Repearing XP - I need your help

  • Thread starter Thread starter George
  • Start date Start date
G

George

Hi All,

My colleague left me his computer before he went for holiday.
He asked me for sorting the computer out whilst he is there.

The computer was infected by lots of viruses/trojans. I managed
to get rid of them. But the start and shutting of the system was
still terrible slow. Nothing was able to help, any antispyware and
even BootVis. Besides, the AVG antivirus program said that some
files were changed, including shell32.dll.
So I decided to reinstall the system - Windows XP Pro SP1.
(I successfully repaired the system on my computer some time ago
so I thought there shouldn't be any problem).
I booted the computer with my Win XP Pro SP1 CD-ROM.
I typed "R" and then I pressed F8 (License Agreement).
It found the existing system:
C:\WINDOWS "Microsoft Windows XP Professional".
I typed "R" again and Windows started to copy files to the hard disk.
The copying took some time when I realised that it'd ask me for the
product key. As my colleague didnt' leave anything I didn't have his key.
I panicked and switched off the computer in the moment when it wrote
that it was about to initiate the configuration (after copying all files
I suppose)

The only thing I can do now is to boot with the Win XP Pro SP1 CD,
press Enter and then the Recovery Console appears.
After choosing 1 (there is only 1 system), I can type the Administrator
password (empty in fact), and then I get the prompt:
C:\WINDOWS >_
I can type dir and see the Windows directory as well as I can type cd ..
and see the main directory.
I suppose that I could use other (maybe all) commands however I can't
be sure. Besides, I'm not familiar with Recovery Console.

Please tell me if it is possible to get back to the system before the
unfortunate reinstall?
If so - how to do it.
If not, can I reinstall the system again using my Windows XP Pro SP1 CD
and my product key?
In such case I'd like to repeat the reinstalling when my colleague is back
using his CD and his product key.

Please help me.

Regards
George
 
George said:
Hi All,

My colleague left me his computer before he went for holiday.
He asked me for sorting the computer out whilst he is there.

The computer was infected by lots of viruses/trojans. I managed
to get rid of them. But the start and shutting of the system was
still terrible slow. Nothing was able to help, any antispyware and
even BootVis. Besides, the AVG antivirus program said that some
files were changed, including shell32.dll.
So I decided to reinstall the system - Windows XP Pro SP1.
(I successfully repaired the system on my computer some time ago
so I thought there shouldn't be any problem). I booted the computer with
my Win XP Pro SP1 CD-ROM.
I typed "R" and then I pressed F8 (License Agreement).
It found the existing system:
C:\WINDOWS "Microsoft Windows XP Professional".
I typed "R" again and Windows started to copy files to the hard disk.
The copying took some time when I realised that it'd ask me for the
product key. As my colleague didnt' leave anything I didn't have his key.
I panicked and switched off the computer in the moment when it wrote
that it was about to initiate the configuration (after copying all files
I suppose)

The only thing I can do now is to boot with the Win XP Pro SP1 CD,
press Enter and then the Recovery Console appears.
After choosing 1 (there is only 1 system), I can type the Administrator
password (empty in fact), and then I get the prompt:
C:\WINDOWS >_
I can type dir and see the Windows directory as well as I can type cd ..
and see the main directory.
I suppose that I could use other (maybe all) commands however I can't
be sure. Besides, I'm not familiar with Recovery Console.

Please tell me if it is possible to get back to the system before the
unfortunate reinstall?
If so - how to do it.
If not, can I reinstall the system again using my Windows XP Pro SP1 CD
and my product key? In such case I'd like to repeat the reinstalling
when my colleague is back
using his CD and his product key.

Please help me.

Regards
George
Click to expand...

Yes you can use your CD and key. It gives you 30 days to activate so if
your friend is back by then, do a repair install with his CD key.
 
Thanks for your answer.
Yes you can use your CD and key. It gives you 30 days to activate so if
your friend is back by then, do a repair install with his CD key.
Click to expand...

Sorry for asking but have you tried to reinstal the system with not oryginal
product key and was it successful?
I've been just browsing the Internet and there are a lot of news from people
who simply lost their product key. There were 2 kind of replies:
1) sometimes the product key is in $winnt$.inf file - unfortunately it's
not in my colleague's file
2) another advice was to phone Microsoft or to buy another copy of WinXP.
So it seems that reinstalling the system using another Product Key is not
possible.
Could you ensure me that it's possible, please?
I wouldn't like to make more mistakes.

Regards
George
 
George said:
Thanks for your answer.


Sorry for asking but have you tried to reinstal the system with not
oryginal
product key and was it successful?
I've been just browsing the Internet and there are a lot of news from
people
who simply lost their product key. There were 2 kind of replies:
1) sometimes the product key is in $winnt$.inf file - unfortunately it's
not in my colleague's file
2) another advice was to phone Microsoft or to buy another copy of WinXP.
So it seems that reinstalling the system using another Product Key is not
possible.
Could you ensure me that it's possible, please?
I wouldn't like to make more mistakes.
Click to expand...

Have you looked on the bottom/back of the computer for the MS sticker? Many
manufacturers put the CD product key sticker on the machine instead of
providing the actual CD to the purchaser. you may have the product key and
don't realise it.
 
Thank you for your reply.
Have you looked on the bottom/back of the computer for the MS sticker? Many
manufacturers put the CD product key sticker on the machine instead of
providing the actual CD to the purchaser. you may have the product key and
don't realise it.
Click to expand...
I have. Unfortunately it isn't there.

Before I do anything else I must be sure that if I reinstall the system with
a Product Key different than the "oryginal one", I'll have "almost the same
system" like after reinstalling using the peoper Key.
If not - reinstalling is useless because in such case I can make a new
installation at all.
All I could do now was to copy all data on CD using the Knoppix.

Regards
George
 
George said:
Thanks for your answer.



Sorry for asking but have you tried to reinstal the system with not
oryginal
product key and was it successful?
I've been just browsing the Internet and there are a lot of news from
people
who simply lost their product key. There were 2 kind of replies:
1) sometimes the product key is in $winnt$.inf file - unfortunately it's
not in my colleague's file
2) another advice was to phone Microsoft or to buy another copy of WinXP.
So it seems that reinstalling the system using another Product Key is not
possible.
Could you ensure me that it's possible, please?
I wouldn't like to make more mistakes.

Regards
George
Click to expand...

Yes it is possible depending on the computers and version of XP. What
version of XP do you have? Is it OEM or retail and if OEM is it generic
OEM or a computer vendor's OEM version? What is his computer?
 
Thank you Rock.
Yes it is possible depending on the computers and version of XP. What
version of XP do you have? Is it OEM or retail and if OEM is it generic
OEM or a computer vendor's OEM version? What is his computer?
Click to expand...
I don't know if the XP is OEM or not but I suppose it is OEM.
Before the unfortunate reinstall I noted that it was:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional ServicePack1
version: 5.1.2600

At the moment I can either:
- browse the partitions (there are 2) using the Knoppix
- use the Recovery Console after booting with my CD
Is it possible to find out answers to your questions using
one of the above "tools"?

As far as I know the reinstall didn't demage the registry.
On the other hand programs like KeyFinder use the registry
to show the ProductKey. So maybe there is any way to read
The ProductKey using Knoppix?
Do I understand it well that the problem is to have an "original"
ProductKey and it's not important whether the CD is "original"
or mine? If so, having the proper ProductKey (from Knoppix
for example) I wouldn't have to wait for my colleague and his CD?

Regards
George
 
George said:
Thank you Rock.


I don't know if the XP is OEM or not but I suppose it is OEM.
Before the unfortunate reinstall I noted that it was:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional ServicePack1
version: 5.1.2600
At the moment I can either:
- browse the partitions (there are 2) using the Knoppix
- use the Recovery Console after booting with my CD
Is it possible to find out answers to your questions using
one of the above "tools"?

As far as I know the reinstall didn't demage the registry.
On the other hand programs like KeyFinder use the registry to show the
ProductKey. So maybe there is any way to read
The ProductKey using Knoppix?
Do I understand it well that the problem is to have an "original"
ProductKey and it's not important whether the CD is "original"
or mine? If so, having the proper ProductKey (from Knoppix
for example) I wouldn't have to wait for my colleague and his CD?

Regards
George
Click to expand...

What I asked was what type of XP installation CD do _you_ have? It has
to be an installation CD, not a recovery CD. That said, is it retail or
OEM, and if OEM then is it a generic OEM or did it come with and
installed on the computer when you got it? If your copy is retail or
generic OEM then it should work on his system. Whether his key will
work or you'll need to use the CD Key that came with it depends. The
key must match the type of XP CD. Installation CDs are not unique
except that the CD type has to match the key, that is OEM vs retail,
Home vs Pro, generic OEM versus vendor OEM. Don't activate once it's
installed if you use your own key. When he returns do a repair install
with CD and key.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

I would suggest though, that you just wait for him to come back.
 
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