hello,
i hav recently had a problem with my windows xp media center 2005 OS so i researched and concluded that i needed to repair the OS...i never got the windows xp media center cd so i repaired the OS with a windows xp sp2 cd. The repair was going fine untill it asked me for my Product id....i entered the product id which was found on both the bottom of my laptop but both returned with a message saying that it was not valid...i can not quit this setup and cannot get past that part...i ma re format my hard drive but i need the data on it...is there any way to bypass this part or quit this repair...(the repair was started by booting from the cd)
any help would be greatly appreciated
thanks
paul

If you received no Recovery CD then there should be a Recovery partition with a hotkey. Or the manual would have stated to create a Recovery CD when you first used the computer.

What is the make and model of the computer?

As to what you did: the only way that would work is if you used the Product ID that was associated with that XP CD. It is a different operating system.

What happens now when you try to boot the old Media Center version?

In a worse case scenario you can slave this drive in another computer in order to extract your data.

If you cannot repair the Media Center version you are going to need to purchase a new version of XP. The manufacturer of the computer may sell Recovery CD's if indeed there is no Recovery partition.

Thank you for the reply.
My laptop is a Dell Inspiron 9300
Now when i try to reboot my computer it goes to the normal WIndows Xp Loading page and then the xp blue screen comes up with the text Setup is now restarting....it then goes straight to the setup process
I have tried starting my machine in Safe Mode but a dialog box appears saying that setup cannot complete in safe mode and then it reboots the computer and setup restarts
Reinstalling Media Center for me should not be a problem, however, i would like to complete the setup(or get around it) and/or recover my data.
paul

The first option below should retain your data back up till the restore point you choose. The latter operation would remove all data from the drive and return it to factory conditions.

XP Setup has apparently loaded itself on the boot sector (boot.ini). In doing so it has overwritten the Media Center Boot.ini. With a Media Center XP CD you could repair the Boot.ini but I know of no other way without a Media Center boot CD. If you had such a CD in the Recovery Console you could run FIXMBR

XP Setup will not complete unless you have an independent valid Product Key. The boot sector can only be repaired (returned to as was) with a Media Center CD. Again you can slave this drive in another computer in order to extract any valuable data.

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...pport_central?

Additional Information
NOTE: Norton Ghost™ is available on Dell™ Dimension™ and Inspiron™ systems that shipped on or after Oct. 18, 2005 in the Americas. If your system does not have Norton Ghost available, please refer to: 295204 - Software Reinstall Guide [ All Microsoft® Windows® Operating Systems ] for installation instructions.


Verify the modem or network cable is detached from the computer.
Start the computer.
When the Dell splash screen appears, press <Ctrl>+<F11> and release them at the same time.
NOTE: Press the key combination only once. If you press them more than once, a keyboard error occurs; repeat the above steps.


The Symantec|Dell Recovery Environment End User License Agreement screen appears.
Click Accept.
The Symantec Recovery Disk window appears displaying two options:

Recover My Computer
To restore your computer to a backup point:
Click Recover My Computer.
The Select Recovery Point window appears.
Click to select the recovery point from which you want to restore, and click Recover My Computer.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the recovery process.

Recover My Computer to Original Dell Configuration
To restore your computer to its original Dell configuration:
Click Recover My Computer to Original Dell Configuration.
The Recover My Computer Wizard window appears.
Click Yes, and press <Enter>.
A Recover My Computer Wizard dialog box appears.
Click Yes, and press the <Enter> key.
The Ghost32 window appears, and the restore process begins, which takes approximately 8 to 10 minutes to complete. When complete, the computer restarts.

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...40A1FE125147C8

thanks for the reply
i will try what you have said and see if it works.
i have recovered all my data, however, by another way. I installed Ubuntu and shifted my data onto a protable hard drive but i will still try the process you have given
paul