Resolved Windows XP Pro repair problem

I'm trying to fix a friends desktop computer that was giving them trouble and the general consensus was it had some corrupt drivers or files.

The monitor keep blinking and or going blank after the last windows update. There were other items but that was the worst complaint. They tried to install new drivers for it but no joy.

I had them download the ISO file for Bit Defender Rescue CD and they were able to boot and run the AV program from the live cd.

Seeing that the computer worked ok with the live CD led me from pointing fingers at the power supply, and towards some possible corrupt files.

Booting in safe mode or choosing a earlier restore point did not fix the problem.

They tried but were unsuccessful using the Windows Repair option following instructions from this web site.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxprepair1.htm


Now the computer is in a loop that when turned on is trying to install "Windows XP Pro as a New Install ".. or so it seem to me.

I am able to load the live CD UBCD4 Windows and it appears that all the documents, folders, programs, etc that the owner installed are still present on the computer.

I copied the "My Documents" folder and all its sub folders to a thumb drive as a precaution and then tried to use a Windows XP Pro CD with slipstream 2 on it to force a new repair as noted on the above link.

The "repair" operation went as I would expect.... But when I removed the disk and rebooted as instructed the computer booted to a screen stating it was "Restarting Windows Installation" and wanted the Windows XP Pro Slipstream 2 disk.

If I choose to cancel it would reboot to the same screen.

If I inserted the disk it resumed at step 3 or 4 that stated it was "Installing Windows" and proceeded to install all drivers, components, and registering everything and also wanted the key code.

When I followed the procedure thru it completed all steps and counted down to the last minuet of the install and rebooted.

That reboot is where the loop keeps returning to step 3 or 4 of "Installing Windows ".

As it stands now it looks like I cannot do either a repair or a new install unless I manually delete the HD. (Not my first or second or 3rd choice.... )

I looked at the boot ini file and it looks ok and doesn't point to a command to resume installing window, as far I can tell.

I also have a newer slipstream 3 disk, would that by chance override the previous efforts and start a brand new repair option if used? (leaving owner documents & files intact)

Where is, and can I edit or delete the command that is directing the boot procedure to resume installing windows?

Thanks in advance for any help on this issue.

 

thanks... I'll try that tonight and report back..

 

Just tried to use my slipstream Windows XP Pro SP3 CD to perform the "Repair" option and it did not work.

Using the guide mentioned earlier I booted to the CD and moved past the 1st "Repair Recovery option ".

The next screen I agreed to the Licensing Agreement, and expected to see the "Repair" option like I did when using the slipstream Windows XP Pro SP 2 CD.

The Repair option was not there, the screen I did see was to partition the HD screen.

Only two options were add or remove a partition or quit. I chose F3 to quit.

Booting from the HD results were same as noted earlier.

Since it appears that all the users documents and files are still on the HD my 1st choice is to find a way to intercept the boot sequence and somehow change or edit the instructions the computer is now getting during boot up.

1st screen after bios during HD boot says "Setup is being restarted.... ", then next screen shows the first 3 steps already completed and step 4 "Installing Windows" and requests the CD is shown.) final step is "Finalizing Instalation ".

At that point I kill the power switch on the power supply.

My options seem slim.. Any thoughts on my original question?

Where is, and can I edit or delete the command that is directing the boot procedure to "restarting a failed or user terminated Windows installation "?

 

It's a home built with XP Pro SP3 installed on it. (upgraded over time from SP1)

They tried to do the repair using a slipstream XP Pro SP2.

I tried using both my slipstreamed SP2 & SP3 XP Pro CD's and got the same results as first time the repair was tried using the CD with SP2.

AND.. When using my slipstreamed SP3 CD the 2nd repair option was not present, only option after advancing to 2nd screen was to partition the disk.
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I did try this...

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-windows/bc4d3760-297b-414a-aaef-983c71335060

It say's...
Providing that the machine did not successfully reboot after the Text Mode portion of the repair install:

1- Mount the disk in another computer

2- Delete the following files and folders, they are all in the root folder, usually C:\

$WIN_NT$~BT
$WIN_NT$.~LS
$LDR$

3- Edit the Boot.ini file and remove the line pointing to C:\$win_nt$.~bt\bootsect.dat= "Windows XP..... "

4- Edit the registry and make sure that the value data for the following is set to 0:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\SystemSetupInProgress

See here for easy to follow information on how to edit the registry while the disk is mounted in another machine:

http://www.rwin.ch/xp-live/regedit.htm

Don't forget to unload the hive after you edit it or else the changes won't be saved.
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Instead of slaving the HD I booted to the UBCD4 Windows and edited the registry to set the dword value to 0.

None of the other steps applied in my case.

Bottom line is it didn't work the computer still booted to the "resetting startup screen "

As the the issue with IE.. Firefox is there prefence so any problems encounted with IE are small. Guess I'll cross that bridge if needed.

 

Thank you for all your help with this issue..

I'll run the test on the HD...

I also want to make sure the registry values I changed yesterday were for the computer and not the registry of the booted system CD that's loaded in the ram memory... I'm still trying to figure out how I would check that.

Along that same line of thought is there a way to retrieve or extract a older copy of the registry from the HD and use it to overwrite the current registry?

Is there a *.bak or *.backup file for the registry? What about using the "System Restore" Can it be accessed from the Windows CD or maybe the "UBCD4 Windows CD" or similar type backdoors utility programs?

Reaching further outside of the box..... Could I use a registry file from a similar XP Pro SP3 computer just to get Windows to load a barebones system even if some of the hardware and drivers don't match? Any mismatch with programs in the registry could be cleaned vie a registry cleaner later.

I'm thinking then I could at least try to do a brand new "Repair" that would match the registry with the computer & bypass the botched repair that I now have.

 

I wasn't sure if the CD used the ram to build or install the "UBCD4 Windows" software therefore having its own registry files in ram along with its OS and utilities.

The link you provided to recover from a corrupted registry looks like my best shot.. I think I can use MS Explorer in the UBCD4 Windows live CD to access and copy the HD repair registry files and delete the current files instead of following all the steps listed. Then boot from the HD and hopefully be able to perform a System Restore to a earlier date..

I'll try that this weekend and update then..

Thanks again for the help..

 

thanks..that will be my last attempt to fix this problem.. If no joy than its a brand new install of xp.. nothing to lose at this point.. the user ok with a "back to square one" approach..

 

Using the "outside the box approach" I was able to refine the method shown at the link you provided.

I used the file manger program vie the live cd "The Ultimate Boot Disk CD for Windows"

All I did was after changing the options to "view all system files" and change the option to allow myself access to the "C:\System Volume Information" folder was....

Using the Live CD file manger I made a new temporary folder and copied (drag the files) 5 files in question to it. (not that there needed or any good in my case)


c:\windows\system32\config\system to c:\windows\tmp\system
c:\windows\system32\config\software to c:\windows\tmp\software
c:\windows\system32\config\sam to c:\windows\tmp\sam
c:\windows\system32\config\security to c:\windows\tmp\security
c:\windows\system32\config\default to c:\windows\tmp\default

Then I delete the 5 files from c:\windows\system32\config\

Then bypass the rest of Part 1.

Jump to Part 2... step 7, step 8, & step 9..

From step 10.. Choose a "pre problem dated restore folder" if available.
IE: C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot

From the Snapshot sub folder just copy (drag) the 5 files...

_REGISTRY_USER_DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

To the c:\windows\system32\config\ folder and rename them..

c:\windows\system32\config\DEFAULT
c:\windows\system32\config\SECURITY
c:\windows\system32\config\SOFTWARE
c:\windows\system32\config\SYSTEM
c:\windows\system32\config\SAM

Then I was able to boot up the computer without having it "Boot to a Windows Setup" screen loop error.

Unfortunately in my case the only restore point folders available to me were created just before the first repair attempt was made.

Then I tried to do a "Repair" again but always the repair failed and my results were back to a "boot to a loop and the Windows setup screen ".

After many tries using the "Repair" option on the Windows Slipstreem 3 CD, I have settled on keeping the computer at its last "working" restore point and re-sized and added a new partition the HD so I could install a second OS & Dual boot the computer.

I installed Ubuntu so the owner would have a backup system in case the computer goes belly up again.

From what I can tell the after looking at the video card, it probably was the original problem (capacitors were bulging & leaking) and when she tried to install new drivers for the card the computer screen would go blank or freeze, & then show the correct screen over and over. I removed it and used the onboard video.

Also now I can't perform a manual "restore point "... I'm unable to enter a name in the box provided and must cancel the operation.

I told her that black friday or cyber monday is coming and to take advantage of the sales at that time to buy a new computer.

Thanks again for the assist..