Boot disk needed

[Ric Euteneuer]

Go easy on me - a relative newbie here!

Rather stupidly, I obeyed an instruction from an obsolete piece of
Virus scanning software to delete a particular file that appears to be
vital for the functioning of my laptop. It's an Amilo M 7400 Centrino
1.4 combo running Windows XP Home Edition.

When it boots up, I get to the splash screen, but then come to a
screen telling me that the computer did not shut down properly, and
asking me if I want to do a "safe start", "safe start with
networking", or a "normal start". Hitting any of these options brings
me (eventually) back to this screen. I have a kind of Linux boot disk,
which starts the computer but thereafter, I'm clueless, so I assume
that there are no physical problems with the computer, and that what I
have actually done is to delete something vital for XP to start up.
I am wondering if what I need is a boot disk, that would allow me to
either repair this installation, and how I would go about getting one.
I have also searched high and low for the recovery disk and cannot
locate it. Could I source either of these from the people who sold me
the laptop a couple of years ago ? The recovery disk is of course the
nuclear option, but may be my only choice.

Any help at all would be gratefully received, including perhaps more
appropriate forums to raise this issue.

[Shenan Stanley]

Ric Euteneuer wrote:
> Go easy on me - a relative newbie here!
>
> Rather stupidly, I obeyed an instruction from an obsolete piece of
> Virus scanning software to delete a particular file that appears to
> be vital for the functioning of my laptop. It's an Amilo M 7400
> Centrino
> 1.4 combo running Windows XP Home Edition.
>
> When it boots up, I get to the splash screen, but then come to a
> screen telling me that the computer did not shut down properly, and
> asking me if I want to do a "safe start", "safe start with
> networking", or a "normal start". Hitting any of these options
> brings me (eventually) back to this screen. I have a kind of Linux
> boot disk, which starts the computer but thereafter, I'm clueless,
> so I assume that there are no physical problems with the computer,
> and that what I have actually done is to delete something vital for
> XP to start up.
> I am wondering if what I need is a boot disk, that would allow me to
> either repair this installation, and how I would go about getting
> one. I have also searched high and low for the recovery disk and
> cannot locate it. Could I source either of these from the people
> who sold me the laptop a couple of years ago ? The recovery disk is
> of course the nuclear option, but may be my only choice.
>
> Any help at all would be gratefully received, including perhaps more
> appropriate forums to raise this issue.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

You will need a Windows XP Home Edition OEM CD - with SP3 integrated would
probably be best. It is not (as you put it so dramatically) a "nuclear
option" - as a repair installa should leave everything intact - just...
repaired. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

[Ric Euteneuer]

Many thanks for this. My laptop was shipped with only a recovery disk
(which I have subsequently mislaid:-(((((((( ) - where would I go
about getting my hands on a Windows XP Home Edition OEM CD ? Would
this mean sourcing a fresh copy of the disk ?

> *How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
> *http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
>
> *How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
> *http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
>
> You will need a Windows XP Home Edition OEM CD - with SP3 integrated would
> probably be best. *It is not (as you put it so dramatically) a "nuclear
> option" - as a repair installa should leave everything intact - just...
> repaired. *;-)

[Don Phillipson[_4_]]

"Ric Euteneuer" > wrote in message
...

> . . . I obeyed an instruction from an obsolete piece of
> Virus scanning software to delete a particular file that appears to be
> vital for the functioning of my laptop. It's an Amilo M 7400 Centrino
> 1.4 combo running Windows XP Home Edition.
>
> When it boots up, I get to the splash screen, but then come to a
> screen telling me that the computer did not shut down properly, and
> asking me if I want to do a "safe start", "safe start with
> networking", or a "normal start". Hitting any of these options brings
> me (eventually) back to this screen. I have a kind of Linux boot disk,
> which starts the computer but thereafter, I'm clueless

1. We assume you are inquiring about Windows XP because you
ask in this particular newsgroup.
2. Task no. 1 is to restore this deleted file, best attempted by
-- Start Windows in Safe Mode
-- If you then see your Desktop and it has a Recycled Bin icon,
right click on this and folllow the prompts to RESTORE the file
you earlier deleted. (Of course you must be able to recognize its name.)
-- If no Recycled Bin is on your desktop start EXPLORER = My Computer. Go
to
the folder named Recycled and see if you can spot the file, right
click on it and select RESTORE.
3. Then reboot correctly and see whether WinXP starts OK
and post back here.

Your other post said you have lost your operating system instal
disk(s.) Sometimes instal routines copy the essentials to the
hard drive in a (hidden?) Windows folder called i386. (But if
you restore from this original folder you will need to update
with SP1 and SP2 from the Microsoft web site.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[Ric Euteneuer]

> 1. *We assume you are inquiring about Windows XP because you
> ask in this particular newsgroup.

Yes, this is correct. I did mention it (albeit not very clearly) in my
original post.

> 2. *Task no. 1 is to restore this deleted file, best attempted by
> -- Start Windows in Safe Mode

It will not get beyond the screen for "Safe Mode" - it just cycles
round for a minute back to the "computer did not shut down properly"
asking me if I want to start it again.

> -- *If you then see your Desktop and it has a Recycled Bin icon,
> right click on this and folllow the prompts to RESTORE the file
> you earlier deleted. *(Of course you must be able to recognize its name..)

I think were I able to get that far, I'd recognise it

> Your other post said you have lost your operating system instal
> disk(s.) *Sometimes instal routines copy the essentials to the
> hard drive in a (hidden?) Windows folder called i386. *(But if
> you restore from this original folder you will need to update
> with SP1 and SP2 from the Microsoft web site.)

I have not been able to get this far, unfortunately.

[Don Phillipson[_4_]]

"Ric Euteneuer" > wrote in message
...

> > 2. Task no. 1 is to restore this deleted file, best attempted by
> > -- Start Windows in Safe Mode

> It will not get beyond the screen for "Safe Mode" - it just cycles
> round for a minute back to the "computer did not shut down properly"
> asking me if I want to start it again.

See if you can borrow any WinXP instal CD and boot
from it into Safe Mode (to restore the deleted file).
You may need first to set via the BIOS menu that
the laptop will boot from the CD.

Your experience offers us all a general lesson.
Whenever prompted to delete anything that may
be a system file, a better tactic is either to rename
it (FILENAME.DUD instead of FILENAME.DLL or
FILENAME.EXE) or to MOVE it to a special folder
pending deletion later. This way, if this file turns
out essential, we can put it back into service.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[Ric Euteneuer]

> See if you can borrow any WinXP instal CD and boot from it into Safe Mode (to restore the deleted file).You may need > first to set via the BIOS menu that the laptop will boot from the CD.

The laptop is set up to boot from the CD, but the XP Pro CD I have
been given - the laptop won't boot up from. I put it in the CD drive
and restarted it. I'm fairly sure the BIOS is set to boot up off the
CD drive first - that's what the boot menu seems to suggest. Sadly,
when the computer starts, it doesn't appear to want to boot off the
disk I was provided with. I just get the same options as if there were
no disk there. However, if I insert a Linux disk, it boots from it
straight away, so I suspect it's not a hardware fault with the CD
drive. I am very much a beginner in all of this, and probably proof
positive that ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’! If I F8 and
ask it to run in debug mode, it appears to hang when it is loading up
the drivers. Any suggestions gratefully received. I don't know if part
of the issue is that I have XP Home installed and the disk is XP Pro.

Thanks for any observations anyone can offer, even if it’s just tea
and sympathy.