Help, windows XP pooped out on me.

[DGhost]

have you tried doing a chkdsk while in the recovery console? used to see problems where XP used to randomly corrupt parts of the file system. i doubt it would help as it is a long shot, but it might be worth a try.

[Jammrock]

chkdsk usually doesn't recover it, but it's worth a shot.

GT40: If you have an FTP site I can upload to, PM me the IP (need IP, not host name, and it must be on port 21 or 443), user and password for me to upload. I'll dump a BartPE ISO for you.

Jammrock

[xortam]

Originally posted by agallag
So you have a brand new OS, on brand new hardware. Why would you automatically blame the OS? It's more likely bad hardware or drivers causing those kind of problems.

Of course its my new system but W2K wouldn't act so poorly under the same circumstances. I've got a 1001 things going on and I haven't even had time to get things working on my system like the IR control of my HD tuner, the VFD hasn't even lit up yet, etc.. The point is ... XP ain't that robust!

P.S. I'm almost tempted to install W2KAS to prove the point.

[agallag]

All I'm saying is that most people's experience with XP is different. For the vast majority of users, it's just as robust as W2K. The fact that you're have such serious problems with it seems to point to hardware or drivers.

I'm not just some XP fanboy either. I manage more than 30 high end W2K servers and a few W2K3 servers as well, so I know how stable they can be. In my experience, with good hardware, XP is just as good.

[xortam]

This is my first foray into XP. We'll see how things pan out.

[ZokesPro]

Originally posted by agallag
All I'm saying is that most people's experience with XP is different. For the vast majority of users, it's just as robust as W2K. The fact that you're have such serious problems with it seems to point to hardware or drivers.

I'm not just some XP fanboy either. I manage more than 30 high end W2K servers and a few W2K3 servers as well, so I know how stable they can be. In my experience, with good hardware, XP is just as good.

No kidding! With my SiS735 chipset, it's been real stable, I'm happy, for once.

[Jammrock]

Ye olde fixe...

Corrupted Registry HIVE Fix

This fix is for systems booting with errors relating to corrupt SYSTEM or SOFTWARE registry HIVEs. The errors commonly come in the form of a black “not found or corrupt” screen, or everybody’s favorite Blue Screen of Death. For simplicities sake, I will use a corrupt SOFTWARE HIVE. This fix works for the SYSTEM HIVE, too, just change the naming scheme. It may work with other corrupt HIVEs, but I have not encountered any other corrupt HIVE.

These instructions may seem long, but it goes quickly, and is a lot faster than a rebuild.

1) Boot to the BartPE CD.

2) Click NO when it asks to start network support. You can start it if you want, all the drivers should be there, but it’s not needed for this and is a time saver not to.

3) Click on the GO button, the orange button on the bottom left where Start is in Windows (referred to from here on as GO), Programs -> A43 File Management Utility.

4) Navigate to C:\WINNT\repair\ and copy the SOFTWARE file (no file extension). You can click Ctrl+C or right-click Copy.

5) Navigate to C:\WINNT\System32\Config\.

6) Rename the file SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE.OLD (right-click -> rename, or slow double-click).

7) Paste the file SOFTWARE from the Repair folder (Ctrl+V, or right-click -> paste).

8) GO -> Command Prompt (CMD).

9) Type REGEDIT and press the Enter key.

10) Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in regedit so it will be highlighted.

11) From the regedit menu select File -> Load Hive. When asked which HIVE file to load, navigate to C:\WINNT\System32\Config\ and select SOFTWARE.OLD. Make sure you are on C:, it defaults to D: in the open dialog. If a folder view does not load properly, just click the ‘Up One Level’ button and try again.

12) When asked what to call the Key Name enter: SOFTWARE_OLD, and click OK.

13) a. You will more than likely get a message saying the file was corrupt, but recovered. This is good, click OK and continue. You can try to rename SOFTWARE.OLD back to SOFTWARE and reboot the system to see if it’s fixed, but this usually does not work.

b. If you get an error saying it could not be repaired and cannot be opened, you’re pretty much out of luck. You can attempt to use a registry repair tool and then reload the hive, but chances are its unrecoverable. Rebuild time.

14) Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (click the ‘+’) and click the SOFTWARE_OLD key (this will highlight it).

15) File -> Export… navigate to B: (RAMdisk (B), name the file SOFTWARE_OLD and click Save.



WARNING!!! B: is a RAM Disk, meaning when the power is turned off all files on B: are deleted! Be careful that you do not turn off or restart the computer before you copy the file back to C:.




16) GO -> Progams -> UltraEdit 10 - this can also be done in Notepad, or any other text editor, but UltraEdit is the fastest, and has a BartPE plug-in. Notepad will take all night, literally, to do this next part.

17) In UltraEdit, File -> Open -> B:\SOFTWARE_OLD.REG

18) Search -> Replace (Ctrl+R)

19) Find What: SOFTWARE_OLD
Replace With: SOFTWARE (Use all CAPS for SOFTWARE)

… click Replace All. This should finish fairly quickly, and gives no prompt when it’s done. The only indication is on the bottom of the Replace dialog which says how many instances were replaced (usually over 5000). Click Cancel when done. If unsure, you can scan through the file to make sure SOFTWARE_OLD is not longer there.

20) File -> Save, and exit UltraEdit.

21) In A43, navigate to B:. Copy B:\SOFTWARE_OLD.REG to C:\.

!!!Navigate to C:\ and make sure the file is there!!!

22) GO -> Shutdown and Reboot

23) Here’s tricky part #1.

a. If you replaced the SOFTWARE HIVE, when Windows 2000 boots up the Network Identification Wizard will appear: Next -> “User must enter…”, Next -> Finish. Logon as an administrator! If you can't get logged in, try a password reset tool.

b. If you replaced the SYSTEM HIVE, Windows 2000 will run through a short setup process. When it’s done, log in as an administrator and continue.

24) All sorts of pop-ups, errors, and confusing messages will come up as it boots and logs on. Get out of them in the safest way possible and don’t worry about them.

25) Open Windows Explorer or My Computer (some type of file navigation application), and navigate to the place where SOFTWARE_OLD.REG located.

26) Double-click SOFTWARE_OLD.REG, Yes -> OK (this merges the old HIVE setting back into the current HIVE without corrupting it).

27) Restart the computer.

28) Almost done...Tricky part #2. Because the HIVE was corrupt, there may be some small, residual damage.

a. SOFTWARE: Open all the main applications. Make sure they open. If not, re-install them. Check the desktop for “broken icons.” Repair apps with broken icons, or re-install them. Open Windows Explorer. If the Folder List in blank/gray, re-apply the most recent Service Pack.

b. SYSTEM: Open Device Manager (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager). Make sure no devices have yellow ‘!’ next to them. If they do, re-install the drivers.


That just about covers it.

Jammrock

PS - GT40: check your PM. I can't get logged in to your FTP.

[gt40]

Thanks for all your help.
For some reason the xfrs to the ftp site craps out 1/2 way through.
I've tried slipstreaming, but dosen't look like it will work on my win2k box.
Time for some lunch, I will have another go at it after then.

[gt40]

Thanks to Jammrock and Dzues - BartPE is burning on a CD as we speak.
I'll let you all know how it works out.

Thanks again.

P.S. - Jammrock your mailbox is full

[gt40]

Everything is back to normal!
Beers are on me!
Got to love that Bart PE - great tool - everyone should keep a copy for emergencies such as this.

[Kurt]

@ Jammrock :

the short XP version: load BartPE, ERD Commander or whatnot NTFS compatible software, go to "System Volume Information", "_restore" (if it's spelled right), find the last created folder and then find the hive you're looking for. Then copy it to %windir%\system32\config (do not forget to create a copy of the old one for safety's sake).

With luck it will work right away, otherwise try an older one.

If System Restore has been disabled (to prevent come-back-all-the-time virii...for ex.), you're in for the long version...

[Jammrock]

glad to hear it worked GT40! BartPE is a fabulous tool. I'm working on a single CD solution for enterprise technicians. No more carrying around a case full of CDs! Of course, I need to find time to build it, but I'll get it done one of these days.

Kurt,
The fix was designed for Win2k boxes, which don't have system restore. I havent heard whether our WinXP build has system restor enabled either. I'll have to check it out for sure.

Jammrock

[Kurt]

Check it out, it can save a huge amount of time.

Otherwise, using a bit of NT Backup and some net shares, you can save the System state on each PCs.