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[OT] Restoring Win XP When It Won't Start   [Help!]

By: Rudy Penteado       
Date: May 26,2004 at 03:57
In Response to: [OT] Restoring Win XP When It Won't Start (John Gruener)

John,

> This is a tough question, because we do not know the nature of the
> damage caused by your memory test program. (Actually I find it hard
> to believe that such a program would cause this kind of damage, but
> anything is possible in this business)
Well, I run the program in 4 of my computers in here. It did not damage any of them but one: The Vaio77.
Be sure, the first thing I did after recovering the Vaio with the system disks was to run the memory test again to see if it will induce the same problem again. Note that I was careful enough not to tweak the system in any way, before running the memory test again.
It indeed knocked down the system a second time.

> The basic method to restore is to use F8 to boot into the "Safe Mode
> with Command Prompt", then start the System Restore program from
> there. It's not clear from this thread whether you tried that mode,
Yes, I tried that but you also have to be able to pass the logon process to gain control of the system and use the system restore procedures. In the "safe mode" the behavior was exactly the same as in normal mode.

> Had you been able to boot into that mode, the procedure to use System
> Restore is described here:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=304449
> This is fairly straightforward and easy to do.
Yes, same as the instructions that I had but I was not able to get to that point.

> If the damage was so bad that you could not boot into the Safe Mode
> Command Prompt, then a more complex procedure would be necessary,
> involving using the Recovery Console.
Note John that it was not a bad damage. The system was up and running, the network was being serviced, the GUI was installed and running in my usual big screen format, etc. Only a stupid glitch in the logon procedure was set and nobody, as I learned in the Internet, knew how to get the system to bypass the logon procedure.
Of course, the glitch was caused by the memory test program changing the letter assigned for the partition where the XP system was installed. If I had been able to modify that, probably I could have been able to pass the logon step. That was what I asked in the thread, "Does anybody knows 'what to change' and in 'what file', etc, etc."
Windows XP was supposed to either reassign the letter, so I could restore the system, or ask me if I wanted to restore it, etc., not letting me (and others) in a 'dead end' street.

> 1. Boot into the Recovery Console. I always have this installed on
> every system, but if it's not, you can install it from the Windows
> installation CD. Use the command: \I386\WINNT32.EXE /cmdcons. It
> only takes a few seconds to install...
Very nice, when the manufacturer of your computer has the courtesy of making the file available, isn't it? Sony did not included that option on my system. When I try that, I get:
"The option to upgrade will not be available because Setup was unable to load the file C:\windows\i386\winntupg\ntupgrd.dll"
The .dll file doesn't exist in any of the 6 restoring discs.

Conclusion:
John, I got impressed by the tremendous knowledge that you have on the intricacies of Windows, although I already knew you were an expert on that but, Bill Gates doesn't pay me anything for me to stop the work I am doing and spend weeks in a row trying to know windows better.

All my appreciation,
Rudy.

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