I'm upgrading from XP Home to Pro and I'm running into a problem during an install which is probably with a boot loader. I've got an ISO disc and the upgrade went as far as copying the files for setup, but when it reboots the computer, I get two problems:

1. If I let it go without booting from the install disc, it comes to the screen where I can either start XP Pro (used to be XP Home) or the System Recovery. It then tries to load the unfinished install of Windows XP Pro, crashes, restarts, and goes on in a loop.

2. If I try to let it boot from the install disc, it re-does the last step where it copied the files. After it finishes that, it reboots, and returns to problem #1.

Is there any way I can get around the boot loader and let it continue the unfinished install? I'm guessing the System Recovery program isn't what I'm looking for here...

3/1/2006 5:23:17 PM

Microsoft guys would be on campus today.

3/1/2006 5:35:27 PM

Alright, I've apparently gotten around the bootloader to the "Advanced Options Menu":

Quote :

"Safe Mode SM w/ Networking SM w/ Command prompt Enable Boot Logging Enable VGA Mode Last Known Good Configuration Directory Services Restore Mode (WIndows domain controllers only) Debugging Mode Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure Start Windows Normally Reboot Return to OS Choices menu"

Doing a clean install of XP Pro is really a last last resort because my pc came preloaded with a lot of software that I don't have backed up and can't reinstall. My dumbass also forgot to backup my personal stuff. Any ideas where I can go from here? Come on guys, please help out ASAP.

[Edited on March 1, 2006 at 5:42 PM. Reason : .]

3/1/2006 5:38:22 PM

1) Do some Googling for where XP Pro stores files when it installs.
2) Download NTFS for Dos from bootdisk.com, boot into the drive, delete files,
3) Profit.

3/1/2006 5:55:31 PM

I tried googling NTFS for DOS and couldn't find anything on it, just links to forums.
Alright, I found it. Do I just burn it to a CD-RW or something and try to boot to the CD? I don't have floppy support...

[Edited on March 1, 2006 at 6:30 PM. Reason : .]

3/1/2006 6:11:25 PM

ntfs4dos
http://www.datapol.de/dpe/freeware/

3/1/2006 6:15:31 PM

Anybody have any idea where the installation/setup files are saved? I guess at this point, I'll just delete those files, boot back into XP Home, backup my shit, and then do a clean install.

3/1/2006 6:31:21 PM

bttt come on, this is urgent

3/1/2006 7:14:09 PM

so did you do a repair install when you upgraded?

3/1/2006 7:15:56 PM

No, I just ran the regular upgrade.

Question, would Norton/Symantec Ghost be able to help me out?

3/1/2006 7:22:31 PM

if you made a ghost image of your machine prior to installing pro it would work.

i'd give a repair install a try tho before an all out wipe.

stick the disk in, boot to setup, when it says install/recovery/exit choose install

should find your existing windows installation and ask if you want to repair it.

repair installs blow away the system files and replace them with whats on the disk, but leave your registry, drivers, other software intact.

3/1/2006 7:25:01 PM

How about this:

Boot to the Ghost cd and store the image of my HD on a different partition or on a USB hard drive.

Do a clean XP Pro install

Load the image with Ghost Explorer and copy individual files that I didn't back up.

Should that work?

3/1/2006 7:37:20 PM

sorta.

you could grab individual files out of the ghost image using ghost explorer. This way you can just drag and drop stuff from the image to your comp.

As far as having it automatically restore specific bits i've tried it with ghost.

either way unless you can restore registry changes you may still have to reinstall alot of software. But atleast you wont loose your data.

I would suggest

backing it all up with ghost.

do a repair install

if repair install doesn't work, wipe it and restore files from the image.


Just make sure you get a complete disk image

3/1/2006 7:40:44 PM

Yeah, it'll let me copy the new install files again, but then it'll try to reboot, and then the bootloader issue comes up again. I guess I'll go with Ghost.

Yeah, I figure I won't be able to backup the software, but it's better than losing files that I really can't do without.

[Edited on March 1, 2006 at 7:44 PM. Reason : .]

3/1/2006 7:42:54 PM

Hope you got everything resolved. Clean installs are usually the way to go ... I can't tell you the number of random problems that get imported with upgrades and the number of NEW random problems that always seems to show up. Never have that problem with a clean install.

As somebody else mentioned though, you'll have fun doing the driver/software/customized settings reinstallation.

3/2/2006 5:36:53 AM