Windows XP Home Edition inaccessible on bad partition

[Guest]

Something has gone wrong with the partition I have Windows XP Home edition
installed on. When I try to boot up I see an error message that flashes by
too quickly to read and the machine reboots. Can anyone suggest a way to
read this message.

I would reinstall XP on a new partition but have lost either the paper
sleeve or the jewel case that has the key. I asked Microsoft for a
replacement key but they want to charge for it. I am reluctant to pay for
something I already paid for once. The key can be found with software which
is available if XP is running successfully on a partition, but this is not
the case. Any suggestions on how to reinstall XP on a new partition are
welcome.

Finally, any suggestions anyone may have on how to repair the partition are
welcome. I know the partition is substantially intact because I can read it
with a freeware program that reads NTFS partitions available at www.ntfs.com.
There are a variety of programs which claim to repair ntfs partitions, but
the demo versions of the programs I've looked at don't clearly indicate that
they can identify and/or repair what's wrong.

Any suggestions anyone may have to recover the partition and/or reinstall XP
Home edition are welcome.

JAJansenJr
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Mark Dormer]

Try a repair install.

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

Regards
Mark Dormer

 

[Ron Martell]

Something has gone wrong with the partition I have Windows XP Home edition
installed on. When I try to boot up I see an error message that flashes by
too quickly to read and the machine reboots. Can anyone suggest a way to
read this message.

I would reinstall XP on a new partition but have lost either the paper
sleeve or the jewel case that has the key. I asked Microsoft for a
replacement key but they want to charge for it. I am reluctant to pay for
something I already paid for once. The key can be found with software which
is available if XP is running successfully on a partition, but this is not
the case. Any suggestions on how to reinstall XP on a new partition are
welcome.

Finally, any suggestions anyone may have on how to repair the partition are
welcome. I know the partition is substantially intact because I can read it
with a freeware program that reads NTFS partitions available at www.ntfs.com.
There are a variety of programs which claim to repair ntfs partitions, but
the demo versions of the programs I've looked at don't clearly indicate that
they can identify and/or repair what's wrong.

Any suggestions anyone may have to recover the partition and/or reinstall XP
Home edition are welcome.

JAJansenJr
(e-mail address removed)

Try bringing up the Windows XP Startup Menu. To do this turn on the
computer and start tapping the F8 key rapidly just as soon as the
first information of any kind shows up on the screen. If the Windows
XP Startup screen shows then you are too late and will have to try
again, otherwise keep tapping until the Windows XP Startup Menu
appears. Look on the menu for an item that reads "Disable automatic
restart on system failure" and choose it. If that item is not present
then try choosing Safe Mode.

If the computer halts with a Blue Screen Of Death STOP message then
make note of the information reported, including all of the codes and
parameters, and post that information back here.

If the computer boots okay into Safe Mode then on another computer
download one of the Windows XP Product Key finder utilities such as
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml or
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/keyfinder.exe

Save the download onto a diskette and then run it on your "problem"
computer to find the product key. Make sure you write it down in at
least two places for future reference.

Good luck




Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm