Need help.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Debra
  • Start date Start date
D

Debra

Windows xp pro, I went the disk defragment tool and I
noticed that I had 2 very large red areas on the disk and
in one day I have used 30gb. I ran chkdisk and no problem.
I called dell tech support to see if my hard drive is dying
and now I can't get back to my desk top. Been at the
recovery console and still no way back. Tech says it is
not my hard drive but a virus. I checked for viruses last
night and there were none and my defintions are up to date.
Is there any way for me to get back to my desktop? If I
try to go to my desktop the machine will just reboot and
reboot. Virus or bad hard drive?
...


..
 
Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an
actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP
CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the
system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter
the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Boot from the CD. If your system is set to be able to boot from the CD, it
should detect the disk and give a brief message, during the boot up, if you
wish to boot from the CD press any key.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can
either purchase a retail version of XP will allow you to perform the above
among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery
routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all
files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.
 
I've tryed all this and it failed. Is there any way I can
get 3 files all in same folder from the recovery console
and put them on a floppy or a cd. If they still exist.
 
I don't think so, at least not from Recovery Console. It is outside the
Windows environment, your burner won't be active. If your hard drive is
using NTFS as opposed to FAT32 you can't even use a boot floppy as it won't
see the NTFS partition though I believe there are some utilities out there
that can create boot floppy that might see an NTFS partition. You might
want to search Google, www.google.com for such a utility.

One other possibility however, if you can boot into safe mode with command
prompt, you may be able copy files either using safe mode or the command
prompt. Boot the system, start tapping F8 and choose Safe Mode with Command
prompt.
 
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