WINXP restore?

[Computer Deb]

OK, last month, I had to reinstall my OS because of a new harddrive. Yesterday, I started having some issues with modem and the software. So I uninstalled and deleted any files that were still in there after that, so I could have a clean reinstall. Also, mysteriously, neither of my two CDROM's were recognized. They were, however, in the BIOS but not my OS.

I probably got carried away and deleted a few files that I didn't really know what they were, but was pretty sure that they weren't OS files. Very honestly, I don't remember anything specific, other than there might have been an installer program in a temp file.

Needless to say when I rebooted, files were missing. So I thought I would go back and "repair" the XP installation, which seemed to work at first. I was able to boot from CD ROM from the BIOs and got going. Mid-way through, I got the message that it could not find the file "GLOBALROOT\DEVICE\CDROM0\I386" which it needed to complete the repair. It would not let me "browse" the CD or even my harddrive.

I couldn't do anything further, it would cancel the installation. So, I installed a second installation which I am using now. Of course, the issues are numerous. It doesn't recognize any of my programs, although a few will work. I absolutely don't want to "re-install" them. What I would like to do is "repair" the original version which has all the updates, etc. Is is possible to go between the two versions, if necessary?

Oh, and when I finally got online, I got the blue screen message that the system was going to be shut down because of ..., which I believe is a virus. Somewhere I have the fix for it, but couldn't find ...

Can anyone help me? This is what I have:

AMD1800 CPU
40 Gig HD primary and 10 Gig slave (data on that)
WINXP 2002 version
Gigabyte MOBO with graphics & audio on board
756 DDR Ram

Any suggestions appreciated!?

Debbi

[Budfred]

If you have a WinXP disk, you can try a Repair Install... (http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm) If you have a Restore disk from the computer maker, I am guessing there may be a way to do what you want, but I don't know what it is, so hang on for more ideas.....

[Computer Deb]

There are two (2) options on the WIN XP disc (which I do have), one is to repair and the other is to use the repair utility, which I'm not quite sure how to do. But I will try!

Thanks

[Budfred]

Make sure you read that link I posted, it is not as clear as it seems when you first boot up. You actually have to proceed as though you are doing an Install, but then opt for Repair. If you go to the part that talks about Recovery, it is a whole different thing....

[no-mbr]

Too many changes to know what's going on, but the first thing that comes to mind is bad installation CD... Right after that, a loose cable to the CD ROM drive, you did replace hard drive recently.....? Right, could have bumped the other controller cable....

I say give up and do fresh install, and find a dos disk and whatever is necessary to copy the install files to the hard drive. You can do an install from the I386 directory by typing "WINNT" at a prompt.

Good luck.

[Computer Deb]

I talk fast and probably type the same way. I actually had both problems, but they were not associated. It only complicated my trying to repair my original WINXP installation.

I could get my CDROM to read when I used my WIN98 start up disk. I could start the repair of my OS; however, after it gathers the information and copies some of the files, it reboots before it actually completes the install. I don't know if it doesn't read the CD then because the installation/repair stops because it is looking for this file. At that point it does not read the CDROM and aborts the installation. I tried to find the file in DOS, but with no luck.

So I did a complete second install which worked. Then I copied my entire WINXP CD onto my harddrive and tried to "rerun" the repair installation. The new installation is really all I need, except I need to import my settings, etc. That is the challenge now.

I do think that I have that worm that was around last summer, because I know that somewhere I saw a "Recycler" file on what was supposed to be my clean slave drive. Twice I had the shutdown message when I came online. I'll have to look at that tomorrow. I am beat and have to get some sleep.

Thanks for all the input, I'll keep everyone up to date!

Debbi

[Budfred]

If you think you have a worm, it would be a good idea to run some scans. Start with an online virus scan and then go with Spybot and/or AdAware. Once you do all that, run HijackThis to let us look over your log and make sure it is clean... To run HJT, extract it to a permanent folder such as C:\Documents or one you create like C:\HJT. Close all programs you have opened and make sure that all programs are enabled if you use msconfig. Run it and Scan, then Save the log. When the log window appears, Right click to Copy it, open your browser and come here to Paste the log. Do not make any changes until it is checked since most items are either benign or essential to the computer.

You can find links to the scans below, but the HijackThis link may not work due to problems online. If not, post back and we can find another link...