T
Travis
A week ago I made the awful mistake of unchecking
the "Read Only" tab of my Windows XP System32 folder. I
was trying to install an old app called Total Recorder
(version 3) that I had used with Windows ME but it was
getting an error. I did a quick Google search on the
problem and someone suggested something about making
System32 not "Read Only" for it to work, but it still
wouldn't install. Later on, while not having rebooted, I
installed Nero from CD. This went fine and I said yes to
the normal part about resetting before changes could take
effect. When I rebooted, however, I was denied access to
Windows XP. It wouldn't get past the login menu and
neither my account nor Administrator worked. I put in my
XP CD, which is an Upgrade disc for the Home Edition. I
rebooted and the CD loaded in Windows interface but I got
errors when trying to repair. I rebooted and used the CD
in DOS. I tried to do a Repair Installation, which seemed
to go OK, but upon completion I had to reboot and setup
presumably attempted to resume in Windows. However, I got
an error for that, too. Every time I rebooted it would
get to Windows where it said 35 minutes were remaining
but stop with a fatal error after just a few minutes. I
don't know if it was before or after I used a Windows
98SE boot disk downloaded from bootdisk.com, but
eventually I was unable to make it to Windows, even in
Safe Mode or trying Last Known Good Configuration. Using
the XP Setup CD in DOS, I accessed the Recovery Console
and can see that my files are all there and bootcfg lists
my correct OS. I copied ntdetect.com and ntldr from the
Windows CD's I386 folder to C:\ but the problem
persisted. I copied a new boot.ini that I'm fairly sure
is an exact replica of the one I used successfully with
XP from early August until last Wednesday and that didn't
change anything, nor did using fdisk, chkdsk /p or /r, or
bootcfg /rebuild.
When I load the computer without a boot disk or the Setup
CD, it still has the XP splash screen and the green
status bar moves, but it then gets to a light blue page
that reads in white text that configuration of the system
for restarting was unsuccessful and "Setup may not
restart or may operate erratically." This is on screen
for about 10 seconds before it goes all black with a
white Windows cursor. I can't ctrl+alt+del from this
point and nothing can be done except moving the mouse.
When I try to use the regular repair option (not the
Recovery Console) I can't because the Setup CD no longer
detects my installation of XP. It asks for a full version
of XP or, I think, any 9x version of Windows to be placed
in the drive, I guess to prove I'm an owner before
proceeding. However, I've only ever had Windows 95 and ME
on recovery discs made by the manufacturers of the
computers I've purchased. XP Home Edition Upgrade was the
first retail OS I purchased. If I could find a CD other
than Upgrade to put in the drive, what kind of options
would be presented and could they solve my problem? My
main concern is not losing files I hadn't backed up
(pictures, music, documents) in the 6 weeks I used XP
after reformatting my hard drive pre-installation. My
last resort is to go home (four hours round trip) and
retrieve my old Windows ME discs to reinstall in order
for XP Setup to continue. This would be time consuming as
well as a waste of valuable hard drive space, a big mess,
and a major risk of data loss as I'm not at all sure if I
could use the manufacturer discs to install ME on top of
what I have already or if it would perform a complete
reformat.
I was running Norton with current virus definitions so I
am positive that the problem was not caused by a virus or
trojan but by my own error that I really should have
known better than to make.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
the "Read Only" tab of my Windows XP System32 folder. I
was trying to install an old app called Total Recorder
(version 3) that I had used with Windows ME but it was
getting an error. I did a quick Google search on the
problem and someone suggested something about making
System32 not "Read Only" for it to work, but it still
wouldn't install. Later on, while not having rebooted, I
installed Nero from CD. This went fine and I said yes to
the normal part about resetting before changes could take
effect. When I rebooted, however, I was denied access to
Windows XP. It wouldn't get past the login menu and
neither my account nor Administrator worked. I put in my
XP CD, which is an Upgrade disc for the Home Edition. I
rebooted and the CD loaded in Windows interface but I got
errors when trying to repair. I rebooted and used the CD
in DOS. I tried to do a Repair Installation, which seemed
to go OK, but upon completion I had to reboot and setup
presumably attempted to resume in Windows. However, I got
an error for that, too. Every time I rebooted it would
get to Windows where it said 35 minutes were remaining
but stop with a fatal error after just a few minutes. I
don't know if it was before or after I used a Windows
98SE boot disk downloaded from bootdisk.com, but
eventually I was unable to make it to Windows, even in
Safe Mode or trying Last Known Good Configuration. Using
the XP Setup CD in DOS, I accessed the Recovery Console
and can see that my files are all there and bootcfg lists
my correct OS. I copied ntdetect.com and ntldr from the
Windows CD's I386 folder to C:\ but the problem
persisted. I copied a new boot.ini that I'm fairly sure
is an exact replica of the one I used successfully with
XP from early August until last Wednesday and that didn't
change anything, nor did using fdisk, chkdsk /p or /r, or
bootcfg /rebuild.
When I load the computer without a boot disk or the Setup
CD, it still has the XP splash screen and the green
status bar moves, but it then gets to a light blue page
that reads in white text that configuration of the system
for restarting was unsuccessful and "Setup may not
restart or may operate erratically." This is on screen
for about 10 seconds before it goes all black with a
white Windows cursor. I can't ctrl+alt+del from this
point and nothing can be done except moving the mouse.
When I try to use the regular repair option (not the
Recovery Console) I can't because the Setup CD no longer
detects my installation of XP. It asks for a full version
of XP or, I think, any 9x version of Windows to be placed
in the drive, I guess to prove I'm an owner before
proceeding. However, I've only ever had Windows 95 and ME
on recovery discs made by the manufacturers of the
computers I've purchased. XP Home Edition Upgrade was the
first retail OS I purchased. If I could find a CD other
than Upgrade to put in the drive, what kind of options
would be presented and could they solve my problem? My
main concern is not losing files I hadn't backed up
(pictures, music, documents) in the 6 weeks I used XP
after reformatting my hard drive pre-installation. My
last resort is to go home (four hours round trip) and
retrieve my old Windows ME discs to reinstall in order
for XP Setup to continue. This would be time consuming as
well as a waste of valuable hard drive space, a big mess,
and a major risk of data loss as I'm not at all sure if I
could use the manufacturer discs to install ME on top of
what I have already or if it would perform a complete
reformat.
I was running Norton with current virus definitions so I
am positive that the problem was not caused by a virus or
trojan but by my own error that I really should have
known better than to make.
Thanks for any help you can provide.