Any way to do system restore without Windows?

[Guest]

My machine refuses to boot past the boot screen, even with Safe Mode or Last
Good Configuration selected. The Windows XP installation CD doesn't recognize
that Windows has already been installed on the system when booted directly.
However, when the system is booted from a Norton ERD my hard drive file
system is intact and I can list files.

When I try to run rstrui.exe I get the message that it cannot be run in DOS
mode, yet all the restore points are still there. Is there any way to restore
using other means besides the rstrui.exe program? Or is there a list of
system files that can be directly copied from the install CD to enable Safe
Mode to run?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi,

Are you using the following process to access System Restore from the Command Prompt?

If Windows XP will not start:

1. Restart your computer, and then press F8 during the initial startup to start your
computer in Safe Mode with a command prompt.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has
administrator credentials.

3. Type or paste the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an
earlier state, or undo the last restore if available.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

The following links may be of some assistance:-

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/? id=822705

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

 

[Ron Martell]

My machine refuses to boot past the boot screen, even with Safe Mode or Last
Good Configuration selected. The Windows XP installation CD doesn't recognize
that Windows has already been installed on the system when booted directly.
However, when the system is booted from a Norton ERD my hard drive file
system is intact and I can list files.

When I try to run rstrui.exe I get the message that it cannot be run in DOS
mode, yet all the restore points are still there. Is there any way to restore
using other means besides the rstrui.exe program? Or is there a list of
system files that can be directly copied from the install CD to enable Safe
Mode to run?

When you have booted with the Norton ERD try running the following
command:

CHKDSK C: /R

and see if that will resolve the problem.

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

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the responses! Unfortunately the suggestions did not resolve
the problem.

Response #1 - machine would not boot into safe mode. It would start to boot
and then return to the boot menu.

Response #2 - none of those error messages were present

Response #3 - CHKDSK did not fix the problem

Also tried to use Recovery Console with fixboot command which said it ended
successfully but machine still would not boot. Finally reinstalled Windows
from scratch.

 

[Martin]

Possibly Winternals ERD Commander may do the trick.
--
Best Wishes from Martin

So many questions, so few answers.

PGP Key ID, 0x581E4CE1