can't repair Win XP SP2

hello,

i found this forum when I found this page from Google:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/index.php/t-66041.html

i've got some serious problems right now. I'm running Windows XP SP2. Everytime I boot up it begins to try to complete repairing Windows XP. However, each time it does so it fails at the dreaded 34 minute mark of the installation. The repair utility just stops.

to make things worse I mistakenly put a sharing property on my C drive that said that only administrators can access it. I was going to remove this property. before I did so, you guessed it, I got hit by a major virus and/or malware.

(for the record, i did comprehensive scans of my system (i.e., AdAware and Symantec) just two days before the last virus/malware came along.)

this sharing property i put on my drive is preventing me from using it as a slave to another drive, and copying my data files to safety. when i use my hard drive as a slave in another PC I get an "Access Denied" error when I attempt to read it. A network engineer confirmed that I had set up everything correctly. he says I am "locked out." He says the only way to see my data now is to boot into the installation of XP that I have.

In trying to diagnose what's happening when the repair utility fails I get into Recovery Console and look at my setupact.log. The last statement is:

c:\windows\driver cache\i386\sp2.cab was copied to c:\windows\system32\drivers\redbook.sys

i've removed just about everything that i need to run the install. i've got USB devices still enabled because i'm using a USB keyboard. (This is the only keyboard that the hard drive i'm working with recognizes.)

so, i've got a locked out drive--there's seems to be no way on Earth to remove the sharing properties I put on it without reformatting my drive, which wipes out my unsaved data.

And, Windows won't repair past the point where it copies the SP2.cab to the redbook.sys.

some questions: should I try to use diskpart to wipe out my existing boot sector? (I've never used the command before.) Should I try to repair using a different service pack? (Would SP1 work?) Should I try to install Vista on top of my existing configuration--would it have to do a complete reformat or would it preserve my data?

All help is appreciated. thanks.

 

see if you can do a chkdsk c: /f on your drive. If the drive is corrupted that might be a reason that your repair isn't completing.

Make a bartpe bootcd (takes less than 30 minutes to make) it will be more useful to run repairs (add the driveimage xml plugin so you can backup your c: drive to an external drive).

The boot sector should be fine, windows wouldn't try to load if it was bad. More than likely the c: drive is corrupted, but that can be fixed without losing any data.

 

hi jonyjoe81,

i did a chkdsk /r. the first time i ran it said that it repaired at least one bad sector. i'm running it again right now. i'll post the numbers that it reports tomorrow.

"Make a bartpe bootcd..."

offhand, i don't know what this is. i will definitely look into this tomorrow.

thanks very much for the reply.

 

Can you access the files using the information given here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

or here:

http://www.le.ac.uk/cc/dsss/docs/acls2.shtml

 

hi SpikeyB,

i'm unable to boot my PC at all, even to safe mode. this is preventing me from removing the sharing/ownership properties on my drive. (believe me, first thing i do if i ever get to safe mode is remove these properties.)

thanks,

 

"see if you can do a chkdsk c: /f on your drive. If the drive is corrupted that might be a reason that your repair isn't completing."

here are the results of the chkdsk i ran over night:

Volume created 03/26/05 01:08p
The Serial number is...
CHKDSK is checking the volume...
CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery...
CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery...
CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery...
CHKDSK found and fixed one or more errors on the volume.
78148160 kilobytes total disk sapce.
47864524 kilobytes are available.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
19537040 total allocation units on disk.
11966131 allocation units available on disk.

 

Doing a bit of googling I noticed a lot of people with CD/DVD drive related errors and redbook.sys. Might be a dodgy installed 3rd party dll causing lock ups (such as burning software). Maybe try with a different CD/DVD drive, also.

Another good tool, which is ideal for this problem, is UBCD4WIN - which is similar to BartPe, but with more recovery tools at hand. here

You can usually access files on a locked drive via a live CD. You are bypassing the operating system so have a better chance of recovering files - if any can be saved. Live CD explained

 

hi jonyjoe81,

well, i must admit BartPE is incredibly cool. I can see my data just fine. It is amazing that i've come this far.

before i go forward i should admit to having made a mistake earlier. i had confused two hard disks before (which both were shared out). BartPE helped me realize the correct one.

unfortunately, the hard disk i need to recover has the same condition as the first one. It won't repair past minute 34. I've just done a chkdsk on it and it still won't repair past minute 34.

right now i'm trying to figure out how to plug in another device to copy data files to. from BartPE, I can't get it to see any USB external drive(s). It recognizes my USB keyboard, but so far no external drive. (I may try to get a SATA external drive in a few days when stores are open again.)

i also haven't managed to get another hard disk to be recognized as a slave. it could be my disks, though. I need to get a fresh one.

one thing that's strange about Bart's website is once you've installed the executable for BartPE, it becomes very hard to find Bart's plugins again. I understand he has a data recovery plugin. I wonder whether this plugin offers some magic regarding the problem of getting the crippled PC to see an external drive.

if it isn't possible for me to use an external drive, and if Bart doesn't have any plugin that can help me, maybe i'll get a working floppy drive and format about 100 discs? No, make that about a 1,000. One thousand 648 K floppies will be good for starters.

it's Christmas Eve and my files are locked inside a machine that is in a coma. Thanks for the help so far. I really like BartPE; it certainly opens up your possibilities.

thanks,

 

i found a flash drive that my crippled PC will write to. Eureka! what a nice present for Christmas!!!

the process is a bit laborious; as i have to copy small chunks of my data to fit onto the flash drive. However, I couldn't be happier. What a relief it is to save what I needed saved.

thanks jonyjoe (and SpikeyB and KeyboardCommander) for helping out. this is a great forum. i didn't know anything about BartPE before. what a tremendous resource for broken XP machines.

thanks again.

 

That,s good.

I wonder why you did not try a linux live CD to recover data. Ubuntu live CD, or even Parted Magic live CD-- this one even runs in ram and CD is ejected once OS is loaded so you can even write ur data to a writeable CD/ DVD etc or to a USB drive/ stick etc. It has so many builtin tools. Very cool.

 

aigle,

same point was made to me by a family member at xmas dinner today. ;

I didn't realize that Linux was recommended for XP data recovery. I have used Ubuntu, but i totally forgot about it.

thanks.

 

Yep, any way your problem is solved so no worries.

 

Aigle, thanks again for the info. i've never used any of the tools you mention for data recovery. it is good to know.