Windows behaving v. strangely

[Guest]

I was trying to install a VGA to TV lead and my system crashed and would not
start up again in XP. 'Corrupt or missing system file'. In desperation and
ignorance I did a FIXBOOT in recovery console (no revovery disc I'm afraid).
No luck - so I reinstalled XP over the original installation. Windows
installed but it is strangely limited (no networking, missing stuff in
general and Windows classic appearance only) and when I try to install stuff
it bleats on about WPC server being inaccessible.

What's my best option? Is recovery pssoible? Problem is I have a lot of
stuff on the disc and no easy way of backing it up. Would it be risky to
partition the disc and reinstall XP on to a fresh partition. I makes me
v.nervous.Thanks.


--
self built
Radeon chipset m/b w. 512mb
Athlon 64 3000+
Leadtek PVR2000 analog tuner
WMCE 2005

 

[Guest]

Yep, you've got a problem there!

First priority is to recover your data. What options are available to you?
A second hard drive? A USB hard drive? etc, etc, etc..... Another
partition is also an option, but any messing with the disk puts your data at
risk (since the installation is unstable).

Once you've recovered everything, then you can try any of the options for
reinstalling Windows. I'd recommend a format first - to get rid of any bad
settings etc that may be copied over to the new Windows - then a clean
install so that you can start off fresh.

Don't forget backups or images, in the future, to save your data before the
crash!

 

[Guest]

Oops! Sorry, I didn't answer your main question in your post. You can
partition the drive and see if you can install Windows on the new partition.
The risk, assuming that you're knowledgable and are using good partitioning
software, is minimal.

But, compare the price of an extra hard drive - around $50 - to the cost of
recovering data from an erased/defective hard drive - $600 and up. IMO it's
safer to bite the bullet and spend the cash up front - and I've got a dead
hard drive sitting on my bench that'll prove it

Good Luck!

 

[Guest]

You're right, I just needed someone else to tell me. I will definitely do an
image of the virgin installation this time (quasi religious vibes here). I'm
not going down the partitioning road. Too risky even if it's relatively safe.
You need a crash every now and then to remind you of the vulnerability of all
this otherwise incredible gear. Thanks

 

[NoStop]

You're right, I just needed someone else to tell me. I will definitely do
an image of the virgin installation this time (quasi religious vibes
here). I'm not going down the partitioning road. Too risky even if it's
relatively safe. You need a crash every now and then to remind you of the
vulnerability of all this otherwise incredible gear. Thanks

That's a Windows mindset. Ones computer shouldn't crash every now and then
if one is running a real operating system. Unfortunately it happens so
often with Windows, that folks like you start thinking it is just the
normal part of the computer experience.

 

[NobodyMan]

That's a Windows mindset. Ones computer shouldn't crash every now and then
if one is running a real operating system. Unfortunately it happens so
often with Windows, that folks like you start thinking it is just the
normal part of the computer experience.

Strange. Other than for patches, I haven't had XP crash, or even need
a restart, in over a year.

I wish I could say the same thing for my Mandrake installation. It's
locked up twice this month alone, making me reboot.

 

[NoStop]

From his spyware and virus infected Windoze box, NobodyMan had this to say:

Strange. Other than for patches, I haven't had XP crash, or even need
a restart, in over a year.

Yeh, and I guess you think you can convince us that the tooth fairy really
does exist. And why would this kludgy OS require a reboot just because
something has been patched? It is common knowledge that XP users have to
routinely reboot the OS just to get past the slowdowns that happen if the
OS is run too long between boots. But then again, with all the security
patches coming out so frequently and requiring reboots to install them, it
is plain false to suggest this OS can run over a year without a reboot. How
would you even know that since you've had to reboot it so often?

I wish I could say the same thing for my Mandrake installation. It's
locked up twice this month alone, making me reboot.

Then learn how to use the OS. There is never a reason to reboot the system
even if an app or X system locks up. An app can be killed and an X session
can be closed and restarted without booting the computer.

 

[NobodyMan]

Then learn how to use the OS. There is never a reason to reboot the system
even if an app or X system locks up. An app can be killed and an X session
can be closed and restarted without booting the computer.

That's awfully hard to do when the system won't respond to either the
mouse or the keyboard now, isn't it?

 

[NoStop]

From his spyware and virus infected Windoze box, NobodyMan had this to say:

That's awfully hard to do when the system won't respond to either the
mouse or the keyboard now, isn't it?

Sorry, but I've never had that experience. And should I ever have it (which
I have doubts would ever happen, because I know how to use this OS) happen,
then I'd probably get into my Linux box from another computer and fix the
problem.

 

[Nick]

From his spyware and virus infected Windoze box, NobodyMan had this to
say:


Sorry, but I've never had that experience. And should I ever have it
(which
I have doubts would ever happen, because I know how to use this OS)
happen,
then I'd probably get into my Linux box from another computer and fix the
problem.

Ooh! You don't know what you've missed.
Nick

 

[Guest]

OK stop fighting boys. The culprit was a bug in the WMCE installation
procedure where it asks for the 'Windows SP2 disk'. If you put it in it says
it's the wrong disc. What it really wants is the first installation disc
again. Then all goes smoothly. Took me 5 days of pulling my hair out to
figure out.