Newly installed programs won't let Windows boot.

[monty1945]

A friend of mine has a major problem. He has a conflict between two
programs, EasyArmor firewall and FixIt utilities, and his computer
can't start up. He can't even get it into safe mode, it just keeps
restarting. He has a recovery CD from the manufacturer, but that
doesn't work, unless he wipes his disk, and he has important data on
the hard drive. He has no Win2000 startup disk and no 3.5 floppy
drive. Any suggestions?

TIA.

 

[philo]

A friend of mine has a major problem. He has a conflict between two
programs, EasyArmor firewall and FixIt utilities, and his computer
can't start up. He can't even get it into safe mode, it just keeps
restarting. He has a recovery CD from the manufacturer, but that
doesn't work, unless he wipes his disk, and he has important data on
the hard drive. He has no Win2000 startup disk and no 3.5 floppy
drive. Any suggestions?

TIA.

First off...
try hitting F8 while booting...but instead of trying safe mode...
try : last good configuration

If that does not work there are a few options:

1) get a win2k cd , boot with it and perform a repair install

2) remove the drive and slave it to another machine...
then retrieve the data ...
then do the restore

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

A friend of mine has a major problem. He has a conflict between two
programs, EasyArmor firewall and FixIt utilities, and his computer
can't start up. He can't even get it into safe mode, it just keeps
restarting. He has a recovery CD from the manufacturer, but that
doesn't work, unless he wipes his disk, and he has important data on
the hard drive. He has no Win2000 startup disk and no 3.5 floppy
drive. Any suggestions?

TIA.

The major problem of your friend is his lack of foresight.
If his data is important then he must make regular backups.
If he does not then his data is not important. It's as simple
as that. A 2.5" disk in an external USB case is a low-cost
but highly effective backup medium - what's keeping him?

The safest way to get himself out of his mess is to do this:
1. Remove the hard disk.
2. Connect it as a slave disk to some other Win2000/XP PC.
3. Back up all his data, including his EMail files.
4. Test his backed up data, especially his EMail files.
5. Get himself a Win2000 installation CD. Copy one from
a friend if necessary.
6. Boot the machine with this CD and select the Repair
option when prompted.
7. Install Windows over the top of the existing installation.

If this does not work then he will have to use the
recovery CD.

Attempting to repair his installation without first backing
up his "important" files will greatly increase the risk of
losing the lot.

 

[Dave Patrick]

Recover your data from a parallel install then clean install the operating
system or slave the disk in another machine for data recovery.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266465


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[monty1945]

I agree, but I didn't want to call him stupid, which he was in this
case.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I agree, but I didn't want to call him stupid, which he was in this
case.

That's why I called it "lack of foresight". I sometimes
despair about the number of PC users who cheerfully
accumulate irreplaceable files without taking even
the lightest precautions to secure them.

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

That's why I called it "lack of foresight". I sometimes

despair about the number of PC users who cheerfully
accumulate irreplaceable files without taking even
the lightest precautions to secure them.

Yeah, I occasionally coach adult evening classes in basic computing and one
lesson I always include is called "Back up or weep!" Funny thing is that
mostly no one wants to know. They all say things like, "We don't need to
know about that technical stuff - it's boring!", and "Show us how to do neat
things like fiddle around with my photos" and "I want to actually DO stuff,
not just fiddle with the damn machine." And then a few weeks later when
there's a local power glitch and they loose some data off their own machines
at home they all phone me and expect a free fix because I taught them. And
no, usually they still haven't bothered to do a backup.

Talk about weeping and gnashing of teeth. Actually I don't do that any
more - I just ask them if they have got a recent backup. If the answer is No
then I tell them I will try but I will charge them the full going rate.

So I totally know what you are saying Pegasus! Sigh!

Just HAD to rant a little there - thanks for patience.