I have a Toshiba Portege S100 Centrino P-m 740 1.73 Ghz / 512mb 60gb Dvd/cd-rw Wlan 14.1-tft Xga Wxp Pro Uk

A couple of days ago, while XP was just loaded, I switched off (hard reset) the laptop by mistake. I somehow must have done something wrong as I cannot get back to a normal XP session.

I am faced with this constant loop:

Laptop starts>boot sequence>Win XP logo appears>Blue Screen of Death>Laptop re-starts>... and so on. This happens in every configuration I try (safe mode, last known good configuration, etc.)

The Blue Screen appears very briefly so I do not get sufficient time to read the message.

The BSoD message is

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Disable or uninstall any anti-virus, disk defragmentation or back-up utilities. Check your hard drive configuration, and check for any updated drivers. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x86f89268, 0xc0000102, 0x00000000)


Updates:

I was told that my MBR is corrupt

>Microsoft Corporation (http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_fixmbr.mspx?mfr=true)

However, I can't get XP Recovery Console to start

> When I boot using Windows XP CD, I get a message stating that my hard drive is not detected and the machine will reboot.

Hi,

First make the computer stop rebooting when the error shows up, in the safe mode which stars up when I understand you correctly go to Control Panel --> System --> hit the advanced tab and under Start up and Recovery hit "Settings" --> there is a point under "System Failure" --> "automatically reboot" uncheck it (that will prevent the restart at the boot screen). While you are there click the edit button above it and copy the text. Include Error Message and the copied text in the post so I can look at it. By the way you should be able to install the "recovery console" in Safe Mode go here to see how How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654)

Hi,

first make the computer stop rebooting when the error shows up, in the safe mode which stars up when I understand you correctly go to Control Panel --> System --> hit the advanced tab and under Start up and Recovery hit "Settings" --> there is a point under "System Failure" --> "automatically reboot" uncheck it (that will prevent the restart at the boot screen). While you are there click the edit button above it and copy the text. Include Error Message and the copied text in the post so I can look at it. By the way you should be able to install the "recovery console" in Safe Mode go here to see how How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654)

Hello Ben

I cannot get to Safe mode or any mode. When I boot using Win XP (Home version actually), Recovery Console cannot start as HD not detected (but BIOS does detect HD).

Is the XP CD you want to install with, the one that was handed out with the laptop?
A lot of Notebook Manufactures include in their versions drivers for their Hardware. Try booting from the CD again after it says "Press Any Key to boot from CDROM" and the first Blue Screen shows Hit F6 to install additional Drivers. Ready a Disk with the IDE drivers for you notebook and load them at this point. Lets see if that makes it work!

For the record and to bring the issue to a close...

I eventually took out the hard disk from the laptop. I managed to connect it to my desktop PC. I retrieved ALL my files (XP did not detect them, I had to use a powerful program from Ontrack - www.ontrack.com).

Let's look on the bright side:

1. I retrieved all my data without fault and intact
2. I learned a lot in the last couple of days
3. I have now a much faster working laptop following a re-format and removal of old junk!

Thanks for all your help