Yesterday, I used JkDefragGUI (http://www.emro.nl/freeware/) to format all drives (all 3 are SATA, no RAID enabled), along with a "registry compact" option.

I got home, and the defrag stated it had finished. I rebooted the computer, and after seeing the Windows XP boot up logo with loading bar, a black screen appears with nothing in it.

The monitors do remain on, showing green, and not amber, so I know there is some sort of video signal being transmitted.

I also tried to press keyboard shortcuts to see if the HDD would respond, but it did not.

I am able to get into SAFE MODE just fine (I'm making this post on the computer in question).

I have disabled all STARTUP SOFTWARE using the msconfig utility, with no resolution.

Another awkward thing is that I cannot seem to access the RECOVERY CONSOLE. When booting the PC with an XP CD-Rom, and attempting to enter the recovery console, it states it cannot detect any HDDs and only offers to press F3 to quit!

Also, while in safe mode, I added the recovery console to the HDD, so instead of booting it from the cd, it boots from the HDD. When I restart, and select to boot the Recovery Console, I get the BLUE SCREEN of DEATH.

I am starting to get a bit worried. Is a virus causing this? I am about to use my Zone Alarm Anti-Virus do a virus/ spyware check.

Thanks for any help.

You don't format with a defrag utility. A defrag utility defrags the disk. Format is something different altogether and deletes the contents of the disk which makes a registry compact option superfluous as the registry will be deleted.

I suspect the registry compact utility is what caused your problems and it deleted something it shouldn't have.

The only option you have is to attempt a repair install. If that fails then its a complete re-install. Hope you have backups of any important data.

Stuart

I agree with Stuart. JkDefragGUI (Click Me) is an open-source defragmentation program that can perform system file defrag operations on startup. If you are sure it is not JkDefragGUI running behind the black screen, you can try boot to Safe Mode to invoke Last Known Good Configuration (LKGC) following this procedure. If no joy, try repair reinstal as suggested above.

i_Xp/VistaUser

"Another awkward thing is that I cannot seem to access the RECOVERY CONSOLE. When booting the PC with an XP CD-Rom, and attempting to enter the recovery console, it states it cannot detect any HDDs "

In that case loading the initial Setup files isn't finding the SATA drives because it needs drivers to be loaded for the SATA controllers on the mboard, that are not built into Windows on the CD.
When you boot with the Windows CD, you need to press F3 when prompted for drivers for SCSI controllers or similar near the beginning of Setup, then later on you need to insert a floppy disk with the proper drivers on it when asked for drivers (at that point, Setup can't read files from anything except a floppy drive).
Sometimes a new mboard comes with a floppy disk with the SATA controller drivers on it. If you don't have that, if you have the CD that came with the mboard, there is usually a utility on it you can use to place those drivers on a floppy disk, or if not you can copy the SATA controller drivers from the appropriate folder on the CD onto a floppy disk. If you don't have the mboard CD, you can usually download a utility that makes the floppy disk with the SATA drivers on it, or download the SATA drivers, from the drivers download pages for the mboard model.

When you insert the floppy and Setup asks you which drivers to load, if the SATA controllers are capable of RAID there may be no separate drivers listed for SATA only use. If there are both SATA and RAID drivers listed, if the chipset is capable of RAID, choose the RAID drivers - the SATA drivers will probably not work in that case. The RAID drivers support non-RAID SATA use too. You do not have to set up a RAID array if you don't want or don't need to use RAID.