[Retired Tech]

Let's see if we can reverse a bit

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

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Hey Keith-

I don't know if you're still around, but I got home and tried the thing you told me about and am still having a problem getting any configuration of Windos to boot whther it's Normally or in any of the Safe Modes. Again in Safe Mode booting it attempts to load the files to boot up, but it stops on C:/windows/system/config/system32.....and freezes there.
I've gotten it to attempt to boot normally and there's a gray bar at the bottom of the black screen that tries to move across the screen but only moves about half an inch and then stops and it seems that in this case as well as the Safe Mode case, that the hard drive light turns off and the computer just sits there and doesn'tmove forward.

Any other ideas of how to get this going? Thanks!

[cmoney1022]

Hey Keith-

I don't know if you're still around, but I got home and tried the thing you told me about and am still having a problem getting any configuration of Windos to boot whther it's Normally or in any of the Safe Modes. Again in Safe Mode booting it attempts to load the files to boot up, but it stops on C:/windows/system/config/system32.....and freezes there.
I've gotten it to attempt to boot normally and there's a gray bar at the bottom of the black screen that tries to move across the screen but only moves about half an inch and then stops and it seems that in this case as well as the Safe Mode case, that the hard drive light turns off and the computer just sits there and doesn'tmove forward.

Any other ideas of how to get this going? Thanks!

[Retired Tech]

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