xp home setup cd

[Guest]

I got a prepackaged system from bestbuy last year ..it did not come w/xp
home setup cd.
can I just use another xp home setup cd to help w/ my problem???will it work
on my system??
non destructive system restore wont work
safemode of any kind wont work
I havent tried the other restore where you lose everything yet.....
If I get the xp cd maybe I can get to the recovery console and Repair that
way??
I am on my laptop now and cant get my desktop to boot to where I can do
anything..I am sure its a viral thing,but cant get on to remove it

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Mitch;
A different CD will probably not work with your product Key.
Check your manual and/or contact the manufacturer for repair options.
You may be limited to recovery using the hidden partition.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Mitch,

First, what is the problem?

Second, a retail disk may not have needed drivers for your system, I would
not recommend using it for a reinstall. Whether or not to use the Recovery
Console depends on exactly what's wrong.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

HIDDEN PARTITION now you lost me .can I use this without booting to windows??
And ,how can I attempt to fix or repair to boot properly on my desktop pc.
thanks again

 

[Barry Watzman]

Well, the answer is "yes, but ...."

CDs for any given version are not unique, so if you lose a CD you can
use another one FOR THE SAME VERSION.

But you have to understand what "version" here means.

It's the unique combination of the following, and more:

- OS version: XP Home, XP Pro, XP "media center edition, XP "tablet"
edition

- Retail, OEM, Volume license

- Full Product vs. Upgrade

So there's perhaps 24 unique "versions" (maybe more -- I'm not sure that
I've gotten all of the parameters).

Now I presume that you are talking about using another CD, but you are
still going to use your own "product key" (likely from a sticker on the
machine). The product key is uniqe to the version. An XP Home OEM
product key won't work with an XP Home retail CD (of any type, either
full product or upgrade).

What's more, the "preinstalled" versions of Windows are sometimes
"customized" even further by the OEM, thus introducing more variables.

So about all that you can do is try it.

Ok, now here's a suggestion for another approach:

Boot your desktop using a Windows XP CD into the recovery console
(command console). Hopefully, you can then access your hard drive.
Look for an "I386" partition, might be almost anywhere (root direcctory,
somewhere under Windows, possibly even in a totally separate "recovery
partition"). If you have that folder (and if it's complete and intact),
it is essentially as good as having a CD. If you can burn that folder
to a CD, you can reinstall from that CD. If not, you can probably
reinstall from the copy of that folder on the hard drive, however, make
an EXTRA copy of the entire folder first, in the root directory (or on
an entirely separate partition), because if that partition is anywhere
under \Windows, it will be erased during the reinstall.

If that folder is complete, there are two setup programs, Winnt.exe,
which is a "DOS" setup program, and Winnt32.exe, which is a "windows"
setup program.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Some PC makers put the "recovery files" in a "hidden partition". It
doesn't normally show up in Windows at all, but you can "boot into it"
by pressing a function key when you start the computer (the exact key
sequence varies). From there, you can reinstall Windows, using files
present in the recovery partition. HP is one of the manufacturers that
does this on some models. Although you can't see the recovery partition
from within Windows, you can see it using FDISK or Partition Magic (you
can see it, but you can't do much to or with it).

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Mitch;
If a CD is not provided, normally a hidden partition on the hard drive
is used for recovery purposes.
Your manual and/or the manufacturer will have details since this set
up by the manufacturer and not controlled by Microsoft.

 

[Alex Nichol]

HIDDEN PARTITION now you lost me .can I use this without booting to windows??
And ,how can I attempt to fix or repair to boot properly on my desktop pc.
thanks again

Some makers (notably HP/Compaq) meet the requirement of providing a
means to restore to ex-factory state by putting the files needed in a
separate 'partition' of the drive. This would normally be seen as say
drive D: in My Computer, but a bit is set in the disk's tables so it is
hidden. You invoke it to do a restore by hitting a specified Function
key at boot like F10 or F12; consult the manual

The big disadvantages are that you cannot do any other sort of repair,
and that if the HD develops a fault you are stuck. Good reason not to
buy such a machine.

 

[Guest]

I have a customer that lost the 'Gateway' restore cd and its uneconomical to
order a new XP Pro cd from this PC manufacturer since they do not (can not or
wont) offer a replacement restore cd after a certain time period. Your
suggestion doesnt work when it appears that the XP Pro installed on this pc
was originally configured as an Upgraded installed version. This XP Pro
upgrade version I386 folder does not include the 'winntup..." folder and
fails when you run setup. I really think that this is a ploy by the pc
manufacture to make you pay through the noise to get replacements when they
could very well create a startup program to notify you to create a restore cd
or atleast make you aware you dont have a cd media included with the PC
package.