j4ckos mate

hi boffins can you help me please?


my mums got an old turder just for going on the internet,

last week avg killed off a few things and now the machine wont start.

it gets all the way thru the dos screen, etc, just to where the desktop background appears with no icons on, then stops, and reboots,
ive tried starting it in safe mode, and it still does the same thing, so i cant get to the system restore point, there are loads of old photos of manchester from when they were nippers on there, so id hate for them to loose them.

win2000, repair disk i hear you say, no, no disk and i can only find the upgrade disks on ebay not the full install disk, so i cant go down that route either.


any help greatly appreciated, she is dead fed up with it.

do you think its just windows or something more serious

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like the Anti-Virus had found some viruses attached to critical system files and deleted them, therefore why windows won't boot correctlly. Unfortunately it sounds like a total restore is required. But you will need the Windows 2000 CD to do this I'm afraid.
Check this guide out for help: How to repair Windows XP/2000 if you are unable to boot into Windows - TechSpot OpenBoards

Failing that how old is your mothers PC? It maybe worth getting a copy of WinXP home instead if you have the right RAM and CPU in the Computer.

richs2891

Why not take the HD out of your mums pc, put it in another pc as a slave drive or in an external caddy, copy the photos off then a fresh install on that drive ? Either xp or what ever you have.

Richard

j4ckos mate

Yes im going to put xp on it.

found my windows disk but it took over an hour on the register components tab, do i think i will wipe it and put an xp on it.

will all the motherboard drivers etc still stay on though,

what do i do is it aclean install.

j4ckos mate

Done a clean install tried to put xp on it, but it wont let me i put the key in,

it then logs me on for an administrator, then ask me for the key again and again, i thin,k i saw something about it being to old a copy is that right?
any advice appreciatecd,

also how many times can you install a copy of xp?

jpor

iTrader: (1)

When you did your install did you format the drive you were installing onto? It sounds like you have done an upgrade that's why the key isn't working. Failing that what type of XP is it you are installing? Professional or Home? Did you buy this from a reputable store?

j4ckos mate

no i reformatted it,

its a proper licence copy of xp pro,

i might wipe it clean and try again with the windows 2000


do you think its because the machine is too old, its a 20 gb hard drive.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Ummm... Strange then as I have installed XP pro a number of times and never came across this problem, accept that sometimes you may have to activate it over the telephone or Internet with Microsoft

I take it you cannot get to a desktop when you login? If so try this to have a go at putting in the license key:

1) start > run > "regedit" (without the quotes of course)
2) go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents\OOBETimer
...and doubleclick on it. Then change some of the value data to ANYTHING ELSE...delete some, add some letters, I don't care...just change it!
now close out regedit.
3) go to start > run > "%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a" (again, dont type the quotes)
4) the activation screen will come up, click on register over telephone, then click on CHANGE PRODUCT KEY, enter in the key. Press Okay once done then exit.

20GB is okay just for web surfing. How much RAM do you have?

Win2K as far as I am aware is no longer supported by Microsoft and therefore you may not get internet security patches anymore for it.

j4ckos mate

bit the bullet bought this
Fujitsu Tower PC 3Ghz 512Mb 80Gb DVD Windows XP PRO on eBay, also, Desktop PCs, Computing (end time 04-Feb-09 13:41:36 GMT)