:helpme:
Hi there, I've recently bought a second hand pc of ebay as mine died, all was running fine until I made the mistake of taking the side pannel off and connecting my old drive to the new computer (using one of the cdrom plugs)to transfer some files and bits and bobs across. Just for reference both my old and new pc were up to date with AVG. I transferred the files, all went well, then I turned the computer off and disconnected my old pc's drive [-( and it all went wrong. When I turned it back on, it seemed to boot up fine the stopped on the blue Windows XP welcome screen, and this is where it stays. Although I have been told by the seller that it is a genuine version of windows there is no sticker on the comp. The pc I'm borrowing at the moment has a system restore facility at boot up (by hitting F10) is this a standard facility. I have spoken to a host of so called repair specialists who all gave a different diagnosis ranging from Registry Errors, to Illegal Windows and the licence has expired, to Virus transfers. One of which wanted over £250 for a new installation of windows and format my drive, ( I only paid £132 for the computer), If i could lay my hand on a Windows XP pro installation CD and try and obtain the 25 digit registry code from the seller can I reboot from this, bearing in mind this is a BIF IF!!! Any help or advice would be great.. Wanye :throw:

Welcome to techhelpforum.

The pc I'm borrowing at the moment has a system restore facility at boot up (by hitting F10) is this a standard facility

Only on some name brand machines.

Try booting into Safe Mode and selecting Boot to last known good configuration.(Tap the F8 key during power up.)

If this doesn't produce results......

Is this a proprietary machine? (ie; Brand_Name - Gateway, Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lenovo, Compaq, eMachine, etc.) If it is, please post the make, and the exact model number. If there is a Service Tag, post this info as well.

If the machine is a custom built Desktop, what is the make, model and rev of the motherboard?

Post back with your results and any further questions.

Hi and thanks for the help, I've tried the 2 boot modes and nothing there, just boots to the black screen with the Windows XP logo then onto the blue screen with the windows xp logo and just hangs, the curser and mouse are active.

As for the make, model and rev, I'm a little lost, looking at the MB there are 4 things that jump out: ECS, 15-VO9-011012, HT2000 and DUAL DDR2 800. If i hit 'del' and enter the bios the heading reads Pheonix - Award WorkstationBIOS CMOS Setup Utility, if this means anything. Again, I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'REV', let me know... when you've picked your self up from laughing at my lack of knowledge. Just as a point of reference, speak to me as if I'm 5, I can follow directions OK but am no good when it comes to part names, components and terminology.

I have spoken to my sister, who has a legit XP pro cd with the product key. Is this something that could be of use? She mentioned formatting the drive and reinstalling XP, I'd rather not do this if possible as there are a few files I don't want to loose, but the cd is there if I want (I see a favour coming).

Thanks again for the help.

Check to see if the ribbon cables to your boot disk is seated well. when you removed your old drive you may have nudged it out our position. You may want to also try different ribbon cables. Rare, but sometimes they go bad. You may also try new memory. If you have files that you want to remove from the drive before reinstalling XP then download one of many bootable CDs such as knoppix. A bootable CD will bypass your hard drive and boot into a linux environment. dont be scare, if all you want to do is find a file and copy it to an external device it's not too difficult to figure out. Plus, you CANNOT miss anything up on your hard drive with knoppix (just dont perform any WIPING activity). Have you tried puting the other drive back in (where you installed it before)? See what that does.

Hi ttinnisn,
I've checked all the ribbon cables, they all look good and check all connections. Couldn't figure out how to download knoppix, the site that I found had a web error, so I found the bootable cd on ebay for about £1.50.

I'll give this a try just for file recovery. Thanks for the pointer.

Good to see you back. ttinnisn has provided good advice re; cables etc. (He beat me to it.)

First question: Has your existing O/S been activated?

If i could lay my hand on a Windows XP pro installation CD and try and obtain the 25 digit registry code from the seller can I reboot from this ...

You could use the same type CD as the original for the purpose of using the repair console. The product key doesn't enter into this scenario. The CD must be the same type ie; Full retail, or OEM XP Pro from the same manufacturer. (But I gather that this machine is a "custom build" as opposed to a brand_name machine, and a full retail CD was used. Is this correct?)

and

I have spoken to my sister, who has a legit XP pro cd with the product key. Is this something that could be of use?

As above, with the same parameters, for the repair console.

If you attempt a repair install the product key enters the scene. You can try using the original product key (which you'd obtain from this third party) for this measure. However, the key may not work. (This all occurs prior to any partitioning/formatting of the hard disk, so you should be safe from killing the existing O/S.)

She mentioned formatting the drive and reinstalling XP, I'd rather not do this if possible as there are a few files I don't want to loose, but the cd is there if I want

Is this XP Pro CD a FULL retail CD? (NOT an UPGRADE, and NO OEM in the product key, thus no Vendor Logo's on it?)

If the O/S install from your sisters CD/Product Key is currently in use, this would be a violation of the EULA (End Users License Agreement). When you attempt to Activate Windows, you may be rejected.

If all the above CD parameters are met, you can attempt a repair of the O/S. Let me know, and if you choose this route, I can provide instructions/links to walk you through it.

In the meantime, try to obtain your product key for your O/S.

First question: Has your existing O/S been activated?

I'm not 100% certain, I emailed the seller and he was very vague. Couldn't supply a product key - the pc was bought from his friend who built it and I can only gues that it is a full retail cd.

If you attempt a repair install the product key enters the scene. You can try using the original product key

This wont be possible again as I don't have a product key.

If the O/S install from your sisters CD/Product Key is currently in use, this would be a violation of the EULA (End Users License Agreement). When you attempt to Activate Windows, you may be rejected.

This product key is no longer in use, it is a full retail cd, and it was bought and installed on a pc that was stripped down earlier this year.

If all the above CD parameters are met, you can attempt a repair of the O/S. Let me know, and if you choose this route, I can provide instructions/links to walk you through it.

This would be great, I will be going to visit her on Saturday, as mentioned she was going to format the drive and hopefully reinstall XP pro from her cd (There is no favour being asked I can have the cd and product key, she's just upgraded and has vista and coincidently not getting on to well with it. It's not compatible with half of her software.) If you could give a brief outline of how I go about attempting a repair this would be great, I will try this before formatting.

Thanks again for all the advice, Hopefully next time I speak will be on sunday with a pc thats up and running

Glad you got back. I'm moving on Friday, and I'll be off line for up to two weeks.

Now that you have (or will have) an XP CD, attempt to recover the existing O/S through the Recovery Console First.

Use this to get yourself into the Recovery Console; http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

When you get to the command prompt, firstly type in chkdsk c: /f and hit ENTER. If this fails use chkdsk c: /r and hit ENTER. If errors are found and corrected, attempt a normal boot.

If it doesn't boot, use the CD to get back to the command prompt as above. Then type in bootcfg /rebuild. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291980/en-us Attempt a normal boot.

If it doesn't boot, use the CD to get back to the command prompt as above. Next replace the potentially damaged ntldr and ntdetect.com files. You can copy fresh files from the XP CD using the COPY command.

At the Command Prompt type the following (where "X" is your CD-Rom drive letter) allowing the files to overwrite the old files
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C:
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:

Attempt to boot normally. If it doesn't boot, again start with the CD to get to the command prompt. Type in fixboot c: and hit ENTER. When it finishes, attempt a normal boot.

If it doesn't boot, again start with the CD to get to the command prompt. Type in fixmbr c: and hit ENTER. When it finishes, attempt a normal boot.

If all this fails to recover the existing O/S, then attempt a Repair Install.

Here's a couple of links which will take you through the Repair Install process. It's quite simple really. However, remember the product key issue. If you can't get in, you may have to clean install.

You will lose previously saved System Restore Points but System Restore will begin creating new restore points again immediately following the Repair Install. You will need to reinstall SP2 and any Critical Updates from the Windows Update Site. I recommend you download the full SP2 (266 MB) and burn it to a CD for installation before you go online; http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en This "page will tell you: DO NOT CLICK DOWNLOAD IF YOU ARE UPDATING JUST ONE COMPUTER: A smaller, more appropriate download is now available on Windows Update. Trust me, download, burn, and use this.

Be aware that a Repair Install will leave your system vulnerable to the Blaster and Welchia worms. Do not go on line until you have enabled XP's firewall first. Then visit the Windows Update Site to patch your system.

Perform a Repair Installation
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...ps/doug92.mspx

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...us;Q315341#top

Clean Install
Clean Install Procedure with Illustrative Screen Captures
http://www.theeldergeek.com/xp_home_..._-_graphic.htm

Hi dan, :notworthy:

Thanks for the help, this should keep me going for a while, I think I'll print it out and take it with me on Saturday, I'll let you know how I get on.

Good luck with the move.

Wayne :thumbs: