Takeshi

Not sure if it's at all an UA Windows question. If it's related to your other IE problem posted in XP Forum (homepage locking) and if the installation source was unaltered then it's weird.

mazin: I have a few queries if you don't mind as I'm not familiar with this. 1. HKLM uninstall reg keys, is there any reason to have to use REG ADD, rather than simply REG IMPORT (or regedit /s) uninstall.reg? 2. This prog doesn't come with uninstaller, so you have to write your own cmd? 3. How about the dlls, would it be necessary to unregister them? 4. What are the 3 shortcuts in SFX arguments? 5. What steps do I have to take to make the SFX in WinRAR? Oh I like that comment: oh! that's me! OOPS! Thanks as always

Try leaving out the /S /D. In fact I can move files there during UA install without changing the attribute.

mazin has a point about the progs.reg, it is incorrect. Just wonder what it is that HAS to be installed/run in Safe Mode.

Hardware problem: RAM, chipset etc.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlers

Your post makes sense to me and is very well articulated. Many people think just because they've done something it must be better. Moving files around according to some criteria doesn't seem smart to me either. It's a bit like shifting furniture in the room. Regarding boot file optimisation, do you know what files are actually moved by PD and Windows? Boot files are boot files, so why the difference? Do they see boot files differently?

The pdf is still divided up into pages and you still have to scroll or click to navigate.

If you're on dial-up you still have to download SP2 and the other updates using Autopatcher or whatever. Get someone with BB to download them all and put them on a CD. Isn't that clean and easy enough?

Since we didn't sit in front of the computer when you uninstalled Norton we would never be sure what exactly happened. But at least we now agree that Windows had not been deleted afterall. The most likely explanation is damage to the OS/data due to malware, file system/registry errors and/or HD errors. Further speculation into what happened would be pointless because there isn't sufficient clue and it's very unlikely you will be able to fix it. Just salvage whatever you have left.

Just moving the boot.ini to the first partition isn't going to change the drive letter. The easy way;: make the first partition active and primary then reformat. Not very easy but official way: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188/

If you're still able to boot Windows then the OS is still there. There is NO WAY you can boot Windows if Windows has been deleted. Windows system files are not installed in Program Files.

I've only seen the RunOnceEx window.

There's no innate reason why cmdlines.txt won't work. I don't know if it matters, but try to follow the exact format w.r.t. capital or small letters: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\.. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\... WFP does not protect the registry. But isn't it sufficient just to modify the registry to disable it?

The BSOD is more to do with incompatible HAL than SIDs and product keys.

It just means unpartitioned. You must have noticed that in Windows Setup, it actually uses this word "unallocated" in the partition list that you see. If I remember correctly, Disk Management also uses this term.

Are you sure you can't turn off chkdsk on startup and it has to be done?

Is the partition FAT32 or NTFS? FAT32 is more prone to this kind of error. I'd also look in Disk management to see if the partition size is OK or not.

Just calm down and ignore it. Don't let such a trivial thing get to you. It happens sometimes to my computer and eventually will go away. Presumably there's some bug with the update scan or reading from the catalogs.

Office updates are not listed under that key you mentioned. Nor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP I searched the registry with KB and CLSIDs of the Office updates listed and none showed up. It might be in \Program Files\OfficeUpdate11. Very obscure.

1. "Limited" user account CANNOT install programs make system-wide changes ... 2. prohibit users from installing software: software restrictions policy 3. prohibit users from changing the desktop background or start menu: GP

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=79323

e.g. net user I find it strange that a factory PC in your case would set a password. And you contradict yourself by asking for "winnt.sif help" in the title whereas you say "without the use of winnt.sif" in the post.

That's not strictly accurate. If the HD is unallocated, Autopartition =1 will still ask you first. It's unnecessary to specify Autopartition = 0, just omit it if you don't want it set to 1. Ref.chm: