FIXMBR redux

[William B. Lurie]

I think this leads back to my discussions with, and
advice from, Michael Solomon a while back.......

Since 'solving' the problems of creating a drive image
of my master hard drive with Drive Image 7, and creating
a clone of that drive with its PowerQuest Recovery
Environment software, I've been living is a fool's
paradise. I discovered this when I went to create the
monthly Drive Image yesterday, and create the clone on
a newly purchased hard drive.

I've been living with my Master drive booting to a
choice between normal start-up and Recovery Console,
a minor annoyance because after a ten-second countdown
it goes to normal boot, automatically. No problem there.

I believe that the main part of the problem is now that
the new exact clone does not have Master Boot Record
correct, because the 'Normal Boot' path leads to the
choices of Safe Mode or Normal etcetera, and no choice
gets to anything other than a repeat of that set of
choices. If I select Recovery Console, I get a short
DOS-type message saying that file 'xxxxx.dll' is missing,
and to reload it somehow from somewhere. I suspect that
more than one '.dll' file will be in the list of what it
needs. I tried selecting Recovery Console, hoping that I
could somehow do a FIXMBR there, but I can't get to RC.

Incidentally, in running Drive Image, I've repeated the
whole image-and-recreate process, with and without the
'keep the MBR' option, with no apparent difference in
results. I've tried to solve the problem without going to
you experts, but what I've considered all logical paths
haven't solved it.

William B. Lurie

 

[Geoffw]

boot from your cd and go to recovery console from there, I
assume it recognises the new clone as the OS when you search
for it via RC

use fixmbr and fixboot

I had a similar problem and this has resolved them for me

good luck

Geoff

 

[William B. Lurie]

Tried that, Geoff. Cannot get to Recovery Console. I put in the XP-CD,
rebooted. It gave me choice of going to XP or to RC. I chose RC, and
instead of finding it on the hard drive (where it was on the drive I did
the Image of), or on the CD, it stopped with message "file missing
or corrupt system32/hal.dll ......Please install a copy of that file."
Of course, it didn't tell me how to install it, even assuming I can find
in on the CD, where, if I find it, I expect it to be a ".dl_" file and
not .dll..
Bill L.

 

[*Vanguard*]

William B. Lurie said in news:[email protected]:

I think this leads back to my discussions with, and
advice from, Michael Solomon a while back.......

Since 'solving' the problems of creating a drive image
of my master hard drive with Drive Image 7, and creating
a clone of that drive with its PowerQuest Recovery
Environment software, I've been living is a fool's
paradise. I discovered this when I went to create the
monthly Drive Image yesterday, and create the clone on
a newly purchased hard drive.

I've been living with my Master drive booting to a
choice between normal start-up and Recovery Console,
a minor annoyance because after a ten-second countdown
it goes to normal boot, automatically. No problem there.

I believe that the main part of the problem is now that
the new exact clone does not have Master Boot Record
correct, because the 'Normal Boot' path leads to the
choices of Safe Mode or Normal etcetera, and no choice
gets to anything other than a repeat of that set of
choices. If I select Recovery Console, I get a short
DOS-type message saying that file 'xxxxx.dll' is missing,
and to reload it somehow from somewhere. I suspect that
more than one '.dll' file will be in the list of what it
needs. I tried selecting Recovery Console, hoping that I
could somehow do a FIXMBR there, but I can't get to RC.

Incidentally, in running Drive Image, I've repeated the
whole image-and-recreate process, with and without the
'keep the MBR' option, with no apparent difference in
results. I've tried to solve the problem without going to
you experts, but what I've considered all logical paths
haven't solved it.

William B. Lurie

Although PartitionMagic is great at managing partitions, it doesn't let
you save the contents of the MBR. Neither does DriveImage since it
creates image filesets for the partition and doesn't include the MBR.
You mentioned a "keep the MBR" option. Is this something new in their
latest version 7? I have DriveImage 2002 (and prior versions) and that
was not an option.

If PartitionMagic or DriveImage really don't include the MBR in whatever
version you have, and if you were looking to copy the MBR from the
source drive to the cloned drive, use mbrutil from Powerquest. Go to:

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/

and download head.zip. You can also use tools like MBRtool
(http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/~tkuurstra/mbrtool.htm). If you know the
bootstrap program is larger than 460 bytes and usurps the unused portion
of track 0 then be sure to save the entire track 0 rather than just the
MBR section (sector 0). Some multiboot managers will use the rest of
track 0 for their code or for an extended partition table (if they
support more than 4 partitions). You could save the MBR or track 0 onto
a floppy and then use the mbrutil or MBRtool to restore it onto the
cloned drive.

With the message regarding hal.dll missing, did you perchance change the
power saving settings in the BIOS from ACPI to APM or visa versa? Have
you tried running the Repair function from the install CD?

You can configure the timeout for the boot menu. System applet in
Control Panel, Advanced, Startup and Recovery button,

 

[William B. Lurie]

Michael, it is my suspicion that the "restore MBR"
feature of PowerQuest's Drive Image 7 is not
compatible with the bootup procedure which I
have, namely, on *every* bootup it gives the
choice of going to XP in normal manner, or going
to Recovery Console. I don't think I have any
alternative to de-energizing the RC option on
boot-up. Of course I'd like to do that on the clone
without disturbing the Master Drive, but I wouldn't
know how to get there. If you agree, and can tell me,
I'd like to do that first, namely, get back to a
pure system. Failing that, I'd say, tell me how to
disable RC altogether on my Master Drive, figuring
we can put it back again if and when we need it.

 

[William B. Lurie]

William B. Lurie said in


Although PartitionMagic is great at managing partitions, it doesn't let
you save the contents of the MBR. Neither does DriveImage since it
creates image filesets for the partition and doesn't include the MBR.
You mentioned a "keep the MBR" option. Is this something new in their
latest version 7? I have DriveImage 2002 (and prior versions) and that
was not an option.

If PartitionMagic or DriveImage really don't include the MBR in whatever
version you have, and if you were looking to copy the MBR from the
source drive to the cloned drive, use mbrutil from Powerquest. Go to:

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/

and download head.zip. You can also use tools like MBRtool
(http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/~tkuurstra/mbrtool.htm). If you know the
bootstrap program is larger than 460 bytes and usurps the unused portion
of track 0 then be sure to save the entire track 0 rather than just the
MBR section (sector 0). Some multiboot managers will use the rest of
track 0 for their code or for an extended partition table (if they
support more than 4 partitions). You could save the MBR or track 0 onto
a floppy and then use the mbrutil or MBRtool to restore it onto the
cloned drive.

With the message regarding hal.dll missing, did you perchance change the
power saving settings in the BIOS from ACPI to APM or visa versa? Have
you tried running the Repair function from the install CD?

You can configure the timeout for the boot menu. System applet in
Control Panel, Advanced, Startup and Recovery button,

Thanks for all the goodies, Vang......I'll answer one specifically:
Drive Inage 7.0.x , in restoring the original hard drive (or partition
if you will, I guess), asks if you want to restore the original MBR, .
I changed no power settings or anything else,
and, frankly, I feel I'll be getting in deeper than I want to, if I
do all the MBR manipulations you suggest.

I want a straightforward tool: I have my Master Hard Drive, with my
Master XP OS complete in one partition. I use Drive Image 7 to make
an Image (not 'copy', I learned) which I store on a different (slave)
hard drive. Then I use Drive Image's PQRE to take that Image and
recreate a clone of the original XP, complete, bootable, exact,
fully interchangeable, on still another hard drive. If an when the
Master Drive fails (as it must, one of these days), I can just sway
in the clone. And I don't mind doing those two simple steps at
the beginning of every month.....if it would work!!!!

 

[Sharon F]

I think this leads back to my discussions with, and
advice from, Michael Solomon a while back.......

Since 'solving' the problems of creating a drive image
of my master hard drive with Drive Image 7, and creating
a clone of that drive with its PowerQuest Recovery
Environment software, I've been living is a fool's
paradise. I discovered this when I went to create the
monthly Drive Image yesterday, and create the clone on
a newly purchased hard drive.

I've been living with my Master drive booting to a
choice between normal start-up and Recovery Console,
a minor annoyance because after a ten-second countdown
it goes to normal boot, automatically. No problem there.

I believe that the main part of the problem is now that
the new exact clone does not have Master Boot Record
correct, because the 'Normal Boot' path leads to the
choices of Safe Mode or Normal etcetera, and no choice
gets to anything other than a repeat of that set of
choices. If I select Recovery Console, I get a short
DOS-type message saying that file 'xxxxx.dll' is missing,
and to reload it somehow from somewhere. I suspect that
more than one '.dll' file will be in the list of what it
needs. I tried selecting Recovery Console, hoping that I
could somehow do a FIXMBR there, but I can't get to RC.

Incidentally, in running Drive Image, I've repeated the
whole image-and-recreate process, with and without the
'keep the MBR' option, with no apparent difference in
results. I've tried to solve the problem without going to
you experts, but what I've considered all logical paths
haven't solved it.

William B. Lurie

Something about your saga keeps nagging at the back of my mind but I can't
put my finger on it.

When you create an exact image to second drive, the target purpose is to be
able to yank a non-functioning drive and drop the imaged drive into place.
(A restorable image is something different. It's usually compressed and can
be restored to any drive that is large enough to hold the uncompressed
image.)

Have you tried booting with only the imaged drive placed as master on the
main controller? At this point, those recovery console fix it thingies
should be able to help with rebuilding the bootconfig and boot record. Or,
if PM will restore it, give that a try.

Or are you trying to maintain two bootable drives and trying to switch
between two separate XP installations? If this is what you're doing and
XP's boot manager is failing to handle this, you might want to try a third
party boot manager.

I no longer use Drive Image, stopped with Drive Image 6. The newer version
may offer alternatives that I'm not aware of - meaning that the above may
not apply.

For a drive to boot, there are some requirements. There has to be an active
partition, for one. On that partition the boot records and files have to be
available to get past the initial boot strap and let it move on to the
actual loading of the operating system.

I don't know the answer to your problem, William. Just typing some thoughts
"out loud" that may or may not help. It sounds like you're so close to
getting this to work but a step is missing. Just can't put my finger on
which step and since I don't use Drive Image can't give specific advice.

 

[William B. Lurie]

Something about your saga keeps nagging at the back of my mind but I can't
put my finger on it.

When you create an exact image to second drive, the target purpose is to be
able to yank a non-functioning drive and drop the imaged drive into place.
(A restorable image is something different. It's usually compressed and can
be restored to any drive that is large enough to hold the uncompressed
image.)

Have you tried booting with only the imaged drive placed as master on the
main controller? At this point, those recovery console fix it thingies
should be able to help with rebuilding the bootconfig and boot record. Or,
if PM will restore it, give that a try.

Or are you trying to maintain two bootable drives and trying to switch
between two separate XP installations? If this is what you're doing and
XP's boot manager is failing to handle this, you might want to try a third
party boot manager.

I no longer use Drive Image, stopped with Drive Image 6. The newer version
may offer alternatives that I'm not aware of - meaning that the above may
not apply.

For a drive to boot, there are some requirements. There has to be an active
partition, for one. On that partition the boot records and files have to be
available to get past the initial boot strap and let it move on to the
actual loading of the operating system.

I don't know the answer to your problem, William. Just typing some thoughts
"out loud" that may or may not help. It sounds like you're so close to
getting this to work but a step is missing. Just can't put my finger on
which step and since I don't use Drive Image can't give specific advice.

Thank you, Sharon. You speak the truth, of course, and I'll simplify
your thinking by making it clear that when I've spoken about what
I do with the 'cloned' hard drive, I mean that I physically shut
the system down, and pull out the Master, and insert the Clone
exactly in its place, electrically and physically. There should
be no conflict there. BTW, D-I 7 is, I believe, the only version
for XP. The D-I 2002/6 version is expressly not for XP.

Yes, the drive onto which I Recover the Image is Active and Primary.
It is brand new and not even partitioned.

As an aside, and not pertinent here, I have another completely
separate drive with WIN ME on it, and I am able, through a
simple manipulation of the BIOS, to boot to HDD-0 (these XP
alternates) or to HDD-1 (the ME), should I care to go that route.

I think the next step will be for you, or Michael, to instruct me how
to deactivate the RC altogether, after which I will first test my
Master Drive (and pray that it will still work), and then repeat
the D-I Image creation followed by trying to create the clone from it.
W B L

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

I need to understand what you've stated as I have Drive Image 2002 as well.

If Drive Image 2002 doesn't include the contents of the MBR, would that not
make image restoration useless as it would not produce a bootable drive?
Since I've used Drive Image 2002 through several betas wherein I deleted my
system partition and restored the image created with Drive Image and had a
bootable system upon completion of the restore process, I'd like to know how
that is possible. In fact, as a part of the DI 2002 restore routine, you
must first delete the partition.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?B?uyBtcnRlZSCr?=]

So just reinstall the recovery console. I have had to do that because after restoring an image (TrueImage7 www.acronis.com) the RC was not accessible.

As far as the MBR is concerned, I did a fresh install of XP, ran RC from the CD, and fix MBR found that the MBR was corrupted or not standard, I left it alone this time and it is working fine.

--
Just my 2¢ worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
| I think this leads back to my discussions with, and
| advice from, Michael Solomon a while back.......
|
| Since 'solving' the problems of creating a drive image
| of my master hard drive with Drive Image 7, and creating
| a clone of that drive with its PowerQuest Recovery
| Environment software, I've been living is a fool's
| paradise. I discovered this when I went to create the
| monthly Drive Image yesterday, and create the clone on
| a newly purchased hard drive.
|
| I've been living with my Master drive booting to a
| choice between normal start-up and Recovery Console,
| a minor annoyance because after a ten-second countdown
| it goes to normal boot, automatically. No problem there.
|
| I believe that the main part of the problem is now that
| the new exact clone does not have Master Boot Record
| correct, because the 'Normal Boot' path leads to the
| choices of Safe Mode or Normal etcetera, and no choice
| gets to anything other than a repeat of that set of
| choices. If I select Recovery Console, I get a short
| DOS-type message saying that file 'xxxxx.dll' is missing,
| and to reload it somehow from somewhere. I suspect that
| more than one '.dll' file will be in the list of what it
| needs. I tried selecting Recovery Console, hoping that I
| could somehow do a FIXMBR there, but I can't get to RC.
|
| Incidentally, in running Drive Image, I've repeated the
| whole image-and-recreate process, with and without the
| 'keep the MBR' option, with no apparent difference in
| results. I've tried to solve the problem without going to
| you experts, but what I've considered all logical paths
| haven't solved it.
|
| William B. Lurie
|

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

First, I'm assuming you did, in fact, install the Recovery Console to your
hard drive.

Were both hard drives connected to the system when you created the image of
the first drive?

 

[Sharon F]

Yes, the drive onto which I Recover the Image is Active and Primary.
It is brand new and not even partitioned.

The above statement cannot be true if there are no existing partitions.
Suggestion: Partition and format the drive. Then clone your image to it.

I think the next step will be for you, or Michael, to instruct me how
to deactivate the RC altogether, after which I will first test my
Master Drive (and pray that it will still work), and then repeat
the D-I Image creation followed by trying to create the clone from it.

To make it less troublesome to boot, you could reduce the timeout to 3
seconds.

To remove the recovery console, delete the cmdcons folder off of C: and
edit the boot.ini file to remove the reference to it.

 

[William B. Lurie]

First, I'm assuming you did, in fact, install the Recovery Console to your
hard drive.

Michael, several months ago you helped me install RC to my Master hard
drive.

Were both hard drives connected to the system when you created the image of
the first drive?

I thought I stated that D-I 7 is on my Master Drive, and I use it to
create a Drive Image on a sepate, Slave Drive. Then I take out and off
the Master Drive, put there instead a newly formatted drive, with
only one 'partition' if you call it that, the full drive. Then I use
PowerQuest's PQRE (Power Quest Recovery Environment) to (supposedly)
create, on the new blank master drive, a clone of the drive that was
there.

Specifically, Drive Image 7 is what PowerQuest supplies for XP.
It is not for 98 or ME or Windows 2000. The furnish Drive Image 6
for earlier systems.

Don't you think that RC has outlived its usefulness on
my system, and may actually be standing in the way of
Drive Image's Restore software from exactly recreating
my drive? If so, I'd appreciate specific instructions on
how to get it out of the way during boot-up.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

William, I did not ask the question I meant to ask. I meant to ask, were
both drives connected to the system when you first installed XP on the
primary drive. If not, then XP setup, never saw the second drive. If you
added the drive after you installed XP and then imaged the first drive to
the second drive, that might account for the HAL error as it sees the new
drive, though an image of the first drive as though it were a separate
computer.

 

[William B. Lurie]

William, I did not ask the question I meant to ask. I meant to ask, were
both drives connected to the system when you first installed XP on the
primary drive.

I am sure that, way back when I installed XP on the primary drive,
I had no slave drive. However, I don't understand the significance.
When both drives are online, I only 'run' the master. The slave
doesn't even have an OS on it.

If not, then XP setup, never saw the second drive. If you

added the drive after you installed XP and then imaged the first drive to
the second drive, that might account for the HAL error as it sees the new
drive, though an image of the first drive as though it were a separate
computer.

I must clarify quickly an error in what version of D-I is for what.
I quote their Installation Instructions:

"Drive Image for Windows 2000, Windows XP. Drive Image 7.0 does not run
under Windows 9x, Windows ME, or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. If you have
one of these operating systems, use the Drive Image CD that is marked
for your operating system".

I really think I should de-activate RC frommy Master drive, and make
sure it is bootable (suicide would be an alternative), and then
make a fresh Drive Image of it, on my Slave Drive, and then try to
Recover a clone from that fresh drive image. But I need specific
instructions on how to do so, if you agree.
William B. Lurie

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

The problem occurs when you try to boot the slave, is that correct? Even if
you change the slave to the master, the former slave drive has a cloned
image from a different hard drive of an OS installation that was installed
while the slave drive was not installed. I'm not sure if even having it
installed would make a difference but the error you mention is typical of
trying to image to a different computer than the one on which XP was
originally installed.

I can only deduce from that and what you have described and the fact the
slave hard drive was not connected to this computer when the OS was
installed that it is being seen as a different computer.

 

[William B. Lurie]

The problem occurs when you try to boot the slave, is that correct? Even if
you change the slave to the master, the former slave drive has a cloned
image from a different hard drive of an OS installation that was installed
while the slave drive was not installed. I'm not sure if even having it
installed would make a difference but the error you mention is typical of
trying to image to a different computer than the one on which XP was
originally installed.

I can only deduce from that and what you have described and the fact the
slave hard drive was not connected to this computer when the OS was
installed that it is being seen as a different computer.

No, that is not correct, Michael.
I have a hard drive.
I make a drive image of it.
That image happens to be on a different hard drive,
but it could just as well have been on a set of CDs.
I want to make an operating system out of that
image. You've stated that the error I mentioned is
typical of trying to image to a different computer than the
one on which XP was originally installed.

You are implying that no error would occur if I put
the OS back on the 'computer' where it was. That does
not make sense to me, because Drive Images and Ghosts
are used daily in cases where a drive fails altogether
and the Ghost or Dive Image is used to recreate the
system on a totally new drive. I don't think the
instructions imply any restrictions on the physical
medium to which the Image is restored.

I think that Sharon or somebody gave us a different
line of reasoning, that D-I can't handle this complicated
an MBR, one with a choice of OS or RC. That's why I asked
you to help me restore my original master OS to the
condition where, in boot-up, it acts as though there is
no such thing as a Recovery Console. That's the way it was
when you helped me install the RC.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

William, I said this is all I could conclude from this and I did raise the
possibility of this issue at the very outset.

That said, you're assertion is not quite correct.. Images are used all the
time to recover from system crashes and similar situations without issue but
that is to the same physical drive. However, when you image to a new hard
drive, one that the OS didn't see when it was first installed, because it
was not connected to the system at the time, you are changing the parameters
of the setup. If you understand XP's activation and anti-piracy scheme, it
makes perfect sense. Usually, they can get around this by doing a repair
install. I also told you at the outset, I wasn't sure this could be done
for precisely that reason.

It makes perfect sense if the new hard drive is not included in the original
hash created during System setup. If a user changes motherboards and
nothing, else, they usually have to do a repair install as well.

I'm not certain if this is the issue here but it fits all the criteria and
it's all I can conclude from the information.

My suggestion is to take this to the hardware board as they may have
experience with this and may come up with something else as the reason.
But, they need to be aware of the fact, the cloned drive was not connected
to the system when XP was first installed. They may say, it makes no
difference it should work. On the other hand, they may see the same thing
I've seen and given the error messages come to the same conclusion. This is
all that I can tell you as I've never tried to do what you are doing and I
haven't seen this exact situation elsewhere.

 

[William B. Lurie]

Michael, just as a point of information, I have an old XP Home Edition
Restore CD which came with a PC whose hard drive died after 3 months
in service. E-machines replaced the CD, under warranty, and I used the
Ghost image on the Restore CD to rebuild the OS back on a virgin drive
as it was originally on a different piece of hardware....
Some time later, I used the same CD to recreate the OS on two
other hard drives. Maybe I'm naive, but a new, formatted drive is
a fit place to restore an OS from a Drive Image of PowerQuest's. True,
the Ghost history I'm relating was not PQ's Drive Image, but to me
the principle is the same; it is all apples, not apples and oranges.

But is there no way to allow my present, functional system to boot
cleanly and uniquely to its OS, to delete and obviate the option to
go to Recovery Console?
WBL

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Reply inline:

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

Michael, just as a point of information, I have an old XP Home Edition
Restore CD which came with a PC whose hard drive died after 3 months
in service. E-machines replaced the CD, under warranty, and I used the
Ghost image on the Restore CD to rebuild the OS back on a virgin drive
as it was originally on a different piece of hardware....
Some time later, I used the same CD to recreate the OS on two
other hard drives. Maybe I'm naive, but a new, formatted drive is
a fit place to restore an OS from a Drive Image of PowerQuest's. True,
the Ghost history I'm relating was not PQ's Drive Image, but to me
the principle is the same; it is all apples, not apples and oranges.

Not applicable. First, it's a restore CD, not a retail version and second,
most of those are tied to the system. You can, within reason change
hardware, though changing motherboards on such a system might now work, at
least not with the restore CD, you likely would be able to clone images of
the restore CD to other hard drives on the same system, there's no hash, no
hardware abstraction layer issue.... Apples and Oranges.

But is there no way to allow my present, functional system to boot
cleanly and uniquely to its OS, to delete and obviate the option to
go to Recovery Console?
WBL

I have no idea about the RC or even if it figures in. Try a repair install
and see if it gets the drive bootable though you might have to activate
which should be no problem.
NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an
actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP
CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the
system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter
the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

When the system boots, a few screens into the process you may see a message
instructing you
to hit any key in order to boot from the CD along with a countdown. When
you see this be sure to
hit a key on the keyboard, if you miss this instruction and the system fails
to boot from the CD, it's too
late, you'll need to reboot and try again.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console. ***The selection you want at this screen is
"Setup Windows,"
NOT "Repair Windows Installation.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can
either purchase a retail version of XP will allow you to perform the above
among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery
routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all
files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.