system restore problems - repair reinstall questions

Question

I think I have big problems. I know just enough to be dangerous.

Inspiron 8100
Pentium III purchased about 4 years ago
CD-RW, floppy disk,
windows xp home edition

Due to some spyware problems I uploaded adaware (sp?) personal se the freeware version and ran. I had run the adaware before with no problems but hadn't upgraded over a year. Found a lot but then wouldn't let me reboot as had a problem with the c:\windows\system32\config\ file. I restored to last working date and reran the new adaware again trying to leave out files that had that file name affected. I had to restore again. Tried a third time and then it wouldn't let me restore.

remedies tried:
booted from a CD-ROM with windows xp disk
tried repair option in system restore
when a try to get in the windows dir it says -access denied-

I did this:
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NOTE: If a message Access Denied is displayed while attempting this fix, perform the following steps:

1. Type cd \ and press the key.
2. Type cd windows\system32\config and press the key.
3. Type ren system system.bak and press the key.
4. Type exit and press the key.
5. Restart the computer.
6. Continue troubleshooting below.
____________________________________________________
Once again when I did line 2 it said -access denied-

Step 2:
Then I did chkdsk \r
This took forever but everything seemed OK

Step 3:
I've decided my windows directory is corrupt as I can't get in it. Is this right? So I read about doing a windows repair-repair reinstall option from the dell support web site listed below.
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Windows XP includes the Repair Reinstall option. This option should be used when you have determined that the operating system files are corrupt, but you do not want to completely format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.

To begin the Repair Reinstall process, perform the following steps:

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD or DVD drive.
2. Configure your system to boot to the CD drive.
3. Restart the computer.
4. When the computer prompts Press any key to boot from CD, press the spacebar on your keyboard.
The Welcome to Setup screen appears.
NOTE: If the customer has SCSI or SATA drives you may need to press F6 to load the controller drivers.

1. During installation, setup will report that it is detecting hardware. At this time press the key.
This will invoke Windows to load drivers that are not included with the normal installation of Windows.
Windows will report back that it could not detect any mass storage devices and prompt you to press S to specify or Enter to continue.
2. Press the key and insert the Windows SCSI or SATA drivers diskette.
3. Press the key.
Windows will load the drivers.
4. Press the key to continue.
Windows will continue to detect the remaing hardware or you may specify additional drivers at this time.
5. Continue on with the normal installation of Windows.
5. Press the key on your keyboard to continue.
The system scans to see which hard drives are available.
6. When the license agreement screen appears, press the key on your keyboard to accept the license agreement.
7. Press the key on your keyboard to highlight the copy of Windows XP that you want to repair and then press the key.
Setup will proceed with the installation sequence appropriate to the version of Windows XP being repaired.
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Now I am not sure if I have an SCSI or SATA drive. I have a CD-R/W disk drive and a hard drive that I use with the computer from dell. Do these qualify? Do I need more info?

Anyway **** the torpedos. The problem occurs after I hit to accept the license agreement. When I get to step 7 the directions differ greatly from what's on my screen. I don't see a copy of Windows XP to repair but I do see list of partitions on the hard drive. If I go to the largest partition and leave it inact then it asks if I want to use the existing folder and delete the existing window intallation to press -L- or to use a different folder press -ESC-.

This is where I stop and have been scouring the archives for help. I think that we aren't doing a repair but are doing a total reinstall which will erase my documents. Is this correct? If so what did I do wrong?

My main concern is preserving -My documents- folder and recovering that data. I have no backups. Any help someone could offer would be appreciated.

quik77 · Answer

Strangely enough I have the exact same problem ran ad-aware, ran windows update rebooted, registry got corruppted console doesn't work trying to repair the windows installation doesn't detect the old one except for the warning this will wipe out my documents.

>.

also tried to use Knoppix linux to access the data but it won't boot to it. Unbuntu works but won't mount the drive.

the basic idea if you can get a linux live cd to run is you can restore your registry to an older version via the restorepoint backups manuelly because the recovery console won't give you the access you need to do it the microsoft approved way

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

Message Edited by quik77 on 04-11-200608:24 AM

Denny Denham · Answer

Herfman,

Did the error message refer to only c:\windows\system32\config\ or was there another part of the path reported missing? If there was you are correct in assuming that the registry is corrupted. The procedure for correcting this is here. A repair reinstallation of XP will not correct it, as it does not touch the registry. This means that if the repair procedure in the link provided does not work, a full reinstallation of Windows will be required.

Herfman · Answer

Denny:

I guess I did leave out one part of the error message. Instead of

c:\windows\system32\config\

the message was

c:\windows\system32\config\system

I followed your link, booted from a CD, at c:\> typed
-md tmp- and was returned -access denied-.

Since this doesn't work, am I correct in assuming I need to reinstall windows xp? And when I do this does it erase all my data i.e. my documents folder? Since I have no backups is there any way I could recover the data from the hard drive, even by sending my hard drive somewhere?

I appreciate all the help.

Herfman · Answer

quik77,

It sounds like you've been in by boat before. You're right, I can't get the microsoft way to work.

Do you think Linux is worth a try? Sounds like it didn't work for you. I googled and checked out some links for Knopplix Linux and Unbuntu. Looked like they wanted you to download it. Is there a link where I could buy the CD via US mail? I don't have a computer with a CD burner that can download right now.

My other concern is how hard would it be to use Linux to restore the backup points manually? I have no experience with Linux but at this point I figure I have nothing to lose.

Any other ways I could get data recovered from the HD before reinstalling windows?

I appreciate all your time and help.

dunedin · Answer

Here is a different set of instructions to repair the registry   http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm   Try that and see if it will work for you.

Herfman · Answer

Thanks for the link. I tried it's instructions but when I try to make a tmp dir it still says access denied. Any one have some other ideas?

dunedin · Answer

These instrucions don`t use 'tmp dir '   To Repair c:\windows\system32\config\system   In Recovery Console, at prompt, 1.Type cd system32\config  and then press ENTER.   2.Type dir system  and then press ENTER.   If you cannot run the preceding command successfully (because the file is missing), skip to step 3. If you can run the preceding command successfully, Type ren system system.bak  and then press ENTER.   3. Type copy c:\windows\repair\system  and then press ENTER.   You should receive a 'One file copied' informational message.   Type exit , and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console and restart the computer.   IMPORTANT : If you encounter problems when you run the preceding commands, you may need to use the Change Directory command ( cd ) one folder at a time before you run the preceding commands. For example ( in #1) type cd system32 , press ENTER, type cd config , and then press ENTER.

Stefan0314 · Answer

so after i perform these steps, then I would continue onto the 'md tmp' steps of copying the registry  and such as indicated in http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545             ? i have also had a similar issue with access denied messages in recovery console and 'file is missing' when trying to correct it. Hopefully your procedure works.

dunedin · Answer

The instructions should be all you need to fix
c:\windows\system32\config\system.....is missing

You don`t need to do anything else. If it worked, XP should boot up when you quit the Recovery Console.

Windows General

system restore problems - repair reinstall questions

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