Help getting XP back please.

[Guest]

I did a clean install and now have a Windows and Windows.old folder in my C:
directory. I have a Dell PC and I put the XP installation DVD in my DVD
drive, however when the install screen comes up for XP the option "Install
Windows XP" is in gray and I can't click on it. Also when I boot my PC, I
get this screen that asks me to load Microsoft Windows or Previous Version of
Windows, so I tried clicking previous version thinking XP would load but the
screen goes black and nothing happens. Now my PC is stuck on Vista with
barely anything compatible. I heard from a friend that if I had a Windows 98
boot disk I could access DOS and move the directories from Windows.old into
my C: directory and then XP would be back. Is that true, and if so then how
do I go about getting a Windows 98 boot disk? Thanks for your help.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Do not follow your friends advice concerning the windows.old folder. You
need to wipe out Vista and install XP properly. Just moving the files is
not going to guarantee that you get the registry properly restored. Some of
the hives are dynamic.

What you are seeing on boot up is the boot option screen installed by Vista.
The 'previous version' entry suggests that you still have XP available, but
if you installed Vista in the same partition as XP in an upgrade scenario
that boot entry will not be helpful.

What happens if you boot with the XP cd in the drive? During start up if
you see a message that says "Press any key to boot from cd..." by all means
do so and quickly. It times out in about five seconds and then goes to the
hard drive. Booting from the cd is what you want to in order to reinstall
XP. That message will appear again further in the installation process, but
do not press a key then. Just when you are first starting the installation.

 

[Guest]

Well I've never had that prob, but I do know about the Windows.old folder. I
tried deleting it in vista and it wouldn't let me. I had set it up with a
partition for xp and vista. So that I could switch back and forth. But you
need the harddrive space to do this. one thing you can try is right click on
my computer and go to manage. Then click on disk management. You should be
able to make a new partishion and then Install xp on it. Once you get xp up
and running then go back to disk management and delete the partion with
vista. Then try to reinstall it in the new empty partition. this way xp is
the primary and vista is the secondary. You will be able to switch between
them.

Now I don't know if this will work but it's worth a shot. Let me know how it
goes.

 

[Walkndude]

http://www.bootdisk.cc/

 

[Guest]

Well I've never had that prob, but I do know about the Windows.old folder. I
tried deleting it in vista and it wouldn't let me. I had set it up with a
partition for xp and vista. So that I could switch back and forth. But you
need the harddrive space to do this. one thing you can try is right click on
my computer and go to manage. Then click on disk management. You should be
able to make a new partishion and then Install xp on it. Once you get xp up
and running then go back to disk management and delete the partion with
vista. Then try to reinstall it in the new empty partition. this way xp is
the primary and vista is the secondary. You will be able to switch between
them.

Now I don't know if this will work but it's worth a shot. Let me know how it
goes.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

He cannot use computer management to partition the active (system) drive.
Hopefully he has a second drive.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

There will be issues (resovable perhaps) if he tries to install XP with
Vista already set up. The rule is to install the older OS first to avoid
problems.

 

[Mark Dietz]

At PROnetworks, we are working on perfecting recovering from this situation, but
it is a very tricky one due to the file permissions set on the windows.old
folder. You won't be able to do this with a 98 cd as 98 doesn't have NTFS
drivers. You will need at least the XP install CD to access the recovery
console. I do not know the exact sequence about doing this, but the basic
procedure is that you boot into the recovery console, rename the directories
that are conflicting with directories in the windows.old folder (likely docs,
progs, windir) then move the directories out of the windows.old folder to the
root of the drive, then fix the bootloader/MBR. I'll see if I can get more
refined directions for you