My database keeps crashing on startup how can i repair it without it running?

I've got some problems with my database. I hope somebody can help me out. Problem: The database keeps crashing on startup. In my log i see a couple off these errors: [ERROR] /usr/libexec/mysqld: Table '.tablename' is marked as crashed and should be repaired Normally i would repair this table using PHPMyAdmin or SSH but is it possible to do this without the database running? (because when i start it it crashes and stops) Or is there any other way to get this all working again? I've got a back up but i will lose some data. The table that is crashed contains cache data, so i could miss that. Thank you! Gr. Matthijs ## UPDATE by RolandoMySQLDBA - Please post contents of /etc/my.cnf - Is the DB Server bare metal machine or VM ? - How much RAM does the server have ? - Are all the tables InnoDB, MyISAM, or a mixture of both ? - Is the OS Linux or Windows ?