Valid product key fails/how to prevent setup from running

[Dean Smetana]

Hello,

We have an HP machine with XP Media Center that recently
stopped booting up. It was in an infinite loop showing a
screen about "machine not being properly shut down" that
gave options to do a normal boot / safe mode / last good
config / ... All options had the same result. My guess
was corruption of some important XP files. Ran chkdsk /r
and although it said it fixed some problems, the boot
process got no further.

Tried disconnecting CD/DVD drives, 8-1 card reader,
diskette drive but no help. Put them all back.

Had access to an XP Pro Upgrade CD and thought I could use
it to repair any corruption. But when the setup gets to
the prompt for the product key, none of the keys I have
work: not the one on the packaging for the CD, not the one
on the side of my HP machine, not the OEM key returned by
BelArc advisor.

Now I'm stuck in an infinite loop where the machine wants
to run setup even if I go into safe mode or any of the
other options.

Any ideas why none of these product keys work? I've
inspected very carefully for '8' vs 'B', '6' vs 'G', ...

Any way to prevent setup.exe from starting any more? I'm
thinking maybe the setup may have already done enough to
fix the original (assumed) corruption. But it's probably
not as simple as that.

I can actually get to a point where I can run programs on
the system: by leaving the setup CD out of the drive when
booting and going through a series of pop-ups that are
looking for certain installation files - until I get to a
pop-up that has a 'Browse' button on it. With that I can
navigate around my drive and run things like regedit, task
manager, command prompt, ... Tried to run ntbackup.exe in
an attempt to create an Auto-Recovery backup with
diskette, but that fails - probably because I'm really
running in the context of setup.exe.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Dean Smetana

 

[Mike Brannigan [MSFT]]

Dean,

Use the recovery process provided by your OEM (HP).
This will either be a recovery CD or CDs or a Recovery partition.

--

Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups

 

[Dean Smetana]

Mike, thanks for the reply.

I started to go through the recovery process but it only
gave me the option for a destructive recovery - although
the wording was such that it sounded like in some cases
you might get a choice of recovery options. I talked to
HP on the phone and they (their script) said the only
option I had was the destructive recovery.

Dean

 

[Darrell Gorter[MSFT]]

Hello Dean,
You ar etoo far into setup to really recover without a mis-match of any
number of files. The system currently has partially Windows XP Pro files
and partially Windows Media Center files. So the setup has probably
overwritten some of the Media Center files which means that the most you
would have to be Windows XP Pro, no longer Media Center that would work
properly.
The Windows XP Pro Upgrade cd should only take the Product key that is on
the side of the packaging that it shipped in.
It will not take the product key from the side of the machine or the Media
Center packaging.
What are you looking to get from the repair process?
In install of Windows XP Pro?
An Install of Windows Media Center? You will need to use the recovery cd
to get this back.
To recover files before doing the restore? At the Product Key prompt do a
shift -F10 to open a CMD prompt.
This should open a cmd prompt, and you may be able to copy files off in
this prompt.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------

 

[Dean Smetana]

Thanks Darrell. My goal is simply to get Windows Media
Center working again. I've saved off my Documents and
Settings folder and am embarking on the Recovery process...

Dean Smetana

-----Original Message-----
Hello Dean,
You ar etoo far into setup to really recover without a mis-match of any
number of files. The system currently has partially Windows XP Pro files
and partially Windows Media Center files. So the setup has probably
overwritten some of the Media Center files which means that the most you
would have to be Windows XP Pro, no longer Media Center that would work
properly.
The Windows XP Pro Upgrade cd should only take the Product key that is on
the side of the packaging that it shipped in.
It will not take the product key from the side of the machine or the Media
Center packaging.
What are you looking to get from the repair process?
In install of Windows XP Pro?
An Install of Windows Media Center? You will need to use the recovery cd
to get this back.
To recover files before doing the restore? At the Product Key prompt do a
shift -F10 to open a CMD prompt.
This should open a cmd prompt, and you may be able to copy files off in
this prompt.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------

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From: "Dean Smetana" <[email protected]>
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Subject: Valid product key fails/how to prevent setup from running
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Hello,

We have an HP machine with XP Media Center that recently
stopped booting up. It was in an infinite loop showing a
screen about "machine not being properly shut down" that
gave options to do a normal boot / safe mode / last good
config / ... All options had the same result. My guess
was corruption of some important XP files. Ran chkdsk /r
and although it said it fixed some problems, the boot
process got no further.

Tried disconnecting CD/DVD drives, 8-1 card reader,
diskette drive but no help. Put them all back.

Had access to an XP Pro Upgrade CD and thought I could use
it to repair any corruption. But when the setup gets to
the prompt for the product key, none of the keys I have
work: not the one on the packaging for the CD, not the one
on the side of my HP machine, not the OEM key returned by
BelArc advisor.

Now I'm stuck in an infinite loop where the machine wants
to run setup even if I go into safe mode or any of the
other options.

Any ideas why none of these product keys work? I've
inspected very carefully for '8' vs 'B', '6' vs 'G', ...

Any way to prevent setup.exe from starting any more? I'm
thinking maybe the setup may have already done enough to
fix the original (assumed) corruption. But it's probably
not as simple as that.

I can actually get to a point where I can run programs on
the system: by leaving the setup CD out of the drive when
booting and going through a series of pop-ups that are
looking for certain installation files - until I get to a
pop-up that has a 'Browse' button on it. With that I can
navigate around my drive and run things like regedit, task
manager, command prompt, ... Tried to run ntbackup.exe in
an attempt to create an Auto-Recovery backup with
diskette, but that fails - probably because I'm really
running in the context of setup.exe.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Dean Smetana

.

 

[Mike Matheny]

I will NEVER buy a PC from a company that all they give you is a destructive
recovery. They can keep their business!!