Oh dear...what have I done...please can you help me?

[jo]

Hello

I have a PC which had XP installed before I purchased it but the PC did not
come with a XP installation disc.

I am now selling my PC and wanted to set it back to how it was when I bought
it so that it was 'clean' for the purchaser.

I used the recovery disc that came with the PC but during the recovery
process an error came up and now when I start my I get a little bit of white
wring on a black screen and the message 'error loading operating system'.

Please can you tell me how / if I can fix this?

Thank you.

Jo

 

[Brian A.]

Hello

I have a PC which had XP installed before I purchased it but the PC did not
come with a XP installation disc.

I am now selling my PC and wanted to set it back to how it was when I bought
it so that it was 'clean' for the purchaser.

I used the recovery disc that came with the PC but during the recovery
process an error came up and now when I start my I get a little bit of white
wring on a black screen and the message 'error loading operating system'.

Please can you tell me how / if I can fix this?

Thank you.

Jo

Is the hard drive detected by the BIOS? If it is, is it set as the first device to
boot from?

You also may be able to try a Repair Install, see the below linked articles, if no
joy, please provide the make/model (exact) of your PC and the steps you took for
recovery in a response to this thread.

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[jo]

Hello Brian

Thank you for your reply.

I have been reading through the documentation that came with the computer
and it seems that the 'Recovery Disk' for this particular model is also the
'Installation Disk'.

I follow the instructions on the michaelstevens link (I also had to change
the boot order of the BIOS so that it booted from the CD-ROM) and all seemed
to be going well and the recovery was taking place until the following two
error messages came up:

Check Sum error in E:\\SONY.IMG

The recovery process is incomplete. Your system may not operate properly.

Everything then went back to square one and the 'error loading operating
system' was back again.

The PC is a Sony Vaio PCV-RS144/RS122/RS142

Any idea where I go from here?

Thanks.

Jo

:

 

[Jim]

Hello Brian

Thank you for your reply.

I have been reading through the documentation that came with the computer
and it seems that the 'Recovery Disk' for this particular model is also
the
'Installation Disk'.

I follow the instructions on the michaelstevens link (I also had to change
the boot order of the BIOS so that it booted from the CD-ROM) and all
seemed
to be going well and the recovery was taking place until the following two
error messages came up:

Check Sum error in E:\\SONY.IMG

The recovery process is incomplete. Your system may not operate properly.

Everything then went back to square one and the 'error loading operating
system' was back again.

The PC is a Sony Vaio PCV-RS144/RS122/RS142

Any idea where I go from here?

Thanks.

Jo

:

A checksum error is usually caused by a hardware problem. In this instance,
it means
that that particular file on the CD is faulty. I would try getting a
replacement CD from Sony.

Jim

 

[jo]

All sorted now thank you. A neighbour lent me his installation disc.

Thanks again.

 

[Richard in AZ]

Best you make a copy of your neighbor's installation disk to sell with the computer.
Include your original disk, but with a note as to why the copy is included.

 

[Brian A.]

You're welcome. Glad to here you got it up and running.

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375