Re: XP - tried to fix lost remote access -

If you can condense you long, long story to the bare minimum
then someone might take the time to give you some answers.


"Babs, I''''m Just the Wife" <BabsImJusttheWife@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote in message news:67640D9B-575B-4B2E-8FD0-7A77DB0D99DD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> This is a cross-post thread.
>
> Last Friday the morning began with an error pop-up window specific to our
> McAfee software.
> Seems the Personal Firewall Plus application was having some difficulties,
> as the error was instructing that we contact McAfee and forward a certain
> log.txt file.
>
> This seemed suspicious, so I went directly to McAfee to confirm, connected
> to McAfee's Live Tech Support.
> Their virtual technician verified a problem and the live help desk
> technician adamantly instructed me to follow a series of instructions from
> him, and from a list on one of their web pages. He seemed somewhat obscure
> when asking that I forward the log file --- I can't explain it --- but I
know
> now, I should have been listening to my gut.
>
> He insisted that varying in the least bit from his instructions would mean
> it would become necessary to uninstall the Personal Firewall Plus
application
> manually; so I was firecely attentive!
> After 5 or 6 steps into McAfee's instructions I came to a step that
required
> a system "backup" be done before proceeding..........
>
> Unbeknownst to me, --- [ and how many other unsuspecting XP users]
> ---NTBackup.exe is NOT installed on the Windows XP - Home Edition
operating
> system upon its original installation.
> I wondered if it was "missed" in the setup process so I browsed the OS's
cd
> and eventually discovered it to be "hidden" away within the Value Added
files
> (almost simultaneous to discovering this Microsoft web page info:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320820).
>
>
> I went ahead and loaded the NTBackup.exe file, initiated a system file
> backup and followed McAfee's instruction to "test" the backup file to be
> certain it worked before proceeding, it seemed to respond predictably.
> I proceeded on to the instructions of editing from within the Registry.
>
> sidebar:
> [What ever was I thinking ... ??? That I could trust the world's supposed
> foremost authority on Anti-Virus and Hack Preventions as well as creator
of
> many other helpful software applications ?? ---Unfortunately, yes.]
>
> Various keys within the registry were needed to be deleted per their
> instructions, followed by dumping the recycle bin and finally a restart of
> the pc.
>
> I then returned to the McAfee web site to proceed with getting a fresh
> install of the Personal Firewall Plus application. This is when I
discovered
> there was no longer any Internet access.
>
> I explored what could be the problem and learned that the Management
Console
> could not start the Remote Access nor either of its two dependencies. I
ran
> through the troubleshooter to see if it could be fixed with no avail.
>
> I then contacted my DSL / ISP provider for assistance.
>
> ....perhaps they would know what might have turned off the RCP and how to
> reset it ? ...
>
> Under the supervision of the senior tech at my DSL / ISP service center,
> many attempts were made to identify the problem and resolve it by
conducting
> various tests and run commands including attempting to reset the IP
protocol
> -- still -- an IP address failed to be recognized.
>
> The technician [having to apoligize numeous times] referred me to my OS's
> manufacturer for further assistance at getting to the advanced settings of
> XP's system files.
>
> So,.......... I called Microsoft and accordingly learned I had to contact
my
> pc manufacturer ( DELL ) as apparently they did not [nor, do not] install
the
> actual Microsoft product of Windows XP - Home Edition operating system
> software, rather, it's some OEM type.
>
> Sidebar:
> Including my lunch break, I am now at 6.5 hours into attempting to resolve
a
> stupid file error at the break of morn.
>
> The DELL technician brings even more to the party which at the close of
the
> day [what totaled an 11.5 hour "fit-to-be-tied, seeing-purple" day] by
> rendering my operating system to a non-functional piece of - - - - !
>
> The Dell Tech, had me try the RESTORE feature which was somehow not
"turned
> on" ... then a few run commands, then an attempted "repair" from the
> installation disk, which failed to initiate: it continuously delivered a
> message: " SETUP cannot start in safemode. Restarting computer now."
> -----Which lead the tech to decide that a "dirty" install was the last
> solution in order to recover documents and then do a hard drive formatting
> and a fresh new install.
>
> Sidebar:
> Even at my prompting, at no time did the tech caution me to backup
documents
> [thanks a lot, - - - -head] stating we were not removing any files, nor
> deleting anything, so there should not be any danger of losing documents.
He
> just kept encouraging me to follow directions.
>
> End Result:
> [1].
> Our original operating system files are gone... or - rather - no where
> obvious and pretending not to exist.
>
> [2].
> All of our documents are inaccessible. [Valuable lesson already learned,
> save your breath on lectures of imploying frequent backup behavior, thank
> you.]
>
> [3].
> The hard drive now has TWO Windows operating system installs, in which one
> does not work whatsoever [that'd be the attempted repair one] and another
> which refuses to read the original os installed files and I am not certain
it
> is working properly.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
> ****
> I decided to slave the XP hard drive to my other pc which is running
Windows
> 2000 - Professional.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
> It's quite peculiar at this point as the slave idea works to read the
files,
> but few are accessible. I was able to modify the user permissions by
adding
> an "Everyone" user and also gave "Everyone" complete control throughout
the
> propagation, but still I cannot access those documents that I need to copy
to
> disk so that I can proceed on with re-formatting the XP hard drive.
>
> My question to you:
> (Actually, I have three questions)
>
> [1].
> How can I get my Windows2000 machine to read those files in order that
they
> can be copied?
>
> [2].
> Will I be able to restore our email files from Outlook Express?
> I seem to recall trying to copy one identity to another new machine
[awhile
> back], as I recall, there were lots of problems trying to get it to
work....
>
> [3].
> After I do get to the re-formatting of the hard drive and do a clean
> install, is there some short cut to getting all of the updates and the
> service pack 2 back in place?
>
> I'd appreciate hearing thoughts and or comments, thank you.
> Babs


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