Installation keeps restarting

[chinchillas]

I was upgrading from Windows Me to Windows XP Professional when at the
installation portion of "Removing temporary files", the process froze.
I read at
Microsoft KB (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307153) that I should
delete the files
in the Windows installation folder. I did this and then restarted the
setup process
but now it simply keeps rebooting during the "Installing Windows part".
I've read about
40 official articles to no success. I don't even remember how I ended
up on
recovery console but I can't access it because it keeps asking for the
right password
and I never even wrote one in the first place! I've been told I'm
somewhere between
Windows Me and XP so I can't reboot from start-up floppies containing
either operation systems.

Please keep in mind that I can't perform a clean installation since I
don't want to lose my data and I'm not very knowledgable when it comes
to writing
commands or finding files or drivers via prompts. I need to be told how
to do so
step by step. The knowledge base at Microsoft asumes you already know
how to do it
and I don't. It's very frustrating.

Hoping not everyone's on holidays so I can solve this problem asap.
Thank you

Sorry for the x-posting.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

It seems you made two big mistakes:
1. Not to back up your important files regularly
2. Not to back up your important files before a major upgrade

A 2.5" 40 GByte hard disk in a USB enclosure is an ideal
backup medium and costs only a moderate amount,
especially when compared to the inconvenience of losing
all your data.

Your first step must be to address your backup problem.
The second step will consist of loading WinXP.

A fairly safe way to back up your data is to remove your
hard disk and install it temporarily as a slave disk in a
friend's WinXP/2000 PC, then copy your data to the
USB backup disk I mentioned above. If you have no
suitable frinds then you may have to pay your friendly
computer dealer to do this for you.

As an alternative you could buy a new 3.5" hard disk,
plus a USB enclosure for the old 3.5" disk. Remove the
old disk, install the new disk, then do a clean installation
of WinXP. Connect the old disk when all else is in place
in order to retrieve your important files. This method is
totally safe, because nobody is touching the old disk
while you're installing WinXP. It will also give you a
superior installation of WinXP, because upgrades from
WinME often suffer from various problems. Lastly, it
will give you a backup medium to be used from now on.

 

[chinchillas]

Yes, it's dumb not to backup. Fortunately, I did a major backup 6
months ago of my 5 year archives, so what I've lost in these couple of
days is the work of the past 6 months, so it's not as terrible as it
could have been. And for some weird reason, my mp3 files are intact.
But really, if backups are so vital, I don't see why the simple
"upgrading while maintaining your settings" option in Windows XP is
there for. It's really pointless and badly designed.
Anyway, I'm performing a clean installation and I'm reading a
step-by-step manual this time. I hope it goes OK and maybe the machine
will respond better with this type of installation..
Thank you for your reply.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Upgrading from WinME to WinXP is not a "simple" move,
as you call it - it is a major operation that is equivalent to
upgrading a pushbike to a powerful motor cycle. The result
is often unsatisfactory because of the huge differences
between the two OSs, and sometimes it fails altogether as
you found out.

If you're really interested in the subject then I recommend
some light reading on the fundamentals of operating systems
and the root differences between a DOS-based OS such as
WinME and a WinNT-based OS such as WinXP. You are
likely to be surprised.

This is why most professionals advise against "upgrading"
Win9x to WinXP. Doing so is asking for trouble. I'm sure
the Microsoft engineers agree, but the Microsoft marketing
boys insisted on an upgrade path for commercial reasons.