AUTOEXEC gone walkabout !

[Len Dolby]

Oh dear, I've boo-booed, big-time !
Following excellent advice in this ng, have acheived quite a lot. Both C:\
and D:\ are formatted to NTFS, with C:\ volume ID restored to its original
ID (via back up before, run VolumeID, then restored the 2 WBA files.

Next step intended - Partition Magic 8, to maximise use of partitions.

Boo-boo? I inadvertently loaded BootMagic (and created a "rescue" floppy,
when asked to).
Bootmagic has caused HAVOC! Initially, PC demands boot from A: drive.
Inserting "rescue" disk, boot goes so far, then stops - missing file. Tried
booting from Windows floppy - no joy, cannot get any expected result. (boot
sequence was A:\ C:\, but since Bootmagic, C: boot no longer an option)

Changed the boot sequence in BIOS to C:\ A:\ - this works, BUT - it goes
thru BootMagic screen, waits 30 seconds (countdown) then XP starts - I would
say normally, except it now takes at least 4 minutes - the program loadings
sequence is so low it's like running thru treacle!.

Searched for Autoexec files, intending to change back to the original - but,
there isn't a Autoexec..BAK file, only Autoexec.NT, which I cannot open.

No Config.sys file, except two in the Bootmagic folder (one for DOS, one for
System 32) and I can't even read these (type .....\config.sys (dots are the
full path) won't type, and "edit" isn't an available option

I'd love to "uninstall" Bootmagic, but as there would then be no
autoexec.bat (or config.sys) to boot up with, I dare not. How do I correct
this - I want to get back to normal XP boot-up? Would "roll-back" help ?
(I'm reluctant to do that, last time I did, I ended up with XP in 16
colours, virtually crippled - took forever to get back to a clean
functioning system).

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Len.

I'm not even going to try to read your BootMagic woes, since I'm not
familiar with that product.

I'd love to "uninstall" Bootmagic, but as there would then be no
autoexec.bat (or config.sys) to boot up with, I dare not. How do I correct
this - I want to get back to normal XP boot-up?

Neither Autoexec.bat nor Config.sys are used at all in WinXP. They are
parts of the past. As out-of-date as MS-DOS. And WinXP doesn't create or
use a "rescue disk". The WinXP CD-ROM is bootable, and it includes the
Recovery Console, which is used to rescue an unbootable WinXP installation.

How much irreplaceable "stuff" is on your Drive C:. Assuming all your data
has been backed up somewhere, then all you need to do is boot from the WinXP
CD-ROM and follow the prompts - including the very early one that offers to
repartition (optional) and reformat (also optional) your HD. You don't need
any additional tools; all you need is on the CD.

If you need to preserve installed applications on Drive C:, check out this
Knowledge Base article:
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

Note that this is NOT intended as a timesaver in installing WinXP itself; it
will take an hour or two, just like a clean install. And, as soon as you
get your firewall and antivirus back in place, you must get online and visit
Windows Update to reinstall the latest Service Pack and later Hotfixes that
protect you from Blaster and other malware; even with broadband, that took
me a couple of hours. But, it should preserve your installed applications
and data - and most of your tweaks. Plan on half a day for the whole
project.

What did you plan to use Partition Magic for? Have you found and studied
Disk Management, which is a part of Windows XP? When you get WinXP up and
running again, type at the Run prompt: diskmgmt.msc When you get into DM,
study it carefully, then study its Help file; there is a LOT of information
there.

Assuming a blank-HD start, use WinXP Setup to create and format Drive C:,
limiting it so that Setup doesn't include the whole HD in the single
partition. If you want to install WinXP on some other drive, then also
create and format that during Setup. Then install WinXP. Boot into WinXP
and use DM to create, format and otherwise manage any additional partitions
and logical drives that you want.

Partition Magic is a great program. Sometimes nothing else will do the job.
But Disk Management will do many jobs that we used to need PM for. It will
do all that we used to do with FDISK and Format.exe when we were running
MS-DOS - and more.

If you plan to dual-boot WinXP with Win9x/ME or some other OS, then install
that OS first. Always install the newest OS LAST; it knows how to handle
the earlier versions, but they have never heard of WinXP. WinXP will
automatically create the dual-boot setup; you probably won't need BootMagic
or any other third-party boot manager.

RC

 

[Len Dolby]

RC, first, thank you for a very comprehensive and informative response.
One small but critical problem - my PC came with XP pre-installed.

Have Targa (PC mfr) Product Recovery CD-Rom "for distribution with a
New PC only" with MS WindowsXP logo and hologram, with all the XP
installation menus - (appears to be a full XP system disk) - BUT have either
mislaid (or never had) - the XP 25 digit serial no which I will need
to re-install XP, as per MS Knowledgebase article. CD-Rom came in a
plain white sealed envelope, no serial no, no jewel case.

Ran Belarc Adviser. my XP software licence looks like
55288-OEM-0016466-33741 (format correct, numbers not - security!)
Assuming "dashes" count as characters, this is 23 characters long, not 25.

Is it possible to find my 25 digit XP product key from the HDD?
(PC is now > 2 years old, out of warranty - no mfr help any more).

Sincerely, LEN

 

[Len Dolby]

DISREGARD the previous post (how to find serial no) Got it now - Regards Len