XP won't boot!

[seven_deuce offsuit]

I'm actually on my laptop right now trying to find a solution to this problem, but I was trying to perform an update on my BIOS and as soon as my computer rebooted I got a message saying that system32\Drivers\pci.sys was missing or corrupt. I don't have the XP install CD since it didn't come with my computer and was already preinstalled. How do I fix this without the XP installation CD?

[Bjs]

A: live linux distro to boot system up with
B: Copy WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\pci.sys to \WINDOWS\system32\Drivers
C: Reboot

Or

A: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994 for system boot disc's (floppies)
B: Enter recovery console
C: Use required commands to copy file from and to directories
D: Reboot

[seven_deuce offsuit]

A: live linux distro to boot system up with
B: Copy WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\pci.sys to \WINDOWS\system32\Drivers
C: Reboot

When you say Live Linux, do you mean the Live CD versions? Anyway, I'll try out your suggestion and hopefully it fixes everything.

And for peace of mind, is my data safe? That's all I'm really worried about.

[jagabo]

And for peace of mind, is my data safe?

Probably. Since Windows started booting large parts of the file system are intact. You may have to put the drive in another computer or an external enclosure to recover the data.

[jman98]

The Trinity Rescue Kit (http://www.trinityhome.org) is probably best for this kind of thing, being designed specifically for the purpose. But that's just my opinion. Lacking the original install CDs (not your fault, I know) does put you in a tough spot though. I have to warn you that I have gone through this kind of thing before and you are being given some best case scenarios here. There is a chance you will not be able to fix this problem and you will have to reinstall. Your data should be fine though and if you can mount the disk on another system, you should be able to copy anything you need.

[dphirschler]

Don't forget about BartPE. You may be able to boot up in that and copy your files.


Darryl

[MOVIEGEEK]

Try uninstalling all PCI cards and turning off all PCI devices in the BIOS before booting up.
If that doesn't help then you will have to put the HDD in an enclosure and copy the pci.sys file to the Drivers folder.
This thread has some helpful suggestions: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic16553.html

[bevills1]

I had similar problems in Win2k, but having Win2k install disc and running the emergency repair failed to fix the problem resulting in Win2k reinstall being the only solution. Try borrowing an install disc or contact PC manufacturer to request a WinXP install CD to see if repair install might work, but don't be surprised if a reinstall is needed.

[seven_deuce offsuit]

I found the pci.sys file in a different folder (reinstallbackups), copied it, but wouldn't let me paste into the drivers folder. Does linux only allow you to copy and paste files to external devices?

[jagabo]

Some Linux distros will only let you read NTFS by default. You may have to enable writing to NTFS. Or try Ubuntu -- I'm pretty sure the latest will automatically mount NTFS partitions read/write.

Or maybe the file or folder is marked read only?

[seven_deuce offsuit]

I tried Ubuntu and was able to copy the backup pci.sys into the drivers folder. It works! Thanks guys, I didn't think it was going to be this easy.

[bevills1]

You were very lucky; too bad we can't all be so lucky. Simply copying the missing or corrupt file to the appropriate folder for my Win2k instance still resulted in the same missing or corrupt error message, and Win2k reinstall was my only resolution.

[jagabo]

I tried Ubuntu and was able to copy the backup pci.sys into the drivers folder. It works! Thanks guys, I didn't think it was going to be this easy.

I would do a full disk scan with bad sector recovery at this point. That will locate any bad sectors and mark them as such so they won't be used in the future.