Windows XP will not boot into Normal mode

[Raif]

I'm new here and hopeful that someone out there in tech land can give me a helping hand. Here's what happened.

1. I have a HP MCE computer with 1 gig of memory, 160 meg drive and an nvidia 7600 driving an Apple 24" monitor. I have SP2 installed. Everything has been working fine but very very slowly

When I bring up the Windows Task Manager, I often find the cpu at 100%. I see 86 processes are running. No doubt the reason for the sluggish performance.

So the other day I decided to use "msconfig" to boot only the basics. I tried both options Diagnostics and Selective Startups but didn't really know what to do after I rebooted these options. I'm not a tech!

Now when I tried to get back to "Normal" startup the system said I was denied access that only the "Administrator" could take that action. Well I am the Administrator. I made sure I switched users but to no avail.

Meanwhile all my hardware devices are not running except my laser printer which I somehow got up and running. I have no sound. I try to access via My Computer the properties with a right click and all the hardware items are blank.

So I tried asking the system to restore from another date but it only had a restart date after I got into selctive startup and that did not help.

I am near tears by now and need both advice and sympathy.

Your comments and ideas will be welcomed.

Thanks.

 

[raybay]

How old is the hard drive?
You are likely going to need an attempted install of Windows in Repair Mode, and I am not sure an HP recovery/restore Disc set will do that.
You might try running Windows XP SP2 disk... not a download... as that will fix a great deal of problems.
If it were mine, I would install a new hard drive as master, and put this drive in a USB External slot to drag off all your data. Drives are relatively inexpensive nowadays, and fixing problems is costly in time and frustrations.

 

[Raif]

Thanks for the advice

The hard drive is nearly 5 years old and I've never lost anything. I have all files backed up using Carbonite Services.

I do have HP backup disks. not exactly sure what that will do or how to do it though.

Where does one get an SP2 disk? Do you think that is the first step?

Thanks

 

[raybay]

You can get a SP-2 disk from Microsoft for $3.40, but it will take 5 days. You might try using a friends regular Windows disk, and that will sometimes work for Repair mode.
HP disks will not work, but you might be able to borrow a Windows disk that will work in Repair mode to fix you up for now.
But your problem sounds severe. A disk that is five years old is likely worn out, if it had normal use. HP used a lot of Maxtor, Hitachi, Samsung, and Western Digital drives five years ago... and they simply did not last... you have been lucky. A slow drive is the first sign before it suddenly fails.
You can buy a Seagate with a five year warranty for $45 for 80 GB, $88 for a 320 or 500 GB, or $62 for a 160 GB at Directron.com, ZipzoomFly.com, NewEgg.com, etc.
Then put your old drive into an enclosure powered by USB and possibly, as a slave, save all your data.
Your HP power supply is underpowered, so don't add much too it.

 

[Raif]

raybay,

An excellent and cogent reply. I'll get a Windows disk from my dealer and then run Repair?

 

[Raif]

raybay,

I look through my disks and found "windows media center edition 2005 upgrade" Can I use this disk for repair? I also have "Application and Driver Recovery DVD that came with my HP laptop a few months ago. Will either do the repair?