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General discussion

No access to windows xp!

Mar 8, 2004 9:12AM PST

I had some problem with spyware, so I rebooted my pc last night. When it turned back on it said windows could not start up because I had to install
<windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
It also said I should put the windows xp recovery in.
I did this and now I have ended up with two installations, one new one without any files and the old, which still won't start up. I want to access the old one because of all my files. What can I do?

Discussion is locked

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Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 8, 2004 9:55AM PST

Look in the C Drive under Documents & Settings to see if you can find your old user account.

Your old files should be stored in that user account.

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Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 8, 2004 11:01AM PST

I found the guest account and another account, but my account says access is denied, and when I click on properities, it says there are 0 bytes in the documents. It doesn't make any sense to me.

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Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 8, 2004 11:08AM PST

Problem is I had a password on my old account, and now I can't open my folder, access is always denied, no matter what I try

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Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 8, 2004 11:16AM PST
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Re:Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 8, 2004 12:08PM PST

Thanks for the help but it is still not working...

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Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 8, 2004 7:02PM PST

Taliesin,
Try booting from the XP CD, pass the first repair option, accept the licence agreement (F8), select the repair option which follows. This will appear to be a re-installation but your non-system files will stay in place for later access. This repair process will re-install any missing files.
The report that your access denied files are 0 bytes is not true, if you can get ownership, all the contents will still be there.

Roger

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Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 9, 2004 7:23AM PST

Okay thanks...just one question, how do I pass the repair option? As soon as I put the XP cd is, the installation preparations starts up.

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Re:Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 9, 2004 8:20AM PST

See this link on how to do a repair/in-place installation of XP that will preserve all your files:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

However since you've already done a second installation of XP I am skeptical that it'll work.

If you have another PC you could slave this HDD to it and look for your files.

Good luck.

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Re:Re:Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 9, 2004 9:10AM PST

Thanks! Will let you know how it turns out! Happy

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Re:Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 9, 2004 9:02PM PST

Hi Talisien,
Boot from XP CD - your hardware will be investigated.
1st screen - Windows loads files.
2nd screen -Welcome to set-up.
Press 'ENTER' to set-up XP (NOT R to repair)
3rd screen - Licence conditions -press F8 to accept.
4th screen - Select 'R' to repair the installed XP.
This looks like a full install but don't panic. It will take about 30 minutes, then your own desk top will reappear with all your installed files available, but SP1 and other updates will have to be re-installed.
There may be several momentary black screens during the repair but don't worry. You may also get some warnings that some installed drivers have not passed Windows testing. If they caused no problems before, select 'Install'
Set-up reboots after the repair, ignore the message 'Press any key to reboot from CD', XP will reboot after a few seconds, and hopefully all will be well.

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Re:Re:Re:Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 10, 2004 6:55AM PST

Okay, started trying that but when I press 'R' nothing happens. Do you mean Return button? Or R button?

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''when I press 'R' nothing happens''
Mar 10, 2004 11:23PM PST

I don't see a press in the options afforded. It would appear you'd use the mouse to select it -- I could be wrong.

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Re:No access to windows xp!
Mar 11, 2004 12:28AM PST

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Select 'R' by tapping R and then press 'Enter'