Help with System Restore please?

[Soooz]

I'm wondering if anyone can help me.

My pc suddenly appeared to have 'lost' it's CD/DVD drive.

I searched and found a 'solution' which meant that I had to do a REDEGIT thing - deleting two named files.
Back came my CD drive.

Then came the 'serious error' button.

And my pc keeps turning itself back on when I want it to shut down. Or when I'm downloading something - it turns off.

Is it something I've done?

I've run the scan disk thing - and the errors have been repaired (as far as I can tell) but it's still doing odd things.

I run several reliable programs to keep it safe and the anti-virus (all up-to-date) isn't showing anything untoward.

Is there anything I can do before I wipe my hard-drive clean?
(windows xp)

[Sylvander]

You could use a restore point to "jump back" to the way the software was when all was well [immediately before you made the unfortunate change].

When the drive was "LOST".
Did your CD-drive show any sign of communication with the BIOS during POST?
[The drive LED would be blinking (communication), not glowing constantly (no communication)]
Did the drive show on screen as having been detected during POST?
What showed up in Device Manager?
What showed in Windows Explorer?

[Soooz]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

The restore point is cr*p on my pc. It only shows a day before which never helps. I've tried adjusting that but it won't.

I really don't know what the BIOS stuff means. I'm sorry. I'm not very techie minded!

[Sylvander]

"The restore point is cr*p on my pc"
Restore points are not so good as having a backup system that runs outside of the Windows environment [from a bootable CD or floppy] and therefore can backup and restore even when Windows won't boot.
If it were me, I'd switch off the restore points and use such a system instead.
I use the free bootable "Emergency Boot CD" [EBCD] shown below.
To store the image backup files you need a FAT32 partition other than any of the partitions [of any type] you intend to backup.
And you need a working CD-reader.

1. How to make a free “Smart Boot Manager” floppy
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41498
This makes it easier to boot a chosen drive [particularly the one holding the EBCD].

2. How to make a free EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
This has a number of useful utilities included including "Image" [for DOS, by Terabyte] & "File Manager".

"I really don't know what the BIOS stuff means"
See this description of the startup sequence (http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/startup.htm#Power_supply).
The BIOS [Basic Input/Output System] is a really simple program stored in permanent memory in a CMOS chip on the motherboard.
When you switch on the PC, the BIOS program runs.
One of the first things it does is the "Power-On Self-Test" [POST] to check whether all the hardware is present and functional [all the blinking LED's, the buzzing FDD].
AS part of the POST it will communicate with the optical drives [blinking LED's on the drives show this happening].
If the BIOS Setup [shows the BIOS's configuration settings] has the BIOS configured to display information on screen, that info should show the drives being auto-detected [the drives found are displayed] and configured so they can work.
You may need to hit the "Esc" button on the keyboard to shut down the splash screen and show the info.

"my pc keeps turning itself back on when I want it to shut down"
To prevent it restarting and instead display an error, do the following:
Right click [My Computer] click [Properties] and select [Advanced] tab.
Click the [Settings] button in the [Startup and Recovery] section.
Remove the checkmark from [Automatically Restart] in [System Failure] section.

"when I'm downloading something - it turns off"
This is probably happening because the registry isn not as it should be [the things you did to the registry were not all good].
You really need to restore the registry to the way it was.
If you don't have the means to restore a backup of the registry, do you have a program that will scan for registry errors and fix them?
In the last resort you could run a "REPAIR (http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm) " reinstallation of Windows.

[Soooz]

Thank you Sylvander. I've printed that out and will see what I can do.

[Soooz]

Hmmm I'm a little bit scared of all this!

I've done the easy bit and need a little more basic instruction for the big job!

I have to create a floppy AND a rescue disk? And then run them as they are together? (or not?)
And I've no idea what a FAT32 partition is *gulp*

Can you do me an idiot's step by step please? :o/
(and I daren't do the REPAIR thing in case I make it worse!)

Help!

[Sylvander]

"I've done the easy bit"
What bit was that?

"I have to create a floppy AND a rescue disk?"
I take it you mean...
1. The “Smart Boot Manager” floppy?
That's just a nice little software tool to keep in your "toolbox".
It allows you to choose a drive to boot from the boot menu it displays, so you don't need to go into the BIOS Setup to change the boot order.
2. The free bootable "Emergency Boot CD" [EBCD] that includes lots of useful utility programs.

"And then run them as they are together?"
You put them both in their respective drives and boot the PC.
If your PC's BIOS is configured to boot first from the FDD, then the floppy boots first and a menu comes up showing all your bootable drives. You use the down key on the keyboard to highlight the CD-drive [at the bottom of the list] and hit enter. Then the PC boots from the EBCD in the CD-drive.
At the EBCD's 1st menu you can type in a number [for an item on the menu] and hit "Enter" to make that option run.
If you hit "Enter" or 1 [at the 1st menu], you are taken to the 2nd menu.
You are asked to ok the mouse driver, the English language, the CD-driver.
At the 2nd menu you have a mouse cursor and can use that to select [highlight] and hit "Enter", or else double-click an item to "choose" it.
You could run its copy of "MS Scandisk" [MUCH better than the Windows version].
If you ever decide to, you could use "Unrecoverably WIPE info from disks".
Or use "Free fdisk" to repartition your HDD.
You aught to use "IMAGE" to make a backup of your system partition [C: I expect]. Do you know how many partitions are on your HDD? And are they NTFS or FAT32 partitions? If you don't know, do you have any program that will tell you?
If not, the KILLDISK (http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm) prog on this bootable floppy will tell you. It will also zero-fill your HDD or any number of chosen partitions. Nice program!

"Can you do me an idiot's step by step please?"
I thought those threads already did that.
If there's anything [any step] you're having difficulty with let me know.

"I daren't do the REPAIR thing in case I make it worse!"
I don't think you CAN make it worse by doing a repair, only better.
You cannot lose any files, all it does is make sure everything is there that should be there; that all's as it should be.
But it would be nice to first make an image backup, so if anything goes wrong you can restore that to go back to the way things were.

"Hmmm I'm a little bit scared of all this!"
Take your time, only do what you feel able to do.
Tell me about anything you don't want to do and we might try a different [perhaps easier] approach.

[Soooz]

I'm running XP and I want to wipe my computer clean so that it runs better and so that any glitches disappear!

When I go to system restore - it only gives me today's date to restore from - which isn't much help!
I can't go back prior to this date and I've got no obvious means of restoring the computer to it's 'new' state.

Is there any way round this?

[johnny_quest]

backup your data manually and reinstall the os

[Soooz]

I don't mind losing anything that's on there tbh but I also don't know what an os is!

[david eaton]

What you mean by restore, and the operating system (os) means is different.
If you want to wipe the machine clean, and start again, will depend of whether you have a genuine Windows XP disk, or a suppliers "restore" disk.

[Soooz]

I don't recall any disk :(

I want to start it all over again so it's clean and like it's new.

[mjc]

Alright, let's start at the beginning....what brand computer do you have?

Do you have the receipt/bill of sale?

How old is it?

What seems to be the problem with Windows?

[Soooz]

Thank you mjc - sorry to be so green!

I've a Packard Bell and I don't remember when I got it - nor where the receipt is (but I'll have a look) - grim huh? :(

The problem is that it seemed to suddenly lose it's disk drive when I wanted to play a cd - so I installed it and did something with a 'redegit' process (argh I don't remember now!) which meant it worked a treat but then began to do some serious errors.

Now - it's just not right - if I'm using it and leave it for a few mins - I get a blue info screen which tells me to switch it off - I'm sorry not to be specific but I'm not actually at home at the moment.

I know that the thing I did to it (from asking on here before) was not a good thing to do and it could be the cause of it - so in my simple head - I thought that if I was to restore it to it's factory settings - ie wipe anything I've done to it off - going back to when I got it - the problems would disappear too.

The only way I can do that is to do the hard-drive wipe thing - which I did with my older pc by using the boot disk and the windows disk. This pc doesn't have a floppy disc drive at all and I don't recall seeing a boot disk or anything else.

I sound a hopeless case don't I? :(

[Soooz]

sorry - I didn't mean to abandon you and your kind help - it was a bit too much for me at the time and I forgot to bookmark your site.

I'd also learned to ignore the little warning boxes *blush* and worked around them - but it's driving me nuts now! I've just reposted to ask for help as I don't know where to begin and it all seems so complicated!

[Soooz]

This is where I started to ask for help - if that's of any use? http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=45653

[Paul Komski]

Have merged these two related threads into one.

You will almost certainly need a Packard Bell Restore CD (and possibly a PB restore floppy) to get you back to the factory settings. Which model is it so we can help you find the correct reference on the PB site (http://support.packardbell.com).

F11 during boot-up (http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=topic_02201&) may let you restore back to factory state from a hidden partition on the hard drive but the exact method does vary from model to model.