Hi..

Whilst running a regular virus scan with Norton Anti-Virus my computer froze up and I reset the computer. Since then it has been unable to load Windows XP - getting only as far as the initial loading screen before rebooting to start the whole process over again.

I have tried:
1. Using last good configuration
2. Safe mode

I tried using the system recovery tool and received the following error messages along these lines:
"Error# 5006 building the partion list. Unable to find a valid Windows XP Installation"
"The corruption on your Windows partition is too extensive to repair"

I have an OEM version of Windows and my computer provider has been completely useless in assisting me. I was wondering if - even if I eventually have to reinstall Windows -whether there is any way to recover some of my files (mainly photos) which I unfortuately had not backed up.

Many thanks
Alex

Some more info that might help.

I pressed F8 and disabled the auto-reboot feature, with the result that I got the error message.

"A problem has been detected and windows has been sut down to prevent damage to your computer

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

If this is the first time you've seen this etc.....

Technical Information:
***STOP: 0x0000ooED (0x82F437B8,0xC0000009C,0x00000000x0x00000000"

Does this shed any light on the problem? I think it may be connected with my graphics driver as I've been getting intermitant problems with XP crashing over the last few months that I've not be able to fix. It seemed to only happen if I tried to run anything graphically challenging - normal websurfing encountered no problems.

Thanks
Alex

What is the exact make & model of your computer?

What version of Norton's?

From the above I assume you can use Safe Mode?

What is your graphics card? You can see this via: start | run | dxdiag | display

We can look up your manual to check out recovery options.

Also it might be worth it to uninstall Norton manualy (which varies with version).

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q297185

This points more towards the filesystem on your harddisk.
In that article you will also find how to sort out problems in the file system that will cause this problem

Thanks for the replies. I've had to leave the UK on short notice won't be back for a couple of weeks so will have to resume the problem upon my return.

My PC was a custom build by Mesh using a Mini Shuttle case - details are below:
CPU:AMD Athlon(tm) XP 3000+
Graphics card: Radeon 9800 PRO
HD: Maxtor 164GB
Op Sys: Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition
Anti-virus: Norton 2004 version

I can't access the computer at all - safe mode fails and results in the same blue screen error I described, so it seems that disabling the anti-virus software isn't an option.

It looks like the file system may be the cause of the problem and I'll have to pursue the route suggested by BadKarma. The problem is that the start up disk that came with my PC doesn't give me the option of selecting the repair option - it seems to only want to allow me to completely reformat the hard disk.

Is there anyway I can download this repair console onto CD on a different PC and then use this to fix my PC?

Thanks
Alex

You can go to: http://www.bootdisk.com/
& create: Windows XP 6 Disk Setup Set

Then follow the directions here: http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
To run the Recovery Console from CD boot with the Windows XP CD (or with the optional 6 floppy disk set) and select "R" at the Welcome Screen.

This looks like just what I need!.. many thanks for both your help.
I'll let you know how it goes when I take a stab at it upon my return home.

Alex