HELP! Windows XP In-Place Installation Fails

[Dylan Yolles]

Long and frustrating saga... I am using XP Pro, haven't upgraded to
SP2 yet.

This morning I had problems booting my PC - apparently the
system32/config/system file was corrupted.

I followed some apparently (bunk) advice to copy
system32/config/system.sav to system32/config/system. This didn't
work at all - it got rid of the error, but when my computer booted
after the Windows welcome screen I just got a black screen with an
arrow at the center. I tried copying all of the files from the
windows/repair directory to system32/config/system but it didn't help
(although that probably would have worked had I not messed with
system.sav initially).

So, to make a long story short, I attempted an in-place installation
of Windows XP. The problem: when the first part of the installation
finishes and the computer reboots, I STILL end up with a black screen
and a frozen arrow at the center of it - the installation won't
complete.

It would be great if I could avoid reinstalling Windows entirely and
wiping my hard drive clean. There must be some solution - intensive
internet searching has not revelead a fix, however.

Does anyone have thoughts? Thanks for any help.

(Please respond here- the email listed in this message was deactivated
due to spam.)

 

[WinGuy]

Not sure if this will work, but if you can boot into safe mode (F8 key) then
try using Msconfig to disable all startups and in the services tab area,
tell it to hide all non-ms stuff and turn off what then remains visible.
Then reboot and try your in-place procedure again. Best wishes.