[ferasb]

Hello,

Following a malware scan, it seems that I accidentally deleted a registry entry that has now caused my PC to log on and then automatically log off. I have researched the topic and have seen some fixes for the problem, but the problem that I am having is that recently following a flood in my attic, the XP reboot CD/product key were destroyed. I don't know what to do here. I did look online at the HP website and it seems that they aren't offering any replacements. I know a few of my friends do have the CD, but they have other brands of computers than me (I have a Compaq presario desktop).

How would I go about solving this problem?

Edited by ferasb, 02 May 2009 - 05:42 PM.

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Same in Safe Mode?

[Broni]

Same in Safe Mode?

[ferasb]

Yeah.

[Broni]

1. If you have Windows CD, follow the steps from here: http://icrontic.com/...pair_windows_xp

2. If you don't have Windows CD...
Download Windows Recovery Console: http://www.thecomput...om/files/rc.iso
Download, and install free Imgburn: http://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=download
Using Imgburn, burn rc.iso to a CD.
Boot to the CD...let it finish loading.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
Then, follow the steps from here: http://icrontic.com/...pair_windows_xp, starting below this picture on page 1:

[ferasb]

The guide is telling me to press "1", but the two choices that its giving me are:

1: H:\MiniNT
2: H:\I386

and NOT the C:\WINDOWS option.

[Broni]

It won't work, then.

You already have rc.iso downloaded, so follow all other steps from the instructions below:

We will have to create a small 'fix CD' to solve this problem.
Please download RC.ISO and save it somewhere you can find it.
Also download MagicISO and install it.

Start MagicISO. You should see a window informing you about the full version of MagicISO.
In the bottom right select Try It! and the program will open.
Click on File and then on Open and navigate to the RC.ISO file you downloaded. Select it, and click Open.

First, we'll need to add a clean version of userinit.exe to the current RC.ISO

• In the upper right pane, double click on the i386 folder.
• Right click in the upper right pane and select Add Files...
• Navigate to C:\Windows\System32 and select userinit.exe
• Then click Open to add userinit.exe to the CD image.
• Click File and select Save As...
• Name the file RCplus and save it somewhere you can find it.

Next, we'll need to burn the newly created image to a disk that we can use to fix the problem.

• Put a blank CD-R disk in your CD burner and close the tray. If an AutoPlay window opens, close it.
• Click on Tools and select Burn CD/DVD with ISO.... A window will appear.
• Click on the little folder to the right of CD/DVD Image File then navigate to the newly created RCplus.iso Image file and click Open.
• In the CD/DVD Writing Speed drop-down menu choose the 8X setting.
• Under Format make sure that Mode 1 is selected.
• And finally, click on the Burn it! button to burn RCplus.iso to disk.

Once the disk is burned, put it in the machine you want to fix and restart it.
Boot to the CD just as you would with a Windows XP disk.
At the Welcome to Setup screen, press R to enter the Recovery Console.
Choose the installation to be repaired by number (usually 1) and press Enter.
When you are asked for the Administrator password, enter the password or leave it blank (default) and press Enter.

At the C:\Windows> prompt, type the following commands pressing Enter after each one. Note: Watch the spaces.
D:
cd i386
copy userinit.exe c:\windows\system32
exit
After putting in the third command, you should receive the message 1 file copied which will indicate that the operation succeeded.
Now take out the CD and reboot your computer to normal mode. Try to log in and it should let you back in.

[ferasb]

Again, I got the same options.

[Broni]

I'm afraid, you'll need Windows XP CD to run repair install.

[ferasb]

Ever since I booted that CD, when Windows loads, it shows a frozen desktop, but I am able to open task manager and log into my desktop. Do you think it somehow worked? Because this was the problem I was having before the log on/log off issue came up.

[Broni]

You're not able to run any commands, so I think, it's probably more about you restarting couple of times.
What was that malware scan you ran, anyway?

[ferasb]

I used Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

[Broni]

If you can use Task Manager, open it, click on New Task, type in:
cmd
Click OK.
At Command Prompt, type in:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
which will open System Restore.

[murk1]

when I do the rc disk option, it starts like the normal xp disk, then goes to blue screen saying" a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer