[NickH]

Help! Having run Registry Mechanic 5.0, I am now unable to access Windows on my machine.

Starting the PC, I see the black screen offering: Safe Mode options; Last known good configuration; Start Windows normally. Choosing any one of these options gives me the Windows logo for a short while followed by a blank screen. Finally a blue screen appears too briefly for me to read the text written on it and the machine resets, recommencing the same process.

I am running an OEM copy of XP Home Edition which was pre-installed on my HP laptop. Having looked around for methods of recovering my data, I get the impression that having an OEM version of XP is going to make this extremely difficult, if not impossible.

I have the HP supplied Operating System CD which I can boot from, but I have not gone any further with fixes to get me into Windows. Some of the advice I have read regarding accessing the Recovery Console to do this give me the impression that this cannot be done with an OEM version of XP. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Does anyone know of a recovery method that definitely works with an OEM version of XP? I'm really concerned that I have messed up my registry in such a way that the only answer will be to reformat and start again...

All advice gratefully received,
Nick

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Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Start the System Restore Utility at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a Command Prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for the most recent system checkpoint created before the errors to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click 315222 to see a description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

[Retired Tech]

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Start the System Restore Utility at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a Command Prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for the most recent system checkpoint created before the errors to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click 315222 to see a description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

[NickH]

Keith,

Thanks your fast & informative reply on this.

Following the instructions you sent, I selected 'Safe Mode with a Command prompt' but was never presented with a Command prompt to work with. All I got was:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows\system32\drivers\batic.sys

and a further 23 lines of similar information..

After some time, a blue screen appeared with text that disappeared too fast for me to read it (is there a key to press that freezes this screen?) and then the machine closed down and stsaatred up again.

Anything else I can do to access the C: prompt and so enter the command you suggest for accessing the System Restore Utility? Or must I try something different? If so, what?

I really hope you can help me out here - appreciate anything you can do..
Nick

[Retired Tech]

You should have got the command prompt where the blue screen showed

This is probably the quickest way now

You can use this guide to repair XP

Possibly, you will need to press the start button and keep tapping the delete key, (possibly F2) until the PC enters set up. Change the boot order to CD ROM Drive then hard drive, press F10 then press enter, load the XP CD then type Y then press enter, as it reboots, look for press any key to load from CD, press enter

You will need your XP product key to complete this

The XP Product Key is a 25 character alpha numerical code, which does not include the sequence OEM

If you have audio / video files which are subject to DRM you should check with the provider for known issues with performing an XP repair install

XP Repair Install

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

The XP repair install will look and run as a normal install, however, you must not see a request to format the drive

After running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update

[NickH]

Keith,

I followed the XP Repair Install instructions as presented and appear to have hit a dead end.

Reaching the Setup screen and confirming the XP Licence Agreement I was not presented with the hoped for option to repair. Instead the following:

Existing Partitions & Unpartitioned space

Options to:

- Set up XP on selected item
- Create a partition in unpartitioned space
- Delete selected partition

C: Partition [NTFS] 28608Mb 9048Mb free
Unpartitioned Space 8Mb

Not at all what I had hoped for... Do I have any more options to save my data? Bear in mind that this is an OEM installed copy of XP.

Thanks for your efforts so far - hoping for further advice that might just pull off the miracle I need!

Nick

[Retired Tech]

This appears to be the next move

http://www.windowsne...ig/wxprcons.htm

Because the registry hives have become too damaged for the current OS to be recognised