Windows XP Recover (not Recovery Console)

[lurker]

I've done this many times before on other systems but something is different now.

I have an eMachine about two years old that got a bunch of trojans and other demons on it. The most recent
(BraveSentry) seems to have done something nasty. The machine now does recursive reboots somewhere between the Windows
XP PRO splash and switching the console to graphics mode. It fails the same way in Safe mode.

There is NO recovery partition and neighbor know nothing about a recovery CD

I pulled the Hard Drive and mounted it as a slave in another machine. I scanned the HD with Anti Virus and CounterSpy
to clean it up, and some manual cleaning of other known demons in the System32 directory (that slip by the super sleuths).

Reinstall Hard drive, and symptoms have not changed. It still reboots.

I used a new, never installed OEM Windows XP PRO CD to boot from in order to perform system Recovery. This is not a new
procedure to me. What changed is this:

After copying all the setup files, asking for Zone and KBD configuration, it's supposed to reboot.
It did NOT reboot. Instead it asked me for the 25 character Product key.
I am not about to use this never before used product key from a new CD. I am not installing. I am doing a Repair.

I tried the eMaching key on the Certificate of Authenticity tag.
Invalid Key!

When I reboot, it comes back to the same place.

I have tried a new XP HOME +SP2 retail CD.
I get a new problem at that same point...

Error:
The signature for Windows XP Professional Upgrade is Invalid.
800b0100
No signature was present in the subject.

I go back and try the first OEM Windows XP PRO CD again.
Same problem as above.
I can't seem to perform a REPAIR.

Help!!

lurker

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I've done this many times before on other systems but something is different now.

I have an eMachine about two years old that got a bunch of trojans and

other demons on it. The most recent

(BraveSentry) seems to have done something nasty. The machine now does

recursive reboots somewhere between the Windows

XP PRO splash and switching the console to graphics mode. It fails the same way in Safe mode.

There is NO recovery partition and neighbor know nothing about a recovery CD

I pulled the Hard Drive and mounted it as a slave in another machine. I

scanned the HD with Anti Virus and CounterSpy

to clean it up, and some manual cleaning of other known demons in the

System32 directory (that slip by the super sleuths).

Reinstall Hard drive, and symptoms have not changed. It still reboots.

I used a new, never installed OEM Windows XP PRO CD to boot from in order

to perform system Recovery. This is not a new

procedure to me. What changed is this:

After copying all the setup files, asking for Zone and KBD configuration, it's supposed to reboot.
It did NOT reboot. Instead it asked me for the 25 character Product key.
I am not about to use this never before used product key from a new CD. I

am not installing. I am > doing a Repair.

A repair install is a type of install and does require the key except in
some OEM cases (system and CD) where the key is embedded.

I tried the eMaching key on the Certificate of Authenticity tag.
Invalid Key!

That would be expected.

When I reboot, it comes back to the same place.

I have tried a new XP HOME +SP2 retail CD.
I get a new problem at that same point...

That doesn't suprise me at all; you're now compounding the problems.

You'll almost certainly need to wipe the system now.

Error:
The signature for Windows XP Professional Upgrade is Invalid.
800b0100
No signature was present in the subject.

I go back and try the first OEM Windows XP PRO CD again.
Same problem as above.
I can't seem to perform a REPAIR.

If there's a lot of registry damage, a repair install may not be of much
help and you'll have to start over anyway.

Help!!

lurker

If I understand your post correctly, this is a neighbor's machine.

If you're using a mismatched install CD, the COA key will not be valid.
You may never find a matching install CD.

You can spend quite some time, as you already have, playing with this trying
to get around these problems.

Or, you can proceed directly to making it work. Have the neighbor pay for
a new XP license, and either wipe the drive after backing it up or put a new
hard disk in and do a clean install. New hard disks are not expensive: I
paid CDN$53 for an 80 gig drive two days ago. I had a running XP install
in an hour.

Which you choose depends on the value of your time.

HTH
-pk