xp system now trys to boot vista

  • Thread starter Thread starter trainspotter
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T

trainspotter

This is a real funny issue. This system has been xp for a long time and was
completely rebuilt last fall. It is owned by an older friend of mine that
does not use it very much. Recently he booted up and was presented with a
vista upgrading 3 of 3 at 0% message and the system is in a constant
boot/reboot loop. We cannot get to xp even in safe mode.
Why did vista suddenly appear on this machine since the last time he used
it? Any ideas would be appreciated.
I was thinking about booting from cd and rebuilding xp, but would that mean
I would need to do all the updates again?
 
trainspotter said:
Why did vista suddenly appear on this machine since the last time he used
it? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Gremlins!

I was thinking about booting from cd and rebuilding xp, but would that
mean
I would need to do all the updates again?
Click to expand...

Of course.
 
Vista does not just appear on a computer. It gets installed. Investigate
further. There has to be something your friend is not telling you.
 
That was my problem, the system has been off, and the last time it was used,
xp worked fine. Gremlins...probably not. Vista installation...he doesn't know
enough to do it. I was hoping there might be a reasonable explanation, but of
course I have not been watching everything. It is WIERD!!!
 
Vista is not like an update that gets downloaded and installed by Windows
Updates. It is installed from a dvd with every clear indication of what is
happening. Vista is easy enough to install that your friend would not have
to know much to do it but he would normally know that he was doing it.

If you rebuild, do so by deleting the current operating system partition,
creating a new one, and then formatting. You will need to update from
Windows Update and even though that will a bit of time at least the computer
is doing all the work. If the cd is XP SP2 then it will not be as long as
you might think.
 
Thanks Pa Bear
I did the rebuild with a fresh format and install of xp. He has very little
extra software and relies on me for any maintenance of his system. Basically
we have installed flight sim and a few small games (he is 80+ and not a
geek). There have been a few people use the system for email and internet
access, but no one will admit to putting a vista disk in the unit.
I was simply asking if there could be any way that this could happen by
accepting an update from microsoft (an update that might give the appearance
of vista). I had not seen anything resembling that, but this forum has been
able to answer questions in the past and I was stumped.
Thanks again,
Don
 
(he is 80+ and not a geek).
Click to expand...

Thumbs up.
There have been a few people use the system for email and internet
access, but no one will admit to putting a vista disk in the unit.
Click to expand...

Never trust users. Someone might've left Vista setup CD in the drive. On the
next reboot, someone who's not tech savvy might've unintentionally executed
Vista setup because the first boot device happens to be CD. It's a wild
guess (other than my gremlins theory).
I was simply asking if there could be any way that this could happen by
accepting an update from microsoft (an update that might give the
appearance
of vista).
Click to expand...

AFAIK there are XP add-ons which gives you Vista appearance but definitely
they're not released automatically (or by MS).
 
I was simply asking if there could be any way that this could happen by
accepting an update from microsoft (an update that might give the
appearance
of vista).
Click to expand...

No.
 
I was simply asking if there could be any way that this could happen by
accepting an update from microsoft (an update that might give the appearance
of vista).
Click to expand...


No, definitely not.
 
Thanks everyone, sometimes when you think you know, it is nice to have you
guys confirm it!
Don
 
YW, Don. If you should open the hood of your Ford and find a GM fanbelt,
you know it didn't just install itself, right? <wink>
 

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