Here's a challenge for you! I disabled all the video card drivers.

[Guest]

Hi there. I hope you can help. The PC is at the computer shop, and they
haven't been able to restore from Windows! Ok I'll start at the beginning.
PC environment: XP Home SP2 with latest patches. Intel P4 3.0GHz, internal
Maxtor 240GB ATA drive, internal NEC DVD-RW drive, Matrox Millenium G450 dual
head video card, 1GB RAM.

Everything is fine and then using Windows control panel to remove programs,
I removed Matrox display software and rebooted. XP went to 640x480 res. I
reset to 1280x1024. Restarted PC. Everything was fine. Opened the Matrox
software installer and cancelled installation halfway through. (oops!!)
Opened the Windows Display control panel, advanced section, and saw that the
only driver in the pull-down list was something like "VGA default". Also, the
four fields in the column on the left side said something like <unavailable>.
So I ***disabled*** this driver. Restart. PC boots, Windows XP startup shows
and then goes black. I can tell PC is still booting normally though from HD
activity light.

I try to boot with safe mode. PC hangs at agp440.sys. I did find the
Microsoft article here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324764
Once in the Recovery Console at the C:>, I typed in listsvc and the next
line would be C:> and nothing else. I do not have a password for
Administrator.

At this point I bring the PC with the original, genuine Windows XP CD with a
date of 2002 to the computer shop and leave it. Two hours later I call and
the tech says that Windows restore is failing because my CD is different from
the original windows installed on it. I think this is correct.

At that point I had a flash of inspiration. Let the PC boot all the way,
normally. Then use keyboard commands to access the Windows Display control
panel and re-enable the video driver. I couldn't call before he closed, so I
don't know if that will work. But if it doesn't, what can I do??? My last
backup is from a week ago, and I really hope you can help me figure something
out so I don't lose a week of work, which is, well, about 40 hours of stuff!

Thank you so much in advance!
Kind regards,
Leafgreen

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi there. I hope you can help. The PC is at the computer shop, and they
haven't been able to restore from Windows! Ok I'll start at the beginning.
PC environment: XP Home SP2 with latest patches. Intel P4 3.0GHz, internal
Maxtor 240GB ATA drive, internal NEC DVD-RW drive, Matrox Millenium G450 dual
head video card, 1GB RAM.

Everything is fine and then using Windows control panel to remove programs,
I removed Matrox display software and rebooted. XP went to 640x480 res. I
reset to 1280x1024. Restarted PC. Everything was fine. Opened the Matrox
software installer and cancelled installation halfway through. (oops!!)
Opened the Windows Display control panel, advanced section, and saw that the
only driver in the pull-down list was something like "VGA default". Also, the
four fields in the column on the left side said something like

So I ***disabled*** this driver. Restart. PC boots, Windows XP startup shows
and then goes black. I can tell PC is still booting normally though from HD
activity light.

I try to boot with safe mode. PC hangs at agp440.sys. I did find the
Microsoft article here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324764
Once in the Recovery Console at the C:>, I typed in listsvc and the next
line would be C:> and nothing else. I do not have a password for
Administrator.

At this point I bring the PC with the original, genuine Windows XP CD with a
date of 2002 to the computer shop and leave it. Two hours later I call and
the tech says that Windows restore is failing because my CD is different from
the original windows installed on it. I think this is correct.

At that point I had a flash of inspiration. Let the PC boot all the way,
normally. Then use keyboard commands to access the Windows Display control
panel and re-enable the video driver. I couldn't call before he closed, so I
don't know if that will work. But if it doesn't, what can I do??? My last
backup is from a week ago, and I really hope you can help me figure something
out so I don't lose a week of work, which is, well, about 40 hours of stuff!

Thank you so much in advance!
Kind regards,
Leafgreen

You can try the blind typing stuff. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't.
Getting into the Control Panel is easy but enabling the video driver
could be much harder. Here is a safe way to get into the Control Panel:

1. Log on and let things settle down.
2. Click Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch the Task Manager.
3. Click Alt+F (File), N (New), control {Enter}.
You are now in the Control Panel.

There are two issues about your data:
a) Just because you can't boot Windows does not mean that you
have lost your data. Ask your computer store to install your
disk as a slave disk in one of their own WinXP/2000 PCs, then
to copy your data to an old spare disk.
b) It is a business decision to determine the interval between
backups. The interval is governed by the cost of backing up
files, and by how much data the business can afford to lose.
In your case there appears to be a discrepancy between the two
criteria. External 2.5" USB disks are cheap, have lots of
capacity and are very easy to use as a backup/restore medium.
Time to put on the thinking cap.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

And as a suffix: Please don't multipost. It wastes everyone's time. Use
crossposting to increase your exposure, by putting several newsgroup
names into the address field, separated by semi-colons.

 

[Vanguard]

Hi there. I hope you can help. The PC is at the computer shop, and they
haven't been able to restore from Windows! Ok I'll start at the beginning.
PC environment: XP Home SP2 with latest patches. Intel P4 3.0GHz, internal
Maxtor 240GB ATA drive, internal NEC DVD-RW drive, Matrox Millenium G450
dual
head video card, 1GB RAM.

Everything is fine and then using Windows control panel to remove
programs,
I removed Matrox display software and rebooted. XP went to 640x480 res. I
reset to 1280x1024. Restarted PC. Everything was fine. Opened the Matrox
software installer and cancelled installation halfway through. (oops!!)
Opened the Windows Display control panel, advanced section, and saw that
the
only driver in the pull-down list was something like "VGA default". Also,
the
four fields in the column on the left side said something like
<unavailable>.
So I ***disabled*** this driver. Restart. PC boots, Windows XP startup
shows
and then goes black. I can tell PC is still booting normally though from
HD
activity light.

I try to boot with safe mode. PC hangs at agp440.sys. I did find the
Microsoft article here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324764
Once in the Recovery Console at the C:>, I typed in listsvc and the next
line would be C:> and nothing else. I do not have a password for
Administrator.

At this point I bring the PC with the original, genuine Windows XP CD with
a
date of 2002 to the computer shop and leave it. Two hours later I call and
the tech says that Windows restore is failing because my CD is different
from
the original windows installed on it. I think this is correct.

At that point I had a flash of inspiration. Let the PC boot all the way,
normally. Then use keyboard commands to access the Windows Display control
panel and re-enable the video driver. I couldn't call before he closed, so
I
don't know if that will work. But if it doesn't, what can I do??? My last
backup is from a week ago, and I really hope you can help me figure
something
out so I don't lose a week of work, which is, well, about 40 hours of
stuff!

If the tech was trying to use System Restore, forget it. He/she should've
been trying to perform a Repair (i.e., in-place upgrade). If that was
he/she was trying then it sounds like you gave him the wrong Windows
install/restore CD. Some bastardized OEM versions are brand and model
specific so you can only use them on that brand and model of computer (i.e.,
they are BIOS-locked to that computer). That means you can't use a Gateway
restore CD on a Dell and visa versa (I don't buy pre-built computers so I
really don't know if Gateway or Dell use BIOS-locked OEM versions of
Windows). Go find the right Windows CD for the tech.

Some "install" CDs for Windows are nothing more than an image. Restoring
the image wipes the contents of the partition into which it is copied, and
that means losing your data. How much data you can afford to lose depends
on your choice of how often to do backups. You could put in another hard
drive, install a new instance of Windows over there, and (as an admin in
that new Windows instance), take ownership of the files on the old hard
drive and move them to your new hard drive. This can also be done by
resizing the partition on the old drive to make space for another partition
into which you install a second instance of Windows.

 

[Sparda]

Hi there. I hope you can help. The PC is at the computer shop,
and they
haven't been able to restore from Windows! Ok I'll start at
the beginning.
PC environment: XP Home SP2 with latest patches. Intel P4
3.0GHz, internal
Maxtor 240GB ATA drive, internal NEC DVD-RW drive, Matrox
Millenium G450 dual
head video card, 1GB RAM.

Everything is fine and then using Windows control panel to
remove programs,
I removed Matrox display software and rebooted. XP went to
640x480 res. I
reset to 1280x1024. Restarted PC. Everything was fine. Opened
the Matrox
software installer and cancelled installation halfway through.
(oops!!)
Opened the Windows Display control panel, advanced section,
and saw that the
only driver in the pull-down list was something like "VGA
default". Also, the
four fields in the column on the left side said something like
<unavailable>.
So I ***disabled*** this driver. Restart. PC boots, Windows XP
startup shows
and then goes black. I can tell PC is still booting normally
though from HD
activity light.

I try to boot with safe mode. PC hangs at agp440.sys. I did
find the
Microsoft article here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324764
Once in the Recovery Console at the C:>, I typed in listsvc
and the next
line would be C:> and nothing else. I do not have a password
for
Administrator.

At this point I bring the PC with the original, genuine
Windows XP CD with a
date of 2002 to the computer shop and leave it. Two hours
later I call and
the tech says that Windows restore is failing because my CD is
different from
the original windows installed on it. I think this is correct.

At that point I had a flash of inspiration. Let the PC boot
all the way,
normally. Then use keyboard commands to access the Windows
Display control
panel and re-enable the video driver. I couldn't call before
he closed, so I
don't know if that will work. But if it doesn't, what can I
do??? My last
backup is from a week ago, and I really hope you can help me
figure something
out so I don't lose a week of work, which is, well, about 40
hours of stuff!

Thank you so much in advance!
Kind regards,
Leafgreen

I would say you should have installed some remote contole software
that could have been enabled remotly in case of monitor failur or, in
your case, general foolishness.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I would say you should have installed some remote contole software
that could have been enabled remotly in case of monitor failur or, in
your case, general foolishness.

We all know that the OP made a mistake, and so does he. Your
contribution does not really assist him in recovering from it.
P.S. What do you mean with "contole", "remotly" or "failur"?
Have you considered using a spelling checker?

 

[Sparda]

message


We all know that the OP made a mistake, and so does he. Your
contribution does not really assist him in recovering from it.
P.S. What do you mean with "contole", "remotly" or "failur"?
Have you considered using a spelling checker

I did consider it, but then i said to my self "I carn’t be
bothered".

 

[MixMasterJ]

First, dump your computer shop and go somewhere else in the future. Then
pull out your cmos battery for 5 minutes and put it back in. That should
reset all the bios settings to default. Then put your "valid" or
"legitimate" windows cd in the main cd drive and start the comp. Go into
bios before you try to boot and make sure you have the cd drive set to boot
up. Reinstall windows from scratch being sure to delete the previous
partition and reformatting during the reinstillation.

 

[Frazer Jolly Goodfellow]

First, dump your computer shop and go somewhere else in the
future. Then pull out your cmos battery for 5 minutes and put it
back in. That should reset all the bios settings to default.
Then put your "valid" or "legitimate" windows cd in the main cd
drive and start the comp. Go into bios before you try to boot
and make sure you have the cd drive set to boot up. Reinstall
windows from scratch being sure to delete the previous partition
and reformatting during the reinstillation.

That doesn't quite meet the requirement stated in the OP, does it?:
"My last backup is from a week ago, and I really hope you can help me
figure something out so I don't lose a week of work, which is, well,
about 40 hours of stuff!"

 

[MixMasterJ]

That doesn't quite meet the requirement stated in the OP, does it?:
"My last backup is from a week ago, and I really hope you can help me
figure something out so I don't lose a week of work, which is, well,
about 40 hours of stuff!"

That doesn't quite meet the requirement stated in the OP, does it?

 

[Frazer Jolly Goodfellow]

That doesn't quite meet the requirement stated in the OP, does
it?

I was making the point that whilst your suggestion should get the
system working again, it would erase data the user explicitly
stated he/she wanted to keep.

How about:
- Remove hard disk
- Install hard disk as a data drive in another PC
- Copy the user data off and write it to CD/DVD media
- Re-install hard drive to original PC
- Clean install Windows XP
- Copy the user data onto hard drive from the backed-up media

 

[Guest]

Hi. I have the exact same problem. Did you manage to find a solution? I have
checked my BIOS and all is correct. In Safe Mode my PC hangs at agp440.sys

Best Regards Steve

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Sun, 1 Jan 2006 14:46:01 -0800, "Whipy"

To poriginal poster, correction to the subject line: You don't have a
challenge for us. You have challenged yourself; we may or may not try
to help you, but it's your crisis, not ours.

Hi. I have the exact same problem. Did you manage to find a solution? I have
checked my BIOS and all is correct. In Safe Mode my PC hangs at agp440.sys

Fix from Safe Mode or normal mode with VGA drivers? Of start the OS
headerless, and manage via remote access? The latter is beyond by
scope but would make sense to the network-centric.

"Leafgreen" wrote:

System Restore suggests itself, at this point, if not driver rollback.

The problem is that many SVGA installers don't install only drivers;
they integrate hardware-specific featureware junk into the Display
Properties dialog, so that this can become inaccessible due to crashes
etc. and a driver rollback may leave this hardware-specific code in
effect. This can be a problem if the hardware's removed; PnP should
detect it as not there, and not load the drivers, but the featureware
may still be integrated into the system and cause problems.

Yep, that was a bad move, on a bad OS design (i.e. the OS should be
designed to avoid this particular user failure, rather than entice it)

Agp440.sys loads after mup.sys, and either can be the last visible (in
Safe) load before a long silent bit when the OS does whatever comes
next. Anything that dies in this silent phase, can appear to be a
consequence of agp440.sys or mup.sys

Interesting - did they give details, such as retail vs. OEM etc.?
What SP level is the original CD? If XP original (pre-SP1), is the
present HD > 137G? If so, SP1 or (better)SP2 must be slipstreamed
into the installation CD before it can install.

This is an issue MS simply left as a disaster waiting to happen, when
SP1 and SP2 were released. These SPs should regenerate integrated
installation CDRs, both as a skipable step during install of the SP
and via a subsequent on-demand UI, but they don't.

I'd try SR (System Restore) rollback before anything else, with the
possible exception of Safe Mode and undoing the Disable. In the 21st
century, an SVGA driver/sware installation would be expected to set a
restore point before it installed; hopefully by now, vendors such as
Matrox will be developing true XP sware, rather than the usual
unsigned warmed-over-Win2000 stuff.

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