It's the normal one.
Press F8 when booting, right after hardware check is done (although I'm not sure how your laptop does it), before XP's loading screen appears.

I'm trying to recover from a crash where c:/windows/system32/config/system was corrupted. This computer had the original XP Home installed and was then upgraded to SP2 from the Microsoft site a while back. I was able to do a low-level repair of the HDD using HDD Regenerator, which then allowed me to do a chkdsk/r and finally boot from the original Windows XP disc and try to do an R reinstall. However, when the installer runs, the system begins to gather all the info and says there's 39 minutes for the install, but then just sits there scrolling windows adverts across the screen and never goes into install.

I found on an XP help page that you can copy windows/repair/system over the original windows/system32/config/system file (aftern renaming the original system file) and when I do that the screen just blinks on and off at me while on the reinstall page.

I don't want to do a fresh install since there's a bunch of new programs that would need to be reinstalled, and some of their security/setup info is on the main disc itself. Talk about being between the devil and the deep blue sea. All my data is safe on the separate D drive, but I don't want to go through the pain of re-intalling dozens of programs again, many of which have upgrades from the factory discs.

Do you think the hangup is due to booting from the SP1 disc, even though the OS had been upgraded to SP2? If so, how do I make/get an XP SP2 disc for reinstallion of Windows?

What exactly should copying the /windows/repair/system file do for me. It just makes the computer lockup or flash the screen.

If I bail out and do a fresh windows install, can I copy all the application files to the D drive first and then copy them back down onto the C: drive. Is XP smart enough to reinstall these applications automatially after a fresh copy of XP has had its way with the disc, or has that bird already flown the nest?

Any other suggestions?

Could be. Search for "slipstream XP SP2", it should answer the second question.

i'm trying to repair windows from a stop error 0x6b i hpoe the repair works. thanks for the info. :knock:

I am also having trouble doing a repair install of XP Pro.
Full version of XP Pro, only used on initial install.
All updates current including SP2, last updates were about a week ago.
After the repair install seems to finish and before the system re-boots the following is the error message i get...
Error:
Setup had problems registering the following OLE control DLL:

D:\XPI386\System32\initpki.dll

Contact your system administrator, who may provide assistance in diagnosing this problem.
***

Warning:
Setup failed to remove the product catalog SP2.CAT.

***
Error:

The signature for Windows XP Professional Upgrade is invalid. The error code is 426.

The service has not been started.
***

Fatal Error:

Setup failed to install the product catalogs. This is a fatal error. The setup log files should contain more information.

Is this because of SP2 being installed ? ?
And is there a workaround for it. I'd rather not do a clean install at this point if i can help it.
Thanx in advance...
patio.

Hey im new. Im having a problem with my laptop. I got the same thing as everyone else, It gives me the screen with the options of safe mode and safe mode with networking and all those others and once I pick one it flashes the windows start up screen and then the quick blue screen and back to the options screen again. I was told that I should do a repair install since I cant even get into windows in safe mode. I have windows xp home edition but I dont have a windows cd, all I have is the cd that came with my laptop. My laptop is a toshiba satellite A65-S126. Im having someone from home send me the cd since I dont have it with me but Im not sure if the cd will let me repair or if its only for when I want to format. If I have to I will go and buy the windows cd because I've asked all my friends and none of them have it. I was also wondering if I could use the windows xp upgrade cd that they sell for $99 because I really dont want to spend $199 on the other xp cd. And doing this will (hopefully) let me fix windows without loosing my files right? Thanks

My system is unexcessable at the moment I just installed a new amd xp2700 cpu and 1gb of memory in my rig booted up and all seemed well windows Xp w/t-SP2 noticed the upgrade and escorted me to the activate and reregister prompt .I'm thinking fine lets do that and all seemed right...then after my session ended I get this warning window telling me that my cpu was updated but my all other items or whatever will be set to default and I'm feeling my system might not act as it should ,you see I didn't write down the exact wording being that I felt that I'm well worked in the ups and downs of the PC world...WRONG....The next time I start my PC not 30mins after the last shutdown everything starts out great then I get to the logon page then I notice my mouse is wiped out and theres no responce from my keyboard plus my usb devices are not lit and none are responding to the bootup. I can't even press delete to enter setup at the system prompt my accessories are all offline any indication of a fix. ONE HOUR LATER AND NOW MY SYSTEM WON'T EVEN TURN ON cpu temp was 77f

I could be wrong, but I think you should be able to obtain a XP CD practically for free, since you already got the license with the hardware. It's not the storage medium (CD) that costs $whatever, it's the license.

Hi everyone,

My XP pc has recently started rebooting instead of shutting down. I am pretty sure that my PSU must be overtaxed, could this be causing the problem? - would it be worth trying to repair windows by booting from the XP disc in case their was a problem with windows?. please help.

Thanks

Andy

I Might be wrong but this sounds like a hardware failure, possibly a power problem to begin with. What size is your PSU? These newer CPU's need a lot of power and if you are running a lot of other gear including fans, coolers etc. you can soon run out of power causing all kinds of instability issues. Also cheap PSU's can often be right on the limits of voltage tolerance for ATX 3.3/5 &12v rails and adding further power hungry components can put the rails out of limits and fry the PSU. It could also be the memory. I'm not an expert but I would try the following:

I'd try the obvious first and look inside to make sure everything is plugged in properly ie ATX power, all molex's, data cables, memory / cards seated properly, all switch leads in ok and the CPU Fan heatsink properly mounted and connected.(oh - and the power lead is oK!)

If this doesn't work you could try removing one of the memory sticks. Disconnect all the drives from the mobo leave graphics card in but remove all other PCI cards for the moment. Try and switch on enter the BIOS setup (normally F2 but it varies) If so have a good scout around the BIOS especially hardware monitor and the power section to verify you have good voltage on the 3.3/5&12v rails. If this works then gradually add hardware (drives last) each time going into the BIOS to make sure all is well. If you suspect a memory problem try using memtester software (search on google). It boots from a floppy and thoroughly test your memory for any errors.

If you can't even do this then without spares it will be hard to identify the problem. Could be a fried mobo. cpu, memory, or just a PSU failure. This could be process of elimination if you have the time and equpiment!

All the best.

[COLOR=Purple][COLOR=SandyBrown]Well I tried all that after my post and nothing going. So I took off in a huff over to my local Fry's thank the lord for Fry's and got myself a 600wt Ultra Xenex connect PSU good stuff. Got it running but still no mouse keyboard or USB ports so Blue login screen is all I get maybe it was the 7fans + chipset fan + cpu fan + Vid card fan and two fans on the PSU. Internal Zip drive + floppy + 2 DVD burners two USB printers + USB multi card reader + USB multi port hub and Three sets of lights. Im going to try clearing the cmos jumpers on my board Gigabyte GA7vaxp ultra and see what gives. Atleast it's worth a try thankfully I like building PC in numbers or I'd have no backup for working on my Different projects. I'll post results.

Thanks CJeff[/COLOR][/COLOR]

Hi. does anyone know how I can get around the found new hardware? This is causing my sysrtem to lock. I had a problem with corrupted files and used custom restore using Simple Backup. Now when I boot W2K it starts to boot in VGA mode then the found new hardware pops up then it asks for my ATI driver floppy which is a CD. I am unable to get past this because it hangs the system and there is no mouse, the keyboard will not work. Any ideas or help please.

Hi, guys, new to all this, but thanks for the great info so far.
so i am trying a WIN XP recovery from a borrowed Dell reinstallation cd (my wife's computer i'm working on is a toshiba) and at the Administrator password prompt i tried leaving it blank. wrong. then guessing two more times unsuccessfully, then hitting myself about the torso, restarting and continuing. who was repsonsible for giving this thing an admin. password, the owner of this cd or my wife who bought the computer? who should i be hounding for this info/ turning the blows to?

many thanks for any and all help.

ntoren

i had this sp-1 on my laptop and i decided to install another service pack 1 cd over the older version now it dose not work help me out please

Make sure the drivers for your dial-up modem are installed.
1 more thing....GET CABLE! or any other broadband connection. Dial-up is practically useless.

Hi, First let me say that i have read this post from the beginning (thats a lot of reading) and although there are a lot of problems/solutions here, im not sure if any are related.

Ok, from the beginning, I have 2x 60Gb HDD's in my PC and they are both full. So i decided to uninstall some old applications/games, which i did and freed up 20Gb on one of the drives.
However, i decided to uninstalled Nero as well and removed InCD. Once this was removed it asked me to reboot my machine, to which i thought "fair enough". However, i am now under the impression that the people at Ahead don't want you to remove their software because my PC now refuses to boot.

What happens is, the boot up process appears to go fine until the part where it should display the 'white dotted bar' boot up screen. It then reboots with no warning messages or anything. So then it re-boots up to the "your computer failed to boot" blah blah "select your boot method" blah blah.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to make any difference which option i select, whether it be safe mode with command prompt, with network, last known good, normal, bells and whistles or pink tutu mode. As soon as i select one of the boot methods the computer just reboots. Whereby i select the boot option and... rinse and repeat.

I have just managed to get hold of a borrowed copy of XP Pro w/SP2
so i will give the recovery console thing a go.

But i would like to know if there is something glaringly obvious that i am missing or is my o/s just screwed?



Oh, and FYI i have found a link to the following site for all those who cannot remember the Admin password for the recovery console.

Here

lsass.exe - System Error
Security Accounts Manager initialization failed because of the following error: The handle is invalid, Error Status: 0xc0000008. Please click OK to shutdown this system and reboot into Safe Mode, check the event log for more detailed information.

i saw the thread on this but it wasnt of much help....i tried the repair...i doesnt work because the repair doesnt replace the SAM file with the logon encryption...i copying the files to the other partition with norton commander but of course i dont have access to do that.....help pls...thx
btw winXP sp2

Hello

I am new here
I have face this problem just yesterday
I have Win XP Pro SP 2 installed in my pc
Yesterday I try to install Fedora Core 3 just for fun and my Win XP cannot boot and it said it cannot boot because of missing dll file in System32\

First I try using Partition Magic to resize my current partition to make a available space for it
When I check my hard disk partition, there was a space at in front of other partition about 8MB.
I partition it. It all ok when I try booting from Fedora CD and I successfully install my Fedora.
When I reboot my pc, it say error like I said before.

I try to repair using my WinXP SP2 CD and it come out with Press Any Key to Boot from CD and when come to check my hardware, it stuck there ad there is no blue screen like the guide show.

I checked my Windows partition using DiskDruid in Fedora and it still exist.
And my Grub Boot loader cannot.

Is it because I have format the 8MB space that exist in front of my other partition?
Or is it my hard disk MBR?

Please someone help me because I have alot of work in my Windows partition that I need to submit this week.

For your info I am using WD 80 GB SATA hard disk using Intel 915 GAV mobo with 2.8G Pentium 4 775 HT.

Or is it my hard disk is corrupted but I can see my NTFS partition using DiskDruid...

Thank you

mynor-

You should NOT have formatted that 8mb space. That space is allocated, I believe, for Windows installation or setup files or something very important. the other techies here should be able to tell you more.

Hello.

The 8 MB partition has probably changed the partition table order (although if it says missing a dll file, it sounds like it has started to load XP), so you should remove the partition. That 8 MB is there because different partitioning applications see the hard disk drive geometry differently. Windows setup isn't very tolerant to partition changes and/or partitions formatted in other operating systems, so I'd recommend installing XP first and creating a partition for it in its own setup, then other operating systems.