How create Safe Mode boot from reinstallation CD?

Question

Booting from Dell's reinstallation CD allows entry into the Recovery Console. It provides a command line prompt with HELP identifying the admissable commands. I need to execute the rstrui.exe file to restore my machine to an earlier condition. The command line in the Recovery Console will not accept an exe file as a command. Apparently execution of an exe file requires that the machine is in Safe Mode. How can I get to Safe Mode from the Recovery Console established from a boot from the CD? A normal boot from C: does not work because I have garbled the registry. F8 during boot does not work to provide entry into Safe Mode. The OS is XP home edition with SP2 and all updates. The machine is a Dimension 8200 with 2 internal hard drives (4 partitions) and one external hard drive.

mombodog · Answer

'How can I get to Safe Mode from the Recovery Console established from a boot from the CD? '   You cannot.   If you cannot get into safe mode to run restore you will have to do the following, no other way, sorry.   How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting Connect your non-bootable hard drive to another computer, as a secondary drive and boot into windows. If you can see your data on the drive, back it up Now, then follow the rest of these instructions.   Open Windows Explorer.  Click on Tools|Folder Options|View.  Check the box beside 'Show hidden files and folders'.  Apply your change.   Navigate to the d:\System Volume Information folder ( d: represents the crashed drive letter). You will see a folder named something like _restore{.........}  the dots represent an alpha-numeric sequence. In this folder you will see folders named RP0....RPnn.  Find the one with the highest number. These are your System Restore points.  In the highest numbered folder you will see a folder named snapshot.  In this folder are registry hive files which you need to recover your system: _registry_user_.default _registry_machine_security _registry_machine_software _registry_machine_system _registry_machine_sam Create a subdirectory; i.e, d:\Windows\TMP. Copy these files to the TMP subdirectory.  Rename them: default security software system sam Note:  Be sure to lose the period (.) in the file named _registry_user_.default Delete the files in the d:\windows\system32\config subdirectory with the same names. Copy the d:\windows	mp files to the d:\windows\system32\config. subdirectory. Put your drive back in its original system.  Your system should start normally.  If you get the same error go back and choose another folder ( RPnn-1) and repeat the procedure. If you are denied access to any folders you will have to take 'Ownership' of the folders first. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421 If this proceedure fails to work you must reinstall Windows.

kfh777 · Answer

Thank you. that looks very useful. However, it is a couple of years since I messed with master/slave designations and the wiring inside a box. Looking in my wife's machine persuaded me there had to be a better, less risky, way. I don't want two machines in this home to be broken at once. I have 2 internal hard drives, each with two partitions. One of those extra partitions is empty. So I installed a second copy of XP in that partition and have verified that the recovery console (booted from the CD) recognizes both and lets me get to the command line interface in both. The remaining problem is how to get the initial dual boot screen to come up so I get a chance to select the 2nd installation for booting. If I can do that, I can edit per your directions, restore the functioning of the first installation, and then remove the 2nd XP installation. Thanks again.

mombodog · Answer

Yes that will work also.  Good luck. :smileyhappy:

kfh777 · Answer

Thanks. My remaining question is how to get the machine to boot from the second install of XP. While the Recovery Console asks which install (C: or E:) to work from and both command line interfaces show me all the drives and contents, the F12 boot manager at the beginning only shows me 1. Normal, 2. Diskette, 3. Drive C:, and 4: from CD. How do I get the machine to show me a boot manager which allows a boot from drive E:?

kfh777 · Answer

Another message board revealed that F5 on bootup was the way to see the dual boot opportunities and choose the one I wanted. Did that and followed the Registry repair operation you provided. It worked. To a degree. Now I'm getting a message stating it can't load the user profile and is logging on as default user with detail access denied. How do I find my original user account and get it logged in to the startup routine? By the way, in the repair procedure, in addition to 'showing hidden files' you must also 'show system files'. Thanks for your help

mombodog · Answer

I would do the registry repair again, this time pick an earlier date.   The user profile may have been corrupted in the backup you chose to restore.   If all else fails,   If you are using XP Home, you can boot into Safe Mode, this is the hidden admin account in Home edition, once in safe mode, go to control panel > User accounts and create a new admin account to log into. Reboot and log into that new account.   Then do some reading here   http://www.lockergnome.com/it/2004/12/15/get-it-done-recover-a-damaged-windows-xp-user-profile/

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