Win 98 Bootup Problem

Note that it is still possible it's a memory problem - sometimes the system
can't tell whether an error occurs because wrong data was read from disk or
the data got corrupted in memory after it was read. However, a new disk is
the simplest and most likely fix.

Did the backup work after you fixed the errors in the file system?

It is generally better not to simply go ahead and allow Scandisk to fix
errors that it finds when there is a suspicion of faulty hardware. If the
disk or memory had been faulty, then the process of writing data back to the
disk to fix (possibly non-existent) errors might have made the errors even
worse. My preference is to wait and make quite sure the hardware is OK
before allowing any changes to be made.

Of course, if the errors are intermittent, that's not always possible, and a
backup becomes more important than tracking down the exact cause.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Scott" <golden RemoveThis @uslink.net> wrote in message
news:4A870370.1C73D5F2@uslink.net...
>
> snip <
>
> Jeff,
>
> Here's an update. I went to do a backup with Acronis True Image, and it
> said it
> can't do it, because there are "errors on the drive". So I went into DOS
> and
> did Scandisk. And, wow...Scandisk found a large number of corrupted
> files...which
> it fixed successfully. It was scary to see all those errors, which seems
> to point
> to a failing hard drive. Bootup was normal after that, except for once
> when it
> said it "could not find MSD". That's an odd message, since MSD is not on
> the hard
> drive at all.
>
> Just to be sure, I ordered a new WD hard drive and will install it today.
>
> Also, I will then do a memory test in case that's an issue...and I will
> report
> back here on how the new HD is working.
>
> Thanks for all the great advice!
> Scott

Jeff,

Yes, the Acronis image backup worked flawlessly after that. I was able to restore
everything to the new HD.

Yes, I was worried that the many Scandisk-found errors would render the HD useless
when it tried to fix them. But all went well.

This week I will do a memtest and report back here.

Another possible contributing factor. For quite a while, the old HD would not start
to boot every time (blank DOS screen). I would shut the computer off and reboot...
sometimes 2-3 times for it to start booting. Since installing the new HD last weekend,
it's booted up every time. At first, I thought it was a bad monitor cable or video
card issue, but now I'm thinking the HD was lagging.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Scott

Jeff Richards wrote:
>
> Note that it is still possible it's a memory problem - sometimes the system
> can't tell whether an error occurs because wrong data was read from disk or
> the data got corrupted in memory after it was read. However, a new disk is
> the simplest and most likely fix.
>
> Did the backup work after you fixed the errors in the file system?
>
> It is generally better not to simply go ahead and allow Scandisk to fix
> errors that it finds when there is a suspicion of faulty hardware. If the
> disk or memory had been faulty, then the process of writing data back to the
> disk to fix (possibly non-existent) errors might have made the errors even
> worse. My preference is to wait and make quite sure the hardware is OK
> before allowing any changes to be made.
>
> Of course, if the errors are intermittent, that's not always possible, and a
> backup becomes more important than tracking down the exact cause.
> --
> Jeff Richards
> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
> "Scott" <golden.RemoveThis@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:4A870370.1C73D5F2@uslink.net...
> >
> > snip <
> >
> > Jeff,
> >
> > Here's an update. I went to do a backup with Acronis True Image, and it
> > said it
> > can't do it, because there are "errors on the drive". So I went into DOS
> > and
> > did Scandisk. And, wow...Scandisk found a large number of corrupted
> > files...which
> > it fixed successfully. It was scary to see all those errors, which seems
> > to point
> > to a failing hard drive. Bootup was normal after that, except for once
> > when it
> > said it "could not find MSD". That's an odd message, since MSD is not on
> > the hard
> > drive at all.
> >
> > Just to be sure, I ordered a new WD hard drive and will install it today.
> >
> > Also, I will then do a memory test in case that's an issue...and I will
> > report
> > back here on how the new HD is working.
> >
> > Thanks for all the great advice!
> > Scott

Scott wrote:
> Jeff,
>
> Yes, the Acronis image backup worked flawlessly after that. I was
> able to restore everything to the new HD.
>
> Yes, I was worried that the many Scandisk-found errors would render
> the HD useless when it tried to fix them. But all went well.
>
> This week I will do a memtest and report back here.
>
> Another possible contributing factor. For quite a while, the old HD
> would not start to boot every time (blank DOS screen). I would shut
> the computer off and reboot... sometimes 2-3 times for it to start
> booting. Since installing the new HD last weekend, it's booted up
> every time. At first, I thought it was a bad monitor cable or video
> card issue, but now I'm thinking the HD was lagging.
>
> Any thoughts?

I think you'll be fine now. Your story matches my own HDD crash of '01.
First, a bundle of BSODs & horrible ScanDisk error messages. After 2/so
weeks of that, there was a big, noisy crash of the HDD that put my head
through the ceiling. But after several attempts (& wearing a padded
helmet), the HDD still would boot & work flawlessly for up to 20 minutes
before it was gone forever in another week/so. That Quantum Fireball
died slow!

> Thanks!
>
> Scott
>
> Jeff Richards wrote:
>>
>> Note that it is still possible it's a memory problem - sometimes the
>> system can't tell whether an error occurs because wrong data was
>> read from disk or the data got corrupted in memory after it was
>> read. However, a new disk is the simplest and most likely fix.
>>
>> Did the backup work after you fixed the errors in the file system?
>>
>> It is generally better not to simply go ahead and allow Scandisk to
>> fix errors that it finds when there is a suspicion of faulty
>> hardware. If the disk or memory had been faulty, then the process
>> of writing data back to the disk to fix (possibly non-existent)
>> errors might have made the errors even worse. My preference is to
>> wait and make quite sure the hardware is OK before allowing any
>> changes to be made.
>>
>> Of course, if the errors are intermittent, that's not always
>> possible, and a backup becomes more important than tracking down the
>> exact cause. --
>> Jeff Richards
>> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
>> "Scott" <golden DeleteThis @uslink.net> wrote in message
>> news:4A870370.1C73D5F2@uslink.net...
>> >
>> > snip <
>> >
>> > Jeff,
>> >
>> > Here's an update. I went to do a backup with Acronis True Image,
>> > and it said it
>> > can't do it, because there are "errors on the drive". So I went
>> > into DOS and
>> > did Scandisk. And, wow...Scandisk found a large number of corrupted
>> > files...which
>> > it fixed successfully. It was scary to see all those errors, which
>> > seems to point
>> > to a failing hard drive. Bootup was normal after that, except for
>> > once when it
>> > said it "could not find MSD". That's an odd message, since MSD is
>> > not on the hard
>> > drive at all.
>> >
>> > Just to be sure, I ordered a new WD hard drive and will install it
>> > today.
>> >
>> > Also, I will then do a memory test in case that's an issue...and I
>> > will report
>> > back here on how the new HD is working.
>> >
>> > Thanks for all the great advice!
>> > Scott

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp DeleteThis @netzero.net

I think the failure to boot and the fact that you now are running OK pretty
much nail it to the HDD, and particularly to a problem with the HDD coming
ready. The volume label is nearly the first thing read from the drive, so
a corruption there indicates that even though the drive may have eventually
signalled it was ready, it still needed a bit more warming up.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Scott" <golden DeleteThis @uslink.net> wrote in message
news:4A899FFE.3AE9544F@uslink.net...
> Jeff,
>
> Yes, the Acronis image backup worked flawlessly after that. I was able to
> restore
> everything to the new HD.
>
> Yes, I was worried that the many Scandisk-found errors would render the HD
> useless
> when it tried to fix them. But all went well.
>
> This week I will do a memtest and report back here.
>
> Another possible contributing factor. For quite a while, the old HD would
> not start
> to boot every time (blank DOS screen). I would shut the computer off and
> reboot...
> sometimes 2-3 times for it to start booting. Since installing the new HD
> last weekend,
> it's booted up every time. At first, I thought it was a bad monitor cable
> or video
> card issue, but now I'm thinking the HD was lagging.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Scott
>

Jeff Richards wrote:
>
> I think the failure to boot and the fact that you now are running OK pretty
> much nail it to the HDD, and particularly to a problem with the HDD coming
> ready. The volume label is nearly the first thing read from the drive, so
> a corruption there indicates that even though the drive may have eventually
> signalled it was ready, it still needed a bit more warming up.
> --
> Jeff Richards
> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
> "Scott" <golden.RemoveThis@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:4A899FFE.3AE9544F@uslink.net...
> > Jeff,
> >
> > Yes, the Acronis image backup worked flawlessly after that. I was able to
> > restore
> > everything to the new HD.
> >
> > Yes, I was worried that the many Scandisk-found errors would render the HD
> > useless
> > when it tried to fix them. But all went well.
> >
> > This week I will do a memtest and report back here.
> >
> > Another possible contributing factor. For quite a while, the old HD would
> > not start
> > to boot every time (blank DOS screen). I would shut the computer off and
> > reboot...
> > sometimes 2-3 times for it to start booting. Since installing the new HD
> > last weekend,
> > it's booted up every time. At first, I thought it was a bad monitor cable
> > or video
> > card issue, but now I'm thinking the HD was lagging.
> >
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Scott

Jeff,

The new HD has been running for 3 weeks now, and it boots every time. So I guess
the HD was the problem.

Scott
> >

This can happen if there is a problem with the hard drive and the
system
does not see the hard drive as available and bootable at startup. It
then
looks for other devices to boot from. The fact that the problem goes
away
after a while indicates that perhaps the hard drive is taking too long
to
become ready.You should get a hard disk drive diagnostic program from
the
www site of the hard drive manufacturer and use it to determine if
there is
a problem with the drive.




--
gakoo