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Windows XP question

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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Well friends, tonight's challenge. My mother has a computer with XP. I was at her house tonight and it won't boot. There comes a message that indicates a corrupt system file. I can get in to setup (F12) but that is about it. I do have a recovery disk which does seem to want to work except that it also wants to wipe the drive and there are some important files.

My current thought is to pull the hard drive, hook it up to my laptop and see if I can either a) swap the file or b) pull the necessary files off and then (if a) reassemble or b) then do a clean reload.

any thoughts? am I missing anything?

input greatly received.
 
Hi JP - sorry 'bout the trouble. If you're sure that only one file is corrupt, I'd do what you plan to do.

But I'm betting the disk is failing. Boot from a Windows CD, then copy the important stuff (usually in the User folder) to an external drive (USB, etc.). Then install a new hard drive and start over.

You could try to reinstall Windows using System Repair. Boot from the original install disk, choose Repair. If your only option using that disk is to wipe the drive, then I'd replace the drive itself. If you're using XP, I assume the computer is long of tooth.

Now a days, seems that computers react in different ways to a re-installation attempt, so you may have to deal with the reinstallation one step/question at a time. Many (Dell for example) have a System Restore built into the CMOS, accessed using a Function key. The Dell System Restore usually gives two options: Wipe and start from scratch, or Save Data and reinstall OS.

I assume there's no System Restore option, if you boot from the Windows disk?

Tom
 
PS - there's a possibility you were hit by malware, which corrupted/renamed one or more system files. What antivirus system was in use, and was it always up to date?

Are you sure there really is a corrupt file? What's the exact wording of that error message?

T.
 
Tom covered it. Try finding/saving the personal data by putting the drive in/on another system first.
 
I have the machine at home right now and will set it up later to get the proper message. The quick back story on the machine is that it is newer - came with Vista - and we retro fitted XP as no-one should have been allowed to sell Vista to old people. It does however mean that I don't have the usual disk recovery stuff. I do suspect malware might be involved as she has had some other issues (remember the 46 emails that went our everytime she forwarded something? She used Avast (i think) but, it may not have been up to date - it's my mother. So keep the advice coming - thanks for input already
 
Thanks for the update. Those additional details make me think it would be wise to low-level format the disk and do a fresh installation. If there is/was an infection, copying the old files to an external drive could corrupt more than you want to deal with.

I'm afraid I don't know how you'd re-install Windows XP if you don't have a valid install disk. How 'bout Windows 7?

T.
 
so ... what's the latest?
 
NutmegCT said:
so ... what's the latest?
Click to expand...

honestly I just moved the box so I wouldn't trip over it. Other than that nothing. Hope to get some time tomorrow.
 
I had something like that on my last box. Hacked or virus (howinthehell with all the add-on security stuff, I don't know), but it got to a point in boot up that one file was gone.
My DVD and CD drives were old and problematical, so we loaded the file on a floppy and downloaded it in safemode, and it worked.
Safe Mode is accessed by what, F8 continuous during boot process?
Never used F12.

I had a hard drive failure on the old box later...ended up being the dual "D" drive, which I just eliminated (mean time before failure long exceeded, is what they told me).
Had no idea there were three hard drives in the box....the "C" was tucked way up inside this old server sized tower.
 
Well, the good news is that I can see the hard drive. Have it next to me being scanned even as we speak. I have most of the files taken off that I need (actually all of them but would like to get the Outlook Express address book) So, at least she won't be out the important stuff. Over the past few years my mom has been assembling photos from my father and his life story etc. etc. Not irreplaceable - we have hard copies but a PITA to retype. So, I'm happy about that. Will keep you posted.

In the meantime, next question. I can't find the XP installation disk (figures) but, I do have the original recovery disk which should re install VISTA - which I really don't want. So, do I try to teach her VISTA? Do I try to get a copy of XP? or do I even consider something like Linux and if I do, how easy is it to install and how user friendly? My mother mostly does games (Luxor MahJong etc) talks to her sister on Skype and does email (though more and more email she does on her ipad) she also does a minimal amount of word processing. Thoughts?

thanks as always for your support.
 
Well both XP and Vista are has been OSs. I would choose something that will be around for a while. I think Linux will do everything she needs. Just need to figure out which desktop to use. Otherwise it's Win7 or 8.
 
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