Need an Expert's Help

  • Thread starter Thread starter KV
  • Start date Start date
K

KV

My upgrade failed in the middle and now I don't know where to look for
my data.

I was doing an upgrade from 98SE to XPSP1 on a laptop and I got an 8E
STOP error in the final installation stage. I couldn't get rid of the
error, no matter how many times I rebooted.

I think the hard drive may be bad on this laptop, so I copied all of the
information over to another drive. But, as a result of the half-done
installation, my files are moved. For example, I need to copy my
desktop folder but it isn't under c:\windows. The "documents and
settings" folder is created with two members under it named "All
Users.WINDOWS" and "Default User.WINDOWS". My Outlook Express .dbx
files are also gone. The local settings folder isn't there.

If you can help me figure out where my information is stashed I would
really appreciate it!

One more thing... If I just start a new Windows XP installation from
scratch, from DOS, and without formatting my drive, will my data be
erased (if it really is still there to begin with)? I thought about
re-running the installation from the beginning, but the screens talk
like I'll lose everything. What are the facts here?

-K
 
If you are confident that all the important information is actually copied to another drive you can proceed with a 'clean' installation.

This wll permit a format / partitioning and other items, yes it WILL ERASE EVERYTHING on the drive.

Prior to installation you can boot of the XP cd and at the first screen where Repair is offered choose to perform a repair. This will give you a command prompt and you can choose to run CHKDSK. Just type in 'CHKDSK.EXE' and press the enter key. It will examine your hard drive.

If there are too many errors, you can decide if you should replace that hard drive.

Your personal 'My Documents' folder in XP is located in
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents
for username you should use 'your username as you typed it' during the XP setup eg KV or Kevin V
 
I finally found my files. Many of the files were under
c:\undo\backup.cab. I found the others under c:\windows\temp.

So during a Windows upgrade, personal files are moved to the temp
directory or zipped into a cab file. That makes sense.
 
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