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The 7 - Random - Major computer help needed Register and log in to post!
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uberlou
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#1 Posted on 1.12.03 0335.57
Reposted on: 1.12.10 0337.09
Hey Wieners, I've got a big computer prob right now.
I was messing around and giving XP a new layout. I got StyleXP, and started going with an OSX Panther theme. Everything was going well till I tried to change the XP bootscreen. I've changed it successfully before (about a year ago) so I was confident it was going to be a breeze the second time around.

I followed the instructions clearly (as listed here at the bottom: http://themexp.org/howto.php) and as I went to reboot, the new boot screen came up. Normally these boot screens have an animated loading bar. This one wasn't moving but I thought that maybe it really is like that. Then the screen went blank and nothing happened. The light on the CPU was no longer blinking. It was just there, frozen.

I then had no choice but to shut it all down thru the power strip (since my CPU doesn't have a reset button), and I know that isn't very good for the system at all. Then I attempted to reboot in safe mode, so that I could put back the old boot screen. In the middle of booting, it just stopped. I know there's a few safe mode options. Regular safe mode, one with a networking option, one with a command prompt option, I tried them all and it just keept freezing as it was booting.

As it boots in safe mode, lines scroll that indicate what files are being loaded at the time or whatever, I assume. This is the string of text that was on screen as it stopped booting, if it's any help:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\(.sys filenames)

I know I have my XP CD-ROM stored in some box in my closet. I assume this might help, although i'm not sure what to do.

Anyone care to take a stab at this?

My system specs:
HP Pavilion 521n
Athlon XP 1600 1.4Ghz
running Windows XP Home Edition

If you need more info, let me know.

This seems like something that's fixable. I hope it is, anyway. I've got a paper due on Friday that's stored in there. bah.

Thanks to whoever can help me with this.

Edit:
My bad, all this time I thought I had an installation or system CD of some kind for XP but it turns out it was just some CD with a microsoft money trial on it. ugh. I was fooled by the neat plastic pouch and green Windows XP "Getting Started" pamphlet it was packaged with. sorry.

UPDATE:

ok, here's an update. I came across this post at the Tech Support Forums:

http://www.techsupportforums.com/showthread.php?s=& threadid=8771& forumid=10

It's the same exact problem i'm having. Although I don't have the recovery console option. As of now, I don't know how else I can get to that command prompt since obviously I need to replace the ntoskrnl.exe file with the backup that was working. Does anyone know if there's any other way to reach the command prompt in XP? I'm starting to think that i'm royally screwed here.

(edited by GrubbyLongJohns on 1.12.03 1422)
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Merc
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#2 Posted on 2.12.03 0845.06
Reposted on: 2.12.10 0845.16
So you DON'T have an XP cd at all? That would be the easiest way, even if you can't boot to your current version, install XP on a different partition/drive and use the newly installed XP to change whatever needs changing on the old version. I never could get the recovery thing to work properly, but the KB stuff on it is pretty exhaustive.
Guru Zim
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#3 Posted on 2.12.03 1341.01
Reposted on: 2.12.10 1344.57
Your best bet is probably to take out the HD, put in a new one, and install Windows 2000 or Windows XP on it. You should have XP somewhere in your CDs if you bought the computer from a reputable source. It may be a recovery CD or something like that, but you should be able to get a copy of XP installed from it.

Hard Drives are cheap these days. You should be able to do this for less than it would cost to have anyone look at it.

Alternatively, if you have a second HD in the system that is formatted for FAT32, you could boot your system with a CD bootable linux and mount your XP HD and copy the files over to your FAT32 drive. You would probably not have one of these laying around unless you had an old system with Windows 98 on it. Knoppix is very good about picking up all of your hardware - you can download it from a number of sources. Just google for Knoppix download and pick the link on knopper.net - you want the EN version for English (unless you have a great command of the German language). //edit: or, just use this link. http://www.knopper.net/ knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

If you can live without your system for a few days (weeks?) there was an announcement this morning of NTFS read/write capability for Linux (see here: http://slashdot.org/ articles/03/12/02/1536227.shtml?t id=106&tid=185& tid=190& tid=201) which many people have speculated will be added to Knoppix. If this does work, you could probably boot Knoppix and copy the file that you need for the repair this way. In reading the comments, there appear to be .debs for this, so it may make Knoppix soon (Knoppix is Debian based).

Or, you could buy a recovery CD from E-bay. I wouldn't recommend these - they are built on the Windows build for installs - I can't remember all of the details. It's not a real version of Windows - it's the lite components used to get an install running. Still, you can do many recovery options using them. Something like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&i tem=3642106213&category=41888 sure looks like it's based off of that Windows Install dealie. It runs about $8-12 depending on what people want for shipping on these.

(edited by Guru Zim on 2.12.03 1142)
uberlou
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#4 Posted on 3.12.03 0011.09
Reposted on: 3.12.10 0013.20
Thanks for the replies.

I am a little miffed that I didn't get an XP cd. I purchased my computer from Circuit City in June '02. I'm pretty sure it didn't come with a CD since I saved everything I had except the box. My dad who purchased a laptop a few months before that at Fry's also never got an XP cd.

The guys over at the tech support forums told me it's pretty much a 5 minute fix...if I had the CD. I just have to find someone. So that's just what i'm gonna try to do first. Hell, that's the only thing I need to do.

I could try to try other online means to get an XP installer. But that's illegal and that's BAAAAAAAAAAAD, kids. Besides, it's unreliable and might just mess me up even more.

But thanks for the input. It seems getting the CD would be my easiest way out of this.
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