XP pro recovery

[Farnsworth]

I have a HP Compaq laptop in need of OS recovery.

I cannot get past "Disc Read Error - Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" that eventuated after a recent Microsoft download for his XP pro OS.

I removed all personal data with Puppy.

I cannot access F8 options for a restore point fix and tried recovery console CHKDSK /R and then FIXBOOT which should have re-established F8 boot but no help. A repair install will not work as the OS is an OEM install and the only disk I have is a Retail XP pro.

The client does not really want a nuke'n pave or return to factory settings.

Any ideas?

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

Did you test the HDD? You might as well give fixmbr a shot, thou i doubt that will produce anything different at this point.

 

[tf76]

What about F11 Recovery Manager at boot?

 

[Rob_NNCC]

I second testing the HW first, but why do you not have a OEM XP Pro disk? It would be a good idea to pick one up!

 

[iisjman07]

Test hard drive, nuke the drive; if it's still broken then somethings not right

 

[Farnsworth]

Thanks for the help.

I had already tested the hard drive and it was OK.
Ended up recovering to factory settings.

 

[lcoughey]

Thanks for the help.

I had already tested the hard drive and it was OK.
Ended up recovering to factory settings.

What did you use to test the drive? I recommend mhdd for a solid drive testing program.

 

[seedubya]

A retail XP disk will accept an OEM key but not vice versa.

 

[Encrypted Existence]

A retail XP disk will accept an OEM key but not vice versa.

Is this true always?

 

[seedubya]

Never seen it to any other way - ever. Even with HPs

 

[Encrypted Existence]

Never seen it to any other way - ever. Even with HPs

Thanks. fillllllllllllllllllllllller

 

[Farnsworth]

A retail XP disk will accept an OEM key but not vice versa.

I'm sure that is just not true, well as far as I know anyway. The repair / install option doesn't come up either when using a retail disk on an OEM OS.

I really need to download a XP Pro SP3 OEM ISO, does anyone know a link as I can't seem to find one except 'cracked' torrent / warez crap (?)

 

[Chewie]

I found one on a torrent site that had the crack in a separate foler to the iso. Didn't download the crack but unRared the iso to a folder and scanned it to make sure it's clean.
Still need to install it on a test machine but it should be good to go.

 

[Farnsworth]

Thanks Chewie, I don't suppose you can provide a link here?

PS edit: Re- Preserving OEM Pre-Activation when Re-installing Windows XP (with a retail disk).
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078.aspx

 

[seedubya]

I'm sure that is just not true, well as far as I know anyway. The repair / install option doesn't come up either when using a retail disk on an OEM OS.

I really need to download a XP Pro SP3 OEM ISO, does anyone know a link as I can't seem to find one except 'cracked' torrent / warez crap (?)

If I'm wrong, then I apologise but the last time I was stuck ( which is, admittedly, probably 7 or 8 years ago) and a few times prior I used a retail disc with an OEM key. This was also definitely with a HP machine - the original install media was badly scratched and they happened to have an original (no SP) retail disk on hand which I used. It may have changed by the time one or other of the service packs was released - kinda like SP3 disks won't accept pre-SP3 keys even thought the versions and OEMs may be correct.

 

[jaydeee]

In any case you may use ubuntu live CD for fixing your hdd and recovering files.

 

[Farnsworth]

In any case you may use ubuntu live CD for fixing your hdd and recovering files.

You must have missed the 1st post, I already recovered files with Puppy and fresh oem XP reactivated with retail XP (MS knowledge base link above), but thanks anyway jaydee