Repair or setup?

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goodTweetieBird

I have a PowerSpec PC that will not start since a recent brownout( no
UPS). The recovery disk provided by MicroCenter issued a msg stating
PC system not supported. We borrowed a recovery disk and tried to run
a repair but it asks for an admin password. My brother has no
recollection of setting an admin password but blank does not work.
Should we try setup instead? The 25 character product code is on the
PC but I don't know if the setup routine checks it as valid with an
algorithm or if it checks it against a code on the disk.

thanx,

gtb
 
"goodTweetieBird" <goodTweetieBird@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:fb084bd3-c5f3-4660-923b-360eaa5ec972@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> I have a PowerSpec PC that will not start since a recent brownout( no
> UPS). The recovery disk provided by MicroCenter issued a msg stating
> PC system not supported. We borrowed a recovery disk and tried to run
> a repair but it asks for an admin password. My brother has no
> recollection of setting an admin password but blank does not work.
> Should we try setup instead? The 25 character product code is on the
> PC but I don't know if the setup routine checks it as valid with an
> algorithm or if it checks it against a code on the disk.
>
> thanx,
>
> gtb


First off, being asked for a password for the administrator account leads me to
believe you ended up in the Recovery Console. Did the screen looks like this?

http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/winxp/advanced/registry01.gif

If you're trying to perform a repair installation, then you hit the R key too
early in the process. Reboot the computer from the XP installation CD and when
you come to this screen, hit Enter.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/images/XP Home Setup Graphic/CC.gif

Windows will search for any existing XP installations on your computer and
display a screen where you're asked if you want to repair the installation.
Here's where you hit the R key.

Take a look at the following web sites for more info on repair installations.

http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/winxp/advanced/reinstall-repair-shallow.html

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Before you try this procedure, there are a few things to consider. First, the CD
you're using has to match the type and version of XP that's currently installed
on the computer. Since you state that the 25 character CD key is on the computer
I'm guessing it's on a sticker which would indicate that you have an OEM
version. You should also check to see if it says XP Home or Professional. Next,
I hope you have any important files backed up. While a repair installation
should preserve your data and installed programs, there's always a chance that
something could go wrong and your files would be lost. Finally, a repair
installation does not guarantee that the system will boot into Windows. There's
always the possibility that the brownout may have damaged some of the computer's
hardware.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
Thanks for posting.

>
> First off, being asked for a password for the administrator account leads me to
> believe you ended up in the Recovery Console. Did the screen looks like this?
>
No

> http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/winxp/advanced/registry01.gif
>
> If you're trying to perform a repair installation, then you hit the R key too
> early in the process. Reboot the computer from the XP installation CD and when
> you come to this screen, hit Enter.
>
> http://www.theeldergeek.com/images/XP Home Setup Graphic/CC.gif
>
> Windows will search for any existing XP installations on your computer and
> display a screen where you're asked if you want to repair the installation.
> Here's where you hit the R key.
>
This is the menu I saw and apparently it does not see the earlier
load. It just ask where I want to install Windows; C:Partion1
[Unknown] 152625 MB or D:Partion1[NTFS] 38162 MB.

After selecting C it states that the partition is too full or damaged,
etc and that formatting would be necessary. I am tempted to install
temporarily on D so that I might try recovering some of his files on
C:. Could I later delete the installation on D and re-install on C?

Thanks again,

gtb
 
"goodTweetieBird" <goodTweetieBird@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:34191d98-3c6b-497c-9f82-83ed79dc2382@l1g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for posting.
>
>>
>> First off, being asked for a password for the administrator account leads me
>> to
>> believe you ended up in the Recovery Console. Did the screen looks like this?
>>
> No
>
>> http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/winxp/advanced/registry01.gif
>>
>> If you're trying to perform a repair installation, then you hit the R key too
>> early in the process. Reboot the computer from the XP installation CD and
>> when
>> you come to this screen, hit Enter.
>>
>> http://www.theeldergeek.com/images/XP Home Setup Graphic/CC.gif
>>
>> Windows will search for any existing XP installations on your computer and
>> display a screen where you're asked if you want to repair the installation.
>> Here's where you hit the R key.
>>
> This is the menu I saw and apparently it does not see the earlier
> load. It just ask where I want to install Windows; C:Partion1
> [Unknown] 152625 MB or D:Partion1[NTFS] 38162 MB.
>
> After selecting C it states that the partition is too full or damaged,
> etc and that formatting would be necessary. I am tempted to install
> temporarily on D so that I might try recovering some of his files on
> C:. Could I later delete the installation on D and re-install on C?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> gtb


Normally, putting a parallel installation of XP on the D drive would be a simple
procedure. Unfortunately, the problems with the C drive may not allow this.
Windows places several files on the C drive no matter where the XP installation
resides. You could try installing on D, but don't be surprised if the state of
the C drive is an issue.

If you're looking to retrieve files, the simplest way is to take the drive out
of the problem computer and make it a slave drive on a working system. You would
probably run into a problem where access is denied to certain folders but that
can be overcome by taking ownership of the files. Another method of retrieving
files is to boot with a live Linux CD. This would allow you to either copy the
files to CD/DVD or transfer them to a networked computer.

Here are some web sites with information that might come in handy in helping you
recover your files.

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

Ubuntu Linux Live CD
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

CDBurnerXP - Needed to burn ISO image to CD
http://cdburnerxp.se/

Keep in mind that if you value the files that are on the computer, it's best to
make recovering them a priority before you attempt to reinstall XP.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
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