Windows XP Pro boot issues

All: The machine my wife uses most of the time on our home network (A Dell Dimension XPS T500, running Windows XP Pro–don't know which service pack) has started flaking out during bootup. It is getting to random points in the boot up cycle and then starting the process all over again. Sometimes it goes to the screen where I can select it to boot in Safe MOde, at other times it gets to a point where it starts checking the disk for errors–it's doing so right now, saying that: the \pagefile.sys\entry contains a nonvalid link, the size of the pagefile.sys entry is not valid, \hiberfil.sys first allocation unit is not valid, and that the entry will be truncated, that it is removing trailing folder entries from \system volume information\_restore{e37E41ED-C438-45BA-B741-5DE2951A60BB}\RP667 and Error reading folder (null). The hard drive is making an infrequent "tick-tock" noise, like the read arm is going from stop to stop. I'm almost ready to get rid of the machine; it's been a faithful friend for a long, long time, but it's at the end of its usefulness, and we need to replace it. I just want to get it up and running one last time so I can do a blanket save of all the data on it to an external hard drive I have , and then take it out of the loop and get a newer and way faster replacement. I've put the XP disk in it, thinking that something's notgood up in the boot sectors, but it won't start from the CD to so I can try to repair any damage to XP–it there is, indeed, any damage to fix. What do I need to do? Tom vonHatten

Your machine's problem sounds most like a failing Hard Drive.
But could also be failing RAM Memory, Driver Corruption, failed IDE ribbon cable, or simply a botched up XP operating system that could do for a repair install.

What would I do?

Since you attach some importance to DATA that may reside on your current Hard Drive, I would do "nothing" in the way of repair attempts that involves that Hard Drive.
If it is failing, each read/write cycle takes it one step closer to its "time to die".

Instead, I would borrow or obtain an inexpensive Hard Drive, install XP and a few basic drivers, and not even bother with updates and patches, nor Service Packs.
I would then install the present Hard Drive as Slave or Cable Select, for purposes of copy/pasting the important data and files you wish to retain.

After all, you won't need sound. You won't need spectacular graphics, and you won't even need to gain access to the Internet.
You will only be copy/pasting as a method of backup.

Alternatively, if you have another known-good machine with adequate FREE Space on Hard Drive, you could install the current failing Hard Drive as slave into that known good machine to perform the copy/paste backup routine.
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If you decide to get a new Hard Drive, you will need an IDE ATA Hard Drive with ribbon cable.
You can get a new one for under $50 here:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.as…nal-Hard-Drives

But if it was me doing it, I'd wander over to a local Computer Repair Shop and see what they have in their box of spare Hard Drives for sale.
More than likely you will be able to pick one up for around $10 - $15.
And it will most likely be NEW and better than what your XPS T500 had originally.

Computer Shops are frequently "upgrading" peoples' machines, even when they are first purchased.
People want a slightly or significantly larger HD, and Computer Shops therefore fill up boxes with spare HD's which they'd love to sell.
Same is also true of Power Supply Units, by the way. Though the buyer should be much more discriminating when buying a replaced PSU.

Let us know how it goes.

Once you have rescued your DATA Files…
If you wish, you can run chkdsk /r to recover from any bad sectors.
And then run a Repair Installation.
Maybe you will be able to extend the life of that machine a bit, until you get a replacement.

I already have a spare hard drive, and a copy of Acronis. I'll put it in , reload XP, put Acronis on it, and save the files to the new hard drive. Thanks for the help–I'll let you know how it ends up. –Tom vonHatten

Doug: I loaded XP Pro onto the new HD using the disk I used on the old HD. I found that I had tried using the disk in the wrong CD/DVD drive, so I went and put the old drive back in after loading XP on the replacement. Windows Setup (from the CD) could not check the old disk, and said that it was corrupted. I swapped out to the replacement, set up the old drive as a slave, and put it in the machine. During bootup,.it was checked for consistency–and never finished, giving the messages I mentioned in one of my earlier posts. When XP finaly came up, the old drive was constantly chattering, with the infrequent "tick-tock" sound, and never showed up on the "My Computer" screen. I personally think he drive is BROKEN, not corrupted. I'm afraid it's off to a data recovery specialist for me–yuck, and sigh…. Thanks for the help–Tom vonHatten