Right you are, I meant SP 1--I was thinking of the SP on my XP machine.
Thank you *very* much for all this excellent information. I understand
everything you've told me about putting XP on my machine, and I'll look up
"external USB enclosure" and "drive-to-USB adapter"; that sounds like the
easier method.
Very much appreciate your help,
Joan
"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OLyueaZTJHA.1184@xxxxxx
Quote:
>A Baffled User wrote:
> Quote:
>> Running Vista 32 Home Premium, 3 GB RAM. For months now, I've been trying
>> unsuccessfully to install the MS updates that show up on my computer. The
>> first near disaster was SP 2, which began an endless loop of Stage 1, 2,
>> 3
>> with percentage meters followed by a restart of the whole process.
>
> You must mean SP1. SP2 is still in beta. I'm going to assume you really
> meant SP1. If you installed a beta Service Pack, then having problems with
> it is no surprise. Thou Shalt Not Install Beta Software on anything but a
> testbed machine or on one you are prepared to wipe and clean install.
> Quote:
>> To bypass that problem, I performed a system restore and have been
>> trying,
>> with only occasional success, to install subsequent MS updates. I.e., I
>> choose one update on the list of any given day, install it, and wait to
>> see
>> what happens. If restart is successful, great. More often than not, it's
>> unsuccessful and I have to use system restore to get the computer
>> functioning properly again.
>>
>> So last night I tried to install the first of four updates dated November
>> 11 (I had been away for two weeks). When the endless loop action
>> described
>> above began, I did what I usually do: tapped the F11 key in hopes of
>> getting, as I've always been able to before, to the system restore
>> screen.
>> Either I made a mistake and clicked system recovery when I meant to click
>> system restore or else system restore wasn't even offered as an option.
>> In
>> any case, I suddenly found myself looking at a screen that was starting a
>> system recovery operation. I.e., all my data would be lost.
>>
>> I immediately turned off the computer and tried to go to safe mode. No
>> dice. Got a black screen saying something about the boot and that Windows
>> hadn't started normally, I should insert a Windows installation disk. I
>> tried inserting one of the three DVDs I had been told by the computer to
>> create in case of emergency, but that did no good, either.
>>
>> Now, when I turn on the computer and click F8, I get the message "BOOTMGR
>> is missing, Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart. When I do, I get the same
>> message. I've called Hewlett Packard, which manufactured the computer,
>> and
>> they say my only choice now is to perform a system recovery. So two
>> questions:
>>
>> 1. Is there any way to get my data off the hard drive before I perform
>> the
>> system recovery?
>> 2. Can I buy Windows XP and put it on this machine?
>
> 1. Pull the hard drive and put it in an external USB enclosure. Attach it
> to
> a working computer and copy your data onto the working machine's hard
> drive. You can also use a drive-to-USB adapter.
>
> 2. Restore your computer to factory condition using HP's method. Do the
> updates before you install anything else but *after* you remove the HP
> preinstalled garbage, including whatever antivirus trial version they
> include. If you still can't update an optimized factory-restored machine,
> then contact HP tech support because something is wrong with your
> computer.
> I've updated numerous HP machines to Vista SP1 and subsequent updates with
> no problems.
>
> I'm not convinced that replacing Vista with XP will help, but here is some
> general information about doing that:
>
> On an OEM (HP, Sony, etc.) computer:
>
> 1. Go to the OEM's website and look for XP drivers for your specific model
> computer. If there are no XP drivers, then you can't install XP. End of
> story. If there are drivers, download them and store on a CD-R or USB
> thumbdrive; you'll need them after you install XP.
>
> 2. Check with the OEM - either from their tech support website or by
> calling
> them - to see if you will void your warranty if you do this. If you will
> void the warranty, you make the decision.
>
> 3. If the OEM does support XP on the machine, call them and see if you can
> have downgrade rights and have them send you an XP restore disk. This will
> be far the easiest and best way of getting XP on the machine. With HP
> machines, this is really preferable to doing a standard clean install with
> a retail XP install disk.
>
> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...alling_Windows - What
> you will need on-hand
>
> 4. If XP is supported on the machine but the OEM doesn't have an XP
> restore
> disk for you, understand that you'll need to purchase a retail copy of XP
> from your favorite online or brick/mortar store.
>
> 5. Also understand that you will need to do a clean install of XP so if
> you
> have any data you want, back it up first.
>
> 6. If none of the above is applicable to you because you can't run XP on
> that machine (see Item #1 above), return the computer and purchase one
> running XP instead.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>