Hi all 
Im running a small LAN with 4 computers in my company (a pub).The system is an EPOS one which consists of a server containing my database and administration tools and 3 client computers which are used as tills. I built the system from all new parts around 4 months ago however around a month ago I noticed a problem with my server.
Whilst booting into Windows XP, the computer would not go past the boot screen. The progress bar continued to move however it would not budge. The same thing applied for Safe Mode.
After 10 minutes of restarting I managed to get the computer into Safe Mode where our database service could still work.
From here I tried to run Scandisk which just stops at 2 percent. The crash here allows me to move the mouse still, however as soon as I do anything which requires the Hard Drive the machine just freezes completely. The same applies for Defrag.
SO next step, i upgraded the service pack from 1 to 3..no joy
SO next step, I inserted the XP install CD in an attempt to access the recovery console....however to my surprise after the initial files have been copied I’m asked which partition I want to use and whether I want to format it or not...? at no point am i asked if I want to reinstall windows or use the recovery console.
SO next step (by accident) I select the partition and chose 'Leave the file system intact'...the computer then spent around 1 minute completing the 'Checking your hard disk' stage before prompting me that 'we have completed maintenance on one or more of your disks and the system must restart.'
SO i restart the computer and now Windows boots normally (very odd). From here I try to launch scandisk again....no good! Crashes instantly. Same for defrag.
Next I scheduled a chkdsk for the next boots, this crashed at 2 percent in stage one....then after a few more goes it crashes at 2 percent in stage 3 (This is getting very annoying now!)
After trying a few more disk checking utilities external to Windows which ALL crashed instantly, I decided that, Hey...my epos software is still working and I can boot into Windows so i'll leave it for now.
UNTIL this morning. A normal operation on one of the epos clients on the 3rd customer has had the same effect on the server as trying to run scandisk (nothing works expect mouse UNTIL you try to click something.
This is getting really serious and I need to fix it. The reason I say Re-install/Re-format NOT an option is that this software is registered specifically to that computer and re-installing Windows will mean I have to pay £500 for a new licence.
Just so you have some more background on how I use this system. It is NOT connected to the Internet. It is NOT used for any other purpose than the EPOS system. For the first few months it was switched off at Night but after the boot problems it has been left on.
So i've gone from the software working fine but windows being temperamental to nothing working properly!
Has anyone got any suggestions?
Thank you in advance
Im running a small LAN with 4 computers in my company (a pub).The system is an EPOS one which consists of a server containing my database and administration tools and 3 client computers which are used as tills. I built the system from all new parts around 4 months ago however around a month ago I noticed a problem with my server.
Whilst booting into Windows XP, the computer would not go past the boot screen. The progress bar continued to move however it would not budge. The same thing applied for Safe Mode.
After 10 minutes of restarting I managed to get the computer into Safe Mode where our database service could still work.
From here I tried to run Scandisk which just stops at 2 percent. The crash here allows me to move the mouse still, however as soon as I do anything which requires the Hard Drive the machine just freezes completely. The same applies for Defrag.
SO next step, i upgraded the service pack from 1 to 3..no joy
SO next step, I inserted the XP install CD in an attempt to access the recovery console....however to my surprise after the initial files have been copied I’m asked which partition I want to use and whether I want to format it or not...? at no point am i asked if I want to reinstall windows or use the recovery console.
SO next step (by accident) I select the partition and chose 'Leave the file system intact'...the computer then spent around 1 minute completing the 'Checking your hard disk' stage before prompting me that 'we have completed maintenance on one or more of your disks and the system must restart.'
SO i restart the computer and now Windows boots normally (very odd). From here I try to launch scandisk again....no good! Crashes instantly. Same for defrag.
Next I scheduled a chkdsk for the next boots, this crashed at 2 percent in stage one....then after a few more goes it crashes at 2 percent in stage 3 (This is getting very annoying now!)
After trying a few more disk checking utilities external to Windows which ALL crashed instantly, I decided that, Hey...my epos software is still working and I can boot into Windows so i'll leave it for now.
UNTIL this morning. A normal operation on one of the epos clients on the 3rd customer has had the same effect on the server as trying to run scandisk (nothing works expect mouse UNTIL you try to click something.
This is getting really serious and I need to fix it. The reason I say Re-install/Re-format NOT an option is that this software is registered specifically to that computer and re-installing Windows will mean I have to pay £500 for a new licence.
Just so you have some more background on how I use this system. It is NOT connected to the Internet. It is NOT used for any other purpose than the EPOS system. For the first few months it was switched off at Night but after the boot problems it has been left on.
So i've gone from the software working fine but windows being temperamental to nothing working properly!
Has anyone got any suggestions?
Thank you in advance
