causing endless reboot...

now, is there a way to fix this mess? (i was trying to make a partition for linux)
tia.

(running xp pro, some hardware stats are here http://users.volja.net/smoker/pub/woody/report.txt )

You may need to enter the recovery console and use the fixmbr command (no need for switches, just type "fixmbr" and press ENTER).

I don't think that's going to help. The MBR of smok3's system probably hasn't changed yet. BTW, if you have an MBR problem, WinXP won't even start to load, let alone cause endless reboots.

@smok3: Difficult problem. Did you try an automatic repair (when booting from the WinXP CD) yet ? You may need to reinstall XP over your existing installation (it should keep most settings).

(xp will start after the scandisk or partition magic is skipped on boot time), well tnx i will try both options.

An older version of Partition Magic that worked for me with NTFS as used in windows 2000 would not work on the newer NTFS used in Windows XP. You may need to update or find another product.

well, at the end i had to reinstall xp ... (my guess is that things broke with 'ntfs and norton ghost usage' somehow, but i could be wrong)

Well at the END ...

I'm so stone-headed systems specialist that the word END is unknown to me until i have studied a certain hard problem at least three days. If u do a fresh new install over the old one (by choosing to delete the old installation) it's always causing a LOT more than 3 days extra work (at my case, not sure for others?) ....

Sitate : FIXMBR does only work in Intel machines (as is said at /? prompt) - i cannot imagine what difference could be for AMD-implementation (than a different BIOS-Params etc...)!

I would have first used the FIXBOOT in recovery console, then "Attrib -r -s -h boot.ini" at DRV C: root and edited the lines back in order if they were not...)
(Used NTFSDOS if NTFS partition, just W9x boot-diskette if Fat32...)

Then (if not yet workin') i would have tried the repair install from boot-cd) or HD where i nowadays always keep my XP Pro setup files copied from CD...

Then (if not yet workin') I would have installed a quick fresh XP in another partition and tried to copy all possible legal stuff (like DLL's and certain Windows subfolders to the "possible damaged" original partition ...

P.S. I always do have 2 windows XP's installed in different HD's in case of a total 'Khaos' in primary XP! That way i can multiboot to say E:\Windows and do a full backup outta C:\Windows and all esential "Program Files" & "Documents and Settings" with Norton Ghost (or Nero BackItUp!), that way i always do have most of my files and a working windows configuration saved at my E: (just needs 3-4 gigs extra room compressed, but it's worth of it [and smaller than one single DVD-Backup] ...)

!! That's also a good way to get those locked files copied like System Registry and User Dats at "Documents & Settings" + many more locked DLL's etc ... !!

If i no more cannot boot to C, i just do a repair with FIXBOOT and edit boot.ini to get into E: - then restore all da files back to C and if not start running, i make one more repair install - that's it - C:\windows works again. Just have to get back after that all windows updates, mediaplayer 9, directx9.0b, .net 1.1 etc.

Just a bit Xtra work, but that makes a safe feeling and one never looses too much valuable info...!

Regards : Mathias

@Mathias_M (and Lew_Zealand I guess):

If I understood smok3's problem properly, fixmbr, fixboot, or messing with the boot files (ntdetect.com, ntldr, boot.ini) would not have solved his problem.

These kind of things help when Windows doesn't even begin to boot (no OS detected, ntldr not found, etc.).

Apparently, smok3's system actually started loading Windows, and while Windows was loading (e.g. at the splash screen) kept restarting the system.

well yeah, iam sure there were other options, i tryed to unpack older ghosts, but they all did that scandisk/part.magic bug, also i had few other problems with sudden system restart..., so.

at the END it will all focus on the lack of any proper xp documentation, it is like comparing eggdrop and some mirc script really, when you can do anything with an egg simply becouse it is so well documented (xp is mirc script in this case, and my old amiga could be an egg ),

any ideas what might be happening with ghost/ntfs btw? (i would really like to make a VALID system backup in the future)

- should i go back to fat32 ?
- use some other backup software ?
- i just got external 120 Gb usb2 hd yesterday.

iam back to fat32 and the problem is gone as it seems.