Windows XP Repair Install

Hello, an article I submitted to Overclockers.com on this topic recently appeared on the main page!

I've gotten a slew of great feedback, and I wanted to encourage anyone with experiences or ideas to please share them.

I'll be emailing the URL of this thread to the folks who replied to me via email, so I look forward to our sharing some good information about doing Windows XP Repair Installs.

Here is a link to the article in case anyone needs it:

Windows XP Repair Install

This is a REALLY great help to any one that needs to save there information whn hey switch mobo's or other hardware as it allows you to kepp ALMOST everything on your comp including programs and game saves (in other words no need to waste 15 cd-rs to back everything up!!) I would recomend to any one to read it if not just a quick scim.

I recently changed a friends Motherboard I warned him that there's a possibility of him losing his Data of course the Machine wouldn't boot up; I used the XP Repair it worked fine. This is not where I've had problems with this fix; if XP SP1 is installed and I try to repair with just my original XP Pro Disk no luck I end up having to do an clean install I don't know if this problem, but I've tried this more than once with no luck. If anyone has had success with SP1 installed please let me know.

I have tried this a while back, this does not work as effectively.

It works pretty well before service pack 1.

Works fine

I used Windows XP with SP1.

I used Ghost to take one machine image (AMD 3200+) to another computer, Pentium 1000. Could not be more "different" if I tried.

Flawless.

Thanks.

There is a better way to do this.

The whole reason XP wont just reboot on a new system is due to the new Microsoft licensing.


There is a tool on the XP cd that makes this a super easy process.

The tool is called sysprep and its in a cab file on the XP cd. You simply extract setupcl and sysprep.exe into the same folder and run sysprep. hit the seal button to reseal the XP registration codes.

Reboot the hard drive on whatever new hardware. XP reconfigures its self just like it was a new install.

see
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro/deploying/introduction.asp

regards,
Robert Collins

2001: A Space Odyssey

The problem is HAL for Sysprep.

Note the requirement for sysprep to work. It is called HAL

To use Sysprep as part of the disk duplication process, the following requirements must be met:
 The master installation and the destination computers must have compatible hardware abstraction layers (HALs). For example, HAL APIC and HAL MPs (multiprocessor systems) are compatible, whereas HAL PIC (Programmable Interrupt Controller) is not compatible with either HAL APIC or HAL MPs.
 The mass–storage controllers (IDE or SCSI) must be identical between the reference and destination computers.

Using the Repair technique removes HAL from the equation. SYSPREP cannot do this neat little trick.

Bob

Computer Number 2

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1155/

"Windows XP Repair Install"

Computer Number 2

I did another machine! Cloned the machine that is my work machine (ASUS 3200+), then transferred the image files to the machine(Biostar 3200+) that I want to repair, restored the C: drive and then, before it has a chance to reboot, inserted the windows XP SP1 installation CD and rebooted and ran the repair process. Success! This is fricking liberating! This means for me that I can build my “perfect” machine (software setup), then image the thing, then install it any machine and never have to worry about HAL (Hardware abstraction layer).

Updates gone!

I discovered that after you do the technique, all the updates are gone???? It is back to SP1 before the updates.

So, I just went online and DL that updates.

A great article, just wish I had read it before installing my new CPU..

In the instances where I've used this fix, it's been with XP Pro SP1 as the starting operating system, and SP1 as the one I'm "repairing" to.

I could see where trying to repair "down" from XP SP1 to regular XP could cause problems; the stuff that differentiates the OS with the integrated service pack stuff is coming into play I would think.

michaelsil1 said:

If anyone has had success with SP1 installed please let me know.

Click to expand...

Great point about Sysprep Robert, I wasn't aware of its capabilities. You should submit an article about the process!!

XP though is similar to NT4 for example in that the HAL is much more sensitive to change than 95 / 98; I vaguely remember reading somewhere among Microsoft's documentation that the reasoning in part that it treats the hardware differently is for security and integrity of the operating system.

Plus when I've actually tried just plopping a new motherboard into a box which had previously had say a Promise IDE controller or some other differences in IDE or other low-level system stuff, the BSOD message itself would say "inaccessible boot device" or something similar, with no reference to licensing.

I think in those cases the system expects at a very early stage in the boot to find the hardware corresponding to the registry (which to Windows might be seen as its Bible), and if it finds something unholy it BSODs and doesn't proceed with the boot because integrity has been compromised.

The method you describe sounds like a more direct way of working around having setup redetect the new hardware; does it preserve the existing OS settings as well though or does it also reset those to defaults?

LXDoctor said:

The whole reason XP wont just reboot on a new system is due to the new Microsoft licensing.


There is a tool on the XP cd that makes this a super easy process.

The tool is called sysprep and its in a cab file on the XP cd. You simply extract setupcl and sysprep.exe into the same folder and run sysprep. hit the seal button to reseal the XP registration codes.

Reboot the hard drive on whatever new hardware. XP reconfigures its self just like it was a new install.

see
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro/deploying/introduction.asp

regards,
Robert Collins

Click to expand...

Ohhh this clarifies Sysprep's functionality somewhat, thanks montgom.

montgom said:

The problem is HAL for Sysprep.

Using the Repair technique removes HAL from the equation. SYSPREP cannot do this neat little trick.

Bob

Click to expand...

Yeah that is a pain.

If you're ever setting up a friend's PC with this and they don't have broadband, you could check the part of the Windows Update site which lets you download the security fixes.

Here's how, first go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Click on the "Personalize Windows Update" link in the left-hand pane, then click the checkbox beside "Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog under See Also".

Then click the Save Settings button, and you should see the link "Windows Update Catalog" appear in the left-hand pane. Click on that, and from there click "Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems", and at the next screen you can choose which Microsoft flavor for which you want to see updates for.

After that it'll basically list all updates available for whatever operating system you chose. You can Add these individually to a "Download Basket", and then download the whole slew of them to your computer and maybe write them to a CD later for convenience.

Of course, a Windows service pack is superior in many ways to doing this, so ideally you'd want to just download the latest service pack and go with that (for example if you snag XP service pack 2 that would get all the latest stuff from SP1 and beyond). Otherwise you'd end up having to individually execute each patch "package" and install them (or create a batch file or script to do this but still tedious).

montgom said:

I discovered that after you do the technique, all the updates are gone???? It is back to SP1 before the updates.

So, I just went online and DL that updates.

Click to expand...

The article was a good read and I'm sure its a great help as alot of people dont know about system restore in general.

I tried that method ages ago and it failed but I think that was because I went from single to a dual setup. I think its cause the main kernal is differant.??