Need to change boot priority but can't access setup

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I have been experiencing booting problems off and on for a while now (mouse-OS/2 and keyboard-USB would not respond). It's been a mild nuisance, but nothing terrible - and it never seemed to get any worse. Until last night, I suspected that it was either the device(s) or the OS/2 &/or USB port. I ran the latest MS XP sp2 critical updates last night, emptied Prefetch & temporary internet files. Using Clone DVD, I backed up a data DVD and set the computer to automatically shut down after the backup finished burning.

My wife tried to restart the comp this morning and received the "missing/corrupt ntsf.sys - run XP CD & choose r" message. No problem. Load the XP disk, repair Windows, enjoy life. NOT!!!

First, the computer won't boot to either of the DVD drives. Second, when I restart the computer, the startup sequence goes blowing past the POST and won't allow me into BIOS to change the boot priority.

Is there any possible way to fix this? Or should I start replacing hardware?

Any help you can be would be great.


Giga-Byte P4 Titan 533 model GA8IE533 - 2.53GHz
Intel P4 845E Chipset
512MB DDR Kingston
80G-7200R PM Maxtor HD

 

[CrazeD]

What interface do you have on your mouse/keyboard (USB or PS/2)? May sound weird, but a PS/2 mouse will not work on my computer unless there is a PS/2 keyboard aswell.

If you are using a USB keyboard, try a PS/2.

Try clearing CMOS.

Try using a different IDE cable for the optical drives, and make sure all jumpers on the optical drives are set properly. Make sure no pins are bent on the optical drive and motherboard (where the cable plugs in).

Report back.

 

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Thank you CrazeD,

Sorry, not OS/2, but PS/2 mouse and USB keyboard.

I did manage to get into CMOS and change the boot priority so I could run the XP repair utility. It ran as the MS Support document illustrated, then when the system rebooted, chkdsk ran and moved about 10 dll and sys files. It ran so fast, that I wasn't able to copy them down. Now when it boots, it goes through the POST, system configurations, Windows XP screen, blue screen (no messages) then loops back to the POST.

Recover time?
My plan is to add another hard drive to load windows on to (I was thinking of doing this anyway), then DOS into the existing HD and delete everything but the Documents and Settings Folder so I don't lose my data when I recover. I was also going to switch out the mouse and keyboard for USB wireless anyway - just not now though.

I know there are a million posts about this looping problem, but not a lot of them with clear success stories. Is there an easier way? I'd rather not have to reload all of my software again.

Thanks again for the help,
Cheers,