Startup help

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Guest

I have windows XP home edition with service pack 2.
I had deleted an agressive program which wiped out some necessary system
files. My "restore" hung up, and I inexcuseably had not backed up some files
that I wanted to save... so I ended up reinstalling windows XP into a
different directory (windowsa). It worked. I have recovered at least some
of my files. I have two problems.
1) My computer thinks I have two operating systems. It asks for a choice at
startup. I load with the correct, new config. How do I delete the old
windows operating system without damaging the new install?
2) As you might expect, I have a security issue with a couple of large
personal folders. They give me the "access is denied". Having XP Home
edition, I don't have a security tab to restore permissions. I can't even
delete these things. So, now I'm low on disk space. Short of backing up,
wiping, and reinstalling again (which scares me because I'm afraid windows is
going to not allow my office etc because of mulitple loads on the license) is
there a way to at least delete the folders?
Thank You,
Ray B.
 
(e-mail address removed),
RayB said:
I have windows XP home edition with service pack 2.
I had deleted an agressive program which wiped out some
necessary system files. My "restore" hung up, and I
inexcuseably had not backed up some files that I wanted to
save... so I ended up reinstalling windows XP into a
different directory (windowsa). It worked. I have
recovered at least some of my files. I have two problems.
1) My computer thinks I have two operating systems. It asks
for a choice at startup. I load with the correct, new
config. How do I delete the old windows operating system
without damaging the new install? 2) As you might expect, I
have a security issue with a couple of large personal
folders. They give me the "access is denied". Having XP
Home edition, I don't have a security tab to restore
permissions. I can't even delete these things. So, now I'm
low on disk space. Short of backing up, wiping, and
reinstalling again (which scares me because I'm afraid
windows is going to not allow my office etc because of
mulitple loads on the license) is there a way to at least
delete the folders?
Thank You,
Ray B.
Click to expand...

1) Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP
#20, I have two installations of XP on the same partition...
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html

From Microsoft Knowledge Base
How to remove a second installation of a Windows operating
system from a partition
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=888023

2) You need to take ownership of the files. Take a look at
these articles for more info:

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

Note: Since you're running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition,
you
must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an
account that has Administrative rights to have access to the
Security tab. To start in Safe Mode, reboot your computer and
start tapping the F8 key as soon as you see anything displayed
on the screen. Keep hitting F8 until the Advanced Startup
Options menu appears. Use the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard to select Safe Mode. Hit Enter.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
Dear Nepatsfan:
The folder security tab did come up in Safe mode and that problem is
resolved. Thanks!
I havent tried to fix the 1st one yet, just wanted to shout out a thank you
for the reply.
Ray.
 
You're welcome. Post back if you have any problems resolving
your first issue.

Nepatsfan

(e-mail address removed),
 
About 2 months ago (November, 2006), I noticed the PC performance was slower
(accessing files, loading files, calling internet, etc. I was also getting
some non responsive errors (“program not responding, end program?â€)
Sometimes I would get a message regarding a need for Windows to increase
virtual memory.
So, in response to this poorer performance, I checked my virus protection
(Norton) and scanned my files with Norton. I also deleted a lot of not
needed files, ran scan-disk, defragged the hard disks (I have two) and even
purchased a registry “Mechanic†and cleaned up the registry. (I also backed
up some important files)
Then a couple of days ago while trying to boot up the PC, I received a
message, “Missing Operating Systemâ€. I tried re-booting several times and
gave up. Later that day, after saying a quick prayer, the machine started up
as normal.. I backed up more files, just in case, but thought my machine was
healed. Needless to say, the next day it would not boot, giving me the same
message.
So, yesterday I got into the system start menus (function F1) and changed
the boot sequence to first boot from the CD Rom drive. And with the Windows
XP disc in the CD drive I am able to boot up and function again with the PC
and write this long story. Sorry!
Questions:
What happened?
How do I fix it?

Stamp Bob
 
Stamp Bob,

Best guess: your hard disk drive is failing and should be replaced. There are
other possible causes of the symptoms you describe but this is the most likely.

Harry.
 
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