Please Help me Reboot/Repair XP

[Hybrid666]

I am in dire need of assistance. My Windows XP, Pentium 4 Processor and all that, comes up with the error message "Windows could not start , possibly due to Soft or Hardware changes...." then it gives me several options, and a countdown begins upon which windows tries to restart. The options are as follows:

-safe mode

-safe mode with networkdrivers

-safe mode with insert demand

-last known functioning configuration

-start windows normally

(sry if these arent exact, i had to translate them)

None of these work , and the only result of clicking them is that windows restarts with the same problem again.

I have loacted my recovery cd, and have tried to repair the system. Once again I was given 3 choices:

-Press Enter to Reinstall Windows XP

-Press R to repair Windows XP

-and press F3 to exit

I selected the Repair option because i need to save certain files on my hard drive and i fear that reinstalling will delete them.

Then I was given another question (at which windows installation would you like to sign on?) , but only with 1 answer this time, i put in "1" (C:/Windows), then I was asked for the admin password which i put in.

Upon pressing enter a command line appeared:

C:/Windows>

i inserted:

C:/Windows>help

and so obtained a list of all possible commands. However at this point I did not know what to do, even the explanation of each command which i managed to obtain did not help me.

Please! Can someone tell which command or series of commands i need to insert or if I have done the wrong thing altogether.

All help would be graciously accepted,thx alot guys.

PS Sry if some of the translations are a bit clumsy but i did my best:D

[T D]

Familiarize urself with ms-dos. Google it.

Try and dual-boot with linux and then burn all the important files onto a CD-RW or something. I'd recommend the live installs such as Ubuntu as u can boot directly from the CD without having to install it to ur hdd.

[CptMurphy]

Here's what I did. Go into the recovery CD again and install the OS as if you normally where. The only thing you DON'T DO is format the disk. What will happen is, all the files that YOU made will not be deleted. However, the profile will be deleted. This does not mean that the folder is deleted as well, it's still there so don't worry about it. I've done this a few times myself. BTW, this will not fix your OS because nothing beats a clean install. Just do that, and backup your files. From there, do a clean install.

[Hybrid666]

alright so all i have to do is install XP again using the cd? Or is that a reformat already? the only options i have are to reinstall xp in a partitioned and in an unpartitioned section...would either o those be right?

Obviously i would only reboot to backup my files and then completely reformat the whole C drive

[Takeshi]

It looks like the Repair option you chose launched the Recovery Console. This would not do a repair installation. This is a common mistake.

In a normal MS Setup CD, the option to reinstall Windows is found after you go to Setup and accepted the EULA. There, you have a choice of deleting the existing Windows installation or install on top of it.

I don't know if the same is true for your recovery CD. But if you have a spare partition to install Windows to, then it seems the safest option.

The other option is to connect your HD to another PC as slave and access your data from there.

EDIT:

It's never a good idea to put your data in the same partition as Windows and it's always good idea to have regular backups.

Edited August 12, 2006 by Takeshi

[ricktendo]

The other option is to connect your HD to another PC as slave and access your data from there.

Thats my recomendation, take out your HDD out of your old machine and put it in the one u are using right now

Dont forget to set it as a Slave Drive

[Hybrid666]

will do, thx all u guys, fingers crossed it works