Urgent Help Needed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nick
  • Start date Start date
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Nick

Starting yesterday, sometimes when I turn the computer on it gets stuck with
a blue screen that says Windows is Starting Up. I don't know if this is tied
in with the problem I am having logging on (I'm working on changing the
password). When it works okay the Welcome screen says something like it
can't logon because the password is wrong but if I click on that, I do get
the desktop and everything works fine. I need to know what to do if it gets
stuck again with the screen that says Windows is Starting Up. For all I
know, this could be the last time I get the computer to go beyond that
screen.
I would appreciate some help with this very much,
Nick
 
Not much because your problem indicates an issue with the user account.
Your best option is to back up your data, then install XP clean as follows,
setup new user accounts and restore your data from backup to the user
account of your choice. NOTE: this will wipe your drive so be sure you are
backed up. Instead of this procedure, again, assuming you have an actual XP
CD, you can try a repair install as outlined under the clean install
instructions but I don't think a repair install will solve your problems.

NEW INSTALL

Boot with the XP CD in the drive. When you see the message on the boot
screen to "Press any key in order to boot from the CD," do so.

After loading drivers and files, you should be taken to a screen with
the following:

To Setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R.
To Quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

In your case, press ENTER.

Agree to the License agreement by pressing F8.

You will then be taken to a screen with two options.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation press R.
To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing,
press ESC.

This will bring you to a partition map where you
can delete, create and format partitions.
Select the drive you wish to format, delete the partition, then create a new
partition, format as desired and continue with XP installation.

REPAIR INSTALL

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.
 
Thanks very much for the explicit directions - I've never done a backup
before. I just save documents onto CDRs. Do you know of some good backup
software?
Nick
 
I just thought of something - yesterday I installed Popup Manager - do you
think that could have caused this problem? I just uninstalled it in case.
Nick
 
As long as you have your data files saved somewhere other than this
partition, that should be sufficient. I use multiple means, one of which is
what you do and I also use a specific backup application, BackUp MyPC,
http://www.stompinc.com/index.phtml?stp, I don't know if it's still the case
but they used to have a fully functional downloadable trial version you can
test before buying. While I only recommend restoring data from a full
backup, the software is useful because it helps prevent you from overlooking
something you needed but forgot to copy.

I also recommend setting up a separate partition on your hard drive where
you can store backups in addition to using CDs. Also, a backup file might
be way to large for a CD-R but having it on your hard drive, gives you two
different types of backup, one on your hard drive and one on CD, that way if
one type of media fails, you have a fall back option.

Additionally, I also use imaging software, just another form of backup. I
know it sounds fanatical but one year, I had 3 hard drives go bad all on the
same machine so I'm careful.:-)
 
If your problems started after that installation, it's certainly a
possibility. If you suspect it as the culprit you might try removing it and
see if you continue to have the problem.
 
Thanks,
Nick

Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User) said:
If your problems started after that installation, it's certainly a
possibility. If you suspect it as the culprit you might try removing it and
see if you continue to have the problem.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

you all
Click to expand...
 
Thanks again for all the good info.
Nick

Michael Solomon (MS-MVP Windows Shell/User) said:
As long as you have your data files saved somewhere other than this
partition, that should be sufficient. I use multiple means, one of which is
what you do and I also use a specific backup application, BackUp MyPC,
http://www.stompinc.com/index.phtml?stp, I don't know if it's still the case
but they used to have a fully functional downloadable trial version you can
test before buying. While I only recommend restoring data from a full
backup, the software is useful because it helps prevent you from overlooking
something you needed but forgot to copy.

I also recommend setting up a separate partition on your hard drive where
you can store backups in addition to using CDs. Also, a backup file might
be way to large for a CD-R but having it on your hard drive, gives you two
different types of backup, one on your hard drive and one on CD, that way if
one type of media fails, you have a fall back option.

Additionally, I also use imaging software, just another form of backup. I
know it sounds fanatical but one year, I had 3 hard drives go bad all on the
same machine so I'm careful.:-)

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

you all
Click to expand...
 
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