[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello again
I have unplugged the ethernet cable and changed the CMOS/BIOS to boot from CD first
However when I restart I do not see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message and Windows boots normally
I have two CD/DVD drives in this PC so I've tried booting with the CD in both but with no luck - we go straight to Windows

Thanks for the help and good wishes - I feel a bit better now

LATER I HAVE TRIED ANOTHER COPY OF MY XP PRO CD AND THIS IS WORKING !!!!!!! I WILL LET YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME ASAP

Later still looks like the first CD was not made bootable when it was copied as a backup

Edited by Chris - Thecleancar, 23 April 2007 - 05:59 AM.

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Hello
I've run the repair as per the instructions - everything seemed to go ok but the PC will now NOT BOOT !
I get the black screen with the Windows XP logo and then it just reboots again over and over
I'm sorry to say but this was just what I was afraid might happen.

Please advise

Thanks for you continued help and support

PS.The PC will not boot into safe mode either !

Edited by Chris - Thecleancar, 23 April 2007 - 09:19 AM.

[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello
I've run the repair as per the instructions - everything seemed to go ok but the PC will now NOT BOOT !
I get the black screen with the Windows XP logo and then it just reboots again over and over
I'm sorry to say but this was just what I was afraid might happen.

Please advise

Thanks for you continued help and support

PS.The PC will not boot into safe mode either !

Edited by Chris - Thecleancar, 23 April 2007 - 09:19 AM.

[peterm]

Hi Chris
When the pc would not boot of the xp home you should have come back to me.
ok stick the xp pro disc in and boot to the screen that says Welcome to setup. Change the disc over to the xphome disc
Press enter Press F8 then press R for repair. Let it run the repair. Does the computer boot Now if not come back to me.
Do not Panic it will just cause stress and your well being will suffer. We will get you going.
If it won't boot after doing this come back to me don't play
Cheers
Peterm

[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello peterm

When the pc would not boot of the xp home you should have come back to me.

I used the XP Pro CD for the repair - as Pro was loaded on the PC - did you want me to use the HOME CD ?

ok stick the xp pro disc in and boot to the screen that says Welcome to setup. Change the disc over to the xphome disc
Press enter Press F8 then press R for repair. Let it run the repair.

I have booted to the "Welcome to setup" using the PRO CD swopped to the HOME one and pressed <enter> it now asks me insert the PRO CD and wont let me past that screen without it. The options are <F3> to quit and <enter> so I have quit.

I know stressing doesn't help but I'm sorry to say I'm a pessimist

Thanks for the help

[peterm]

Sorry Totally my misunderstanding I was sure the pro was on the dell
re run the pro setup and try a repair again. Unplug everything from the computer expect the keyboard & mouse.
If this does not work we will go for a parallel install. I will give instructions for a parallel if needed.
Once again only try a repair.
Is your keyboard and mouse USB or ps2 ? If USB do you have a ps2 mouse and keyboard you can use?
Cheers
peterm

[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello peterm

Sorry Totally my misunderstanding I was sure the pro was on the dell

Thats OK this thread is so long and complex I have problems with it myself

Is your keyboard and mouse USB or ps2 ?

They are both ps2 so will leave them alone

Unplug everything from the computer expect the keyboard & mouse.

Just so I get this right what about the speakers ?

re run the pro setup and try a repair again.

Will do after I hear about the speakers

Would this problem be caused by the fact that the 'Real' machine is on PRO and the 'Virtual' machine on HOME ?

Thanks for sticking around

[peterm]

Speakers should be fine it is mainly USB products that give trouble.
Please try the Repair again.
No Virtual machine should not affect the repair - more like a folder only works when you start it.
Cheers
Peterm

[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello peterm
I have run the repair again and all appeared to go as it should but no change the PC will not boot into Windows keeps on trying over and over
During the repair I got this message "Windows cannot access specified device path or file You may not have the appropriate permission to access"
The file was C:\Windows\System32\mstinit.exe I clicked ok and the repair continued
I did not get this message the first time I ran 'Repair'
Thanks please advise - any idea what's happened - or more likely what I've done !!

Edited by Chris - Thecleancar, 25 April 2007 - 03:38 AM.

[peterm]

Hi Chris
No idea what has gone wrong. I ran the repair on my system and had no trouble. I have done this on xp and regularly on 2000.
We will try a Parallel install. I need to do some screen shots. Will post instructions and screen shots
all's not lost i'm sure.
Cheers
Peterm

[peterm]

Hi Chris
Lets go for a Parallel install. Please read this 1st and come back with any questions you have before you start.
Parallel Installation of Windows XP

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
• To use a different folder, press Esc
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.

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[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello peterm

Lets go for a Parallel install.

I did this and have now got Windows back - at boot up I see two options to select the OS I want I pick the first one Both are identical "MS WINDOWS XP PRO"

Settings etc are all up the creek and not the way I like them but no doubt they can be sorted
I have a few questions but will save them until later
I have not installed SP2 or anything else do you want me to try "Safe mode"
Please advise

Thanks very much When will this sorry tale end ??

Edited by Chris - Thecleancar, 26 April 2007 - 04:35 AM.

[peterm]

Phew
Ok please install SP2

[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello peterm

Phew

You sound releived - dont forget Rule 1 !!!!

Ok please install SP2

Did this all went ok SP2 now shows in My computer properties

What next please?

Can I reset the BIOS/CMOS to boot from Floppy again?

Thanks

[peterm]

Can I reset the BIOS/CMOS to boot from Floppy again?

Yes you can
Please check your network name and check that tcpip is listed in the network settings. If both of these are ok turn the computer off plug the network cable in an switch on. Do an ipconfig it it falls in the range
eg Ip 192.168.1.64 (or 65 66 68 etc) Sub 255.255.255.0 Gateway 192.168.1.254 then we do not need to load any hub software. Can you see the dell or the www.
Cheers
Peterm

Edited by peterm, 27 April 2007 - 02:00 AM.

[Chris - Thecleancar]

Hello peterm
Once again just to be sure before I do this
There is no Antivirus software on this machine should I load one before I try the WWW?
I assume the Hub Firewall should be ok and not to load one or enable the Windows one
Thanks