XP Pro parallel install

[LadyLazarus]

I need some serious help. A little over a month ago, my computer pretty much crashed. I know I need to do a parallel install, but I don't know how to do that. :dead: Can someone PLESE give me step-by-step instructions on how to do a parallel install on XP Pro ?? Any help is greatly appreciated!

-- Christa

I did try going to Windowsreinstall.com but you had to be a member to get to the information I needed, and to be a member you have to pay. I'd prefer finding FREE information and instructions. Thanks!

 

[Goalie]

Just out of curiousity, do you not have a windowsXP cd? It'd be much easier to install. If this is a gateway/dell/hp/etc, you should have a recovery disk for installing XP. Unless there's a great reason to do a parallell install, from what I know, it's advised to do a standard install (unless I'm confusing terminology again, not unheard of)...

If push comes to shove, I'm sure you can search support.microsoft.com and find an answer to your question.

 

[Goalie]

Oh, and Welcome to TechSpot! Be sure to go introduce yourself.

 

[LadyLazarus]

Yes, I have my XP CD. But I was told by someone who should know what he's talking about that I might need to do a parallel install. (I told him my problem in greater detail, and we tried various things, etc., and he said it sounded like I'd need to do a parallel install. He can help me do it, but won't be able to for a while, so I thought I'd try getting help to do it first.) I'm hoping to not lose all my files and data, etc. That's one of my major concerns. I want my computer up and running again, but also want to have all my files, etc., on it when I get back.

Thanks,

Christa

 

[LadyLazarus]

In case you can't tell, I don't much know what I'm talking about. *L* All I know is what someone told me I need to do (the parallel install), but don't know how to do it, and beyond that fact I'm more or less lost. Sad, isn't it ? Also, I tried support.microsoft.com earlier tonight, briefly, just checking for information on a parallel install, but didn't find anything helpful.

Thanks again,

Christa

 

[Goalie]

If you have an XP CD, from what I know you can put the CD in the drive and boot from that CD. You'll then be given the option to boot to a command prompt, or to enter setup. If you enter setup, it should detect the install of XP and ask if you want to repair the install of XP. You can give this a try, watch the instructions carefully- MS is really good about warning you before it deletes data, just tell it not to if you're in that situation. Repair the installation, and see if it helps your situation.

If you could post more information about your problem, we would be much more likely to be able to help you with solving it. As you might be able to tell by my vague instructions, I'm not too familiar with XP, but there are some folks here who are very smart with it, and with detail might be able to diagnose your problem very quickly and help you fix it.

Details such as what type of machine you have, what your problems are, what you've tried to fix it, etc would help greatly. If you try my repair suggestion, I hope it helps... otherwise, look forward to seeing more detail and we'll do what we can for you.

 

[RobCrombie]

Hi,

I am having a problem (see below).
I wonder whether I could use Parallel install of say Win XP Pro to get at the data in my XP Home installation ?
IE If I could do that parallel install, would it let me see/change the data in the original install's Windows folder ?

Here is my problem -

I have a HP Omnibook XE4100 'HC' model
It has XP Home SP1

A very brief summary of problem (in case amore detailed description would be painfully long)
I had Failure to load Windows with Windows\system32\config\system missing or corrupt.
I used some Win2000 Pro 'makebt' floppies to run Recovery Console and replaced system file with system.bak from Repair folder.

That got past the problem, but any attempt to load now stops just near the end with Isass.exe error saying wrong password present (It does not offer a chance to enter one)
F8 options also do similar.
If I try to run Recovery Console it now asks for Administrator password.
I don't use passwords, so I figure it was briefly present when the OS was loaded (April 2002).
I contacted HP, but they did not know the password. They suggested getting 2.5 to 3.5 hard drive adaptor and connect it to my desktop pc.
I did that and on my 3.5 I installed WinXP Home (from a proper CD, not HP's hybrid set) and used NTFS, in case matching the laptop's file system was important.
When running in the 3.5 I can see the drive, but Windows Explorer is not happy. And it cannot show the contents.
Device Manager correctly shows it's size and also shows a smaller partition called MBR.
I don't use partitions myself, as I like to keep things simple.


I would appreciate any suggestions on how I can view the drive's contents.
or
Suggestion how I can get past the Administrator password problem, that prevents me running Recovery Console on the notebook.

Thanks,

Rob
rob@crombie.com