Impossible Problem

J

Jeff

I have an eMachines T2200 AMD desktop. It came with
Windows XP preinstalled. There was no separate CD with
the XP operating system on it. There is a CD that can be
used to completely restore the hard drive to it's original
state, however this destroys all data and software loaded
on the PC since I bought it.

About a month ago I started to experience occasional hang
ups when the PC would start. It seemed to get worse over
time. I scanned for viruses with McAfee VirusScanASaP and
found none. I researched the Microsoft knowledge base but
could not find the exact problem. The computer was
connected to the internet via a Microsoft Wireless network
that then connects to Comcast Cable's Broadband via a
cable modem.

Over the weekend the problem got to the point that I could
not connect to the internet and could not get past the
hang-ups. I bought a full copy of XP Home so that I could
try to reload windows and not lose my data and software.
I loaded XP by booting from the CD and followed the
instructions to attempt to "repair" the copy of Windows on
my PC.

During the load I was asked for two drivers.

The first, USBEHCI.SYS, I retrieved to a diskette from the
eMachines website. When I entered it into the prompt from
the Windows Load, I received a message saying it hadn't
been certified for XP and was given a choice to continue
the load or stop. I chose to continue.

The second driver, VIAAGP1.SYS, I retrieved from a driver
website. The XP load seemed to accept it with no problem.

After XP completed loading, it displayed the screen
offering a tour of XP with a note to click next to
continue. The music played. When I clicked on next,
nothing happened. I rebooted. This time it went to the
Windows startup screen and gave me a message saying this
install of Windows would have to be activated before I
could log in. I clicked yes to proceed with the
activation and again the computer hung.

I was able to access the hard drive from another computer
on my network and was able to move my data files to it. I
was unable to access the User settings, program folders,
etc.

I suspected the drivers might be related to the problem.
I then took the hard drive and moved it to another
computer (Celeron processor) and attempted to load windows
under the repair scenario again. This time I was not
asked for the drivers. When Windows completed loading, I
had the same problem in starting the computer as I had
with the eMachines T2200.

Is there anything I can do to solve the problem. If not,
is there anyway I can get to my Outlook Express mail
folders, contacts, IE Favorites, cookies, etc?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
J

Jeff

Last night I started to send my problem to Microsoft
Support and ended up in a chat session with one of their
Support Techs (Benjamin C.). He directed me to do a
parallel installation to the same partition. It worked
and I was able to bring up my system and access all data
and settings from my old setup. Great support from
Microsoft on this one! I'm very greatful that I was able
to recover settings, email folders, etc.
 

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