WinXP repair/re-installation

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Tom

Tom

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My older notebook failed to boot one day during our recent trip, so I merely used the newer one. I'm finally getting around to resuscitating the wounded machine. Here are the symptoms I observe:

  • Windows will not finish booting and I'm left with a blank screen.
  • Booting in SAFE mode starts loading drivers, but halts on the same one every time.

If I boot from the WinXP CD I can get to the Repair Console, but it's been too long since I did anything with it that I have no idea how to proceed.

If I try to do an in-place re-installation using Method 2 (from the CD) following this article from the Microsoft knowledgebase, at step 5 I don't see my existing installation which would allow me to press R and repair it. All I see is two partitions:

-:  Partition 1 [FAT] 24MB
c:  Partition 2 <HPNOTEBOOK> [NTFS] 38131 MB

Partition 1 seems too small to accommodate a Windows installation and, if I try to install on Partition 2, I get a warning about an existing OS.

It's at times like these that I wish I had a Mac  :(

Any suggestions on how to proceed? TIA.
 
Partition 1 seems too small to accommodate a Windows installation and, if I try to install on Partition 2, I get a warning about an existing OS.
Click to expand...
What does the warning say? If it says it will overwrite the existing installation, that may be your only option. On the other hand, after accepting the overwrite, you may then be offered the repair option. It appears that XP came preloaded and you should have an HP recovery disk to re-install. If you haven't already tried that disk, I would suggest you do before trying a standalone XP disk. Hdwe/Sftw integrators like HP do some strange things in the O.S. which may prevent a 'normal' installation. Worst case is you'll have to re-install all of your programs/data, but you already knew that.
 
Thanks Karl.

The warning says that there may be an issue having two OS's installed, or words to that effect. So it appears that the only option is to go ahead and see what happens (?) Do I install in the NTFS partition?

If this gets installed as a new install rather than a re-installation or repair, it will get bumped/rejected when it later tries to register with MS via the web because it will already have been registered; It will look like I've borrowed someone else's CD to install. Groan.

HP recovery disks want to erase everything off the HD before re-installing. Because of this issue, I previously bought a standalone version of XP and installed it. It's also one reason I didn't buy HP last time - been through that issue with too many HP machines.

Worst case is you'll have to re-install all of your programs/data, but you already knew that.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I was in denial. Don't mind re-installing the apps, but some of the data isn't backed up anywhere, although most is.

If all is lost, this might the time to install the larger/replacement HD I've been carrying around for the last few years  :-[

BTW after posting my prior message, I remembered that I could type 'help' in the Repair Console to get a list of commands, although it's not clear to me which, if any, would help. I guess it's called the Recovery Console now, or maybe that's what it was called all along  ???
 
The small partition is usually associated with an HP Recovery disk - it's probably drivers and such, unique to that machine.

You should have no problem re-registering, since the hardware signature captured with the original registration will match exactly. It will be recognized as a re-install. That's assuming there is a registration - OEM copies often do not go through that process. Depends on exactly what you got from HP and how they licensed Windows on your system. It sounds as though you have a real WinXP CD, and not an HP Recovery disk?  Or perhaps both?

The fact that it did not recognize and list an OS in the NTFS partition indicates that OS is damaged in some fashion. In my modest experience with this sort of thing, that means it is a goner. Windows Install is going to try to add another copy of XP and everything associated with the old one will be useless anyway, so you may as well format the partition and start fresh. You will have to install your appls on the new copy of XP anyway.

Ned is the expert on this, though. Might want to consult with him first.
 
Thanks Gary.

RV Roamer said:
You should have no problem re-registering, since the hardware signature captured with the original registration will match exactly.
Click to expand...

Ah, that's good news.

It sounds as though you have a real WinXP CD, and not an HP Recovery disk?  Or perhaps both?
Click to expand...

Yes, both. The HP disks came with the machine and I subsequently purchased and installed a standalone copy of XP to get around the issues with HP's shell and their recovery method.

As you suggest, I'll wait to see what Ned has to say, but I suspect you're right in your diagnosis.
 
Since it's booting at least to the F8 menu (where you can select safe mode) try the option to use the last known good configuration.  It may be that the registry has been corrupted and this will use a copy of the registry from the last successful boot.

If that fails, then we'll move on to more drastic measures.
 
Ned said:
... try the option to use the last known good configuration.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ned. Sorry, I should have mentioned that I already tried that - same result as the option to start Windows normally. Also tried the option to open with a command prompt - same result as Safe mode.
 
When you boot to the Recovery Console, it should show you the existing XP installation and prompt you for the administrator password.  Does that happen?  If so, then it does see the installation and you should be able to do a Repair per Method 2, step 5, in the KB article you looked at.  You will have to select the correct partition for it to do the repair.
 
As I mentioned earlier, I don't see the existing installation and only see the two partitions.
 
You most likely are having problems due to a corrupted portion of the old HD.  Since you have a spare HD, consider installing it into the laptop and installing the OS.  Purchase an external HD 2.50" case (~$30,if you don't already have one) for the old drive and then transfer your data from the old drive to the new one.  Then you'll have to reinstall the software.  Doubt there is any way around those steps.  Been there, done that; too many times.

After the data is transfered to the new drive, the old one can be reformated and reused.  The OS will note the bad sections of the HD and either repair them or mark them as bad.  You will probably not notice any performance differences.  I use external HDs as a backup device to protect against data loss.  The backup steps can easily be automated with standard XP & DOS tools.  More info is available upon request, certainly don't want to bore you with details now.

Good luck.
 
What happens when you select the C: partition and hit enter?  If you got to the recovery console, it had to see the existing installation and prompt you for the administrator password, so it does see there is a Windows installation on the partition.
 
Thanks Robert. I believe I have a spare case around here somewhere.

Meanwhile, I ran a pretty good check on the (old) HD earlier today and there were zero errors. But of course, that doesn't eliminate the possibility of one or more corrupted files.
 
Ned,

I can only get to the Recovery Console by booting from the WinXP CD.

Selecting the c: partition and hitting Enter gives me the warning about having two OS's installed. I didn't proceed beyond that.
 
But did it prompt for an administrator password?  The Recover Console needs to log onto an existing XP installation to work.
 
Ned,

Just realized I was answering the wrong question  :-[

Getting to the Recovery Console via the CD, I see the existing installation and I'm prompted for an admin password. Clicking Enter brings me to the c:\WINDOWS directory. Typing Help brings up a list of Recovery Console commands.
 
Tom,
Hopefully you wrote down the offending service or driver that hung you up. If not, just do a normal boot again and write it down. Once you get into the Recovery Console, use the Disable command on that one, exit Recovery, and try a normal boot again. It may require several Write it down/Disable/boot sequences to finally get it up and running, but you'll have identified (hopefully) all of the offending services/drivers. Using Recovery again, you can then use Copy and Expand (if necessary) commands to replace them. This should get you up and running again. At that time, you should be able to do a full Repair, followed by re-installation of any patches, SP's, Hot Fixes, etc.

If the above procedure doesn't work satisfactorily, you're not left with many options, but before using that F-word, try the Recovery Console's Fixmbr command to repair the boot code.
 
Since the RC can find the Windows installation, it's very strange that the installer doesn't see it.  Since you can boot to the F8 menu, the boot files are all there and ok and a FIXMBR won't really do anything either.  Everything says you should be able to do a repair install.

The failing driver may be the last one shown or the next one that you can't see, but you can try Karl's method of disabling them one a at a time but I don't have much hope for that as safe mode loads only the minimum required driver set.

The last option is to do as Robert suggested and get a replacement drive, install Windows to it and pull you data off of the old drive in an external case.  The drive is obviously still readable and the file system is intact so that should not be a problem.
 
Unless there is something on that drive you really need to save, why agonize over it? It's probably time for a clean install anyway and the cost to you is only the time to reinstall your application software. You've probably already spent enough time trying to salvage what's there to have done that.

 
Understood Gary. There are a few things on the drive I need that aren't backed up, otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Well, I hate to make a completely useless comment, but just in case...  Tom, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who knows Linux, would you?  When I have situations like yours where I'm just trying to retrieve data from a dying drive, I use a bootable CD that runs a version of the Linux operating system called Knoppix.  The latest version should access NTFS partitions.  You could copy all of your files to a thumbdrive that way.  Linux, however, is not something I would be very successful at coaching over the forum.

The reason I offer this is that I've never seen an external hard drive carrier that supports the laptop IDE connectors.  I may just not get out enough.  If that is the case, we still need to be able to access your files while the drive is in the PC.  To do that, we need to be able to boot some sort of O/S from either the floppy or the CD.  A bootable floppy doesn't read NTFS, at least the ones I've created with my version of XP don't.  Does anyone know of a CD image that's available to create a bootable Windoze CD from?

Ignore this message if my comments are not of use.  In the old days, I used to know all of the ins and outs of the PC.  Now I have an IT department taking care of it for me, and I've let my skills lapse.  :(

-Dave
 
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