Re: New Undocumented Feature! Spontaneous File Relocation

A) This machine came with a pre-installed version of XP. There *is* no
reinstallation/repair disc. The OEM owns the liscense, not the end-user.
Can such a repair be performed with another installation disc, or would it
require the same product key code? i.e., using my personal version of XP to
fix a work computer?

B) What is to stop files from spontaneously relocating again during a
backup cycle? Is this a once in a lifetime event? Should I be recording
this for posterity?


"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> You'll have to locate your Windows XP CD and Product Key
> and perform a "repair install".
>
> How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
>
> How to replace lost, broken, or missing Microsoft software or hardware
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Gunslinger92" wrote:
>
> | This is the tale of two OS's. Last week, due to some power surges, a hard
> | drive running windows 2000 was tweaked just enough to not allow windows to
> | boot. So I transferred the hard drive to a second computer, and transferred
> | all the documents and data files to an XP hard drive. Once the files were
> | backed up, I proceeded to (oh so carefully) reformat the 2000 drive, and
> | successfully managed to *not* demolish the XP drive. After disconnecting the
> | XP drive from the machine, so as not to try and install two OSs on the same
> | partition, I proceeded to reinstall windows 2000 on the previous windows 2000
> | hard drive.
> |
> | Upon installation, and the subsequent patching, AV software, and copying of
> | the backups, the newly refurbished windows 2000 drive was removed to be
> | placed into its original case. But all was not well.
> |
> | When the two drives were in the same machine, it was treated as a dual boot
> | system, and asked whether I wished to boot into 2000 or XP. After removing
> | the 2000 hard drive, the dual boot option was still there. Not thinking too
> | much of this remaining option, I selected XP. Lo and behold, the XP machine
> | attempts to boot into...Windows 2000! Not surprisingly, it couldn't do so.
> | Thinking perhaps I had selected the wrong option by mistake, I tried again
> | with the same result.
> |
> | Now the machine will not boot into XP. It will not boot into 2000, unless
> | the hard drive that actually has 2000 on it is installed in the machine.
> | The backup files from the 2000 computer were only copied to the desktop, not
> | the system folders. When in 2000, the XP drive can still be accessed and
> | files can be moved between the two hard drives. The windows 2000 drive runs
> | normally.
> |
> | The OEM feels that some 2000 files must have gotten into the XP system to
> | cause this problem, but are at a loss as to how exactly it could occur
> | without a picture of a patron saint appearing on the case or a microscopic
> | black hole appearing inside the room and causing quantum time-space
> | distortions, thus briefly suspending the laws of cause and effect.
> |
> | Are there ANY solutions to a problem like this? The only other options are
> | to reformat/reinstall XP on this machine, which will be fun because there is
> | no installation disc, or pay the "Help" Desk to just *try* and look at the
> | problem, with no garaunteed solution.
>
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: re-install windows
    ... Before you install your new hard drive, you may want to take this ... using Windows XP "prettifications". ... Why you should use a computer firewall.. ... How to Defragment your hard drives ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: 2 SATA drives and 1 IDE drive Not Recognized
    ... I tried to install the motherboard driver utility from the original CD- ... ROM within Windows. ... LifeGuard to find out if it sees the drives. ... Then just update the drivers if newer versions are available on the web site ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: 2 SATA drives and 1 IDE drive Not Recognized
    ... I tried to install the motherboard driver utility from the original CD- ... ROM within Windows. ... LifeGuard to find out if it sees the drives. ... Then just update the drivers if newer versions are available on the web site ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: 2 SATA drives and 1 IDE drive Not Recognized
    ... I tried to install the motherboard driver utility from the original CD- ... ROM within Windows. ... LifeGuard to find out if it sees the drives. ... Then just update the drivers if newer versions are available on the web site ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Can Only Boot with Boot CD in Drive
    ... install are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd Windows, THAT became the C: ... When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always refers to my drives backwards ... ... Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master position on the Primary IDE controller. ... When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really sure I know how to do that. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)