To my utter amazement - this silly computer has restarted and I am typing
this on it.... I feel like I am in the twilight zone!
I deleted the RAID set and know have 2-more drives than I had before (the
raid was partitioned). OF COURSE, the first thing I did was BACK-UP all
the
data I was cringing about loosing!
I have no clue... none whatsoever! This is the strangest thing I have ever
seen!
I believe I am going to start over, now that my data is safeky copied to
DVD's, even though I know this will be a mind boggling task. I was
thinking
of using this brand new IDE Drive I purchased today, because I thought I
was
screwed, and using IT only for the OS and programs, and store data on the
remaing 2 former RAID 1 drives.
I am completely open to suggestions.
Thank you
:
That will initiate an upgrade/repair install. That can often, but not
always, fix problems but if successful will require that you first
install
your service pack if not included on the install disk, and then all
critical
security updates from Windows Updates when done. An upgrade/repair
install
will not format the system drive [be sure to NOT accept any option to
format] and should preserve your data and applications. The links below
have
more info on the repair install. Since you have BART's PE you could also
try
booting from it and then renaming \WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG\SYSTEM to
system.old and then going to the windows\repair folder and copying the
system file there to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG to see if that helps. If
that
works you may need to reinstall some applications because they may no
longer
be registered in the registry. Since you first saved the original system
file to system.old you could always restore it if need be and then
attempt
the upgrade/repair install.. --- Steve
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
in
message I swapped the RAID drives - and I get this message:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the
origial setup CD-RM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start the
repair.
I don;t know if I should give this a try?
:
I should have also added that if you have any files encrypted with EFS
that
unless you have previously exported your EFS certificate and private
key
to
a password protected .pfx file that you have access to then the only
way
you
will be able to access your EFS files is from the operating system
that
you
used to encrypt the files. Also if you find that you are denied access
to
non encrypted files from another operating system make sure you logon
as
an
administrator, take ownership of the folders/files you can not access,
and
then grant your user account full control to them as described in the
links
below. --- Steve
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881
Are you using RAID1 for the system drives or for just data drives?
RAID1
is mirroring which protects from hardware failure but not data or
operating system corruption or malware related problems. If you have
a
hardware problem with one hard drive or controller refer the
documentation
of the motherboard for how to proceed when one drive or controller
is
down. If you disconnected one drive and that did not work try
connecting
the one you disconnected and disconnecting the other to see what
happens.
You should be able to extract data from your hard drives or at least
the
functioning one by placing it as a slave/secondary drive to a
computer
with a working operating system that can access NTFS files or try
creating
a BART's PE disk and booting from that.
As far as XP Pre Service Pack 2 you can safely use and install from
that
install disk. But pre SP2 does not enable the built in firewall by
default. If you are using an internet router to protect your network
you
should be safe from internet threats but to be sure I would do the
new
install disconnected from the network and then enable the built in
firewall before connecting back to the network. That will also help
protect your new install if you have other computers on your
network.
Of
course you want to take steps to try and prevent the same problems
all
over again. Be sure to review the link below on Microsoft basic
security
advice for home users and the related links to malware and spyware.
One
important thing to emphasize is that it is really a bad idea to be
logged
onto your computer with an account that is a local administrator
when
you
do not need administrator powers particularly for browsing the
internet,
using chat programs, and opening email. --- Steve
tp://
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxpsp2/Default.mspx
--- Protect Your PC
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ --- Bart's PE. This should be in
every
power users toolbox. You can use it to scan your system for malware
and
edit the registry in addition to everything else it can do.
"Karl in Scottsdale" <
[email protected]>
wrote
in
message I have had XP Pro SP2 running on one computer for a little over a
year.
About
2-months ago I stared getting spy ware infections. 4-times I spent
hours
on
the phone with the folks in India.
Intel SE7505VB2
(2) Xeon 2.80 HD's - SATA RAID 1
XP SP2
McAfee
Ad Aware
Spy Bot
Zone Alarm
Today, everything was fine until I turned off my computer to go
have
dinner
and when I returned the computer would only start in safe mode. Any
attempt
to start in normal mode would just cause the computer to restart.
Called MS Tech Support - they had me disconnect one drive and try
to
restart
the computer - not a good idea! Short story, now I can not get the
computer
to boot even to safe mode - I guess thanks to Bill Gates, I'm
screwed.
I guess I have to order a new XP SP2 CD, since I have my original
XP
CD
and
someone said don't even try connecting to the internet until you
get
SP2
and
all your security software installed on your new HD. Of course all
my
security software is on the RAID drives.
So, here is the question: Once I get the system running, or how
should
I
get
the system running, so I can connect and copy data from the old
RAID
drives?
I sure hope someone can help.
