XP SP3 disaster

[jsieerat]

Hi, hope I'm in the right place for this.

I've just tried to install XP SP3 on my PC running XP Professional. I have
the Windows folder on a seperate partition which the SP3 installation advised
me had insufficient space. I created what appeared to be adequate space
based on the info provided in the message and ran the (networked)
installation again.

This time there was no message but the installation eventually failed due to
insufficient space. When I attempted to recover using the system backup I had
created but it failed with a warning that Windows may no longer work OK.

When I try to reboot XP starts up but then automatically reboots. Disabling
auto restart in F8 states that winsrv was not found, no other F8 option work.

OK my question is: if I copy the contents of the backup into the Windows
folder will this restore the system?

Thanks Stefan

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

One should never move Windows system files to a different
partition. Move the folder back to its original location and try
installing SP3 again.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hi, hope I'm in the right place for this.

I've just tried to install XP SP3 on my PC running XP Professional. I have
the Windows folder on a seperate partition which the SP3 installation advised
me had insufficient space. I created what appeared to be adequate space
based on the info provided in the message and ran the (networked)
installation again.

This time there was no message but the installation eventually failed due to
insufficient space. When I attempted to recover using the system backup I had
created but it failed with a warning that Windows may no longer work OK.

When I try to reboot XP starts up but then automatically reboots. Disabling
auto restart in F8 states that winsrv was not found, no other F8 option work.

OK my question is: if I copy the contents of the backup into the Windows
folder will this restore the system?

Thanks Stefan

 

[jsieerat]

Sorry I didn't make it clear that the Windows folder was previously located
on a seperate partition due to space restrictions on the root partition when
it was installed. I haven't moved it and it's worked quite happily for two
years although the partition has gradually filled up with prog-file stuff.

Anyway, what I did last night was to remove the drive from the PC and patch
it into another machine. I cuold then look at the partitions and when I
checked the backup I realised it was only the system state which I'd done &
not the Windows folder so my original idea was a non-starter.

What I do have, however, is the uninstall folder for the SP3 attempt which
includes a sub-folder with a TXT file containing the delete & copy
instructions for the restore.

The drive identifiers used in this file do not match those of the new
configuration (eg :E is now :G etc) and what I think I need to do is edit
this file to reflect the new drive identifiers and then run the spuninst.exe
in the sub-directory.

As far as I can see this should restore the original Windows files and I
should then be able to run XP and restore the system state. Would I be OK
doing this?

Stefan

 

[jsieerat]

Took the plunge and fixed it. Edited spuninst.txt to change the partition
identifiers, saved it as a .bat file, ran it and everything was restored OK.

Then moved lots of stuff out of the way to give about 1G space & SP3
installed OK.