Windows XP repair option not available.

[Guest]

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to replace
the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As I expected the
machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new motherboard. I get as far
as the Windows logo and the machine restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD and
attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept license
agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no repair option.
The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]" with the usual 8MB of
un-partitioned space and the only options available are ENTER=Install,
D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with SP2 but
I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with with the same
result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to be along
the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution. I've also tried
following some of the steps from the following web page although some of the
syntax was incorrect and I renamed the boot.ini file rather than deleting it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to boot but
not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071

 

[RoadRunner]

Hi ... How old is your oem copy of windows xp ? From my understanding your
copy of windows xp is only good as long as your motherboard , so if your
motherboard die ? So goes your operating system , This was taken from
http://aumha.org/index.htm

OEM versions
Restrictions of specific license types may limit the foregoing. OEM versions
of Windows XP are licensed together with the hardware with which they are
purchased, as an entity, and such a copy may not be moved to a different
computer. Also, other specific license types (e.g., Academic licenses) are
handled in different ways. These aren't a WPA issue per se, but rather an
issue of the license for that purchase, and therefore outside the scope of
this discussion of WPA.

There are two versions of OEM Windows XP systems. One can be purchased
separately, with qualifying subsidiary hardware, and installed with that
hardware to an existing machine, to which it becomes bound. The software may
be reinstalled and reactivated indefinitely as with a retail system as long
as it is still on the original machine. It may not be transferred to a
different computer. It is activated as described above, but if it were
installed to hardware seen as not substantially the same, the activation
would be refused as falling outside the license.

In the other OEM form, the system is provided pre-installed by a major
supplier. Instead of activation, the system is 'locked' to the BIOS on the
motherboard. The validity of this lock is checked at boot. As long as this
is satisfied, other hardware may be changed freely, but any replacement
motherboard must be for a compatible one supplied by the original maker.

If a BIOS-locked system is installed to a board where the lock fails, it
enters a normal Activation process at startup. However, beginning 1 March
2005, the Product Key supplied on a label by the computer manufacturer, and
used for the initial intallation, will not be accepted for activation. A new
copy of Windows XP, with a license allowing installation on a different
machine, will be needed. This means that any replacement motherboard (or
upgrade to its BIOS) must be supplied by the original maker, who will ensure
the lock is maintained

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to replace
the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As I expected the
machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new motherboard. I get as
far
as the Windows logo and the machine restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD and
attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept license
agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no repair option.
The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]" with the usual 8MB of
un-partitioned space and the only options available are ENTER=Install,
D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with SP2 but
I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with with the same
result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to be
along
the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution. I've also tried
following some of the steps from the following web page although some of
the
syntax was incorrect and I renamed the boot.ini file rather than deleting
it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to boot
but
not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071

 

[Guest]

If the motherboard is defective it can be replaced. The system was
purchased (with XP Home OEM) about 5 months ago so it's still well within the
2 year warranty we offer. Unfortunately in this case we could choose to
either replace the faulty board (which is no longer available) with another
type or make the customer wait the month or so it generally takes to get a
replacement from the manufacturer.

From the Microsoft OEm System builder website.....

An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal
computer" to which Microsoft® OEM operating system software cannot be
transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or
replaced, for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been
created and the license of new operating system software is required.

If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do NOT need to
acquire a new operating system license for the PC.

The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the end-user license
agreement (EULA) and the support of the software covered by that EULA. The
EULA is a set of usage rights granted to the end-user by the PC manufacturer
and relates only to rights for that software as installed on that particular
PC. The System Builder is required to support the software on that individual
PC. Understanding that end users, over time, upgrade their PC with different
components, Microsoft needed to have one base component "left standing" that
would still define that original PC. Since the motherboard contains the CPU
and is the "heart and soul" of the PC, when the motherboard is replaced (for
reasons other than defect) a new PC is essentially created. The original
System Builder, therefore, can not be expected to support this new PC that
they in effect, did not manufacture.

http://oem.microsoft.com/script/ContentPage.aspx?pageid=552862

Fraser

Hi ... How old is your oem copy of windows xp ? From my understanding your
copy of windows xp is only good as long as your motherboard , so if your
motherboard die ? So goes your operating system , This was taken from
http://aumha.org/index.htm

OEM versions
Restrictions of specific license types may limit the foregoing. OEM versions
of Windows XP are licensed together with the hardware with which they are
purchased, as an entity, and such a copy may not be moved to a different
computer. Also, other specific license types (e.g., Academic licenses) are
handled in different ways. These aren't a WPA issue per se, but rather an
issue of the license for that purchase, and therefore outside the scope of
this discussion of WPA.

There are two versions of OEM Windows XP systems. One can be purchased
separately, with qualifying subsidiary hardware, and installed with that
hardware to an existing machine, to which it becomes bound. The software may
be reinstalled and reactivated indefinitely as with a retail system as long
as it is still on the original machine. It may not be transferred to a
different computer. It is activated as described above, but if it were
installed to hardware seen as not substantially the same, the activation
would be refused as falling outside the license.

In the other OEM form, the system is provided pre-installed by a major
supplier. Instead of activation, the system is 'locked' to the BIOS on the
motherboard. The validity of this lock is checked at boot. As long as this
is satisfied, other hardware may be changed freely, but any replacement
motherboard must be for a compatible one supplied by the original maker.

If a BIOS-locked system is installed to a board where the lock fails, it
enters a normal Activation process at startup. However, beginning 1 March
2005, the Product Key supplied on a label by the computer manufacturer, and
used for the initial intallation, will not be accepted for activation. A new
copy of Windows XP, with a license allowing installation on a different
machine, will be needed. This means that any replacement motherboard (or
upgrade to its BIOS) must be supplied by the original maker, who will ensure
the lock is maintained

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to replace
the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As I expected the
machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new motherboard. I get as
far
as the Windows logo and the machine restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD and
attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept license
agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no repair option.
The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]" with the usual 8MB of
un-partitioned space and the only options available are ENTER=Install,
D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with SP2 but
I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with with the same
result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to be
along
the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution. I've also tried
following some of the steps from the following web page although some of
the
syntax was incorrect and I renamed the boot.ini file rather than deleting
it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to boot
but
not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071

 

[Guest]

Fraser,
I recently put together a system with a Gigabyte K8VM800M Socket 754
Mainboard and an AMD Sempron 2500 Processor and I had the same problem.
Since the Gigabyte board was a 64 bit board, I didn't have another processor
available to test it. I had installed Windows XP Home OEM at least three
times and the system kept locking up at the Windows Logo screen after Windows
XP rebooted itself during the Finalization phase of the install. The board
and processor were purchased as a bundled item so I returned both of them via
an RMA. When the new board/processor bundle arrived, I reinstalled the
board/processor and manually rebooted the PC. A message came up saying that
Windows had not been shut down properly and did I want to launch in the Safe
Mode, With Last Known Good Configuration, Normally, etc. I figured what the
heck and chose the "Start Windows Normally" option and the PC launched
Windows XP just fine. I hadn't reinstalled Win XP or had done anything with
the new board/processor. It launched with hard drive OS I had installed
before the RMA. I guess my point is that either the board or the processor
is probably giving you problems and not the fact that your copy of Windows XP
is an OEM version.

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to replace
the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As I expected the
machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new motherboard. I get as far
as the Windows logo and the machine restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD and
attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept license
agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no repair option.
The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]" with the usual 8MB of
un-partitioned space and the only options available are ENTER=Install,
D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with SP2 but
I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with with the same
result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to be along
the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution. I've also tried
following some of the steps from the following web page although some of the
syntax was incorrect and I renamed the boot.ini file rather than deleting it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to boot but
not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071

 

[Guest]

I think the hardware is OK (It probably still needs some further
testing...). I've since imaged the hard drive to a spare and installed a
fresh copy of Windows which seems to be working OK. Unless I can find a
better solution I'll just go with the fresh install and dump all the old
files into a directory as a backup.

Reading back I think I may have rambled on a bit in my first post without
asking a specific question. Apologies for that. I guess what I'm trying to
find out is:

What is the Windows Setup program looking for when it's deciding whether or
not there is an existing Windows install to repair?

What can be done to a damaged install so that it can be detected?

It seems strange that sometimes you get the option to press r to repair and
other times you don't.

Thanks

Fraser

Fraser,
I recently put together a system with a Gigabyte K8VM800M Socket 754
Mainboard and an AMD Sempron 2500 Processor and I had the same problem.
Since the Gigabyte board was a 64 bit board, I didn't have another processor
available to test it. I had installed Windows XP Home OEM at least three
times and the system kept locking up at the Windows Logo screen after Windows
XP rebooted itself during the Finalization phase of the install. The board
and processor were purchased as a bundled item so I returned both of them via
an RMA. When the new board/processor bundle arrived, I reinstalled the
board/processor and manually rebooted the PC. A message came up saying that
Windows had not been shut down properly and did I want to launch in the Safe
Mode, With Last Known Good Configuration, Normally, etc. I figured what the
heck and chose the "Start Windows Normally" option and the PC launched
Windows XP just fine. I hadn't reinstalled Win XP or had done anything with
the new board/processor. It launched with hard drive OS I had installed
before the RMA. I guess my point is that either the board or the processor
is probably giving you problems and not the fact that your copy of Windows XP
is an OEM version.

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to replace
the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As I expected the
machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new motherboard. I get as far
as the Windows logo and the machine restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD and
attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept license
agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no repair option.
The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]" with the usual 8MB of
un-partitioned space and the only options available are ENTER=Install,
D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with SP2 but
I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with with the same
result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to be along
the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution. I've also tried
following some of the steps from the following web page although some of the
syntax was incorrect and I renamed the boot.ini file rather than deleting it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to boot but
not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071

 

[MAP]

Read "warning #2" at this link
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Mike Pawlak

I think the hardware is OK (It probably still needs some further
testing...). I've since imaged the hard drive to a spare and
installed a fresh copy of Windows which seems to be working OK.
Unless I can find a better solution I'll just go with the fresh
install and dump all the old files into a directory as a backup.

Reading back I think I may have rambled on a bit in my first post
without asking a specific question. Apologies for that. I guess
what I'm trying to find out is:

What is the Windows Setup program looking for when it's deciding
whether or not there is an existing Windows install to repair?

What can be done to a damaged install so that it can be detected?

It seems strange that sometimes you get the option to press r to
repair and other times you don't.

Thanks

Fraser

Fraser,
I recently put together a system with a Gigabyte K8VM800M Socket 754
Mainboard and an AMD Sempron 2500 Processor and I had the same
problem. Since the Gigabyte board was a 64 bit board, I didn't have
another processor available to test it. I had installed Windows XP
Home OEM at least three times and the system kept locking up at the
Windows Logo screen after Windows XP rebooted itself during the
Finalization phase of the install. The board and processor were
purchased as a bundled item so I returned both of them via an RMA.
When the new board/processor bundle arrived, I reinstalled the
board/processor and manually rebooted the PC. A message came up
saying that Windows had not been shut down properly and did I want
to launch in the Safe Mode, With Last Known Good Configuration,
Normally, etc. I figured what the heck and chose the "Start Windows
Normally" option and the PC launched Windows XP just fine. I hadn't
reinstalled Win XP or had done anything with the new
board/processor. It launched with hard drive OS I had installed
before the RMA. I guess my point is that either the board or the
processor is probably giving you problems and not the fact that your
copy of Windows XP is an OEM version.

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to
replace the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As
I expected the machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new
motherboard. I get as far as the Windows logo and the machine
restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD
and attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept
license agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no
repair option. The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]"
with the usual 8MB of un-partitioned space and the only options
available are ENTER=Install, D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with
SP2 but I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with
with the same result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to
be along the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution.
I've also tried following some of the steps from the following web
page although some of the syntax was incorrect and I renamed the
boot.ini file rather than deleting it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to
boot but not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting
from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071

 

[Guest]

Thanks Mike,

I'd already tried all the things on that page before your post but I hadn't
followed the link at the bottom which takes you to:

http://www.digitalwebcast.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=8658-0

I'd tried that method in the past for a different problem with fairly
limited success so I was hesitant to try it again. In this case it worked
beautifully. I was able to restore to a fairly recent point so I don't think
anything has been lost. If I boot from the Windows CD it finds the existing
installation and the press r to repair option is available. I won't need to
do that now anyway as the system seems to be working OK.

Thanks

Fraser Mole

Read "warning #2" at this link
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Mike Pawlak

I think the hardware is OK (It probably still needs some further
testing...). I've since imaged the hard drive to a spare and
installed a fresh copy of Windows which seems to be working OK.
Unless I can find a better solution I'll just go with the fresh
install and dump all the old files into a directory as a backup.

Reading back I think I may have rambled on a bit in my first post
without asking a specific question. Apologies for that. I guess
what I'm trying to find out is:

What is the Windows Setup program looking for when it's deciding
whether or not there is an existing Windows install to repair?

What can be done to a damaged install so that it can be detected?

It seems strange that sometimes you get the option to press r to
repair and other times you don't.

Thanks

Fraser

Fraser,
I recently put together a system with a Gigabyte K8VM800M Socket 754
Mainboard and an AMD Sempron 2500 Processor and I had the same
problem. Since the Gigabyte board was a 64 bit board, I didn't have
another processor available to test it. I had installed Windows XP
Home OEM at least three times and the system kept locking up at the
Windows Logo screen after Windows XP rebooted itself during the
Finalization phase of the install. The board and processor were
purchased as a bundled item so I returned both of them via an RMA.
When the new board/processor bundle arrived, I reinstalled the
board/processor and manually rebooted the PC. A message came up
saying that Windows had not been shut down properly and did I want
to launch in the Safe Mode, With Last Known Good Configuration,
Normally, etc. I figured what the heck and chose the "Start Windows
Normally" option and the PC launched Windows XP just fine. I hadn't
reinstalled Win XP or had done anything with the new
board/processor. It launched with hard drive OS I had installed
before the RMA. I guess my point is that either the board or the
processor is probably giving you problems and not the fact that your
copy of Windows XP is an OEM version.

:

I'm currently working on a machine which was found to have a faulty
motherboard. As the motherboards are no longer available I had to
replace the original Intel based board with a SIS based board. As
I expected the machine won't boot fully into Windows with the new
motherboard. I get as far as the Windows logo and the machine
restarts.

What I would normally do in this case is boot from the Windows CD
and attempt a repair installation (Enter to setup, F8 to accaept
license agreement, then R to repair) but in this case there is no
repair option. The partition is recognised as "Partition1 [NTFS]"
with the usual 8MB of un-partitioned space and the only options
available are ENTER=Install, D=Delete Partition and F3=Quit.

The CD version I've been using is Windows XP Home Edition OEM with
SP2 but I've also tried the SP1a version the machine was sold with
with the same result.

The thread titled "XP Home re-load after new motherboard" seems to
be along the same lines but there doesn't seem to be a solution.
I've also tried following some of the steps from the following web
page although some of the syntax was incorrect and I renamed the
boot.ini file rather than deleting it.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#warning2
(See Warning!! #2 near the bottom of the page)

It seems strange that Windows is recognised well enough to start to
boot but not found as a suitable partition for repair when booting
from the CD.

Thanks

Fraser Mole
TECS Imports
Melbourne, Australia
(+613) 9877 7071