Upgrade install went bad - need help

[Graptol]

My XP pro system started playing up last week. I decided to see what
an upgrade install would to to rectify the problem, as the last time I
did a repair install it complained of missing drivers. However
half-way through installing device drivers the installation froze. So
I reformatted and got ready to start from scratch.

But when I booted from the cd, it gave the message:

"This computer is already in the process of being upgraded to
Microsoft Windows"

and gave three choices: continue with upgrade, install a fresh system,
or exit installation. I chose to install fresh. After completing
installation, everything works fine. However, if I boot from the xp
cd, I keep getting the above message with the three choices.

How can I stop this from happening? Is there a flag set in the mbr or
somewhere else? Or is it to do with files left in the boot partition?
I Don't want to reformat my whole hard drive if it can be avoided. The
problem is, I am playing with Barts PE Builder, and whenever I boot
from a PE cd, I get this same message and so can't boot the PE system.

regards
Dave

 

[Guest]

Try entering the BIOS,exit page,select,"load set-up defaults" or "optimized
defaults",then reset any add-ons in BIOS,then exit.If it doesnt work the 1st
time,shut down computer,power-off,remove the battery for 30 seconds,re-
install,start computer,repeat step one.

 

[graptol]

Are you saying xp setup puts settings in the bios???! Or that changing the
bios will make setup think it's a different computer? That seems strange to
me.

Anyway, I'm going to reformat my system/boot partitions. But I'd still like
to find out how to fix this in case it happens again. I've noticed that in
the system partition there are a couple of folders - "$WIN_NT$.~LS" and
"$WIN_NT$.~BT" - which seem to contain files copied from the cd during
setup. Could it be that during setup or using recovery console, the folders
make windows think it's being upgraded. If I delete these folders, will it
cause problems?

regards
Dave

 

[graptol]

yep, that fixed it. Just deleted those folders and everything seems fine.

Dave