is there hope?

[orionlion82]

i broke windows on an O/C run this afternoon.

it wants the CD and repair... my windows cd is either lost or stolen, so thats not gonnna happen.

windows\system32\config\system

now, i do daily backups,

so is there a chance i just pull that off the backup and slap it in over the bad directory?

or is it not that easy?

cant seen to get safemode...

 

[klingens]

The backup should work. This file is part of the NT registry, I think it details your hardware and the installed drivers. Since those don't change too often, it is wirth a shot

 

[orionlion82]

well, it should be noted the backup is only of the C:\ and it want boot on its own due to being 1. an external usb drive and 2. not having the boot partition.

not only that the directory it wants called "system" does not exist - and its called "systemprofile" on the backup drive instead...

now i am lost, because even though i back up, it seems to be no good due to the fact i cant find the file i need, and i cant get to the command line, or even safe mode...
any keypress after the POST completes results in a reboot.
now what?
i cant write to my drives from linux, but i can see them...im gonna go see if i can find that old windows 95 disk, maybe i can get something to happen with that...

 

[orionlion82]

Now its really bad.
i found my mom's XP SP0 OEM disk, but of course its the most scratched up disk i have ever seen, not a chance with that thing...

i popped in my linux drive (ide) and now BIOS is telling me primary master HD ( the one with XP on it) is a Status = BAD...

i think i have both drives set to master with the jumpers, and ill see if that takes care of the SMART issues,

but it looks like its all over.

 

[orionlion82]

The backup should work. This file is part of the NT registry, I think it details your hardware and the installed drivers. Since those don't change too often, it is wirth a shot

no, the backup diddnt work. as a matter of fact, it was pretty ugly...

after disabling "smart" and all, i managed to use the windows repair tool (stand-alone version) and got back to (allmost) normal,

thought i was back up and running, but it was obvious the registry was completely thrashed, as drivers were missing, and programs wouldnt work, things would try to open and come up with blank windows....

now watch closley as the plot thickens:

fired up retrospect 6.0 and tried to restore stuff from my D: (usb external mxktor one touch)

and since the whole C: was copied over to D: daily at noon, i said "okay, lets do it"
i expected some sort of wholesale file replacement, but i held my breath with blind faith as retrospece deleted over 50,000 files on my C: drive as i tried not to panic and kept telling myself "trust it, just trust it"

no awards for guessing what happened next...

in "retrospect" (ahem) i think i just should have done it from the dos prompt, as i think there is a replace (overwrite) switch,
something that would have gone like : copy d:\ *.* to c: *.* /r

(the /r being the replace/overwrite switch, or at least my approximation of the forgotten command...)

anyways, in the last 3 days i have scored
1. my very first (completely) broken operating system (3.0, 3.1 95, and 98 dont count, i broke those constantly, like many people)
2. my first (botched) recovery from a backup
3. my first failed/failing harddisk ( it was 7ish years old)

yes, my data was backed up, but i lost a 7 year (ish) old tweaked operating system (programs too) that was Exactly how i wanted it...


and now my hand is being forced to go open source because i wont buy a 5th copy of xp ( all the others were lost/stolen/scratched up)


time to get cozy with the penguins i guess...

oh, and if you read this, it should be a lesson in "how not to do it"
please, dont break your operating system without a copy of it on a disk.
please, dont let any program wipe your C: drive with blind faith.
please, dont trust a hard disk older than 5 years.
please back your stuff up, and restore it the old fashioned way.
of course, no one has ever heard this stuff before - right?

it is now safe to

 

[Sentential]

I had this happen to me rececntally as well. All you have to do is re-patch the OS in the recovry console and you are right as rain. I hope im not too late

 

[orionlion82]

thanks man, ive still got the backup of it all, and i could go out and buy another XP disk, and maybe i could reconfigure everything and get it all back how it was, but that would make a four-digit figure that M$ has relieved me of JUST for xp.

understandibly, the thought has crossed my mind ( in the hypothetical, of course) of ... well, we-cant-discuss-it-here-but-its-not-a-stretch-to-imagine... well, you know...

and since i would have to re-do everything all over again i might as well go open source, i dunno, i need some time away from digital objects before i make a final decision...ughhh...