My computer was working fine up until today. I was on the internet browsing when my whole system just froze. I tried to CTRL-ALT-DEL and it didn't work, so I just restarted it by holding down the power button. I turned it back on and now it just hangs at the Windows XP loading screen. The bar goes fine 2 times, then the third, fourth, fifth time it freezes then continues and doesn't even load past that. I unplugged all my USB cords, restarted and same issue. I booted from my Windows XP disk and did the repair but it doesn't even repair. It just stays on the Windows XP Set up blue screen and doesn't even do anything. Please help me as soon as possible.

all it says when im "repairing" in the windows set up is

examining 76294 MB disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi...

its been like that for 15 mins. what do i do

Try starting in "Safe Mode" and use your last Restore point before the freeze.

Once I thought I was wrong, now I'm not so sure!

i've tried everything,
all the choices on the black screen and white lettering

safe mode
safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompt

last point ? where everything worked
nothing has worked.

i've left it on the blue screen where it's "repairing" but nothing has changed

help!

It sounds like it might be a hardware issue. Maybe windows can't load because a sector of the hard drive is damaged.

Have a great day!

so what do i have to do?

You'd have to find out which piece of hardware it is. You might take it to a pro.

Have a great day!

I'm still trying to do everything i can to make it work. I've tried the recovery console and it's still stuck with the examining 76294 MB disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi... i've opened up the case of the hard drive and looked to see if any wires were loose. Took out one memory card then the other and booted up to see if it helped and nothing

Run chkdsk /r from the recovery console. Notice space between k and /.
Take about 30 minutes.

the recovery console loads. it's a blue screen. it has nothing in the middle of the screen. at the bottom, it says examining 76294 MB disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi...

it's said that for the past 20 minutes. i can't type anything either.

i really don't know what's going on because i've been able to run chkdsk /r times before.

how would i go on about reformatting the c drive. i was hoping to have the problem solved, but i think this is the last resort.

thanks

Hope you have backed up your data because your hdd may have failed. As it is a Dell I don't know what you can do for a disk check.

If you really want to reformat, do a search on Google for a bootable reformatting program. Usually, you can burn the .ISO file that you download to a disk.

Have a great day!

Look here.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Test...

RAM- If he can't access the disk he can't format. DUH!

do you know of any bootable reformatting programs?

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

A disk is still formattable even if some sectors have gone bad. The disk is still accessable if he can see the boot screen.

There are also some bootable programs that will let you copy readable information to a second hard drive.

Have a great day!

Download a diagnostic from the hard drive manufacturer's web site.

Download and run memtest86

http://memtest86.com/
There is a version to create a bootable floppy diskette and/or an ISO for creating a CD.
Run it overnight and any failures are unacceptable.

Hi James,

I am facing the exact problem which you have reported. Please advise how you got out of this.

Cheers

Sanjay

Sanjay