A repair installation is a last resort attempt before a clean installation.
A repair/upgrade installation should preserve all the applications and data
on the computer however best practice is to always have backups of any
important data and configuration settings. For XP Pro if the user has any
files encrypted with EFS those files should be decrypted before doing a
clean install or the user will lose permanent access to those files unless
their is a backup of the EFS private key in a password protected .pfx file.
A repair/upgrade installation will often fix operating system related
problems but will not remove malware or spyware. It also would be worthwhile
to try using System File Checker as in sfc /scannow but be sure to have the
install disk handy. The links below explain more. --- Steve
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-
us/system_file_checker.mspx?mfr=true
--- SFC
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306952/ --- see What an In-Place Upgrade
Changes and it also applies to XP.
What an In-Place Upgrade Changes
An in-place upgrade: . Rolls back any hotfixes, service packs, and Microsoft
Internet Explorer upgrades to their base versions.
. Refreshes the registry and restores default registry values.
. Reapplies default permissions.
. Reregisters Component Object Model (COM) components and Windows File
Protection (WFP) files.
. Reenumerates Plug and Play devices, including the hardware
abstraction layer (HAL).
. Reenumerates and changes drive letters, based on the current drives
and partitions that are seen during the in-place upgrade and on the rules
that are documented in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
Andra said:
many thanks!
yes, almost all of that tried except reinstallation or repair.
It's all the same in Safe mode.
Btw, what does repair do actually to the existing system? It's not my
computer, I would like to make changes as little as possible.
Steven L Umbach wrote
It could be malware or other problem such as software conflict. Check the
logs via Event Viewer to see if any error/warnings are shown that could
be
relevant. Try booting into Safe Mode to see if that makes any difference
then some startup program/process/service is causing the problem and if that
works msconfig can be used to troubleshoot via selective startup. Use Task
Manager and look at processes to see if any process [other than system idle
process] is using a large amount of the CPU when you experience the problem
which could help identify such. Make sure you scan for viruses in Safe Mode
also and that you scan for spyware also in Safe Mode being sure to use
the
latest definitions for any program you use to scan with. If you do not have
a spyware detection and removal program try the free for personal use
AdAware SE. If you don't make any progress you may want to consider
doing
an
upgrade/repair installation though you would need to first install your
service pack when done [if not included on the install disk] and then
all
critical security updates from Windows Updates. --- Steve
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/ --- AdAware SE
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxpsp2/Default.mspx
--- Protect Your PC tips and links on how to deal with spyware and malware
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm --- XP repair
install info
"Andra" <andraatlatnetdotlv> wrote in message
Win XP Prof. SP2
Open Control Panel, double click Adm Tools, OK. Go back, double click
either
Adm Tools or Netw connections (or any that is shown under Control
Panel
in
Windows Explorer - My Computer), nothing happens.
it really seems it's some virus, but Norton AV does not detect any (though
first run deleted some trojans).
Any help?
