried to access winnt.exe file on my XP backup (CD-R) disc. I'm able to view the contents of the XP disc and folder I386, which contains that file, is there. However, when I try to change directory to that folder, I'm told it's an "invalid directory". Next, I tried to copy NTLDR and NTDETECT from my XP disc back to my HDD to repair the bootstrap (or whatever its called). Command returns "File Not Found - E:\I386\NTLDR" when I try this, in spite of the certainty that that file exists on that disc in that folder (accessing it from my laptop confirms this). Same thing for NTDETECT. Finally, I made a "bootable" ISO image of my XP back-up using the instructions for "Bootable Windows XP installation CD-Rom" from http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/#whatis. This time the I386 folder containing winnt.exe is accesible, as is the setup.exe. On ther other hand, I get the message "CDR101 Not ready reading drive E:" when I attempt to activate either executable. Both drives return the same message. I know the drives (2) work, because they are both brand new (manufactured in 2003 and purchased less than 1 mo ago), and worked fine until last night, when I accidentally shut the rig down while XP was still loading (video driver failure - didn't know it was up & running till it was too late). Further, I'm able to use the drives to access any disc I want. I just can't get them to load the files which are useful for resolving my problem. Finally, I can view and access all of C:\Windows, so it seems that the HDD failure is not a part of the problem. If its helpful to know, this system comprises of a AMD XP 2400+, 512 MB of 266DDR, Abit NF7 2.0, Maxtor 80 & 40 ATA133/7200 HDD running XP Pro. I'm at my ends to figure out what to do next. Any help I can get is SORELY needed. Thanks.

Try to install the recovery console from the I386 subdirectory just type the command below assuming "X" is your optical drive letter. {X}:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons I have only tried this from within windows so I am hoping it works. If it works then you can do whatever you want to do @ the recovery console. Goodluck

I am having the exact same problem. My dad was messing around with the monitor's settings on the computer with XP running on it. The next day, I turned it on and after the initial Windows XP screen, it goes black! It's even more frustrating because I can actually hear the sound file that plays when it starts up. I thought I was out of the woods when I booted using a Windows 98 bootdisk and chose to start with CD ROM support. It actually showed I had a CD in the drive. I could even see the files on it. Unfortunately, it won't let me into the I386 folder so I can run the winnt setup thing. ATTENTION COMPUTER EXPERTS: Please help me! I will be forever greatful!