[Jay D]

I was unable to delete some viruses with AVG 9.0 running under windows, so I downloaded the AVG scan CD which boots the computer under linux. It found two viruses, one of which was supposedly an infected pciide.sys file, which I decided to delete. This was, of course, a really really bad decision. Now my laptop won't boot in windows from the hard drive anymore. Is it possible to replace pciide.sys? If not, I need to get data off the drive before re-installing windows. How should I do that? Buy an external enclosure? Any advice would be really appreciated, I am really at the end of my rope.
Thanks,
Jay

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Pciide.sys Is a system file obviously, So its not really recommended to download one & replace it. If you have a rescue CD or Install CD, you have the option to repair the current installation. When you load your installation CD, When prompted Press R, then select the install to repair. Have your Installation Key handy, you Will be asked for it. All your users & their data will be fine, but your service packs will be rolled back along with any updates.

[Kii]

Pciide.sys Is a system file obviously, So its not really recommended to download one & replace it. If you have a rescue CD or Install CD, you have the option to repair the current installation. When you load your installation CD, When prompted Press R, then select the install to repair. Have your Installation Key handy, you Will be asked for it. All your users & their data will be fine, but your service packs will be rolled back along with any updates.

[Jay D]

I can't find the rescue cd or install cd, but the key is on the computer. Can I download a rescue cd?

[123Runner]

Have you tried safe mode (F8 on boot up)? and then system restore.

Can you borrow a OS cd of the same type that you have (Pro, Home, media center)?
If so we can do a repair install.

[rshaffer61]

If you DO NOT have your Windows XP disk

• Please create a new folder on your hard drive called RecoveryDisk
• Download recovery_console_cd.zip and unzip it to the newly created RecoveryDisk folder.
• Download the correct floppy disk setup package for your operating system from Microsoft and save it to the RecoveryDisk folder;
  XP Home Original: Here
  XP Pro Original: Here
  XP Home SP1: Here
  XP Pro SP1: Here
  XP Home SP2: Here
  XP Pro SP2: Here
• Rename the downloaded file to Bootdisk.exe
• Double click the RecoveryCD.bat file and follow the instructions.
• When you get asked if you want to burn a CD, type y and hit enter.
• A pop-up should come up, please click on Close

This just created a file called XPRC.ISO which is located in the Recovery Disk folder.

Then please 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.

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 XPRC.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 XPRC.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.

Section 3: System Restore

• When you get to the recovery console prompt, type
  

  CD \

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  cd system~1\_resto~1

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  dir

• Press Enter

After you press enter you will see a list of folders (like rp1, rp2) If the list of restore points has more than one page then press the Enter key untill you reach the end of the list

• Type
  

  cd rp {number of the second to last folder in the list}

  Note: Example: cd rp9, if rp9 is the second to the last restore point where the last restore point no. is 10
• Press Enter
• Type
  

  cd snapshot

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  Exit

• Press Enter

Your PC will reboot.

If you get an access denied error when doing the above, then do the following at the recovery console:

• Type
  

  CD \

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  cd windows\system32\config

• Press Enter
• Type
  

  ren system system.bak

• Press Enter
  
• Type
  

  Exit

• Press Enter

Your PC will reboot, go back into the Recovery Console and start from the beginning

If you still cannot get access in anyway to your installation in the recovery console then your SAM database files are corrupt. There is no way you can restore these with the recovery console. You may need to do a fresh install