Fix, Recover and Repair Windows XP When a PC/Computer Crashes or Fails to Boot - The different ways/methods to recover and repair Windows XP |
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METHODS OF RECOVERING WINDOWS XP
Windows XP and Vista Product Key recovery
If you have to reinstall Windows XP/Vista on a brand-name desktop or laptop PC due to its corruption, and the Product Key has been lost (probably along with the PC's Recovery CD/DVD) and you have a valid OEM Windows XP/Vista installation CD/DVD (borrowed from a friend, etc.), you have to recover the Product Key from the PC in order to perform the reinstallation with that disc. Alternatively, you may have a valid Windows XP/Vista installation CD/DVD, but you have lost the Product Key. (Remember that the Product Key is printed on the Windows validation sticker that must, under the Windows user licence, be fixed to the computer, so look for it before you try an alternative recovery procedure.) The major PC manufacturers (Dell, HP, Acer, etc.) use OEM copies of Windows that are usually recovered by means of using a Recovery CD/DVD, which is not a valid Windows installation CD/DVD. They are the only copies that can be reinstalled to those computers unless you buy a new OEM or retail copy of Windows XP/Vista which has a new licence and hence a new Product Key. This is an example of an OEM Windows XP Product Key: 75486-OEM-0012904-02826. If necessary, read this relevant thread:
Using any OEM XP CD to reinstall Windows XP, on a system that has a valid OEM Product key -
http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.php?showtopic=22527
Note that the Product Key is tied to the product. If a PC came with an OEM copy of Windows XP Home SP1 or Windows XP Home SP2 or Windows XP Home SP3, they are all different products. So, if the Product Key came with a Windows XP Home SP1 disc, it will only work with another OEM Windows XP Home SP1 disc, etc. (SP stands for Service Pack, which is a major update to a particular version of Windows.) The same applies for Windows XP Professional, for which you also require a Windows XP Professional disc of the correct type. A disc for Windows XP Home cannot be used. The same applies to the versions of Windows Vista and to Vista SP1.
Windows XP and Vista Product Key Recovery - "There are many programs available for extracting the product key from a Windows XP or Vista installation. The only problem is that they generally require the computer to be functional to run. These programs are useless if the operating system is corrupt and the computer will not boot into Windows. Fortunately, there are other options. This article explains how you can retrieve the product key with just the ntuser.dat file from the machine. You can also download a stand-alone version of my decrypter tool." -
http://www.dagondesign.com/articles/windows-xp-product-key-recovery/
To recover Windows XP, the cause of the problem must be software-related, not hardware-related
Note well that if you are to recover a system that is running Windows XP, or any other operating system, the cause of the problem must be software-related, not hardware-related. If a computer is suffering from a serious hardware problem or failure, none of the methods of recovery provided on this page will be of any use. An example of a serious hardware failure is a faulty hard disk drive that won't allow the system to boot. The Q&A on this site called Why do I get a black screen with an "Operating system not found" message at startup? is a good example of a hardware issue that can only be recovered by replacing the faulty hardware. Here is another relevant Q&A on this site: Windows XP won't reinstall. Is it a software problem or a hardware failure?
If it is not possible to make use of any of the methods of recovering Windows XP provided from the CONTENTS OF RECOVERING AND REPAIRING WINDOWS XP further down this page, then you should investigate hardware issues of that kind.
If your computer won't boot, the cause might be a system tweak too far, a genuine hardware failure, a software problem of some kind, such a botched installation, or contamination by a virus. Fortunately, you have many ways in which to recover the system in Windows XP and Windows Vista. - Click here! to go to the information on this site that deals with recovering and repairing Windows Vista and Vista problems and their solutions.
When a computer starts up, the BIOS Setup Program makes the processor execute a program that is stored in the BIOS called the Power On Self Test (POST) that performs tests on the system's RAM memory, its motherboard, and the peripheral devices attached to it. If the POST tests cannot be carried out properly, it halts the proceedings. Depending on the make of the BIOS, if the video/graphics card is working, you might see an explanatory message on the screen, but, in a desktop PC, you should always hear a series of coded beeps from the system speaker inside the case, which is independent from any attached speakers. In a laptop PC, the BIOS uses its integrated system speakers. The code attempts to tell you the source of the probem. A single beep, which most people can probably remember hearing at startup, means that the POST tests were conducted successfully. The other beep codes depend on the make of the BIOS. If your computer won't boot and produces a beep code that you can't decode, you'll have to use another computer that is connected to visit a BIOS site such as http://www.bioscentral.com/. (If for some reason that website can't be accessed, you can find others by entering a search term such as: bios beep codes in the Google search box at the top of this page, with its Web radio button enabled.) If you know the make of your BIOS, you can look up the beep codes for it there. If you don't know the make, if you have the PC's motherboard manual, you can look it up. If you don't have a motherboard manual and know the make and model of the motherboard you should be able to download a copy from its manufacturer's website.
If you don't know the make of your computer's BIOS and your computer is working, you should be able to find what it is by entering msinfo32 in the Start => Run box of Windows XP to bring up the System Information window. (It's the Start => Start Search box in Windows Vista.) For System Summary the information in the left-hand window should contain an item called BIOS Version/Date with information such as American Megatrends Inc [AMI]. A1034IMS V1.70 10/19/06, 19/10/2006. That means that an AMI BIOS is installed. You can print out the BIOS beep codes for that make of BIOS provided by BIOS Central. Place the information somewhere safe just in case the PC suffers boot failure.
Visit the BIOS section of this site for more information on the BIOS.
The boot failure could be caused by thermal expansion and contraction over a long period that has made an adapter card, such as the video/graphics card, come loose, which can be fixed by removing and reseating it. If you know what they mean, the beep codes tell you which components of the computer to start investigating.
When upgrading to Windows XP, the installation procedure could halt irrecoverably for some reason, rendering the previous version of Windows and Windows XP useless and unable to start up. This Q&A on this site called Halfway into upgrading Windows 98 to Windows XP my computer froze and then wouldn't start up deals with that problem.
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Windows XP Home Edition is the first desktop version of Windows for the home user that is not built on top of the MS DOS operating system.
You can still run MS DOS programs in Windows XP, but DOS is an add-on program; Windows XP is not built upon it as Windows 95/98/98SE/Me systems are.
In Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, other file systems such as FAT32 can be used, but the native file system is NTFS, which offers numerous security features and other advantages. Access can be limited to certain users, data can be restored by having System Restore enabled and then run in an emergency, and encryption and compression is possible without the use of additional software. However, it also has a huge disadvantage: access from other systems is only possible by making use of special software tools. Moreover, access (from other systems or boot disks, etc.) to data files is mostly read-only. While that is enough to rescue data, making changes to files (such as the boot manager file, boot.ini) is not possible. Click here! to go to some Q&As on this site on the pros and cons of using the FAT32 and NTFS file systems.
If you have a Dell computer, it has its own recovery system, which varies from computer to computer. Here is a site that provides recovery CDs for Dell computers:
Windows Recovery CDs for Dell Computers - http://www.gennersales.co.uk/recovery/dell.htm
You should try Dell's support first, but there must be a market for Dell Recovery CDs or a site like that wouldn't exist.
If you can't solve your recovery problem by using the manufacturer's support services, there might be similar information available for other brand names such as HP, Gateway, and Packard Bell that you can search for by making use of the Google search box provided at the top of this page with its Web radio button selected. You can find the above Dell-recovery site with the search term dell + computer + recovery (as is), so try substituting the word dell with hp, hewlett packard, gateway, etc.
BootIt: A self-contained backup program
If Windows is rendered unbootable and the drive it is installed on contains valuable files that you haven't backed up, before you try any recovery, you can use a self-contained backup option such as BootIt, which can run from a floppy disk and can access most CD/DVD drives on its own.
BootIt Next Generation - Operating-system independent back-up and imaging solution, partition manager, and boot manager, BootIt Next Generation from http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ costs only $35. It can be used with Windows and Linux systems. It supports both CD-R and CD-RW disks, and DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD-RAM disks.
What to do if Windows XP won't boot and you don't have a Windows XP installation CD and you don't want to use the Recovery CD provided by the PC's manufacturer
If your brand-name PC comes with a Recovery CD instead of a Windows XP installation CD, you won't be able to use features that require the Windows XP CD, such as the repair installation. However, if using a Recovery CD restores the PC to the state it was in when it left the factory, you may not want to use it if doing so destroys all of the data files and programs you've installed since you started using it. You'll be glad to know that there are ways of recovering the system if if won't boot and you don't have an installation CD. Click the link to read the article on this site called: WINDOWS WON'T BOOT - Find out how to get Windows up and running if you don't want to use the System Recovery option and you don't have the Windows CD to hand.
Sundry useful articles
Microsoft Knowledge Base back-up articles
Prevention is better than having to cure. Click on the MS Knowledge Base article's Reference Number to go to that article on Microsoft's site.
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| How To Back Up to Restore Files and Folders on Your Computer in Windows XP [A video tutorial showing how to do it is also made available] | |
| How to back up, edit, and restore the Registry in Windows XP | |
| How to use Backup to back up files and folders on your computer in Windows XP [Professional edition] | |
| How to use the Backup utility to back up files and folders in Windows XP Home Edition | |
| | How to
Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues |
| How To Recover From a Corrupt Registry That Prevents Windows XP From Starting |
Click here! to read the following Q&A on this site: Will a backup copy/image created by Norton Ghost on a second hard disk drive be bootable when the drive is installed as the boot drive?
Windows XP Professional How-to Resources: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/howto/winxphow.mspx/
How to Perform an In-place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315341
HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316434
How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822705
Knowing Knoppix Linux - 134 pages - includes information on how to use Knoppix for the disaster-recovery of a Windows system. -
http://www.pjls16812.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/knowing-knoppix/index.html
http://knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html
CONTENTS OF RECOVERING AND REPAIRING WINDOWS XP
Click the relevant link to go to that information
Introduction: Recovering and repairing Windows XP
How to create a boot (startup) CD/DVD for Windows XP
How to perform a repair installation/install of Windows XP
Recovery by reinstalling Windows XP over itself and the consequences of so doing
Using the Recovery Console and the CHKDSK Hard-disk-drive Diagnostic Tool/Utility
Windows XP: Password problems - Password and document recovery
How to install a complete copy of Windows XP on an USB flash drive
How to troubleshoot and fix shutdown, restart (reboot), and startup problems
Windows XP: How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
How to avoid reactivating Windows XP after a fresh installation
Using the Windows XP Command Prompt
The System File Checker (SFC) and Roll Back Driver features in Windows XP
Using "Automated System Recovery" (ASR) and Restoring Windows XP to a serial ATA hard disk drive
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