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

I have a laptop that won't boot. It starts up and I get the initial XP-Pro
splash screen - then nothing. Just a blank screen.



I have put in the XP-Pro CD to try and repair it, but it says "Setup cannot
find a previous version of windows installed on your computer.." I know I
can fool it by putting in a CD of Windows98 or 95 but it then does a new
install and warns me about loosing files in My Documents etc. which I want
to avoid. Has anyone tried this and does it really remove everything?



I noticed a few files were missing from System32 so I copied those from a
Ghost backup of another PC. I have tried all the various safe boot, command
prompt boot to no avail. I suspect there has been a crash, which has removed
some vital files (or the user deleted some files).



How do I get it in a state whereby the windows CD will recognise there is a
valid version present? What vital files is it looking for? Any other plans
of attack?



Thanks



-Jerry

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

Jerry,

The section "If the Repair Option is not Available " in the following
article might help:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Please read all the Warnings in the page and take the appropriate action
before proceeding!!!

<quote>
Very important!!
If you still have the ability to access the Windows XP installation, backup
all important files not restorable from other sources before attempting any
recovery console or other trouble shooting attempts.
</quote>

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


"Jerry Spence1" <jerry.spence@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:432c4e51$0$97102$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
>I have a laptop that won't boot. It starts up and I get the initial XP-Pro
> splash screen - then nothing. Just a blank screen.
>
>
>
> I have put in the XP-Pro CD to try and repair it, but it says "Setup
> cannot
> find a previous version of windows installed on your computer.." I know I
> can fool it by putting in a CD of Windows98 or 95 but it then does a new
> install and warns me about loosing files in My Documents etc. which I want
> to avoid. Has anyone tried this and does it really remove everything?
>
>
>
> I noticed a few files were missing from System32 so I copied those from a
> Ghost backup of another PC. I have tried all the various safe boot,
> command
> prompt boot to no avail. I suspect there has been a crash, which has
> removed
> some vital files (or the user deleted some files).
>
>
>
> How do I get it in a state whereby the windows CD will recognise there is
> a
> valid version present? What vital files is it looking for? Any other plans
> of attack?
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> -Jerry
>
>

just a small input here... when windows says you might lose my documents etc its a lie.... that will only happen if you fdisk or format the harddrive. what does happen is it makes an entirely new folder under documents and settings with whatever name you decide to call it. and "hides" the old one...
so if you had a logon of user1 and when you reinstalled windows had the name user2, then user2 is what it would use and user1 will still be there.

if you open my computer and go tools/folder options/view and select show hidden files or folders, suddenly you will see a few new folders in documents and settings.. one being user1. inside that is desktop, mydocs etc... all still there for you to rescue....

This normally happens when the installation needs SATA header drivers, which being a laptop and at least mine came with a Restore CD, I don't know what kind of Reinstallation Setup your laptop came with, but if it was a Restore CD and you're using a regular OEM installation CD of XP, you'll need those SATA drivers to install at the F6 input of the XP install.

You can explore the Restore CD and recover the drivers individually from it unless this is a preloaded Vista Laptop, then you'll need to track down the drivers from the laptop website and install them.

With the SATA drivers loaded it will be able to see the existing OP/SYS on the HDD and you can do the repair then.