Before you do anything drastic, have you tried a repair install? It shouldn't mess with your files/data. Insert the setup CD and boot from that. Press Enter (not R for the Recovery Console) when Setup finally comes up, read the license agreement, and press F8 to agree. Setup will search for any current installations of Windows. If yours shows up, you can press R to repair the installation.
I'm certain someone else in this forum is familiar with your particular problem... I had a similar situation recently, but not exactly yours, so I'm giving a rather generic response.
If all else fails, if you have another computer (or a friend with a computer) running XP, you could install the hard drive in that computer and get your data off of it before you reinstall.
Good suggestion by chrissongs. Simply unplug the CD rom drive on a friend's Windows XP computer. Connect your hard drive (most Dell drives are already configured for Cable Select). Boot the system. Create a folder on your friend's drive for your data, docs, etc. Copy your data folders and files to that folder. Burn that folder to CD(s). Disconnect your drive. Reconnect in your machine. Install Windows, chipset, audio, video, Nic drivers, etc. Install your software. Copy your files back onto your drive.
Doggone it! You're right, Denny. That WOULD create another set of problems on using the friend's computer to get to his data wouldn't it? I say let's junk Serial ATA and go back to Parallel ATA. Performed that hat trick once with a failing SATA drive, Symantec Ghost, ice packs (for the flaky drive) and a new SATA drive. Cloned that booger in 58 minutes (and sweated through every minute).
If the repair reinstall does not correct the problem, a parallel installation of Windows XP will at least allow you to copy your perishable data to removable media so that you can do a full clean installation of XP. Instructions for a parallel installation are
here in the section "Install Windows XP to a new folder."
In case Gennaro has to do the complete reinstall, I noticed when I reinstalled XP that there was an option to leave the current file system intact rather than formatting the drive. Would this option still cause the loss of data?
Thank you for your response! I am not that computer savvy and DELL has been a nightmare in trying to get support. They said that if I used the reinstallation DVD I would lose all my data.
Am I correct in understanding that the reinstallation DVD could allow me to repair the system or at least recover my data and files?
Many Dell techs are not computer savvy either. A parallel install of XP (see the link in my second post in this thread) will allow you to save your data to CD/DVD to preserve it. After you have done that, a clean installation of XP (see
this) is advised to set up a clean start. The latter procedure will remove all data from your C:\ partition as it involved formatting that partition.
If I do not have access to an XP OS am I correct in understanding that the reinstallation DVD could allow me to repair the system or at least recover my data and files?
Could I remove the hard drive and take it to another computer to extract the data?
You need an XP reinstallation CD. Get one as indicated
here. In the interim, if you know someone with a Dell OEM Windows XP CD of the same edition (Home or Professional) as yours you can use it.
You can install your hard drive on another system and copy your data to removable media (CD or DVD) but only if that system uses SATA hard drives (which are a reasonably new feature on Dell systems).
chrissongs
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December 6th, 2005 01:00
Denny Denham
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December 6th, 2005 01:00
tgsmith
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December 6th, 2005 01:00
Gennaro339,
Good suggestion by chrissongs. Simply unplug the CD rom drive on a friend's Windows XP computer. Connect your hard drive (most Dell drives are already configured for Cable Select). Boot the system. Create a folder on your friend's drive for your data, docs, etc. Copy your data folders and files to that folder. Burn that folder to CD(s). Disconnect your drive. Reconnect in your machine. Install Windows, chipset, audio, video, Nic drivers, etc. Install your software. Copy your files back onto your drive.
Message Edited by tgsmith on 12-05-2005 10:55 PM
tgsmith
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December 6th, 2005 02:00
Message Edited by tgsmith on 12-05-2005 11:27 PM
Denny Denham
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December 6th, 2005 03:00
If the repair reinstall does not correct the problem, a parallel installation of Windows XP will at least allow you to copy your perishable data to removable media so that you can do a full clean installation of XP. Instructions for a parallel installation are here in the section "Install Windows XP to a new folder."
chrissongs
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December 6th, 2005 12:00
gennaro339
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December 6th, 2005 16:00
Thank you for your response! I am not that computer savvy and DELL has been a nightmare in trying to get support. They said that if I used the reinstallation DVD I would lose all my data.
Am I correct in understanding that the reinstallation DVD could allow me to repair the system or at least recover my data and files?
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
December 6th, 2005 19:00
Many Dell techs are not computer savvy either. A parallel install of XP (see the link in my second post in this thread) will allow you to save your data to CD/DVD to preserve it. After you have done that, a clean installation of XP (see this) is advised to set up a clean start. The latter procedure will remove all data from your C:\ partition as it involved formatting that partition.
gennaro339
3 Posts
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December 7th, 2005 01:00
If I do not have access to an XP OS am I correct in understanding that the reinstallation DVD could allow me to repair the system or at least recover my data and files?
Could I remove the hard drive and take it to another computer to extract the data?
Thanks.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
December 7th, 2005 04:00
You need an XP reinstallation CD. Get one as indicated here. In the interim, if you know someone with a Dell OEM Windows XP CD of the same edition (Home or Professional) as yours you can use it.
You can install your hard drive on another system and copy your data to removable media (CD or DVD) but only if that system uses SATA hard drives (which are a reasonably new feature on Dell systems).