Started reinstalling windows but aborted... now got problems

[laserblues2]

I was reinstalling windows for a friend of mine, after ran up update with sp3
his hard drive ended up as a raw file. So I was trying to reinstall it but it
wouldnt run so I tried to reinstall it whilst being an external drive on my
pc. It became obvious as I was running the setup that this wasnt going to
work so I aborted it.

Ever since on start up i asks whether I want to enter Windows or XP Setup -
obviously I always choose Windows. I requested some help on the matter from
Windows, they suggested the following:

1. Click "Start", right click "My Computer" and click "Properties" to open
System Properties.
2. Click "Advanced" and click "Settings" under "Startup and Recovery".

3. Uncheck “Time to display list of operating systems:â€.

4. Uncheck “Time to display recovery options when needed:â€.

5. Click “OK†twice.



After that, please restart the computer and check if the issue has been
resolved

Now I cannot even get into Windows and it always recognises the setup as the
primary version. I dont really want to run through setup as it may want me to
reinstall / format the drive?

I could take the drives out and copy the stuff onto other drives then
reinstall but its a lot of hassle....

Any suggestions??

Thanks

Nick

 

[sgopus]

do the install again, this time format the drive and make it a basic not a
dynamic.
depending on the age of the drive it could have failed.

 

[Daave]

"(e-mail address removed)"

I was reinstalling windows for a friend of mine, after ran up update
with sp3
his hard drive ended up as a raw file. So I was trying to reinstall it
but it
wouldnt run so I tried to reinstall it whilst being an external drive
on my
pc. It became obvious as I was running the setup that this wasnt going
to
work so I aborted it.

Ever since on start up i asks whether I want to enter Windows or XP
Setup -
obviously I always choose Windows. I requested some help on the matter
from
Windows, they suggested the following:

1. Click "Start", right click "My Computer" and click "Properties" to
open
System Properties.
2. Click "Advanced" and click "Settings" under "Startup and Recovery".

3. Uncheck "Time to display list of operating systems:".

4. Uncheck "Time to display recovery options when needed:".

5. Click "OK" twice.



After that, please restart the computer and check if the issue has
been
resolved

Now I cannot even get into Windows and it always recognises the setup
as the
primary version. I dont really want to run through setup as it may
want me to
reinstall / format the drive?

I could take the drives out and copy the stuff onto other drives then
reinstall but its a lot of hassle....

Any suggestions??

Did you attempt to reinstall your friend's operating system without
backing up the data first? If so, that was foolish and I hope you never
do such a thing again; that's not a good way to keep friends!

I'm afraid you will first need to do what you should have done before:
salvage your friend's data. While it's possible to physically remove the
drive(s) from his PC, it will be easier to use a bootable rescue disk
like Knoppix or UBCD4Win to boot up the PC. Then simply connect a USB
external hard drive and copy the data. Be sure to copy e-mail folders
and Web browser favorites, too, as well as any installation files for
programs he downloaded from the Net. It's important to copy the data!

Then you can look into reinstalling the OS the proper way. If you're
lucky, a repair install (done the right way!) may do the trick.
Otherwise, you will need to perform a clean install. Make sure you
obtain all the necessary drivers first; they can reside on the external
drive, too. Check out these links for assistance:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

You never told use the make and model of this PC. For all we know, it
may have a hidden recovery/restore partition on it. You should find this
out first.

Finally, never attempt a major upgrade to a newer Service Pack without
the proper preparation first. When you are ready to do this, post here
first for guidelines!