system wont start up, even with xp disk!

[future sheperd]

H|i guys, what a week...:'(

basically windows wont start up, ive tried everything... it reaches the XP screen when the blue light moves from left to right, then resets itself over and over again.

i got a XP disk aiming to repair the missing/damaged files, but before the repair can begin i get this message:

DAC2W2K.sys caused an expected error (4096) at line 3540 in D:\xpsprtim\base\boot\setup\setup.C.


im completely at aloss, could anyone please tell me whats going on with my PC

thankyou in advance!;)

[jhobbs]

dac2w2k.sys is evidently a hardware disk controller.
So it seems either the disk controller hardware is messed up, or the dac2w2k.sys file needs to be replaced.

You should be able to boot from the Windows CD and choose a mode where you can replace files. Sorry, don't remember the terminology, but there's quite a lot you can do to repair files from that mode. I assume your CD hardware isn't affected by the disk controller?

Good luck, Jack.

[Osaban]

Hi there,

If you can't do anything with the windows CD, you could try booting in 'safe mode', that is by tapping repeatedly the F8 key as soon as you start your computer (the timing might be critical, so I suggest you try several times before you might think it doesn't work).

If you can boot into 'safe mode', which is basically Windows booting with a limited number of essential programs, try to do a restore with 'system restore', or alternatively when you are given the choice to boot into safe mode (after hitting the F8 key) you could also choose 'start windows with the last known working configuration' the wording perhaps differs slightly from what I've written, but it is basically one of the options.

I hope this helps.

[eniqmah]

I wonder if Restoring Backup Image would help here. Just thinking outloud. I think it will. Correct?