Getting back to safemode during a repair in xp
January 27, 2007 4:19 PM Subscribe
My XP Home SP2 PC is trying to finalize a repair job, but can't. is there any way of performing a system restore?
I've been experiencing boot issues for the last week or so. it would show the XP loading screen and then go blank and stay that way. it was possible to boot into safemode, and with certain settings I could do a selective boot.
Unable to find the process/service/driver responsible for the problem I decided to do a Repair using the XP Home CD that came with the computer.
It got so far (Installing Windows, Installing Devices etc), and then restarted the PC...but because of the previous boot issue it cannot finish the process (Finalizing Installation). I also am now unable to boot in safemode.
I have recent restore points but with no way to access them. I have all my data backed up on a 2nd HDD (ran just before attempting the repair) but would rather not install again from scratch.
I'm at a loss what to do apart from a full reinstall. Is there a way to undo the attempted repair? Can I access System Restore?
I've been experiencing boot issues for the last week or so. it would show the XP loading screen and then go blank and stay that way. it was possible to boot into safemode, and with certain settings I could do a selective boot.
Unable to find the process/service/driver responsible for the problem I decided to do a Repair using the XP Home CD that came with the computer.
It got so far (Installing Windows, Installing Devices etc), and then restarted the PC...but because of the previous boot issue it cannot finish the process (Finalizing Installation). I also am now unable to boot in safemode.
I have recent restore points but with no way to access them. I have all my data backed up on a 2nd HDD (ran just before attempting the repair) but would rather not install again from scratch.
I'm at a loss what to do apart from a full reinstall. Is there a way to undo the attempted repair? Can I access System Restore?
It's been my experience that attempting to use System Restore for anything beyond the most trivial software-installation rollbacks not only usually fails, but usually hoses things up worse than they were before when it "succeeds".
I think, at this point, your least painful option is the clean reinstall.
posted by flabdablet at 7:37 PM on January 27, 2007
I think, at this point, your least painful option is the clean reinstall.
posted by flabdablet at 7:37 PM on January 27, 2007
I had this issue about 2 weeks ago to my old laptop, my secondary machine. I had a couple things I needed off the machine, ended up putting a new boot of the OS in a different directory to get my crap off the machine, and then just blew everything away.
Frustrating, but less so if you don't have stuff you need to retrieve from the system. I think a new clean install is your best bet.
posted by jerseygirl at 7:49 PM on January 27, 2007
Frustrating, but less so if you don't have stuff you need to retrieve from the system. I think a new clean install is your best bet.
posted by jerseygirl at 7:49 PM on January 27, 2007
Backup, nuke, reinstall. It'll save you grief in the longer run.
posted by pompomtom at 3:07 PM on January 28, 2007
posted by pompomtom at 3:07 PM on January 28, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by raildr at 5:17 PM on January 27, 2007