I reset XP Home to an earlier date; now problems.

[WMcD]

I lost track of a data file. I may have overwritten it. That is not the immediate problem.

I decide to reset the system XP Home on the Compaq laptop back to an earlier setting to see what it might show. In retrospect, it should not have helped, and indeed did not.

Now there is a problem booting.

1) It takes a very, very long time.

2) I get to the user menu. I'm the only user ("owner"). Clicking on that gets nothing for a long time.

3) The desk top eventually comes up. No icons, no menu bar at the bottom. Just wallpaper (?).

4) Restarting in safe mode does the same.

I decided to call it a day before getting so cranky that I do something even more un-informed.

Note, this is on a wireless network and I can see shared files from another computer.

With the empty desktop using ctl-alt-del brings up a task manager. Using it to shut down shows the ie is running plus what I imagine are normal start up sys files. Using it to shut down gives a message the IE is not responding.

Grr.

Any help would be appreciated.

Gil

[dragonfyr]

Hmmm.

Do you know if you have created any XP rollback/restore points that you can revert to, without losing anything important? In this way you might simply be able to revert to that point.

Be careful that you don't touch and update other files with the 'older' date stamp. This has the potential of really confusing backups if you run them automatically, as it doesn't know which is the most recent(current) version.....

[WMcD]

The problem is that I can't get to much of anything.

My guess is that there is a file with user settings and that has disappeared or is not being accessed when it should.

Drat.

Gil

[dragonfyr]

Do you have a system recovery disk that can be booted from?

Or is it possible to reach a terminal seesion in safe mode and have the machine run a chkdisk /r on reboot?

I am hesitant to suggest anything too radical that might jeopardize the data.

(Also, is your system partitioned?)

Come on guys, where are the Windows wizards out there?

[dragonfyr]

The System Restore function is hidden away inside a nested menu (Start-All Programs-Accessories-System Tools-System Restore). System Restore can be used to return your computer to a previous time state without losing your personal data files, documents, e-mail, favorites, etc. XP automatically creates restore points at regularly scheduled times. You can also create your own restore points.

How to use System Restore to restore Windows XP<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

If Windows XP does not start

For additional information about steps to take if Windows XP does not start, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

304449 How to start the System Restore tool from a command prompt in Windows XP

If Windows XP starts

Log on to Windows as Administrator.

2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.

3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.

4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system checkpoint in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next. A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.

5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.

6. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears.

7. Click OK.

Troubleshooting

You may inadvertently restore Windows XP to a previous configuration that you do not want. To undo the restoration:

1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.

2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.

3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Undo my last restoration, and then click Next. A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.

4. On the Confirm Restoration Undo page, click Next. System Restore restores the original Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.

5. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Undo Complete page appears.

6. Click OK.

If you can get it back up with this, you might try resyncing and reinitializing the time functions. Windows XP has a feature to sync to the atomic clock as a time server. To find it, click on Start-Control Panel-Date & Time. Click on the Internet Time tab, and you will see the place to make sure that the time is synchronized automatically. If this feature is turned on, you will also see the last time your computer performed the synchronization. Windows updates the time automatically each week, but you must be connected to the Internet for this to occur. An Update Now button offers you the chance to synchronize the time at your convenience.

[WMcD]

Thanks for the info. Right now it will get to the pick a user window. In one out of five tries that will get to a desk top with icons, etc.

I did undo the system reset. Not much of a help.

I ran a Symantec utility to fix problems. It found 21 and I hit fix.

There is pretty much the same problem.

My guess is that the whole system is so cranky that going down to bare metal is the only solution. Happily I've got most data files back up. I'll work on the others.

Gil

[formica]

Gil... I hate to say this... but it does seem odd being suddenly locked out on an XP machine, unless you've picked up some malicious software?

Did you try booting into safe mode and run some tests? Anti Virus? Spyware detector?

You can try reinstalling XP over itself... as this has helped me save someone's data once... but you are still stuck with cleaning up the mess.

Good luck...

Rob

[WMcD]

The problem has been resolved.

Safe mode would lock. The Compaq system recovery CD would lock. The Norton Symantec system CD would lock. An old A: drive emergency disk would run but that didn't get me very far.

I called HP/Compaq and they suggested I remove all peripheral attachments. I had a USB 512 mB RAM drive, an HP USB floppy, and a Linear X parallel port dongle hardware lock attached.

I removed them all and the HP Compaq system recovery (repair w/o removing data files) ran without a problem. I kick myself a bit for not removing one at a time to see what was causing the system recovery problem. I still don't know exactly what caused the problem in the first place. It may have been resetting the system condition to an earlier date.

= = = = =

OT

I don't quite understand what HP was doing.

They sold off the instrument end of the business which was the product line that made them famous and sucessful. This to concentrate on PCs where competition is intense and margins are thin. Then they bought Compaq which was perhaps in trouble . . . because for Compaq the competition is intense and the margins are thin.

Could it be that it was un-PC (ahem) to question the CEO?

Gil

[dragonfyr]

Their rationale became that they were going to leverage their admittedly world class SCM (supply chain management system) to increase the economies of scale regarding the PCs, which have admittedly become commodities! So, their goal was to make $.03 profit instead of $.02! All the while competing against themselves on the Best Buy showroom shelves instead of gaining additional market penetration! And they couldn't dare consolidate and remove either the Compaq or HP brands from the shelves, as that would only frre the space for another competitor! Possibly Dell! Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

While everyone else is dumping their PC business or desparately trying to sell you a media center of LCD or printer (the only profitable division in HP/Compaq!) over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, no one knows exactly how this morass of mismatched corporate cultures is going to climb out of the hole.

What a fascinating business model!

So one simply wonders how long before they spin off their profitable printer division, the tale wagging the proverbial dog!

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So the machine was simply hanging on a (possibly corrupt or missing) driver!?? Hmmm, and it possibly sees every device as a member of the boot list, despite the fact that the OS doesn't recognize some of them as bootable...and only some of the newer USB flash memory devices are now bootable? Something to ponder! Geesh, UNIX makes SO much more sense!

You would think that MS would discover the concept of having a process time out rather then simply hanging indefinately!

So Glad to hear that you were able to resolve the issue without data loss!

May I be a smart aleck and say to everyone!, let this be an excuse for everyone to make a complete restorable backup of your system!

And verify it! PLEASE don't wait until a crisis to discover that it doesn't work!

[formica]

Gil... great to hear it worked out !... Starting from scratch can be such a pain in the ...

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On 5/13/2005 8:53:07 PM William F. Gil McDermott wrote:

I had a USB 512 mB RAM drive, an HP USB floppy, and a Linear X parallel port dongle hardware lock attached.

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That's alot of peripherals all in the boot chain, and any could have been the source of the hang.

But doesn't it feel good once you get it back up and running?

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On 5/13/2005 9:12:09 PM dragonfyr wrote:

let this be an excuse for everyone to make a complete restorable backup of your system! And verify it! PLEASE don't wait until a crisis to discover that it doesn't work!

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Oh... I'm sure you know how often that happens!

Later...

Rob