Repair installation

[Nick]

XP pro machine fried due to no surge protector - user thought powerstrip was
protector : - ) Drive is readable but not bootable.


- Can repair install to new hardware be completed if original "install
admin" password is lost?

- If repair install fails, can the xp pro boot hard drive be accessed as a
secondary drive from another machine - to recover documents, etc?

Nick

 

[DL]

Provided hd is not fried you can slave it on another sys, or install in
external case, to copy data

 

[=?iso-8859-1?B?tK9gty4uID48KSkpuj5g?=]

maybe it is not fried
since the powersupply
would be the first thing
to get fried. and if it is still intact
then the powerloss may have
simply have reseted the cmos and
created a boot error.

further, if the registry
was in the i/o mode during the power
failure, then the registry may have
been corrupted as well.

but focusing on the harddrive for
now, you should be able
to boot via the windows xp cd,
bypass the installation and go directly
into the Recovery Console.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654


if it asks for password, then
you may likely be able to bypass
it by pressing enter.

then at the dos prompt type
these commands will likely
bring the pc back online:

chkdsk
fixboot
fixmbr

then exit and reboot without cd.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

What got fried during the power surge? Often a number of hardware components
take a serious hit including the motherboard, Ram, processor, power supply
etc. Is the reason the computer isn't booting due to just the hard drive or
could other components be the problem? What happens when you try booting?
What messages are displayed?

If your computer's motherboard and/or other components are damaged then you
will need to replace those before you can attempt a Repair Install on that
system.

If you decide to replace the computer you might be able to move the hard
drive over to a new system and run a Repair Install to rebuild the HAL so XP
recognizes the new setup. However if XP came preinstalled on that hard drive
when you bought the system you cannot legally (and often cannot do it
illegally) move it to a second system. OEM versions of XP are forever tied
to the first system they were installed on. Some are BIOS locked so they
won't install onto another motherboard.

Provided the drive isn't damaged you should be able to connect it to another
system and copy the files off. Set the jumper to Slave, connect it to the
second system and boot. It should be displayed in My Computer. However if
you used file encryption you might still be SOL.

You want to recover a "lost admin password" Try using this to recover it
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/ you will need the LiveCD version. With the
drive connected to a working system boot with the LiveCD if it can find an
admin password it will.

Harry Ohrn MS MVP [Shell\User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp

 

[Rock]

XP pro machine fried due to no surge protector - user thought powerstrip
was protector : - ) Drive is readable but not bootable.


- Can repair install to new hardware be completed if original "install
admin" password is lost?

- If repair install fails, can the xp pro boot hard drive be accessed as a
secondary drive from another machine - to recover documents, etc?

A password is not needed for a repair install.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Yes, if the drive is readable you should be able to copy data from it by
slaving it in another XP or Win2k computer.

 

[Nick]

What a fantastic website. Thank you for your help with this. It went
unexpectedly smooth. : - )

 

[Rock]

What a fantastic website. Thank you for your help with this. It went
unexpectedly smooth. : - )

"Rock" wrote

You're welcome, Nick. Yes Michael's web site is great.