System Restore

[Guest]

I have a Compaq Presario 2100 notebook running XP Home that doesn't display
anything. I connected a new LCD monitor, installed the driver, and set the
display settings. Windows needed to restart, and when it did, I have no
visual - neither the notebook screen nor the LCD show anything. Can I run
the system restore from the recovery console (c:\ prompt) or from Bart PE? I
tried to reinstall Windows from recovery console but it gets hung up and
doesn't finish... Ran the chkdsk c: /r and it got through 56% of the scan
and it returned an error message.

Any insight would be appreciated.
Tony

 

[John]

I have a Compaq Presario 2100 notebook running XP Home that doesn't display
anything.

Probably would been better to use safe mode to change the driver to one
that works.
See if you can now.

How to start Windows XP in Safe mode
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001060608000039
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315222&Product=winxp
http://www.whtvcable.com/virusremoval .htm
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html
To use a Safe Boot option, follow these steps:
1. Restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on your
keyboard. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple
operating systems, you can press the F8 key when you the Boot Menu
appears.
2. Select an option when the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and
then press ENTER.
3. When the Boot menu appears again, and the words "Safe Mode" appear
in blue at the bottom, select the installation that you want to start,
and then press ENTER.

You cannot start Windows XP in Safe Mode
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP

Using Safe Mode to Troubleshoot
http://www.youthtech.com/techstuff/explore_windowsxp/xptroubleshoot2.htm

 

[Guest]

Hi John

Thanks for your help, however... I've tried to boot using the three Safe
Mode options, yet the notebook gets hung up. I've also tried from the last
known good configuration. When I try this, the blue Windows Set up screen
appears to continue, but gets hung up shortly thereafter. After I boot from
the XP CD and try to reinstall a fresh copy, I get a warning telling me it's
not a good idea to install 2 operating systems on a single partition.

Tony

 

[John]

IBD wrote:
I get a warning telling me it's not a good idea to install 2 operating
systems on a single partition.


There is only one safe way to protect your information Tony, that is to
slave it to another comp or HD & copy your info.

Next choice is to try repair, you get 2 repair options, choose the 2nd.

Boot off of a clean Windows XP cd ( your bios has to be set to boot
from cd rom 1st ) choose Install ( Not > To Repair a Windows XP
installation using Recovery Console, press R ) at the first prompt.
It will then search for a previous copy of Windows.
When it finds your copy, it will stop at the next prompt and ask if you
want to do a repair. Hit R at this screen.
If it does'nt mention a repair > DO NOT continue.
It will then copy a lot of files and appear to be doing a reinstall (
But its not. All your programs and data are safe, all you will lose,
are your Windows updates )
This will allow you to add accounts to the system that will be
administrator accounts, it will also fix most problems in XP.

 

[Guest]

Thanks John.

The repair function appeared to have worked because the Windows intro sound
byte plays when it boots up, but now I'm back to blank screens. The 3 Safe
Mode options get hung up at the same place as well. For what it's worth, the
file safe mode hangs on an ATI driver. [atisgkaf.sys]

Also not sure how to slave my notebook to my desktop to recover my files.

 

[John]

Also not sure how to slave my notebook to my desktop to recover my files.

how to slave notebook to desktop
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=how+to+slave+notebook+to+desktop&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

 

[Guest]

Thanks again for your time John, but the underlying problem is that I cannot
see what's displayed on the notebook - no screen image. How am I going to do
anything on the notebook with nothing to look at.

Here's the oddity... when it boots up I see the Compaq title splash and the
XP splash with the progress bar moving like it normally does on the screen -
then it goes blank. I know XP is working - after a 120 second wait for XP to
get to the sign in screen, I hit enter and then the intro sound byte plays.

 

[John]

Thanks again for your time John, but the underlying problem is that I cannot
see what's displayed on the notebook - no screen image. How am I going to do
anything on the notebook with nothing to look at.

OK IBD, need to know if you are prepared to lose everything, anything
can happen in your situation, was not prepared to proceed further as
you asked how to slave.

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately not... my notebook contains all of my business' files,
accounting files for this year, client contact details etc. etc. I looked to
the Compaq recovery CDs but I was warned they will wipe out my drive. So you
see I'm as close to doomsday as I can be.

I asked about the slave function because I thought I could execute the
sharing features through Bart PE.

Tony

 

[John]

Unfortunately not...

OK, no choice now, other than slaving.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your time John.

Tony

OK, no choice now, other than slaving.

 

[thecreator]

Hi Tony,

I am familiar with the Compaq Presario 2100, because a friend has one.
But I have Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2, installed.

Recapping, you changed the LCD Screen. Can you please explain what
happened to the original Laptop Screen? Is the LCD Screen, external to the
Laptop / Notebook Computer, or you replaced the Laptop LCD Screen?

You can recover your Business Files and Desktop, by going out and buying
a Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 Upgrade CD.

I am not certain, if the Compaq CD Disks that came with your Laptop,
contains the same options that the regular Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
CD contains. This is the ability to do a repair of Windows XP Home Edition
while maintaining your Data Files? Did you already check this function?

Change the Boot Order to make sure that you boot from the CD first.

Procedure to Reinstall / Repair Windows XP while MAINTAINING your
DATA FILES!

If you want to save any files, make a backup of those files off the Hard
Drive and proceed.

00. - Turn off the printer.
01. - Go into Compaq Bios and Set Defaults and Exit, if you know how.
Make sure the Boot Order is set to Boot to CD-Rom Drive First.
02. - Insert Windows XP CD into CD-Rom Drive.
03. - Reboot the computer.
04. - Press any key to begin to boot from the Windows XP CD.
05. - Welcome to Setup.
06. - Reinstall XP - Press Enter
07. - F8 - I Agree
08. - Esc: Don't Repair
09. - Select Windows XP Highlighted Partition to repair Windows XP on.
10. - Press Enter.
11. - Follow on screen prompts to allow the Deletion and reinstallation of
the Windows XP System Files.
12. - Then Copies files to partition.
13. - Now it Reboots to Windows XP. Don't press a key to boot to CD.
14. - And now it installs Windows XP.
15. - You need to be here now.
16. - Starts at 39 Minutes to Complete.
17. - At 33 minutes, you need to set Time and Time Zone, if need to.
18. - And Enter The Product Key. For the Compaq Laptop, it is located on the
bottom of the Laptop computer.
19. - At 29 minutes, you need to pick the Network, if needed to.
20. - Now wait for Reboot and you are done.
21. - Go online and go to Windows Update and download and reinstall all the
patches.

Note: - If you have the original Windows XP CD, not Service Pack 2 CD, you
will need to have already downloaded to Your Briefcase Folder,
WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU from this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...be-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en

You must install Windows XP Service Pack 2 before you can use Windows
Update. Also you must install the tool to validate your copy of Windows
after upgrading to Windows XP Service Pack 2, before you can begin to
reinstall all the Windows XP Patches.

 

[Guest]

Creator,

Thanks for your note,

Nothing happened to the original notebook screen, however I purchased an
external 19" LCD monitor to use when the notebook is here in the office.
Your suggestion sounds encouraging - can I expect the same results if I
purchase XP Pro w/SP2 ?

If so, that's what I'll do. I'll keep you posted.

 

[thecreator]

Hi Tony,

Before you upgrade to Windows XP Professional Edition, I would get it
working with Windows XP Home Edition, first. Why? Because what may be
causing the problem, has got to do with what was added to the operating
system and the changing from Windows XP Home Edition to Windows XP
Professional Edition, may not fix the problem.

My friend on his computer added too many Toolbars and it caused problems
on his computer. If you can, get into the operating system, and first start
by removing every single Toolbar program.

Go into Compaq BIOS and Restore Factory Defaults. Disconnect the 19" LCD
Monitor first.

Once you can get into operating system, remove the toolbars, mentioned
above. Then use Explore and go to every \Temp Folder and remove all
sub-folders and files in the Temp Folder. Some files may be in use. Leave
them.

Empty the Recycle Bin. Now schedule a complete Chkdsk and reboot to run.
It should run fine after the toolbars are removed. Once it is complete,
Defragment the Partition.

Now, reboot and go into Safe Mode and add the 19" monitor, while you are
in Safe Mode. See what happens.