Any method to recover, backup, and restore when 2nd re-ins..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Dimension 3000, XP Operating system SP-1A

Question: Does anyone know if it's possible and if so, the best way to
recover program files when XP re-install selected and completed without
backing up first?

Here's my situation: My wife lost XP somehow, (possibly a virus), and we
could not boot up by F8 (safe mode). We keep receiving the following message
irregardless as to how we attempt to boot up.
"Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM


Our only option appeared to be to use the original Home editions XP install
disk to bootup. I followed the directions as detailed in in " How to recover
from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting" (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us . However, I could not get past
the following in Part 1. As soon as I entered the 2nd line ending in "system.
bak", I received a message that system32 could not be copied.

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak

I had selected the 2nd option at the recovery module of "r" to recover
instead of the first one which was to install XP. After I failed many times
in attempting to recover, my wife selected the first option to
re-install. It appears now that everything is gone except the XP operating
system disk items that have been reinstalled.

I know these facts were also present prior to my wife selecting the option to
reinstall:

1. Volume did not have a label.
2. PC did contain some viruses.
3. In recovery module, I was unable to see names of services disabled.
4. Original service pack with backup XP operating disk was SP-1A.
5. Since, I only could boot up with the Windows XP original install disk, I
did not re-install any other CDs containing drivers, diagnostic routines, etc.


Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Randy S


--
Message posted via WindowsKB.com
http://www.windowskb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/windowsxp/200508/1

 

[Malke]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Randall S via WindowsKB.com wrote:

> Dimension 3000, XP Operating system SP-1A
>
> Question: Does anyone know if it's possible and if so, the best way to
> recover program files when XP re-install selected and completed
> without backing up first?
>
> Here's my situation: My wife lost XP somehow, (possibly a virus),
> and we could not boot up by F8 (safe mode). We keep receiving the
> following message irregardless as to how we attempt to boot up.
> "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt:
>
> \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
>
>
> Our only option appeared to be to use the original Home editions XP
> install disk to bootup. I followed the directions as detailed in in "
> How to recover
> from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting" (
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us . However, I could not
> get past the following in Part 1. As soon as I entered the 2nd line
> ending in "system. bak", I received a message that system32 could not
> be copied.
>
> md tmp
> copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
>
> I had selected the 2nd option at the recovery module of "r" to recover
> instead of the first one which was to install XP. After I failed many
> times in attempting to recover, my wife selected the first option to
> re-install. It appears now that everything is gone except the XP
> operating system disk items that have been reinstalled.
>
> I know these facts were also present prior to my wife selecting the
> option to reinstall:
>
> 1. Volume did not have a label.
> 2. PC did contain some viruses.
> 3. In recovery module, I was unable to see names of services disabled.
> 4. Original service pack with backup XP operating disk was SP-1A.
> 5. Since, I only could boot up with the Windows XP original install
> disk, I did not re-install any other CDs containing drivers,
> diagnostic routines, etc.
>

If I understand you correctly, you now have a clean-installed working
installation of Windows XP on your disk. If you want to get data off
the drive, you'll need to send the hard drive to a professional data
recovery firm like DriveSavers (www.drivesavers.com). Their services
are not inexpensive, but only you can determine what your data is
worth. This will not recover programs and drivers. When you received
your Dell, you also received the Dell Resource cd and other cd's for
programs that came preinstalled with the system. If you have lost the
Resource cd, you can get drivers for your specific model machine from
Dell's support website. Install the drivers and reinstall the programs.
Update to Service Pack 2. Do not connect to the Internet until you have
a firewall and antivirus in place.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User