[blknblu1]

Hi! First post, so here goes. I know a thing or two, but no guru.

I'm running XP MCE 2005 (now SP3) and have lost an annoying amount of functionality with my media center. I suspect an overheated video card/hard shutdown (now repaired). I've tried system restore, sfc /scnnow, and others to conclude I need to attempt a repair install. I've read related posts here but have a few questions for confirmation before I begin.

I built this tower in '07, so I have the retail CD's for XP MCE 2005 SP2.

Should I back up all the data on my C/D/F drive, or just worry about what's on the C partition?
Can I back up that data to one of the other drives within this system?
or
Should I remove the other two HDD's from the system just to be safe beforehand, and backup the data elsewhere? There's an awful lot of data there.

I attached a shot of my setup as to hopefully make things clearer.

Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for any advice!

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If you are doing a repair install, it selects it by detecting the Windows install. So unless you have working directories on all your drives then I wouldnt be concerned. Also, a repair install is not destructive so you will not lose any data. I would say if you want to be absolutely super duper safe, then disconnect the data drives before the repair.

Overall, it seems like you have done your homework and have all your bases covered

[diabillic]

If you are doing a repair install, it selects it by detecting the Windows install. So unless you have working directories on all your drives then I wouldnt be concerned. Also, a repair install is not destructive so you will not lose any data. I would say if you want to be absolutely super duper safe, then disconnect the data drives before the repair.

Overall, it seems like you have done your homework and have all your bases covered

[blknblu1]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks!

So, all I should have to do after the repair is re-install SP3 and any updates/hotfixs since then?

I'll still have my .NET's, Visual C++'s, etc...

Will the repair turn off my firewall, or best to unplug?

Sorry for the lame questions, just don't do this very often.

[diabillic]

I was browsing and you happened to start a new topic

You shouldnt have to reinstall any programs, but you will probably need to reinstall windows updates. Not 100% on the updates question but I would goto Windows Update when it is complete anyway.

As far as your firewall, im assuming you mean the windows firewall. Theres no "unplugging" it at all, it will stay in the same state it was before you started the repair. Worst case scenario, you turn it off after the repair is complete.

Not lame questions at all, feel free to ask whatever you want. Hope that helps.

[blknblu1]

Oh sorry. I meant turn off my router so there is no internet connection when the repair is completed, but if windows firewall remains in its current state, that shouldn't be an issue either. It should be activated, as it is now.

I was aware I may have to reinstall the newer windows update version. That's no problem. It's figuring out which device drivers I've lost that'll be all the fun. Most of them will be included with the windows updates as well... I think...

I use this rig for work, so I won't attempt until the weekend, just in case. I'll re-post then.

Of course, any other input is always useful and welcome.

Again, thanks.

[rshaffer61]

You can go to HERE to read the tutorial by one of the members here on how to do a Fresh Install or Repair Installation of you OS.

[blknblu1]

Yes, and thank you.

I have the three CD XP MCE 2005 SP2 install discs. I remember there being some confusion when I first install this OS, as SP2 is actually on the 1st cd (and no labeling to indicate). I just can't remember what order it asked for them.

Seeing as I have a few days yet to prepare, I'm wondering what drivers I could be missing afterwards.

My tower has a Hauppauge tuner, Sound Blaster X FI Platinum Fatality sound card, ATI video cards, Logiteck wireless mouse, and a Gigabyte Odin power supply. I'm going to collect the newest drivers for these devices and pack them in a J drive folder beforehand.

Any others you can think of that I may be missing?

[rshaffer61]

If these are the disks that were included with your system when you bought it then the drivers should be included or you should have a separate drivers disk.
If the above mentioned components were added later then you would need to find the drivers disks for each or we will have to try to assist in finding the drivers for you.

[blknblu1]

Ah, yes. This is a home built tower, so nothing came pre-installed. I still have all the driver cd's that came with their devices, but drivers have changed some since then.

I've found current drivers for my tuner card, my mouse and keyboard, and my sound card. This is good.

I'm a little nervous about what I might need for my MB. It's an ASUS P5K Deluxe WIFI/AP.

Drivers from THIS page. I've found a newer BIOS, the AISuite, newer PC ProbeII, and the ASUS Update (which seems to be an older version of what I have now). The LAN drivers they show are as old as the system, so I don't think I'll be needing them.

I'm a little unsure about how to tell what chipset driver I now have, but they only show one update utility that applies to MCE, so I downloaded it too.

I have two Radeon HD 3650 cards(and I know they're crappy cheepos but I don't game with the rig, just work with 3 screens).
I grabbed their newest Catalyst Software Suite HERE and hope it includes everything. ?? I first tried this site , but got lost right away.

I know a lot of this info is redundant to many, but maybe helpful to those reading this thread, and further input always welcome. I'm here to learn.

So, if all the above seems ok, what is the best order to install these drivers?

[rshaffer61]

Motherboard Chipset driver is always first.
Video
Network
Sound

[blknblu1]

I thought I'd pass on the notes I took as I started this repair. A real world XPerience.. as it were. It's a bit of a lengthy post, but I tried to keep complete notes as I went along.


-------------------------------------------

Using the 3CD OEM XP MCE 2005 SP2...

Press R went ok...
First reboot from there started asking for needed file "a3d.dll". I found this on the 1st CD by taking it to my other comp and searching. My last attempts were to extract it to a thumb drive and insert in the updating tower, but no joy. All these files are hidden from the "browse" menu. Doh!

Press cancel and "installing devices" continued.

Then a warning about X-Fi driver not meeting their kiss kiss. > install anyways.

Then product key. Next "installing network", then "performing configuration".

Asks for CD2. - "completing install" followed by two warnings.
.
1st - ngen.exe> entry point not found "The proceedure entry point GetRequestedRuntimeVersion could not be located in the dll mscoree.dll"
2nd - >net Framework initialization error: C\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\mscorwks.dll could not be loaded. Then "installing network", then "perform configuration", and asked for CD2. This becomes a major problem later.

Hit Ok a number of times.. what else could I do?

Asks for SP2 (which is on the 1st CD) - "installing start menu items", "registering components" with same two warnings. Hit ok... I guess... well, what else?

Continues... "saving settings", "removing temp files", and then tells me to reboot.

On reboot, it hung for a long time on the "XP please wait" screen. 10 minutes... so I forced a shutdown and switched off the power supply.

Boot to BIOS, changed boot order and the HDD #'s (was trying to boot from wrong drive). Reboot.

Welcome screen loading..., windows starting up... welcome screen... and my old desktop appeared. My theme has changed. All my tweaking is gone. No biggie.

Ran my chipset driver install pkg. ok. Then inserted the 3rd CD, Media Center Updates 2005. Ran no problem. When I went to restart there was an error "the instruction at 02x??????? could not be read..." I didn't get it all, it shut down as I was copying it down.

Restart. Checked that the firewall was still activated, rebooted my router, and tried Windows Updates but got "the requested lookup key was not found in any active activation context". I'll look at that later, but googled "windows update" and it ran from IE6.

Installed Windows Update 3.1 >restart
Installed SP3 > restart

Windows updates now shows 66 high priority, 6 optional, and 4 hardware updates. I guess I was a fool to think that SP3 would actually include all of these... Then again, SP3 has been out for a little while... maybe these are the ones since then. Y'know, just a few problems with their software...

--------------------------------------

Ok, back now.

Reboot, change desktop properties back to my old theme. Joy.

Download, install IE8 - gets rid of "the request lookup key was not found in any active activation context" nag.

Ran Windows updates - rollup 2 for MCE, Update rollup 2 for MCE, WMP 11
Shutdown - error The instruction at "0x77xxxxxxx" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be read. This may be sound or video driver related.

Continue with updates. Update rollup 2 for XP MCE 2005 Failure. (.NET issue?)

Begin install the rest of high priority. 68 of them > successful > restart

Check windows updates again. Retry Update rollup 2 for MCE 2005 and 3 others. No joy with rollup 2.

Restart. Ran Hauppague driver installer. ok restart.

video driver. Uninstall old CCC. restart. Rn ATI driver install. reboot but cannot run CCC. Warning re: WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\v.2.0.50727\mscorwks.dll

Restore pt prior to ATI driver uninstal.

Reinstall Driver from support site. go to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Re-run ATI whole driver install. reboot Same warning re: .NET

Download and install .net 1.1, and 2.0. .NET install failed.

Windows update - root certificates, and another attempt at "update rollup 2 for XP MCE 2005" < and Installing hangs.

Ran RepairMCE_0.2 to re-register components --< multiple failures ngen.exe but media center now working as before with limited functionality. Tuner working, recorded TV playback ok, guide ok, my music ok, but more programs still not working properly.

Removed all .NET framework 1 using add/remove, but wouldn't let me uninstall 2. restart

windows update appeared and reinstalled framework 1.1 SP3

I've now downloaded Aaron Stebner's >NET cleanup tool to remove all versions of .NET but haven't run it yet, and I'm now wondering if all my original problems were .NET corruption related.

Hope this dialogue helps some along the way, and would appreciate any feedback about this .NET problem. If you have experience with this tool, please advise, and of course I'll continue surfing for answers.

So far, a steady re-construction is taking place.

[rshaffer61]

WOW very thorough notes and i should say you have definitely done a great job at investigating and resolving several issues.
As for the program you mentioned i have had no experience with it but you may be on to something with netframe being the underlying culprit. The good thing about netframe is when a program needs a different version it will prompt you to install it so no worries there.
That memory error worries me and I would like to suggest maybe testing the memory using the instructions below. This will let you know if maybe the memory has a problem which also could be a culprit of the problem.


If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS
Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[blknblu1]

Thanks for the reply. It's sure been a go of it so far, but trudging along.

I don't suspect my memory at this point. I have two sticks of Corsair ummm... TWIN2x2048-6400C4DHX DDR2(2x1024). That memory error has not returned in several reboots, but I'll still add your tool to my "tool box" folder. It may be necessary later, but thinking not, ... at this point.

Here's the rest of my notes so far.

-----------------------------------------------------

Msconfig --> uncheck CLIStart (CCC) from load at startup. (got rid of warning every restart for now)

Removed .NET 3.5 SP1. Re-install supposed to re-install 2.0 as well. reboot

Reinstall failure. Boo.

Running Aaron's tool now. Success! Took a fat 5 minutes. Add/remove only shows Framework 1.0 hotfix, 3.5 SP1. Restart

Several Windows Updates -- install .NET 1.1 Success. restart -- install .NET 1.1 Service Pack 1 (critical update). restart -- install .NET Framework Service Pack 1 security update (critical update). restart -- install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 & .NET Framework 3.5 Family update. (software) restart -- install .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 security update, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for the .NET Framework assistant 1.0 x86 (both high priority) -- install .NET 2.0 SP2 update, .NET 3.0 SP2 update (software) restart -- one XP, root certificates (software) restart

The nature and number of updates changed with each subsequent restart. Not all were available each time. I wanted to be sure I had all that were necessary.

Windows Update now shows only hardware updates now. I would rather get them from ASUS.

Install ATI driver package. Got some warning about a file missing for install manager. restart

Loading CCC "Could not load file of assembly "CLI.Implementation, Version=2.0.3748.36820, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=90ba9c70f846762e' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified. Back I go.

Uninstall ATI install manager. restart -- install ATI install manager 10.3 (instead of 10.4) restart --

Success! CCC will now load from start menu and right-click. Will try install 10.4 over-top at a later date. Good enough for now.

Media Center still functioning as before, tho. Still no functionality off the "more programs" menu.

I'm gonna take a break from this for a few hours. My eyes are swimming and I can't think clearly what is next at this point.

Network?

Honestly, all I wanted was the Media Center to work properly again. Up until this point, it has all be about fixing "the repair" just to get back to where I started.

Starting to think the OS is borked, or at least the Media Center.

Maybe I'll just go get a new small HDD for a fresh paving and slave this drive to it.

Thots?

[rshaffer61]

Just a suggestion if you are going with the new hd method.
Install OS and programs. Save data to a different hd in case OS gets doinked again. This way data is safe and you have just install of OS and programs to worry about.

[blknblu1]

Agree fully. Just a 50-60 gig. Much faster to re-format as well.

At the very least, this has been a great brush up prior to something like that. Will have to get a program for drive mirroring, and clone it as soon as I get it down to a science.

Hey, it could happen...