[ScHwErV]

You posted this in the wrong place, so I just merged it with your previous thread. Do not start a new topic, add a reply to the post that Admin posted above.

ScHwErV

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hehehe....thanks for stepping in guys...but i'm not gone yet...haha...not leaving till saturday...

Boot up with the XP CD in the drive and let Setup run. Go past the "C" and "R" repair options by presssing Enter just as if you're doing a clean install and you'll eventually get an option to "Repair an existing installation". That's the one you want. If it asks about formatting you've gone wrong, so start over.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards. NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to Perform A Re-Install Of XP
Repair XP

that should repair the windows install...and let you back in to get your data off

[dsenette]

hehehe....thanks for stepping in guys...but i'm not gone yet...haha...not leaving till saturday...

Boot up with the XP CD in the drive and let Setup run. Go past the "C" and "R" repair options by presssing Enter just as if you're doing a clean install and you'll eventually get an option to "Repair an existing installation". That's the one you want. If it asks about formatting you've gone wrong, so start over.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards. NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to Perform A Re-Install Of XP
Repair XP

that should repair the windows install...and let you back in to get your data off

[Finkaa]

Happy to see you hadn't left yet and had very high hopes for some success here after 17 hours in the office dealing with a network outage only to have another downer with the solution (not your fault mind you). I did the recovery as mentioned in your message but afterwards it simply loops around from the Dell startup screen, Windows XP screen, system being restored......... screen and than back to the beginning again. Bummer!

Any more suggestions before I toss it out the window?

Thanks much!
Art

[Finkaa]

Merry Christmas all. I've patiently avoided allowing my son to reformat the hard drive and re-install Windows because recovering the data is much more important to me than him. As I wait for a reply on my previous post, I wanted to also ask question accessing data while in the recovery console. I can see the directory structure but I when I attempt to look at the contents of any of the directories including my own data directories, I get ACCESS DENIED message. I provided the Admin password when prompted in the utility - can you tell me why I'm getting this message? Or better yet, how I can get around it and copy the data from these directories to my external hard drive. Didn't mean to post another message without waiting for a response to my previous one but want to get this question on the table when someone addressed the last.

Many thanks!
art

[dsenette]

have you tried the repair of xp?

[The Skeptic]

To save your data take the affected hard disk out of the computer and install it as a slave on another computer. Also connect your backup disk to the other computer. If it's a usb drive then it's simple. If it's an IDE drive install it to IDE 2 flat cable. This will allow you to use the operable computer to copy from the affected disk and paste to the backup. Also, while the affected disk is installed on the "good" ciomputer you can use it's antimalware tools to scan the affected disk. You can also run checkdisk, clean disk, defragment etc.

As you mentioned the importance of the data, do the backup first. I am almost convince that it will work. I do that as a routine.