The best way to deal with a crashed database is to attempt to backup the log before starting the restore sequence:

BACKUP LOG TO WITH NO_TRUNCATE,NORECOVERY

NO_TRUNCATE is used to allow sql to try its best to get the tail of the log. This is necessary if the database will not start normally.

NORECOVERY is used to take the database into a Restoring state. That prevents anyone from connecting and running more transactions.

Even if you plan to restore to a point in time prior to the end of the previous log backup, it still might be a good idea to backup the remainder of the log:

1. you might find out later that you really want to recover to a later point in time.

2. you might want to recover to a later point to allow for some problem analysis.

Hope that helps

-Steve