Repairs to XP

[Bill]

HI
I'm having problems with XP. No longer being able to access system
restore or the recycle bin I went to the NGs for help. I see I can do
a repair reinstall and hopefully mend the broken bits. My question, as
I upgraded to XP from ME will this make any difference to the
reinstall. Also, I do not have a copy of ME, only a restore disc
which I understand only gives access to some hidden files on the HDD
which can restore ME.
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

William

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Bill,

If you are just doing a repair install, there is no need for the WinME
system disk, nor will it make any difference if the original installation
was an upgrade. Follow these steps to do a repair install which should
preserve your data, settings, and programs:

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM
drive.
2. Restart your computer. If you have to, change the BIOS settings to start
from
the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer again.
3. At the "Welcome to Setup" page, press ENTER.
4. Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
5. Use the arrow keys to select the installation of Windows XP that you want
to
repair, and then press R to start the automatic repair process.
6. When Setup is completed, activate Windows XP.

Note that you will need your Product Key for this procedure, so have it
handy before you begin.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alex Nichol]

I'm having problems with XP. No longer being able to access system
restore or the recycle bin I went to the NGs for help. I see I can do
a repair reinstall and hopefully mend the broken bits. My question, as
I upgraded to XP from ME will this make any difference to the
reinstall. Also, I do not have a copy of ME, only a restore disc
which I understand only gives access to some hidden files on the HDD
which can restore ME.

It will not matter for a repair reinstall - Set the BIOS to boot CD
before Hard disk, then boot the XP CD, start Setup (do not take
'Repair' at this stage), then after the license agreement take 'Repair
Installation'. This will retain your existing software installations
and most settings. But Updates will have to be run again, especially
SP1;
It is important to activate the basic XP Firewall before you ever
connect to the net to get the patches, so as to be protected against
things like the BLAST worm.

If you should want to do a clean install, formatting the drive, you will
have to restore that ME, and run the XP CD from it again