Re: problem reformating xp home

I wonder if the "drive or device is unavailable" message is referring to the
hidden partition that contains the files to perform the recovery, or if it's
referring to the state of the hard disk itself.

If that computer has a floppy drive installed, you could run the fdisk/mbr
command, as stated in the "Recovery fails after using Fdisk to partition the
hard drive" portion of the HP Document, "Troubleshooting System Recovery
Problems in Microsoft(R) Windows XP":
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bph07144#N10103
To run that command, you would need a WIN98 startup floppy disk (or the set
of six XP Setup disks, from which you could invoke the Recovery Console and
run the fixmbr command). The d/loadable files to create either of these are
available from here (the link for the XP Setup Disks brings you to the MSKB
article from whence you can d/load the appropriate file):
http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
For the WIN98 startup floppy disk, click on the link for Windows 98 SE,
Custom, No Ramdrive and d/load the file to hard drive (do NOT d/load the
file directly to a floppy disk, as this does NOT create the startup disk).
Once the file is d/loaded, put a formatted floppy disk in the drive and then
double-click on the d/loaded file in order to create the startup disk.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"jesse" <jesse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:458A6DF0-4B1E-45E9-89F9-6D23E021F430@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ok we just tried to start recovery in windows and it said that the drive
or
> device you are trying to connect to is not available or something like
that.
> can i get around that one or what man i need help lol
>
>
> "Patti MacLeod" wrote:
>
> > Okay, I thought that you had only attempted to start the Recovery from
> > within Windows, not by invoking it outside of Windows when the computer
is
> > first starting/restarting (and prior to loading Windows).
> >
> > If you are able to boot into Safe Mode (following the instructions given
to
> > you by Rich Barry), and the computer does not automatically lock up, the
> > follow the instructions in this MSKB article for the virtual memory/page
> > file problem:
> >
> > Error Message: Your System Has No Paging File, or the Paging File Is Too
> > Small
> > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=315270
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > --
> > Patti MacLeod
> > Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
> >
> > "jesse" <jesse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > news:4F1A0CE1-B692-46F4-A113-E5F16872B714@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > thank you patti but that's what i've been trying to do and it comes up
> > with
> > > "not enough virtual memory or the pageing file is to" and it just cuts
off
> > > like it's jut putting up part of a widow. need major help pls.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Patti MacLeod" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi jesse,
> > > >
> > > > Have a look at this information from HP's support site:
> > > >
> >
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?cc=us&docname=bph07145&lc=en
> > > >
> > > > If you're having problems starting the recovery process from within
> > Windows,
> > > > click on the link in the above-mentioned site for "Recovering the
system
> > > > without using Windows".
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Patti MacLeod
> > > > Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
> > > >
> > > > "jesse" <jesse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > > > news:8EBED0A7-02F3-44D2-B731-8665538223EC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > > ok this is it we have a few year old hp desktop and it's fubared
> > thanks to
> > > > > nasty virus "bloodhound" and we want to reformat. we have the one
with
> > the
> > > > > recovery partition and no disks; the problem is that we can't get
the
> > > > > recovery section of puter to startup. Tried to find where to
start it
> > up
> > > > > while running, and tried to crash system. When we crash the system
the
> > > > > recovery starts then before the program kicks in it comes up with
a
> > cutout
> > > > of
> > > > > a window that sais something like "not enough virtual memory" and
> > > > something
> > > > > about the pageing file" then it kinda like crashes again and
starts up
> > > > like
> > > > > normal. the problem is now that we can't get a thing to start up
at
> > all
> > > > now.
> > > > > windows starts up automaticaly locked up and just shuts itself
down
> > after
> > > > > about 15 min. please just let me know what i can do to startup in
safe
> > > > mode
> > > > > to fix the prob. enough to destructive recovery.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> >
> >
> >


.

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    ... > hidden partition that contains the files to perform the recovery, ... > referring to the state of the hard disk itself. ... > For the WIN98 startup floppy disk, click on the link for Windows 98 SE, ... No Ramdrive and d/load the file to hard drive (do NOT d/load the ...
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