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Resolved Question

System Restore will not start on XP Pro SP3

Oct 25, 2011 6:44AM PDT

Have a Compaq Presario with 512 MB RAM, 200GB HDD, and a AMD processor. System was riddled with malware. Now is clean. Updated system from SP2 to SP3 using a CD that was burned from an .ISO file.

When I attempted to re-install System Restore via right-clicking sr.inf and choosing Install, installation appears to be completed w/o errors.

System was missing the i386 folder in Wndows\System32 so I copied the entire folder from another XP Pro SP3 system I have to this one. I did this before I attempted to re-install System Restore, as this file was missing, among others.

Attempting to start the sr service using .msc command results in error 1083. Service will not start even though it is set to automatic.

Could anyone point me to solutions that will work other than doing a clean install?

mchainmchain

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mchainmchain has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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You can try a "repair install"
Oct 25, 2011 6:50AM PDT

But damage can run too deep for anything to work but the clean install. Usually this is the time when the owner learns to not allow the pests onto the machine.
Bob

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Thank you for your prompt answer
Oct 25, 2011 7:10AM PDT

R. Proffitt,

You understand perfectly my situation. This machine was a friend's, and several P2P programs were installed by his kids. One of them was BearShare.

It did not help that his kids did not let him know right away they were in trouble, nor did they let him know that the ESET Security Center had been damaged and was not running anymore.

I do not think to waste my time with a repair. A clean install it will be.

Of course, will be a lot of work, what with 97+ updates to install from Microsoft alone, not including running XP3 CD again. I will, of course, use the restore CD's supplied by HP after I wipe the drive clean with Dban. It seems clear that malware changed a registry setting or two for the sr service, and without knowing where to look or what to reset to default, a repair option may very well miss that too. It could be that attempting to reset these values would result in an 'Access denied' error.

Interestingly, the restore CD's are for XP Home, not Pro.

mchainmchain

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Hmm. That's a clue
Oct 25, 2011 7:16AM PDT

That someone already was tinkering with it. I updated a 3GB RAM dual core laptop and even with a sporty 7200 RPM drive and all that there were 120+ updates after some dozen drivers.

You're a kind person to spend a day on this.
Bob

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How about fifteen days?
Oct 25, 2011 7:26AM PDT

R. Proffitt,

You are right, a little suspicious of the upgrade. Will keep in touch.

You do not forsee a problem using restore CD's to clean install? Reason I ask is because the 200 GB HDD is a SATA drive.

mchainmchain

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If a SATA drive let's hope
Oct 25, 2011 10:43AM PDT

The BIOS has the IDE EMULATION feature. Some Dells had it, came with XP but the BIOS default was Native SATA.

I guess in early 2000 that they expected the users to know about having the flip a BIOS setting to install from the restore CD?

Why I write this is that folk today are often thinking "I'm sure they fixed that by now."
Bob

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Will bring a SATA driver to the table just in case
Oct 26, 2011 2:41AM PDT

R. Proffitt,

Thank you for the info. Will update.

mchainmchain