Multitude of Functionability Problems after SysRestore

Greetings.

My computer, once again, has been introduced to a slew of problems. I will detail how this happened to the best of my ability.

I was having a great deal of trouble installing iTunes and after trying many things decided to go to the apple.com forums for help (oh the irony?). After looking around, I discovered my problem was common and found an alledgedly reliable fix. These were the instructions:

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-Click Start
-Click Run
-Enter in the "Open:" field: "services.msc" (without the quotes)
-Click OK
-Scroll down to "Remote Procedure Call (RPC) "
[ NOT "Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locater" ]
-Double click on this item
-Click the "Log On" tab
-If the "Local System Account" selection is already
selected, this fix won't help you. If the "Local System
Account" selection is NOT selected, SELECT it now.
[ make sure that "Allow service to interact with desktop
is not checked ]
-Click OK
-Close the Services window
-Reboot
-Try reinstall the 5.0 or 5.01 iTunes+Quicktime package

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I created a restore point, followed these instructions and rebooted my computer. I tried to install iTunes and unsurprisingly, it didn't work. Although there was no collateral damage from making the changes I did, I decided to restore my computer to the way it was before just to be safe. (I looked at RPC before doing this and discovered I was unable to change it back to the way it was as some of the options were greyed out, leaving a System Restore the only option left.)

This is where the trouble began. I rebooted my computer, logged in and discovered I had no desktop. Thinking it a fluke, I rebooted again, but this time, my computer seemed to be stuck at the "Windows is loading your settings..." stage. The stage before you type in your account password to log in. Perplexed, I left it as it is only to discover 5 minutes later that it eventually let me log in, but it just went very slowly. The same thing happened when loading my desktop.

After about 10 minutes of booting, I finally realized how bad the damage was.

1. Sounds drivers are gone. Every sound, be it an instant message or an .mp3, is replaced by a beep from inside my computer.

2. Unable to play video (.avi, .wmv, .mpeg, etc) and consequently games. Video drivers seem to be okay because my resolution is fine and I can view graphics.

3. Unable to move ANY files. (Cannot move file from location A to location B by any means.) I can copy but the Paste option is greyed out on all circumstances. I had to write out those instructions up there.

4. Unable to click on certain links. To register for this site, among other things, I had to look at the status bar while hovering my mouse over the link and manually type the address. I haven't figured out which links don't work yet.

5. Unable to access System Restore. It says that it is "unable to protect my computer at this time." Or unable to ***** it up any further.

6. Unable to double click any of my services in Services.msc. Nothing comes up when I do.

I'm pretty much stumped. I would normally just back up all my files and re-install, but I can't back them up because I can't move them anywhere. I'm wary about reinstalling Windows without backing up because I recall there are pretty non-descript directions between "Install and keep files" and "Install and delete EVERYTHING." I'd like to just fix this without formatting if possible, or if not, move my files before doing so.

Sorry for the length of this but it's a pretty big problem! Thank you in advance for reading and/or trying to help.

I'm running XP Pro on a Pentium 4.

-SS

EDIT: I spent a good while typing this post and couldn't back it up because I can't copy/paste, so I decided to take a screenshot. I was somehow able to paste it in my imaging program. After I saved it, I tried to Cut the image to make room for the next, but an error message came up that said "Error: RPC server unavailable." A clue!

 

A question on that.

Was that restore point made AFTER the messed up attempt to install iTunes ? I read it as if it was. If so it would contain all of the problems. And might even make them worse if it did get used.

Do ( did ) you have ( you should have ) a Restore Point made before the failed install even started ?

I myself MANUALLY make one and name it, before even attempting to make ANY changes.

Alias; I DO NOT trust Windows to do it. Windows has let me down more than once as to Restore points. It was supposed to but didn't.

I know in 98SE the Beg backups could be used from DOS. But I do not know about XP and SR.

BillyBob

 

Yes, I made the restore point before making the changes.

 

OK. Thank you. That clears it up for me.

BillyBob

 

Is there anything else you can suggest? My RPC is disabled and basically I need to find a way to enable it. I think that'll take care of most things. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

Woudl you recommend running a chkdsk /r first?

 

Did you have a restore point that was made BEFORE you even STARTED to mess with itunes ?

And was the PC OK before you started messing with itunes ?

If you did not have a previous RP and if there were ANY problems at all then you have learned a valuable lesson. Maybe even two.

#1- Makes sure you have a RP that was made before attempting to add anything new.
#2- Do not atempt it install anything new if there are any signs of problems.

BillyBob.

PS
This note is coming to you from someone that learned the hard way also way back in the Win95 days.

BB