i had some trouble with XP so decided to do a repair installation. during the repair install i got messages to say that files could not be installed so setup could not continue. so i had to start again but i didnt re-format the hard drive. now, when i start the pc i have to versions of xp, the first one (new working version) and second (old not working version).

using explorer i can access all my old files and programs. but on this new installation i dont have anything installed. so what i am really looking for is a way of pulling the old files and programs over. i only seem to have one program files folder where old programs are but cannot get them from programs on start menu. any ideas? i am presuming copy and paste wouldnt work?

You can transfer files and data but not fully functional programs as they reside in the registry as well is what I have seen. Tho now I wonder if you can't just import the whole registry as well... hmm... Don't know if that would work or not.

But I found a post from a problem very similar to yours.
It suggests a Repair Install of the old XP which will retain your files and programs.

Did you try a Repair Install the 1st time?
What did you do the 2nd time?

Anyway here is the post, at the end of which is info on the file transfer wizard.

You *ought* to be able to boot the XP CD - this implies setting the
machine's BIOS to boot a CD before the hard disk. If you can achieve
that, then you can do a repair installation - you should start by
editing the boot.ini hidden file so that the lines in it refer to the
old windows folder, not your new one.

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard disk, then boot the XP CD, start
Setup (do not take 'Repair' at this stage), then after the license
agreement take 'Repair Installation'. Select your original XP as the
one to repair. This will retain your existing software installations and
most settings. But Updates will have to be run again, especially SP1;
and if you have drivers that only arrived with that, like USB 2 ones,
you will need to update drivers for the devices concerned. You may find
that things like virtual memory settings and some aspects of appearance
have reverted to defaults.

Having got it up in some form you can assess whether it is good enough
to use (in which case delete the windows1) or else use Files and
settings transfer to backup the needed material from it, change the
boot.ini back to windows1 and then reboot to install the material into
that. May not work completely, but should make a good start. See Gary
Woodruff's article at www.aumha.org/a/fast.htm


--
Alex Nichol MS MVP (Windows - File Systems)
Bournemouth, U.K. Alexn@mvps.org