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System Restore Won't Work!


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#1
bhmax16

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Hey everyone, I let my sister borrow my computer the other day and I told her not to break it and guess what, she breaks it! Ok...so maybe it isn't broken, but something is seriously messed up. When I go to play music or a video the sound becomes extremely quiet and distorted, and sometimes almost sounds like it's echoing. I changed everything back to the default settings, now I have to keep my speakers muted otherwise they let out a huge "BEEP" constantly (I know this has to do with the mic being turned up too high or something but I can't turn it down since I can no longer access the volume controls) because when I go to control panel to "Sounds and Audio Devices" and check to have the volume icon show up on the taskbar (it had suddenly disappeared) I get this message: "Windows cannot display the volume control on the taskbar because the Volume Control program has not been installed. To install it, use Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel." As far as I know there is no such thing as a Volume Control program, and even if there is I never removed it and have no clue how to restore it. I'm also getting a message that something I need (SndVol32.exe needs to be installed). I'm assuming these two are related and SndVol32.exe is the volume control program, but how do I reinstall it?)

To make matters worse my computer hasn't been printing either, but I don't know if it's the computer or my printer. The sound issue is more important to me right now at the moment.

I have attempted to do a system restore and tried EVERY restore point on the computer and for some reason none of them worked. I kept getting the message that restore was incomplete and that no changes were made to my computer. Anyone know why I can't do a system restore?

At this point I figured I'd try to do a "dirty" reinstall of Windows XP and repair any problem areas, but my system won't let me use the cd, saying that the version of windows I have is newer than the version on the cd (I'm assuming this is because my computer has service pack 2 and the cd has service pack 1?) I don't want to have to go the "disaster-recovery" route and completely reformat my hardrive and reinstall XP because I have really important software I need for college on here that I can't lose since I'm at home now and don't have a cd for it, but right now it's looking like that's the only option since system restore won't work! Sorry this was so long, I just wanted to make sure I covered every detail that I could. Please help, thanks!

Edited by bhmax16, 12 May 2005 - 12:17 AM.

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#2
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For the sound look here

SndVol32

You may as well turn system restore off then run disc clean up then disc defrag then turn system restore on, set a restore point and test it

Does the printer give you any error messages, do you have the software CD for the printer, if so you can uninstall the printer then reload the software
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#3
bhmax16

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Thanks for your reply Keith. I was able to successfully load sndvol32.exe back onto my computer and get my sound working properly. However, now my windows media player isn't working. I kept getting the error message "The procedure entry point GetIUMS could not be located in the dynamic link library MSDART.DLL." The microsoft site (supposedly) had 2 repairs for this problem, so I downloaded both, but neither did anything. I then decided it would be best to uninstall windows media player then reinstall it, however I couldn't completely uninstall it while in normal startup mode (I used Add/Remove programs to uninstall it but all the windows media player files were still on my hardrive, but when I went into my C drive to manually delete the windows media player folder it wouldn't let me, saying that other programs were using it). I then decided it would be best to start the computer up in safemode, that way I should be able to delete the folder, however my computer did not startup in safemode successfully. I got all the way to my login screen, but it kept saying my username or domain and password were incorrect when I know they weren't, so that puzzled me. I then decided to use the windows reinstallation cd to perform a repair to see if it would replace any corrupt files, but since the computer had tried to startup in safemode before it won't complete the windows xp setup, saying that it can't perform the setup in safemode. I have accessed the startup options menu using the F8 key upon system startup but no matter which option I choose (normal startup, etc..) it still ALWAYS tries to startup in safemode! Therefore I can't even get to windows anymore, I just keep getting the same message "Windows XP Setup cannot run under Safemode. Setup will restart now." So I'm completely stuck and my computer is completely useless right now. Why won't it startup normally even when I select the normal startup option!?!? Please help me fix this! Thanks!
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#4
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If you tap the DEL Key right after the beep and change the boot priority to CD ROM then press F10 to save and exit then OK to confirm, press any key to boot from CD, which is still in there? Does it load set up and drivers etc then give you the option to repair

With most DLL files you can get them here

DLL Files

Edited by Keith, 12 May 2005 - 03:15 PM.

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#5
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Maybe the XP CD being in the drive is affecting it, if you remove the XP CD then start in safe mode, can you do a system restore
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#6
bhmax16

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There is no beep and the DEL key doesn't get me into anything, the computer just keeps attempting to startup. Are you trying to get me into the BIOS to change the boot order? I can get into that by hitting F2.

I know that the cd isn't affecting it because I have tried to boot the computer up both with and without the cd in the drive, and I have already tried different boot orders, HD then CD, and CD then HD, but neither have worked.

The problem with the computer starting in safemode is that I can't even access windows. I get to my login screen, but am unable to login. I get the error that my username, password, or domain are incorrect, but I know that they are all fine. I retyped them 10+ times, but still with no success. Therefore starting in safemode and doing a system restore isn't an option
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#7
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Does the log in screen show the administrator account, if you did not set a password it should let you in
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#8
nestorey

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do you have another HD available? maybe one on someone else's comp you could borrow?
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#9
bhmax16

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Keith - the login screen didn't show me which account it was set to (in normal startup mode I always had the option to choose which account I wanted to login to, in safemode I'm not given this option). The login screen you're thinking of may be a bit different from the one I have as well because I believe the login screen I get is from my college software and not really related to windows. I go to Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and the domain I normally login under is "Gettysburg." In normal mode I usually have the options to choose to login under my username "hesswi01" or the administrator account, but these aren't options in safemode. I also can't get to the login screen anymore anyway because my computer is stuck in a cycle. Everytime I start it up it tries to continue the windows xp setup. It goes to a blue screen and in the upper left hand corner has the message "Setup is being restarted......."...it is soon after this message that is goes to a black screen that says "safemode" along with some other junk on the border, and it is at this point that I get the message that setup cannot complete while in safemode and that it is going to restart the computer. But like I said before, no matter what I do it still tries to start in safemode.

I just reinserted the reinstallation cd and changed the boot order again to boot from the cd. Right now I am on a blue screen again that gives me these options:

To set up Windows XP now, press Enter
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit without installing Windows XP, press F3.

The first option, setting up Windows XP now, is the option I used which got me stuck in safemode. So my question is to whether I should attempt a repair with the Recovery Console, or if I shouldn't bother and try something else. Let me know, thanks!

nestorey - We have something like 5-7 computers in the house, but all are functioning properly and I doubt their "owners" would be very keen on letting me take out their HD and borrow it. We do have one very old computer, probably 10 years old, that no one uses, but it's a desktop and the computer I'm having problems with is a 2 year old Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop...so I don't think I have anything at my disposal to use. There is a small computer shop about 15 minutes away though, maybe I can ask if they have an HD I can borrow? What's the reason you ask if I have a spare HD? Thanks
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#10
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Go with Repair, the other options are not doing any good
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#11
bhmax16

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Repair didn't do any good either. It brought my to a black screen and asked what windows I wanted to repair, but I only have 1 version of windows on my machine and it already had the prompt c:/windows so I just hit enter, but then all it did was go into the same cycle and try to do the windows xp startup again.

When I first boot from the cd and it first goes to the blue screen for windows startup I'm given the option to hit F6 to install a RAID driver, or hit F2 to do an Automated System Recovery. I'm not sure what the Automated System Recovery is, but it sounds like something I could use. Should I go ahead and try this or will it mess things up? Thanks
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#12
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I think the Microsoft explanation of Automated System Recovery pretty much says it all. In talking about ASR and when you might want to use it on a damaged system, they state, "After all other attempts at recovery fail, or if you have replaced a damaged system hard drive. You must have previously used Backup to create an Automated System Recovery set." There you go; not exactly a confidence builder in my opinion, especially since very few users I know actually use Backup that's included with Windows XP.
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#13
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Go back to the repair screen press R then press R again when it asks which one you want to repair
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#14
bhmax16

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So basically if I haven't made a Backup set in the past then the ASR won't do anything for me? I may still go ahead and try it, but I am almost positive I never made any kind of Backup on my own.

Other than that do you have any other suggestions? All I need to do is somehow get my computer to stop from trying to startup in safemode but for some reason no matter what I do it remains stuck and won't try to startup in any other mode. I'm starting to get really worried :tazz:
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#15
bhmax16

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Go back to the repair screen press R then press R again when it asks which one you want to repair

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Ok thanks I'll try that first and see what happens
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