System Recovery Hanging

My present problem - I ran a System Recovery both from the disk and from the partition and in both cases all goes well, I get to restart into user partition, click ok - windows boots and when it comes to the screen where I click finish (the recovery) the comp hangs. Sometimes it continued working like something was going to happen other times just froze there. Is there something I am not doing or can do different? I tried f8 during boot up and tried to start in safe mode. I got the message that the Windows\system32\config\system was corrupt or missing and to run setup again. Yeah right - I have done that more times than I can count!

My last backup was in June and I would like to know how to get my data off the hard drive before I do a complete wipe. Are there any programs that I could download that could bypass bootup and read the hard drive directly or exaclty how does one get data off a drive that is not working? I know it can be done.

How did this all start you ask?
Installed SP2 - changed security settings in OE and IE, turned off firewall and AU.
Links not working in OE, Windows Media and IE shortcuts to desktop
Checked regserv dlls and registry entries and tried numerous other fixes
Decided to do a System Restore back to just after installing SP2 to make sure that was indeed the problem (have now been told by HP that SP2 is causing problems with system restore - thanks allot MS!!!)
System Restore froze up and had to do a manual reboot.
System would not start
Used Backup Cd to do a system recovery and that brings me to the above problem.

Give me your best shot, I have nothing to loose now as I am heading for a complete reinstal anyway.

Beamuse

Computer Info:

Home network and behind a Dlink DI624 router with an advanced firewall. I am using Avast Antivirus and keep my system clean with spybot, adaware, and have winpatrol and spyguard installed.

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
Compaq Presario
2033 megahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
40.00 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
CyberDrv CW058D CD-R/RW [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
608 Megabytes RAM
DLink DI624 Router with advanced firewall
Dlink Wireless ethernet card
ADSL internet connection

 

For data recovery and since you have at least two PCs, my preference would be the (free) NTRecover.

Someone else may suggest removing the drive and putting it into another PC as a data drive and getting what you need. That should work too assuming the drive contents are available but NTRecover will do the job even with a drive that is 'dead'.

 

Thnx for the input guys - So here is the rest of the story....

I had to creat a set of boot floppies
How to obtain Windows XP Setup boot disks
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310994

Then I followed the directions using the floppies and recovery console
How to Use Recovery Console - (making sure to print out the directions before you start)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=307654

Then proceeded to remove SP2 (again print out the directions) How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 2 from your computer
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;875350&Product=winxp

After all this, I was able to get back into my files and back them all up on CDRWs.

My next step was to wipe my drive clean, knocking down the partition and then doing a fresh instal. After removing SP2, although I got back into Windows, it was obvious that the OS was not working well - so, it was best to start fresh.

So, I hope that this info may help others who are struggling with SP2. Whew, five days of frustration but it was worth it in the end!

IMPORTANT: Before installing SP2 on the fresh XP, I went to the manufacturers site of my components and made sure all the driver updates and fixes are installed as there were ones specific to SP2 installation. The one I missed the first time was an update to system restore - if that had been installed, this whole process may have not been neccessary.

I now have SP2 reinstalled and things seem to be running fine.


Have a Great Day
Beamuse a.k.a. Beacauz

 

Where did you get the upgrade for System Restore?

Thanks.

Anne

 

The manufacturers website. Every manufacturer should have info on what you need to do before installing SP2. My particular computer is a compaq. Here is the link HP Products

Beamuse