Cannot boot in safe-mode SPTD.sys

Merton · *Last edited by Merton; 03-11-2007 at 17:13.*

My computer boots normally, however, when I try to boot into safe mood, it restarts after it asks me if I want to skip loading SPTD.sys. Whether I skip it or not, the system just reboots and tells me there was an error loading windows and I have to pick if I want to load windows normally or in safe-mode.

I had Alcohol 120 installed, but uninstalled that since a lot of people posted that they had similar problems with it.

I also renamed the sptd file and still cound not boot in safe-mode. Any other suggestions?

EDIT: The last thing that it loads is MUP.sys, so maybe it is hanging on that?

Animatrix · 03-11-2007, 23:25 | posts: 6,853 | Location: Denmark | User is Offline

This is only about the SPTD.sys driver.

So Alcohol uses the same driver as daemon, i didn't know that.

First off make sure you really have uninstalled Alcohol and that the driver is NOT from Daemon tools (i.e. that you don't have Daemon tools installed). Then rename it back and reboot in normal mode.

To remove the driver go to the device manager.

Start > Run > type devmgmt.msc press ok > View > Show hidden devices > Non-plug and play drivers > find "sptd" > right click and Uninstall

There is also a tool for removing the driver (last part), but this is from daemon tools forum, but if it's the same driver they use it should work i guess (it's a 3th party driver i do believe)
http://www2.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/my-...ter-t6828.html

----
It may not SPTD.sys or mup.sys

Using the /sos switch in the boot.ini may assist

Quote:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721

/sos
The /sos switch displays the device driver names while they are being loaded. By default, the Windows Loader screen only echoes progress dots. Use this switch with the /basevideo switch to determine the driver that is triggering a failure.

Giant thread on mup.sys, can't say if there is anything in it it's to big
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1047532372

Merton · 03-13-2007, 12:00 | posts: 1,154 | Location: USA | User is Offline

Now I have an even bigger problem.

I used /basevideo and /sos and now when I start windows, I hear the loading screen (that little song when windows loads) and then my monitor goes to sleep and says No Signal.

I tried to go to Recovery Console to do fixboot, however, when I hit "R" it tells me windows cannot find any harddrives. Next I tried to clean install, and it tells me that windows cannot find any harddrives.

Althought it cannot find any harddrives, I can still boot normally (safe mode still freezes), however I can't see anything on my screen.

The only thing I can thing of is that using /basevideo causes the resolution to go to 640xwhatever, and maybe my monitor doesn't support that (it is a 21 inch widescreen)???? This is really aggrivating.

Merton · 03-13-2007, 12:55 | posts: 1,154 | Location: USA | User is Offline

You are not going to believe how I fixed it hahaha.

I went on my roommates computer, and tried to get into msconfig without the mouse, and take /basevideo and /sos off. Here were my notes:

winstart key
r
msconfig
enter
tab 11 times
right arrow 3 times
tab 7 times
space
tab
space
alt + a
enter
enter

haha it worked.

Animatrix · 03-15-2007, 09:28 | posts: 6,853 | Location: Denmark | User is Offline

Well that was unfortunate, not that it matter much now. But you can edit the boot.ini from the Recovery Console using bootcfg.

Quote:

http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/ti...954199,00.html
BOOTCFG is not installed by default in Windows XP Home, but the BOOTCFG.EXE can be copied to a Windows XP Home installation and will work transparently.

bootcfg

Removing the /basevideo looks like this using bootcfg (assuming we are editing the switches for the first OS in the boot.ini):

bootcfg /rmsw /bv /id 1

Quick pointers:

When you use the Boot.ini tab in msconfig to edit a boot switch, it automatically chooses to use "Selective Startup" and "Use modified boot.ini." on the General tab. So you can switch back by selecting "Normal startup" on the General tab. Making a backup of the original boot.ini is always wise.

I think the /basevideo switch is just used to include cases of video driver issues, don't think there is anything wrong with using the /sos switch without /basevideo.

Did you remove the driver, can you boot in safe mode now ?

Beowulf349 · 11-09-2007, 06:49 | posts: 1 | Location: western NC | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merton

My computer boots normally, however, when I try to boot into safe mood, it restarts after it asks me if I want to skip loading SPTD.sys. Whether I skip it or not, the system just reboots and tells me there was an error loading windows and I have to pick if I want to load windows normally or in safe-mode.

I had Alcohol 120 installed, but uninstalled that since a lot of people posted that they had similar problems with it.

I also renamed the sptd file and still cound not boot in safe-mode. Any other suggestions?

EDIT: The last thing that it loads is MUP.sys, so maybe it is hanging on that?

I have a very similar but worse problem to this. I can't load in ANY mode, instead of just safe mode. I can't get a boot disk to run. Can't get a repair console to run (no hard drive detected). Etc. Etc. I DON'T want to have to reformat. I would lose some files (like my pics of my baby son) that I hadn't had a chance to back up within the past week.

Right now I'm running off of a Kubuntu OS CD I downloaded a while ago (without installing it, as that would reformat at least part of my RAID 0 drives (2x 250 GB WD) I'm running near my wit's end as I can't get into windows for love or money now.

I do have Alcohol 120% installed (but not Daemon Tools). I guess that was a mistake. Obviously I can't uninstall it either, or fix that SPTD.sys error.

When I try to load up normally, it gives the F8 mode (select startup type). I've tried all of the options and none work. They hang on SPTD.sys, or just reboot the computer.

Any ideas?

Animatrix · *Last edited by Animatrix; 11-09-2007 at 14:24.*

When you say the recovery console can't see the drive how did you determine this and did you try loading the RAID drivers ?

Quote:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654
When the Recovery Console starts, you can press F6 to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver, in case you need such a driver to access the hard disk.

If you get the recovery console to work, the command for disabling it is just "disable sptd". You should also be able to rename sptd.sys to stop it loading, it is in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\sptd.sys (edit: the first post in the thread says he tried renaming sptd and it did not help, can't say why it would not unless the file was not the problem).

Note that by default the recovery console has some restrictions placed on it for security. If you want to use it for copying files from other partitions then the system you need to do the command "set AllowAllPaths = true", more set commands are found under "Recovery Console rules" in this link.

---

If the recovery console do not work and you can boot a Live CD like kubuntu you should be able to at least do a backup. Sorry for the noob question here but do the kubuntu Live CD support NTFS out of the box ? I know the Linux kernel do support NTFS.
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3087228.0

There are special boot CD's which works like a Live CD but has a bunch of tools for all kinds of stuff, have a look and see if they can help.

http://www.ubcd4win.com/
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

ch4rles · 08-22-2008, 06:18 | posts: 1 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf349

I can't load in ANY mode, instead of just safe mode. I can't get a boot disk to run. Can't get a repair console to run (no hard drive detected). Etc. Etc. I DON'T want to have to reformat. I would lose some files (like my pics of my baby son) that I hadn't had a chance to back up within the past week.

Right now I'm running off of a Kubuntu OS CD I downloaded a while ago (without installing it, as that would reformat at least part of my RAID 0 drives (2x 250 GB WD) I'm running near my wit's end as I can't get into windows for love or money now.

I do have Alcohol 120% installed (but not Daemon Tools). I guess that was a mistake. Obviously I can't uninstall it either, or fix that SPTD.sys error.

When I try to load up normally, it gives the F8 mode (select startup type). I've tried all of the options and none work. They hang on SPTD.sys, or just reboot the computer.

Any ideas?

I have the exact same problem as this guy, can anyone please help me?

anubis7733 · 11-10-2008, 14:30 | posts: 3 | User is Offline

I'm having a similar problem to Beowulf with being unable to load either mode, but slightly different reasons. I was swapping hard drives in a netbook, and everything went fine. BIOS recognizes the new drive and windows starts to boot, but then I get a blue screen and the computer restarts. When I try to boost into safe mode it gives me a message about SPTD.sys. Whether or not i cancel loading the driver, the system crashes. I have daemon tools installed on the system, but was experiencing no problems before the disk swap. Would deleting the driver solve my problem? do i need to actually uninstall daemon tools? if so, how do i go about removing it if i cant boot? I have another system i can access the drive on, so deleting would be easy, but i don't know how i could uninstall.

Animatrix · 11-10-2008, 15:04 | posts: 6,853 | Location: Denmark | User is Offline

Use the recovery console and disable the driver. Yes renaming the driver should work as well but i would disable it, you can also use a boot cd or second system. It has all been explained already, please read the thread your responding to.

anubis7733 · 11-10-2008, 16:31 | posts: 3 | User is Offline

From what I understand, to use the recovery console I need to boot from a Windows CD, but the laptop has no optical drive. I tried renaming the file, but that did not work. How do I launch the recovery console from a second system? The microsoft article you linked doesn't explain how to start it from a secondary system.

Animatrix · 11-10-2008, 18:27 | posts: 6,853 | Location: Denmark | User is Offline

You can't. But you can use the second system for the driver deletion. I haven't tried it so i can't say why it wouldn't work. If there is no driver to load, the driver can't crash the system.

What you can also do is edit the registry off-line and remove the load key

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\sptd

How to edit the registry offline using BartPE boot CD ?

anubis7733 · 11-11-2008, 14:24 | posts: 3 | User is Offline

Deleting the driver didn't work, and I can't think of anything else to try without buying a USB CD Drive. This isn't really an option, so I am just going to reinstall the OS. Thanks for the help

Animatrix · 11-11-2008, 15:50 | posts: 6,853 | Location: Denmark | User is Offline

Are you sure the crash is caused by SPTD.sys, is that what the blue screen says ?

I just tried renaming the driver. When i renamed it, it doesn't load.