Starting WinXP Pro & Taskbar Problems

[rn5a]

I have Win2K Pro installed in the C:\ drive & WinXP Pro installed in
the D:\ drive in my m/c. Due to some reasons, Win2K Pro got corrupted
(but WinXP was working absolutely fine). The exact error message was
this:

----------
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:

C:\WINNT\System32\Config\System

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the
original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.
----------

I could repair Win2K successfully but when I tried to start WinXP Pro,
it refused to start stating exactly the above error message (including
the file name & path). I logged into Win2K & started to repair WinXP.
In other words, I didn't install a fresh copy of WinXP so that I don't
have to re-install the softwares that were already existing in WinXP
before I encountered this error in WinXP. Before I encountered this
problem in WinXP, I was using IE7.0 but after repairing WinXP, I found
that IE6.0 always opened whenever I opened Internet Explorer though
Add/Remove Programs (in the Control Panel) listed IE7.0 as one of the
softwares installed. When I tried to install IE7.0, the files were
extracted but I was told that I didn't have the necessary SPs installed
in WinXP due to which IE7.0 installation aborted (I don't remember the
exact error message).

So what I did is I uninstalled IE7.0 using the Add/Remove Programs GUI.
When I restarted my m/c I found that the desktop didn't display Taskbar
& the Start button. Even right-clicking anywhere on the desktop didn't
display any context menu. Since then I have gone through a no. of posts
in this newsgroups as well as other articles to resolve this issue but
I have failed. The Taskbar just refuses to show itself. The Task
Manager also doesn't list explorer.exe under the 'Processes' tab.

If I try to open explorer.exe from the Command Prompt, Windows
generates the following error:

----------
Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close.
----------

The error dialog also displays the 'Send Error Report' & 'Don't Send'
buttons.

Can someone please help me resolve this issue? I am currently
downloading SP2 of WinXP.

There's one thing which I find strange. Prior to encountering these
errors in the 2 OS's, whenever I used to start WinXP, it showed the
Windows logo (with the black background) along with the image wherein
the blue lines can be seen moving from left to right & vice-versa. If
my memory serves me right, after this, I am just prompted to enter the
password. This GUI with Login name & password covers the entire screen
of the monitor unlike in Win2K wherein the background remains black & a
dialog box comes up to enter the password. Moreover, in Win2K, prior to
prompting to enter the password, Windows also shows another dialog box
(with the black background) with messages like 'Windows is starting
up...', 'Applying network settings...', 'Loading personal settings...'
(the last 2 messages - I am not very sure of the exact wordings but it
goes something like this).

Now when I start WinXP, after the first screen (with Windows logo),
Windows displays the same dialog as it does for Win2K (though the GUI
remains WinXP-like) but this dialog box shows only the first message
'Windows is starting up....' (the last 2 aren't shown). After this, I
am prompted to enter the password & here again, instead of the
conventional WinXP GUI (which takes up the entire monitor screen) to
enter the password to login to a m/c, Windows displays the same dialog
box (with the black background & the GUI being WinXP-like) as it does
when Win2K prompts the user to enter the password to login to a m/c.

Why this discrepancy in the GUI of WinXP when starting WinXP?

 

[Rock]

I have Win2K Pro installed in the C:\ drive & WinXP Pro installed in
the D:\ drive in my m/c. Due to some reasons, Win2K Pro got corrupted
(but WinXP was working absolutely fine). The exact error message was
this:

----------
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:

C:\WINNT\System32\Config\System

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the
original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.
----------

I could repair Win2K successfully but when I tried to start WinXP Pro,
it refused to start stating exactly the above error message (including
the file name & path). I logged into Win2K & started to repair WinXP.

How did you start a repair on XP from inside Win2k? How was the repair
done?

At this stage I would recommend backing up your data, then do a clean
install of XP, reinstall program, then restore data.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[rn5a]

How did you start a repair on XP from inside Win2k? How was the repair

done?

In Win2K, I inserted the WinXP Pro CD in the CD-ROM drive. I can't
recollect what did the first screen look like (autorun) but the next
screen (or the one after that) gave me 2 options - install a fresh copy
of WinXP being the first one & I don't remember the exact wordings of
the second option but it definitely said that the existing softwares in
WinXP will be restored & hence you won't have to re-install them.

At this stage I would recommend backing up your data, then do a clean
install of XP, reinstall program, then restore data.

That's exactly what I would like to avoid - the main reason being
though I have a CD-Writer (which WinXP displays as 'CD-RW' in 'My
Computer' when no CD exists in the drive; a usual CD-ROM is displayed
as 'CD Drive'), after repairing WinXP, I find that 'My Computer' lists
the CD-Writer as 'CD Drive' & not as 'CD-RW' & hence I am not able to
back-up my data in CDs (I don't have any other option other than
backing-up my data in CDs). Even the CD burning software (Nero) fails
to write the CD using the CD-Writer.

Any other suggestions???

 

[Rock]

In Win2K, I inserted the WinXP Pro CD in the CD-ROM drive. I can't
recollect what did the first screen look like (autorun) but the next
screen (or the one after that) gave me 2 options - install a fresh copy
of WinXP being the first one & I don't remember the exact wordings of
the second option but it definitely said that the existing softwares in
WinXP will be restored & hence you won't have to re-install them.


That's exactly what I would like to avoid - the main reason being
though I have a CD-Writer (which WinXP displays as 'CD-RW' in 'My
Computer' when no CD exists in the drive; a usual CD-ROM is displayed
as 'CD Drive'), after repairing WinXP, I find that 'My Computer' lists
the CD-Writer as 'CD Drive' & not as 'CD-RW' & hence I am not able to
back-up my data in CDs (I don't have any other option other than
backing-up my data in CDs). Even the CD burning software (Nero) fails
to write the CD using the CD-Writer.

Any other suggestions???

Normally you run the repair install by booting the XP CD. Well you need to
backup the data, that's the first priority. Take out the hard drive and
install it as a slave drive in another XP or Win2K computer, then copy the
important data.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

For the CD drive, uninstall it from device manager, reboot and let XP
redetect it.

 

[rn5a]

CORRECTION:
----------

The backgrounds, wherever mentioned black (in Win2K Pro) in post #1 in
this thread, are actually blue.

Sorry for the oversight...