Help! System Won't Boot

[TromboneAl]

Thanks for the help. I'm probably going to just bite the bullet and buy a new computer with XP on it.

I've gotten the W2K system running (on it now), but only through a reinstall, which means that I have to reinstall apps. For apps that keep their settings in the registry, I need to reenter my preferences etc. I also have to track down serial numbers, updates, etc.

I'll just install enough to get this system serviceable, so it will hold me until I get a new machine.

It's ironic that I've been backing up my system daily through 2005 and weekly after that, but those backups are useless. The backup app (NTBackup) worked fine for restoring when it had the data (on disk) about the backup sets, but it fails without that information.

I also had a backup from a few days ago using Nero BackItUp, but the standalone restore system has bugs in it, and simply won't work.

 

[Nords]

I'll just install enough to get this system serviceable, so it will hold me until I get a new machine.

I bet you'll be seeing quite the clearance markdowns in January...

 

[JohnP]

T-A

from your descriptions, I'm beginning to think you may have a dying hard drive... This leads to one set of problems after another that occur while you are thinking that a re-install is all that is necessary to get back to full operation.

To me, your existing data is the most important information you need to recover.

If nothing makes sense, consider getting a new $50 hard drive (one bigger than your existing drive) and copy your original data to the new drive. Remove the existing drive and then do a system-reinstall on that new drive.

JohnP

 

[F M All]

T-A, rather than spending $50 on a drive to put in an old PC, you should consider a new one - for example, in the latest catalogue, HP is offering a basic PC (probably better than any machine 3 years old or more) for $300, including monitor. If your drive is dying you want to get your data off it asap. Buy something cheap now to fix the issue and buy time to decide on your ideal replacement.

 

[TromboneAl]

Yes, I agree. I ordered a refurbished Dell 1505 laptop yesterday for a total of $639. It should be a big improvement over my current pentium 500 system.