I'm trying to "repair" a Windows machine, without actually wiping it clean.

It has totally up-to-date WinXP-Pro.sp3 on it, and it all boots up normally until the point where it tries to login the default user (not normally any "login" screen on this single-user home system).

At that point, it flickers rapidly between these three messages on the otherwise blank GUI:

Loading your personal settings
Saving your settings
Logging off

Over and over and over and over and over and over..
Even in a "safe mode" boot.

How can I break it loose from this mess?
Is there a "personal settings" object somewhere that I can delete ?

??

Okay, I found a ridiculously complex procedure for doing a manual System Restore.

But.. barf..

So I've booted from an Ubuntu LiveCD, mounted the NTFS partition R/w, and done what I think is the equivalent, but much simpler:

Code:

1. Backed-up files from /WINDOWS/system32/ to /old_config/

2. Did manual registry restore to the most recent restore point:

cd /System Volume Information/_restore{0F35CCEB-9975-48E3-8E59-CC599DCDBAC7}/RP102/snapshot
cp _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM /WINDOWS/system32/config/SAM
cp _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY  /WINDOWS/system32/config/SECURITY
cp _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE /WINDOWS/system32/config/software
cp _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM /WINDOWS/system32/config/system
cp _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT /WINDOWS/system32/config/default

Does that look about right?

Going to reboot and try it shortly here..

I had to fix a friend's machine before that had that exact same issue. It turned out to be because of BlazeFind.

See here:

http://www.winxptutor.com/wsaremove.htm
or
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/peboot.htm

Okay, did that. This time it flashed some useless blurs about a couple of "corrupted" files.

So I'm going to boot from WinXP Install media and see what the options there are. Maybe reinstall over top of existing, without reformatting?

-ml

Reinstalling without formatting has never worked for me from what I can remember. Though, I guess it's worth trying.

What are you trying to save from the existing install ? Maybe you could just plug the drive into a working computer and get what you need to save off it.

I have done a reinstall without a format but I have always got what I needed off the machine then done a wipe and reinstall. Stuff always gets messed up.

Mark, you can do a non-destructive re-install, but you have to use the same version of XP that was originally installed. OEM vs. Retail, and Home vs. Pro.

It's toast. Something in WinXP destroyed the filesystem completely after the registry "restore".

Time to re-install totally from scratch.
Starting with original WinXP, then applying SP1, SP2, and SP3.
Then all of the apps.. assuming we can find the registration info for them..

What a wretched way of life.
I am soooo glad I don't have to use any of this on a daily basis.

-ml

Mark,

The type of error you experienced (corrupt registry) and this last comment makes me think of a bad disk. Have you checked that? If not, I suggest you do so before going thorugh a full reinstall. Also, you just need SP3, as it includes all previous ones.

I've also seen viruses/malware that can cause this sort of behavior. The nuke should fix that.

There's still a good chance that a non-destructive re-install could work. Steps to do it here.

I believe, taym, that if you start with vanilla XP and upgrade through Windows Update, you end up installing all or at least a couple of the service packs and then a couple hundred security fixes. Bleh.

The partition doesn't exist now.. something wiped it good.
No viruses on that machine, either. Heh.. nothing on it now.


I'm not wealthy enough to pay additional money for unnecessary software. So it'll be from the SP0 original CD that came with the box many years ago, and then upgrading tediously through each service pack to the present.

Cheers

Shouldn't you just be able to download SP3 and it will include the fixes from 1 and 2 ?

Yep, SP3 includes all the earlier fixes.

I've seen this before, it's a virus that is not identified by AVG.

I spent a day hacking at it before I gave up and just nuked and repaved.

I'd definitely say it was a virus. I've run into the exact same issue twice before, a virus was the cause, and the only solution is to get the data off and nuke it.


I'm confused...you seem to be implying that you aren't wealthy enough for free service packs...


Is the original disc really devoid of service packs? Wouldn't that make the computer something like over eight years old? Is it really worth working on at this point?

I have a pre service pack 1 xp disk that I use. It's not the same computer as when I bought it though.

Last time I just let windows update do all the updates and it took days. It downloaded a bunch of updated then SP1 then SP2 then SP3 instead of just getting SP3.

You can download the service pack as a file and install it later. I keep a copy of sp3 so I don't have to download it thru winders update each time.

As others said, you don't have to, Mark. Install WinXP, whatever version you have.
Then either download SP3 "stand-alone" (aka for network installs or for redistribution), a sw package of few hundred megs, and install it (and possibly keep it somewhere for future use), or simply go through Microsoft Update website and follow instructions. SP1 and SP2 are not needed. They will let you chose if you wish to install SP3 or individual updares; chose the first option.
After applying SP3, go to microsoft updates to make sure you also install later hotfixes, and install alla critical ones.

The above is all free.

Also, I would say that registry corruption is caused by either virus or bad disk. In my personal experience, it is 99% bad disk. So I would still check it, if I were you, just to rule it out and avoid future issues.

If that is a daily occurrence, you are doing it wrong.

I knew some people out there were going through hard times, but unable to be wealthy enough to afford a network download? Ouch Mark... :-)

As others have said, just go right to SP3. Even better, slipstream SP3 into the install media at the cost of a little time and one CD-R. Also, make sure the pre SP3 box never touches the internet directly. Still a lot of nasty malware floating around pinging everyone capable of infecting a stock Windows XP machine in minutes.

*edit* For the really easy slipstream route, grab nLite.

I've had trouble with slipstreamed installs. I can't remember now what they were, but they were weird.

Well, I had assumed that machine you were having problems with wasn't the only Windows machine in existence. Should be able to follow the process in a Windows VM, or a friends system, or any other Windows machine.


Service pack slipstreams, or other hotfixes? If the slipstream creation processes is done right, the end result will be the same as a retail XP disk with SP3 integrated. I have seen issues as well trying to slipstream other pieces in, but never with the bare service packs.

Maybe other stuff was included, too. Or maybe it was using nLite (or some similar third party tool) to slipstream only a service pack instead of using the MS-provided tool.

Either way, I've gotten gun-shy.

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll probably do the slipstream thing to build a modern XP install disc for next time, after I get things working again this time.

Cheers

Okay, this is hilarious.

My RTM copy of WinXP-Pro predates the motherboard it needs to be installed on. So it cannot see the (10) SATA interfaces.

Okay.. no probo.. driver disks.. on floppy. Tried those, still fails.

Next, use a SATA-disk-to-IDE-cable dongle and plug it into the mobo IDE port -- the install disk should be able to use that, since it boots and runs the CD from that same port.

Nope.

Next ? maybe I'll reassemble an ancient mobo and do the install there, and then just move the drive to the new one afterward.

Good fun with old stuff.

Thus far, no time wasted.. since I'm baby-sitting a horrible SLES11 system (slow as all get out) that I'm testing driver stuff on.

Cheers

What error message do you get? How did you provide the drivers? Did you follow the procedure at install, when it tells you to press a specific key to install drivers? That's a simple feature which "just works" on all sorts of different workstations and servers. Admittedly, I never had to deal with Home Premium in my life, but I doubt it can be different from any other Windows XP / Server flavor...

Odd. That should work. I guess you can't "slipstream" SP3 into the install media as you need a working Windows install for that...


Windows isn't Linux unfortunately and it will be deeply unhappy with you if you do this even before all the online activation crap.

It actully really depends on how different the two machines are from the hardware perspective, but can be done. Still, probably quicker to look for updated/good drivers, as I am really surprised the ones Mark has are not working. That's such a basic procedure that I doubt the problem can be anywhere else but in the drivers.

I've swapped motherboards before with the same brand, model and settings and Windows decided to redetect all of the motherboard devices and then complain that the activation was no longer valid. This was back with XP.

Oh, yes.
Sorry, I was thinking merely of the drivers/install point of view.
I personally never dealt with XP activation much as I've been using the corporate version of it most times. However, those times when I was asked to reactivate at home due to significant hardware upgrades, it took me just a phone call to MS toll free nr.
Of course, I'd been happier not to do that, but it was not a big problem.