unable to start XP - can I salvage data before format?

[Guest]

I installed some software that my computer obviously didn't like (our French
ISP's software package), and since then, it won't go into windows. It
automatically comes up with the We're sorry, but Windows is unable to
load...then options for 3 Safe Modes, Last Good Configuration, Start Windows
anyway, etc. - NONE of these options work, not even the Safe Modes - all go
straight to the blue screen, which disappears much faster than I am capable
of reading.

HP can take care of the recovery of my personal data for me, but I'm not
living in the US right now and they don't do Europe. So, is there any way
for me, with a functional Windows computer and an external hard drive as
well, to get the important files off my non-functional computer before I
format the drive, i.e. to access the hard drive of my HP through the working
Dell and get what I need?

I've done the system check, and the hard drive passed, no problems, FYI.

I'm sure there are "services" for this kind of thing, but living in rural
France, I'm not sure how trustworthy/effective they'll be, and I'm not sure
how costly this might be.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[John John]

Were you able to use the Recovery Console? If so then you might just be
able to disable the offending service and have the computer boot again
normally. Do you have access to another Windows NT/2000/XP computer?
You might just be able to easily fix the problem if you can use the
Recovery Console or if you can mount the disk in another computer.

John

 

[02befree]

Go to Google and search Use the Recovery Console to Rebuild Windows XP
It will send you to an article that may solve your problem. This page will
only load once and then a cookie will only let you read half of it unless
you subscribe. You can get back to it by Googling it and clicking the link.
It will help you rebuild your boot.ini file and probably get you back on the
road. I've used this several times to fix systems

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I installed some software that my computer obviously didn't like (our
French
ISP's software package), and since then, it won't go into windows. It
automatically comes up with the We're sorry, but Windows is unable to
load...then options for 3 Safe Modes, Last Good Configuration, Start
Windows
anyway, etc. - NONE of these options work, not even the Safe Modes - all
go
straight to the blue screen, which disappears much faster than I am
capable
of reading.

HP can take care of the recovery of my personal data for me, but I'm not
living in the US right now and they don't do Europe. So, is there any way
for me, with a functional Windows computer and an external hard drive as
well, to get the important files off my non-functional computer before I
format the drive, i.e. to access the hard drive of my HP through the
working
Dell and get what I need?

I've done the system check, and the hard drive passed, no problems, FYI.

I'm sure there are "services" for this kind of thing, but living in rural
France, I'm not sure how trustworthy/effective they'll be, and I'm not
sure
how costly this might be.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

There definitely is, provided you have sufficient disk space to take the
copy. One of the simplest ways is to physically remove the drive from
the machine that isn't functioning and attach it to the working machine
(either internally or via USB case). Then, you can take an image of it
(after deleting the most unneeded files) or simply copy files. Note that
if you copy, you may first need to take ownership of the hosted drive:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

Immediately after you mount the drive in the host machine, delete the
pagefile.sys from the root. As well, if the machine was shut down
properly, you can safely delete hiberfil.sys. These two files are often
large, and pagefile.sys will be rebuilt anyway. hiberfil.sys will contain
the last state of the system memory, which is important if you left the
machine running with documents open and unsaved. If you shut it down
properly, it can be safely deleted.

Then, you can further clean up by searching for content.ie5 folders and just
deleting them. These contain the temporary internet files. Also look
for *.tmp files and delete them - you can normally clear out the temp
folders. Empty the recycle bin.

Then, once you're satisfied, you can either copy the files, which can take
hours, or you can image the drive, which can take a remarkably short period
of time. I find imaging to be a much better solution. Simply copying
all files will not help you make a new drive bootable. An image will. If
you know exactly what files you need and where they are, copying is
acceptable.

Do not forget that some programs put key data in hidden/system folders.
Outlook and Outlook Express and Windows Address book are prime examples of
this behaviour. Be *sure* you have found these files if you are copying.
If you're imaging, you get them all.

I would suggest downloading the 15-day free trial version of Acronis
TrueImage. This will not only copy everything on the drive but will also
get you an image that can be restored and function exactly as the original
(which at the moment is of more value than you might think if the system is
unbootable - it lets you experiment with fixes while being able to go back
and try again).
www.acronis.com

Once the image is complete, mount it as read-only and verify that you can
read and copy the data you need most. Then, power the system down and
remove the hosted drive, and proceed with recovery.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

Thanks both. I am unable to run the recovery console - or at least to do so
with an option NOT to lose all my data.

Also, both computers are laptops, so transferring the drive isn't an option.

Does this link still make sense for me to check out?

 

[John John]

I don't think that you are aware of the Recovery Console and its
purposes. Running the Recovery Console will not cause you to loose any
data unless you already have serious file corruption issues that you
would try to resolve with the chkdsk command. Do you have a Windows XP
cd? Was the laptop part of a network?

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

John

 

[02befree]

There definitely is, provided you have sufficient disk space to take the
copy. One of the simplest ways is to physically remove the drive from
the machine that isn't functioning and attach it to the working machine
(either internally or via USB case). Then, you can take an image of it
(after deleting the most unneeded files) or simply copy files. Note that
if you copy, you may first need to take ownership of the hosted drive:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

Immediately after you mount the drive in the host machine, delete the
pagefile.sys from the root. As well, if the machine was shut down
properly, you can safely delete hiberfil.sys.

Curious - is this to simply to save space or will any of these cause
problems on reimage, or are they the cause of the problem? Thanks


These two files are often

 

[02befree]

Isn't this newsgroup great! So much help available. It's saved my bacon
many a time and fills in the knowledge gaps, or canyons that I have
Don't confuse System Restore with Recovery Console.
You use the Recovery Console by putting your Windows XP CD into your CDROM
and rebooting. Windows Setup will run and then give you an option to
Setup/Install or Repair. Go with the other advice from there. If it's not
booting, see if you can get into your BIOS (hitting Del on startup usually)
and make sure your boot order starts with CDROM.
HTH

 

[Guest]

Thanks again to all. I tried the CD (which, admittedly is for XP Pro while
I'm running XP Home), but when I hit the "R" for repair a windows
insttallation using the recovery console, it tells me setup cannot find any
hard disk drives installed in my computer.

That said, I'm wondering if there's simply any way to connect my messed-up
laptop to the working laptop, both of which run XP, and just get my data (I
have not very much that I isn't backed up, and I know where it is) before I
format the C drive. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Alternately, I think there's enough room on the D drive for the few files
that aren't backed up, so knowing that I can't get into Safe Mode, etc., is
there a way to flip these few files over from C to D?

Again, thanks for the help thus far...

 

[John Wunderlich]

I installed some software that my computer obviously didn't like
(our French ISP's software package), and since then, it won't go
into windows. It automatically comes up with the We're sorry, but
Windows is unable to load...then options for 3 Safe Modes, Last
Good Configuration, Start Windows anyway, etc. - NONE of these
options work, not even the Safe Modes - all go straight to the
blue screen, which disappears much faster than I am capable of
reading.

HP can take care of the recovery of my personal data for me, but
I'm not living in the US right now and they don't do Europe. So,
is there any way for me, with a functional Windows computer and an
external hard drive as well, to get the important files off my
non-functional computer before I format the drive, i.e. to access
the hard drive of my HP through the working Dell and get what I
need?

I've done the system check, and the hard drive passed, no
problems, FYI.

I'm sure there are "services" for this kind of thing, but living
in rural France, I'm not sure how trustworthy/effective they'll
be, and I'm not sure how costly this might be.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Yet another approach would be to boot from a OS on a CD and use the
network connection to download your files to another computer. Two
good bootable CDs are:
"Ultimate Boot CD for Windows"
<http://www.ubcd4win.com/>
"Knoppix" (Live Linux CD)
<http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html>
HTH,
John

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Curious - is this to simply to save space or will any of these cause
problems on reimage, or are they the cause of the problem? Thanks

It's primarily to save space. These two files sometimes occupy a gigabyte
or more, depending on the system, and that can add quite a bit of time to an
image, copy, or verification process.

However, I have fixed non-starting systems by deleting the pagefile.sys
file and restarting the system (I attached the drive to my notebook via a
USB connector, and deleted the file). The systems restarted properly once
the drive, without that pagefile.sys file, was re-connected.

Pagefile.sys is a temporary file and will be rebuilt as soon as Windows
starts. Hiberfil.sys is an image of the memory and may contain data of
value *if* the system was asleep at the time of shutdown. If it was shut
down normally or if no apps or documents were open, it can be safely
deleted.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Thanks both. I am unable to run the recovery console - or at least to do
so
with an option NOT to lose all my data.

That description sounds like you are NOT in the recovery console, but in an
install screen.

Also, both computers are laptops, so transferring the drive isn't an
option.

Get a USB drive case. That will solve the problem.

HTH
-pk