Babel17DELANY
December 6th 03, 06:01 PM
You're absolutely right, Harry. I picked the wrong option. I figure it
will take me a week to get my machine back to where it was when I took it
out of the box, then I start from scratch to configure it the way I had it
before. Thank you for the advice. Hopefully it will not happen again, but
if it does, at least I know what to do.
On a related note, someone told me today that the type of problem that I
encountered is not unusual when AOL is installed on Windows XP. Since AOL
was the last program that I installed, I wonder if this is true.
"Harry Ohrn" > wrote in message
...
> To do a Repair Install you choose the option to Repair Current Windows
> Setup. It is after you accept the EULA by pressing F8. Check here
> http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
>
> You likely pressed the Enter Key after the EULA which brought you to the
new
> install screen. You were likely offered several reformatting options.
Rather
> than reformatting you chose the option to Leave present file system
intact.
> This is a misnomer because really it is simply an option to not format.
But
> your C:\Windows directory gets overwritten. Essentially you have a fresh
> install of XP except your Programs directory is still there as is the My
> Documents folder.
>
> We used to do a "clean install" of Windows 9x in a similar way. We would
> move everything we wanted saved out of the C:\Windows directory. We would
> boot with a Windows 9x Startup disk and run the Deltree command rather
than
> format. This simply deleted the entire Windows directory. We could
reinstall
> Windows 9x but still allow ourselves to keep important data "safe" from
> being lost due to a format.
>
> In your case you have to reinstall all your apps again and settings
because
> the registry has been overwritten.
>
> --
>
> Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell\User]
> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
>
> "Babel17DELANY" > wrote in message
> et...
> > I just tried to boot my fairly new XP machine.
> > I got a message on the screen that said: NTLDR is missing, press
> CTR-Alt-Del
> > to reboot.
> > Every time I pressed Ctr-Alt-Del I get the same message.
> > I put in my installation disk & the machine showed a screen that says
> > Windows Setup.
> > A line on the bottom says Setup is loading files, then I get a screen
> that
> > said Windows XP Home Edition Setup. There are three choices: To set up
> > Windows XP now, press ENTER
> > To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console,
> > press R
> > To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
> >
> > I tried "R" and got a list of programs, but I have no idea what to do
with
> > them.
> >
> > I tried "F3". It said "Windows XP is not completely set up on your
> > computer. If you quit setup now, you will need to run setup again to
set
> up
> > Windows XP".
> >
> > The computer restarted and entered Windows setup again.
> >
> > I tried set up Windows XP press ENTER.
> >
> > I picked the choice "Leave the current file system intact (no changes).
> >
> > It said "Windows is copying files". After several minutes, the yellow
bar
> > reached 100 % and the computer tried to reboot but I got the "press any
> key
> > ..." I did nothing, and i got a window that said "An Exciting New Look"
> and
> > "Setup will complete in approximately: 39 minutes".
> >
> > During this time it asked me if I wanted to view the configuration and
> asked
> > me to type in the name of the computer. I did.
> >
> > If this information is important, the last program I installed was, I
> > believe, AOL 8.0, a few days ago. It has worked fine over the last few
> > days. Yesterday I registered a program that I had been running for over
a
> > week. This program is called "CleanIt". It's supposed to remove
history,
> > Cookies, etc... I have used it for years on my old windows 98 machine
> > without a problem.
> >
> >
> > Next message: To improve the appearance of visual elements, Windows
will
> > automatically adjust your screen resolution. > OK.
> >
> > Next I got a Windows XP Home Edition screen then a Welcome to Microsoft
> > Windows screen. Next > Your Name > Finish > Welcome.
> >
> > What I now have is XP in it's original configuration, but all my files
> > appear to be intact.
> >
> > Now I have a BIG job of configuring my machine the way I had it.
> >
> > Can anyone tell me what the $#@%& happened, and how do I prevent it from
> > happening again ?????
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
will take me a week to get my machine back to where it was when I took it
out of the box, then I start from scratch to configure it the way I had it
before. Thank you for the advice. Hopefully it will not happen again, but
if it does, at least I know what to do.
On a related note, someone told me today that the type of problem that I
encountered is not unusual when AOL is installed on Windows XP. Since AOL
was the last program that I installed, I wonder if this is true.
"Harry Ohrn" > wrote in message
...
> To do a Repair Install you choose the option to Repair Current Windows
> Setup. It is after you accept the EULA by pressing F8. Check here
> http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
>
> You likely pressed the Enter Key after the EULA which brought you to the
new
> install screen. You were likely offered several reformatting options.
Rather
> than reformatting you chose the option to Leave present file system
intact.
> This is a misnomer because really it is simply an option to not format.
But
> your C:\Windows directory gets overwritten. Essentially you have a fresh
> install of XP except your Programs directory is still there as is the My
> Documents folder.
>
> We used to do a "clean install" of Windows 9x in a similar way. We would
> move everything we wanted saved out of the C:\Windows directory. We would
> boot with a Windows 9x Startup disk and run the Deltree command rather
than
> format. This simply deleted the entire Windows directory. We could
reinstall
> Windows 9x but still allow ourselves to keep important data "safe" from
> being lost due to a format.
>
> In your case you have to reinstall all your apps again and settings
because
> the registry has been overwritten.
>
> --
>
> Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell\User]
> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
>
> "Babel17DELANY" > wrote in message
> et...
> > I just tried to boot my fairly new XP machine.
> > I got a message on the screen that said: NTLDR is missing, press
> CTR-Alt-Del
> > to reboot.
> > Every time I pressed Ctr-Alt-Del I get the same message.
> > I put in my installation disk & the machine showed a screen that says
> > Windows Setup.
> > A line on the bottom says Setup is loading files, then I get a screen
> that
> > said Windows XP Home Edition Setup. There are three choices: To set up
> > Windows XP now, press ENTER
> > To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console,
> > press R
> > To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
> >
> > I tried "R" and got a list of programs, but I have no idea what to do
with
> > them.
> >
> > I tried "F3". It said "Windows XP is not completely set up on your
> > computer. If you quit setup now, you will need to run setup again to
set
> up
> > Windows XP".
> >
> > The computer restarted and entered Windows setup again.
> >
> > I tried set up Windows XP press ENTER.
> >
> > I picked the choice "Leave the current file system intact (no changes).
> >
> > It said "Windows is copying files". After several minutes, the yellow
bar
> > reached 100 % and the computer tried to reboot but I got the "press any
> key
> > ..." I did nothing, and i got a window that said "An Exciting New Look"
> and
> > "Setup will complete in approximately: 39 minutes".
> >
> > During this time it asked me if I wanted to view the configuration and
> asked
> > me to type in the name of the computer. I did.
> >
> > If this information is important, the last program I installed was, I
> > believe, AOL 8.0, a few days ago. It has worked fine over the last few
> > days. Yesterday I registered a program that I had been running for over
a
> > week. This program is called "CleanIt". It's supposed to remove
history,
> > Cookies, etc... I have used it for years on my old windows 98 machine
> > without a problem.
> >
> >
> > Next message: To improve the appearance of visual elements, Windows
will
> > automatically adjust your screen resolution. > OK.
> >
> > Next I got a Windows XP Home Edition screen then a Welcome to Microsoft
> > Windows screen. Next > Your Name > Finish > Welcome.
> >
> > What I now have is XP in it's original configuration, but all my files
> > appear to be intact.
> >
> > Now I have a BIG job of configuring my machine the way I had it.
> >
> > Can anyone tell me what the $#@%& happened, and how do I prevent it from
> > happening again ?????
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>