spam??...what the heck are you talking about? Here's the text from the site
spamboy. I hope people who need help disregard your uninformed opinions.
PC users, you all know what it is: That dreaded Blue Screen of Death. That's
right, the BSOD. You've installed a seemingly innocent application,
restarted your computer, and suddenly you see this horror in front of your
eyes: A big blue screen with some cryptic message on it. Try restarting
again, same thing. You're dead. What will you do? What WILL you do?? Well,
don't let it ruin your day. Remain calm. If you're using Windows XP, I can
help you fix it. Come with me, down into the bowels of Windows XP, where
only the high priests go. It'll be fun!
I'm going to show you how to bring your computer back to life, and restore
it to the point where things went south. You might want to print this
article and squirrel it away for that fateful day when this happens to you.
Or if you don't want to print it (and who prints anything these days,
anyway?), and you get a big ugly blue screen, just get on another computer
somewhere and come back to this Web page for comfort and advice. I can get
you out of this mess. I know, because I was in the same mess and I got
myself out of it.
Here's what to do: First, get the Windows XP CD you used to install your
operating system. By the way, this routine only works with Windows XP,
either Professional or XP Home Edition. If you don't have a bootable XP CD,
get one and have it with you at all times, because you never know when the
dreaded BSOD might strike.
But before you do anything with that CD, try restarting your computer again.
Sometimes, for some odd reason, this works. Usually not, though. If you've
tried that and everything else you can think of, and you can't even boot
into Safe Mode, this is the mission for you.
Put the XP CD in the drive, and restart. When it says "press any key to boot
from CD," go ahead, press any key and you're on your way to recovery. The
Recovery Console, that is. If it doesn't give you a choice to boot from your
CD drive, go into your computer's BIOS and make the adjustment for it to
boot from CD. PCs brands and motherboards are too diverse for me to give you
specifics on this, so follow the prompts and you can make that CD boot
happen without too much trouble. Look at your screen when it boots up, and
it always says "hit DEL for BIOS settings" or something similar. If you
can't get it to boot from CD, just give up and call for support or take your
computer to the nearest computer store for professional help.
OK, troops, are you still with me? Good. It'll look like you're
re-installing Windows XP, but don't worry, you're not. This is just a screen
showing you that your computer is loading enough files from the CD to
actually do something, anything but that awful blue screen. Now when you see
the screen that asks you if you want to install Windows, don't! Just hit R
for recover, and you'll see the ominous Recovery Console. Don't let that
intimidate you; the Recovery Console is your ugly, black-suited friend. It
will have a dark, bleak screen, with the following stuff:
Microsoft Windows(R) Recovery Console
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows Installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?
Go ahead and hit the number 1 on your keyboard, or whichever number
corresponds to the operating system you were using when havoc struck. Enter
your administrator password, and then hit enter. You're in! Now it's time to
run with the big dogs! Do not be afraid, dear reader, I am here to help you.
If you type the following commands into your computer, it will work magic,
akin to going back in time. There are three parts to this process, but
believe me, they take much less time than reinstalling Windows XP and all
your applications. So follow along with me, and keep in mind that each
command must be typed exactly as you see it here. Please note that this
procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder.
Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows folder if it's at
a different location. The copy commands will answer you with a little "file
copied" message. The delete commands just move on to the next line. Because
of the way your Web browser displays individual lines, a command might look
to you like it's two lines, so I've separated each command by an empty line.
But anyway, type the whole command in one line, and when you've finished
typing that command, hit the Enter key. Be sure to include the spaces I've
included between each word here:
md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\system C:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\software C:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\sam C:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\security C:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\default C:\windows\tmp\default.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\system
delete C:\windows\system32\config\software
delete C:\windows\system32\config\Sam
delete C:\windows\system32\config\security
delete C:\windows\system32\config\default
copy C:\windows\repair\system C:\windows\system32\config\system
copy C:\windows\repair\software C:\windows\system32\config\software
copy C:\windows\repair\sam C:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy C:\windows\repair\security C:\windows\system32\config\security
copy C:\windows\repair\default C:\windows\system32\config\default
Now you can relax for a minute. You've made it through the first part! Way
to go! Now what did you just do? I'll tell you. You first made a temporary
directory called "tmp" (md tmp), and then into it, you copied all the files
that boot up Windows. Then you deleted all those startup files, one of which
is the stinker that got you into this mess in the first place. After that,
you copied into that same place fresh startup files from a special repair
directory. When you reboot, Windows will look for those files where it
always does, and there won't be a stinker in the bunch. The only thing is,
there won't be all your settings for all those applications you run every
day, either. But not to worry. Right now, you're sitting in something like a
lifeboat -- it's not the original ship, but it'll get you back to where you
need to go. We'll get everything back to that comfortable place, but only
after we go through steps 2 and 3.
Now type Exit and watch your computer restart into Windows XP again. Be sure
not to tell it to boot from the CD this time. But wait. That's not the way
you had XP set up before this disaster struck! That's OK. We're in a
lifeboat right now -- this isn't your comfy cruise ship, not just yet. Hang
in there. I'm going to show you how to restore your system to the way it was
the moment before you told it to install that errant application, or
whatever it was you did, so follow along and we'll go to part 2.
Part 2
Here's where you'll copy the saved registry files from their backed up
location by using System Restore. This folder is not available in Recovery
Console and is normally not visible -- Microsoft is protecting you from
yourself by hiding it from you and locking it away from you. But we have the
keys. Before you start this procedure, you'll need to change several
settings to make that folder visible:
1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and
folders, and then click to clear the "Hide protected operating system files
(Recommended)" check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box is displayed that confirms that you want to
display these files.
6. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to get a list of
the folders. It's important to click the correct drive.
7. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder appears dimmed
because it is set as a super-hidden folder. If you're using the FAT32 file
system, this will be easy. If you're using NTFS, it won't let you open the
folder, but here's how to get around that: Right-click on that system volume
information folder and select Sharing and Security. Then click the Security
tab. (No security tab? Skip two paragraphs.) Click Add, and then in the box
that's labeled "Enter the object names to select," type the name of the user
that's at the top of the Start menu -- that's probably you. [Damn it, why do
they say object names when it's people's names? I guess that's Microsoft for
you.]
Anyway, make sure you type the name the way it's listed there on the Start
Menu. I made the mistake of typing my first name only and it wouldn't let me
in. Type first and last name if that's how it's written on the top of the
Start menu. After you've typed that in, click OK a couple of times and
finally that monster will let you in.
But what if you don't see a Security tab? Try this: Click to select the
checkboxes in the "Network sharing and security" area -- one is labeled
"Share this folder on the network" and the other is labeled "Allow network
users to change my files." Change the share name to something short, like
sysinfo. Then it'll let you in. After you're done with this entire rescue
operation, you might want to go back and change these back to the way they
were before, for maximum security.
OK. Now here you are, in the inner sanctum where only the high priests go.
Be not afraid, all ye who enter here. As Microsoft so eloquently puts it:
NOTE : This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as
"_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".
8. Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to
click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There
may be one or more folders starting with "RP x under this folder. These are
restore points.
9. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder; the following
path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder:
C:\System Volume
Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}RP1Snapshot
From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp
folder (you can use your mouse, you're in Windows now, remember?):
_registry_user_.default
_registry_machine_security
_registry_machine_software
_registry_machine_system
_registry_machine_sam
This is how Microsoft explains this: "These files are the backed up registry
files from System Restore. Because you used the registry file created by
Setup, this registry does not know that these restore points exist and are
available. A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume
Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the
registry files that were copied during part one. This is why it is important
not to use the most current folder, especially if the time stamp on the
folder is the same as the current time."
Anyway, you're still not done. Don't worry, the magic is about to begin.
Believe me, if you do this in front of your friends, they'll start thinking
you're some kind of god. So, heavenly father, get ready to dazzle 'em.
Now it's time to place those files you just made visible to the Recovery
Console where they belong. And to do that, we need to get back into the
Recovery Console. So, make sure your CD is in the drive, and restart
Windows, this time hitting any key when it tells you to do that if you want
to boot from CD. Yes, you want to boot from CD, so you can launch your old
cryptic pal, the Recovery Console. Type R after it goes through that
file-reading routine that looks like an install but isn't. Then you're back
into our dark-suited friend with its ominous command line. It's kinda like
going into the basement to fix some broken pipe or something. But we're not
scared. The command line is our flashlight and friend. Here we go:
Part 3
In part three, you delete the existing registry files, and then copy the
System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder:
From within Recovery Console, type the following commands:
Del c:\windows\system32\config\sam
Del c:\windows\system32\config\security
Del c:\windows\system32\config\software
Del c:\windows\system32\config\default
Del c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_software
c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_system
c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_security
c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_user_.default
c:\windows\system32\config\default
Now. You're done! Type exit and your computer will reboot into whichever
restore file you chose. But wait. If it's not the right one, that's OK, you
can now go into your System Restore area and pick a different restore point
if you want. There's a whole calendar full of them in there. I bet you
didn't know that Windows XP is watching just about every move you make,
taking notes all the while. It can restore about any state you had on that
machine. And the best part is, even when it's doing all that, it's still 10%
faster than Windows 2000 according to our extensive tests here at the
Midwest Test Facility. Here's how to get into that restore area if you're
not happy with the current restore point:
1. Click Start, then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous Restore Point.
SPAM
Its an ad
No real help.
Hemlock
My XP had crashed a few times. Most crashes were similar to those being
asked about in this newsgroup. I found this site and followed the
procedure
and was ALWAYS able to recover my installation with no loss of data.
There
are four pages of instructions and it requires a lot of typing but seems
to
clear up just about any problem that is caused by a software glitch.
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm
Let me know what you think...
