XP Boot Problems

[MeanGene]

Well all I can say is XP is not very repairable. All I did was a Creative CD update. Now it says that the \windows\system32\config\system is corupt or missing.

Tried: repair, console, what's left reload?

 

[Lonman]

If you're unable to even boot to safe mode to do a system restore, then i don't know what other option is available besides a repair installation to save your data.

If after the repair install all is well then fine and good, but if it's glitchy then you might want to back up the valuables and do a clean installation again.

 

[MeanGene]

I know that if this was Windows 98 I could recover the OS. How can anybody say that XP is a good OS, if it can't do some of the most basic funtions of "lesser?" OS's. Why didn't they have a built-in scanreg or more? Is this really a desktop OS, or is it a server based OS that has been dressed up for the desktop? On a server this would not be much of a problem. The OS fails, but all the data is on a RAID box or SANS. No problem just reload the OS and change a few settings. The desktop on the other hand requires many hours/days of setup. Does anyone think that the average user is really going to put up with this. Since MS has put all of it's egg's in to this one basket, I would say sell your MS stock fast. I don't think the average user is going to cope with XP. We make be willing to put up with stuff like this for the added memory capability, but the average user having to chase down drivers, mess with the security setting, policy, NTFS. I don't think so. I like the OS, I just don't think the average user is going to be able to live with it. The NT OS has the same Major flaw that all NT based OS's have, they cannot repair themselves. Meaning that if you can't boot into NT, you can't repair it.

Gene, on the laptop.

 

[MeanGene]

Thanks for the info, I will try that. But, they could have made SFC (System File Checker) run in console mode. That would have solved a few problems. I really don't think MS has thought this out. I really worry about this at work were 5,000-200,000 computers could be effected.

 

[MeanGene]

I appreciate the help, but I have a Matrox Marvel 400 graphics card (No XP drivers, None Planned) and I have a Cannon 5100 CBJ (No XP drivers, None Planned). So that is a couple hundred $$ down the drain for the new OS. I think it should have been sold like Windows 95b, only to OEM new euipment, if this was to be the case with 3rd party support.

 

[pc_tek]

boot

i dont know by reading the post if you your boot cycle you can even get to this point.. but..try this...

when booting, hit f5 continuously unitl the menu comes up (safe mode, normal mode, step by step confirmation..etc)... choose "boot into last known good configuration". Hopefully this should boot and then undo whatever you did.

 

[MeanGene]

That's a Canon printer not HP. The Maxtorx card was purchased because I do video capture on the cheap. But $250.00 bucks is $250.00.

I also work in the IT field and do packaging, distribution, SMS, etc. The Matrox Windows 2000 video drivers would not work until I added the XP GUID to the install inf. They load but they are not perfect. It's not MS's fault, it's Canon and Matrox that is not providing the drivers.

My point is: If we are having problems think about the poor sap who buys his box at Cosco or something, and then has problems. They might be able to get 98 working, but XP they are going to need professional help.

I know what your going say, (they need "professional help" if they buy a computer from Cosco).

 

[MeanGene]

Windows 2000 = 5.0
Windows XP = 5.1

You would would think that you could load anything from 2K and it would work.

 

[DAZZ]

reinstall man

 

[MeanGene]

No matter how I boot up with the CD my end results are to either go into console mode or delete the Windows directory and reload, now thats a state of the art OS!

 

[Lonman]

All I did was a Creative CD update

What exactly did you do? Is this a driver update, firmware flash? You may be dishing XP over a serious Creative CD update problem. This installation program may deserve some of the focus for your frustration instead of XP, you know?

I think one of the real strong points in XP is it's ability to not allow it's fundamental files to be replaced willy nilly by every Tom,
Dick and Harry programmer out there who thinks they need to "improve" on these things to get there crap to work.

What's the update for? Was it an XP compatible update (meaning it needs to be talored to respect the protected files in XP)?

You're frustration may be completely justified, but on the other side of the coin, I think this Creative CD update needs to be examined in a little more detail.

 

[MeanGene]

I don't get the Repair option from the Install menu? I am using an OEM version of XP Pro, I wonder if it is different. I get to the point where it asks me if I want to install into a new directory. If I choose install into the C:\windows directory it will ask if I want to delete everything in that directory first. Not sure what the best option is here. I got into the repair console and copied the system file from the repair folder to the config folder renaming and such. But I get the same error message. Corrupt or missing system. Even tried switching the HD back to the VIA controller form the HPT370 same thing. Had this same message after a BIOS flash, but cleared out the BIOS and all was well. I was thinking of reflashing, what do you think?

 

[MeanGene]

My grip is with XP, I mean where is RDISK, why did they make it harder? Why didn't they make it automatic. If this OS was actually made for the average consumer MS should have spent a little more time in this area. This has always been a problem with NT.

I went to the Roxio site and DL's there latest Creative CD software update for XP. The C version. Installed their update and rebooted when adked, that's all. I had the B version running so I didn't think it was a big deal. The SW and OS have been working great up to this point. I have been burning CD's while watching TV through the Matrox card, and DL'ing music and video through my Asante router/DSL connection.

Are we to expected to reload the OS everytime the system has a hickup? That might me acceptable if MS could seperate user data from the OS like Unix.

I hear that MS is going away from the registry and back to ini files with .NET. Everything goes into it's own directory. They are slowly becomming more like Unix.

Not sure if that is a good thing??

 

[Lonman]

1. In Windows XP, (We recommend a custom install and removing Take Two from the installation, also if you receive a warning that no CD Recorder was detected continue with the install anyway.) install Easy CD Creator 5.0x Platinum.
2. Restart after installation is complete.
3. Download xp_up_platinum.exe (1.9MB) and install it.
4. Restart after installation is complete.
5. It is recommended that you update your Easy CD Creator Platinum to 5.02c (ecdc_v502c_up.exe - 5.6MB)
6. Restart after installation is complete.
7. Run xp_up_platinum.exe (1.9MB) a second time.
8. Easy CD Creator has been updated to function properly on Windows XP.

With the complexity of these installation/upgrade instructions i'm surprised we're not seeing more threads being posted about Roxio crashing XP.

I gave up on Roxio a long time ago, above is a good example why. Install it twice?? Does this mean that you can install "Take Two" during the second installation?

 

[MeanGene]

I followed the instructions exactly the first time when I installed from the Roxio CD. Then I got all their updates and installed them. The mistake I may have made was I didn't run the xp_up_platinum.exe again for the second round. I thought that if this patch was already installed (during the B upgrade) I would not need to install it during the C upgrade. My mistake I guess. I can get into console mode. What can I do there that could reverse this?

Q: What if I modify the installation of Easy CD Creator 5.0x in Windows XP?
A: If you modify the installation of Easy CD Creator after it is installed and working in Windows XP, you should reapply the xp_up_platinum.exe before rebooting to avoid possible problems in rebooting. If you have modified the installation of Easy CD Creator and are having trouble booting, boot to "Last Known Good" and uninstall the software. Reboot and Reinstall Easy CD Creator, do a custom install to add the specific applications that you want, and before rebooting run the xp_up_platinum.exe.

I have already tried coping software and system from the repair folder to the config folder, but got no where. Is there a way to run Last Known Good form the console?

 

[MeanGene]

I am going to start a little FYI on this subject. I have not been defeated yet. Still trying to restore the system. (Hope springs eternial)

1) You will never get to the Safe Menu if you are booting from an HPT370 contoller and it is not the first boot device.

2) Roxio sucks.

3) More to come.....

 

[MeanGene]

Well, I am at the point were it asks me if I want to delete the Windows directory which will delete all files, subfolders, user accounts, applications, security and desktop settings. it may also delete the My Documents folder.

I have not found any way to repair it as yet.

Now that is a great OS, and I actually paid for this!!!

How much are those Mac's going for now a days anyway?

We are going through a migration from 98 to Windows 2000 at work. All I can say is that the user comunity is not going to be happy. When the field tech goes out to their machine and the only thing that can be done is a reload.

The beauty of 98 was that it was actually two OS's the 16 bit one and the 32 bit one. If one failed there was a backup, a back door, a way to get to the OS and repair it. ALL NT products have had the MAJOR problem that you have to be in NT to repair NT and if you can't get into NT you are screwed.

 

[MeanGene]

Like I have said I have used the NO-recovery console to copy the reg hives from the repair folder to the Windows\system32\config folder with the same results. Last Known Good does not work, so the whole idea of Windows Automated restore is invalid and worthless.

The repair console is very limited, not even xcopy, and I would need to know what driver was causing the problem in order to stop it.

I guess what I am saying is this. Windows 98SE had a automatic skip driver agent. If this problem occured with 98 it could get around it. 98 automatically made backups of your registry going 5 back and you could increase that via an ini file.

XP the "Better" OS?? does not have this ability and cannot have it, because it cannot repair itself. And it only has itself. It is a 1985 OS, period, and has all of the flaws to show it. The exact same flaws that NT, W2k have. It's fine on a server, were you always have good Hardware or should. But on the desktop it is doomed to failure.

 

[MeanGene]

I loaded another instance of XP. No bootup.log could ever be created it could not get that far.

 

[PsychoSpongeBob]

Not sure if its too late but you did say it was a driver update and I doubt it would be this easy but try to do a roll back of the driver in device anager.
Unless all the other stuff you have tried has made a roll back null and void by now.

Just a quick thought