WinXP Repair Gone Bad

Problems started with loosing sound. Which led to a attemp to use WinXP CD to Repair. Thing just got worse from there.

On 7-10-10 I posted here asking about sound loss problem. I did not get any replies so I continues with Microsoft Email Tech Support. After trying everything they suggested they said to use the WinXP CD they sent me to Repair and the following instructions:
.
From your description, I understand that after installing the sound card driver, there is still no sound. If I have misunderstood your concern, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I understand the inconvenience the issue has caused. Please be assured that I will work closely with you to find a resolution.

Based on the current situation, this issue can be related to corrupted system files, I recommend following the steps below to repairing Windows to resolve this issue. All system files will be reinstalled using this method. Please understand that some applications may need to be reinstalled to upgrade files to a later version.

1. Make sure you have set your CD-ROM as the first priority boot device. You may refer to your computer manual for information on how to do this.

2. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM and reboot your computer.
Note: Please use Windows XP Installation CD.

3. When you see "Press any key to boot from CD…" on the screen, press a key to let your computer boot from the Windows XP CD.

4. When the computer boots from the CD-ROM, it will check your hardware and then prompt you the following options.

a) To set up Windows XP now, press Enter.

b) To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

c) To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

d) Please press Enter. (Note: please do not press R at this step)

5. Press the F8 key to agree the Licensing Agreement.

6. You will see your current Windows XP installation listed in a box and get the following options:

a) To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.

b) To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press Esc.

c) Please press "R".

7. Then the setup program will repair Windows XP automatically.

After repairing Windows XP, you may need to re-activate it. You can call the following number to activate Windows XP:

Toll free number: 888-571-2048
Toll number: 716-871-2929

Please try the above steps and let me know the results at your earliest convenience. If there are any questions or concerns, feel free to let me know.

I look forward to your reply.

Best regards,

Osmond,
<snip>


Microsoft Windows Support Professional

I followed the instructions shown below exactly but have a huge problem now. Everything went fine up to step 6. At that point it did not give me the option to use R=repair. It went directly into Install. After it finished it said to remove the Floppy from Drive A and let computer restart.
I don't have Floppy Drive so I removed the CD from the CD Drive.

The computer tried to restart but it keeps going from the black screen that says Monitor going to sleep to the Blue screen that gives me the option of choosing Esc=Boot, F1=Setup, and F10=System Recovery.
It keeps going from one screen to the other over and over.
I finally just shut it down by pushing the power button.
I tried starting all over and got the same result.

I don't know how to fix this. Nor do I know what to do if I choose one of those options on the blue screen.

Please help. Thanks!

 

I see you haven't had a response to this post either. Allow me to have a go, and anyone else who wants to chip in (assuming it isn't fixed yet).

I see from another of your posts that you have a PC.

First off, try turning off the computer at the wall plug to cut power completely. Even unplug it. Wait 10 seconds, then turn it on and try a reboot.

It might go back into that loop. I think it's looking for the CD, so if you can, put that back in.

If you can't put it in (like, it won't let you open the drawer), turn the PC off, then open the drawer with a paper clip or similar (inserted into the little hole in the front), put the CD in and close the drawer. Then boot again.

It's a little hard to know what to say to do next, as I don't know what it will do (assuming it does something). However, if you get the Esc=Boot, F1=Setup, and F10=System Recovery options again, I would try each one from left to right.

BTW, those instructions you posted from MS Tech Support are a little confusing, and I wouldn't have thought you should go down the Recovery Console track at this stage anyway (a bit hesitant to argue with a tech, though). If you get the CD to work, I would at Step 4 press ENTER, not R, and try a Repair Install (I half suspect that that's what the tech intended anyway).

Here's hoping.

 

Thanks for replying. Microsoft Tech never got back with me after I emailed the repair had failed on 7-10-10 so I was getting desperate.

I unpluged it and loaded the cd and started it. Went to blue screen and don't know what to do after clicking on Esc or F1. When I clicked on F10 it went into windows setup. After it loaded files I hit enter and then F8 to accept the agreement.

This is where I get the option to Enter= install or D=delete partition or F3=Quit.
I hit Enter. I get a screen saying "You chose to install windows xp on a partition that contains another operating system. Installing windows xpon this partition might cause the other operating system to function improperly.CAUTION: Installing multiple operating systems on a single partition is not recommended. To continue Setup using this partition press C. To select a different partition press ESC."

What am I suppose to do here?

Again thanks for your help!

 

It Looks like to me its time to start over. You will have to do a complete reinstall of xp. Delete the partition and Reinstall. After you Reinstall, You may find one of these two web sites super handy to reinstall various free programs all at one time.

I have used the Ninite several times, The other not yet, But net reinstall I will.


http://ninite.com/

http://www.freenew.net/

 

I deleted it and now it ask if I want to create a partition in the unpartitioned space or to hit Enter to set up Windows in the selected item. Do I just Enter or do I need to create a partition?
Thanks!

 

It also gives option to delete the unpartition space 131067 MB

 

Not sure I would have deleted yet, but since you have, I think you would now be best to create a partition (which is like setting aside a part of the disk just for Windows). It allows you to delete a bad operating system without deleting everything else, as you have hopefully just done.
It will want to know how much space you want for the partition. I've had a look and it seems that 8 GB would be good for XP plus updates and maybe your page file. You could knock it down to 6 GB if you're short of room (if you only have a small hard drive - looks like you have a 140 GB hard drive, so if you find you're not filling that up too much, you might as well go for 8 GB).
You might also want to think about whether you're ever going to put Windows 7 on that PC. If so, you might make the partition big enough for that - 16 GB recommended.

DON'T delete the unpartitioned space... that's where all the personal files and things will be.

BTW, don't connect to the Internet until you're fully ready, as the PC will probably be unprotected.

 

It installed xp. Yeah. I had XP Pro before and the CD microsoft sent me was Home Edition. But I will deal with that.. Just glad it is back working
Thanks for the help I really appreciate it.

 

Well done. Thanks for update.
Don't forget to get all the critical Windows Updates installed now - including SP3 (SP2 is no longer supported) which may not have been on the CD.

 

Well seems not everything is as it should be. Windows XP installed fine but when I tried to Update it did not install Service Pack 2 because it says I don't have enough free disk space available. Not to mention the rest of the updated I will need to install. I got Error Code:0x80070070. I had allowed 10 GB for windows or at least I think I did.
What can I do now?

 

Have a look in the partiton and see what is there. 10 GB should have been plenty. Also, check to see if it made the partition 10 GB.
BTW, did you mean SP3?

 

When XP downloads it caches the files to the hard drive, and does all sorts of goofy stuff. So if the service pack needs (hypothetically) 2GB of space, you will need more than that to be able to download and install. You should be able to re-size your partitions and make the OS one bigger if you need to, with Disk Management. It's not 100% safe for the data on either partition though...

 

Updates is showing Service Pack 2 to install. Not seeing any mention of 3.
Looking in Disk Management it shows:
Disk 0 Basic 128.00GB
Primary partition C:997 MB NTFS Healthy(system)
127.02 GB Unallocated.

How do I make it bigger?

 

The only way I know of to increase partition size is to run some software. I think there is free stuff available that will do it. Mimsy or someone may be able to help with that. I can't at the moment.
However, since you have only just installed XP, you might prefer to just make a new partition (10 GB) and reinstall XP in there, then get rid of the other partition.
RE: SP2/3 - it may be that SP2 is a prerequisite for installing SP3, so you need to install SP2 first. You should be able to find advice about that on the web.

 

I'm on my Windows 7 PC right now, but if I remember right, you can do it in Disk Management. Right-click on My Computer and pick "Manage" and then Disk Management in the list on the left. It will show you your drives and the partitions on them, and if you right-click on a partition you should get the options to "extend" or "shrink".

I can't remember how dangerous this is for the data on the drive though, so proceed with caution.

 

When I right click on C from Disk Management it brings up bos that says Open, Explore, Change Drive Letter and Paths, Properties and Help. I don't see expand or shrink.

 

They must have added that in 7 then. Drat.

Let me see if I can find some software for you. Stay tuned...

 

Lost my edit button.

Partition Wizard. I downloaded and installed it, and though the interface may look a bit over-whelming at first, it's not as bad as it seems. Click on your partition and click the Move/Resize button near the top of the window, and then just follow the prompts on the screen. I didn't apply any changes since I'm on a laptop with only one partition, but it looks pretty straight forward.

 

Sorry - didn't see Mimsy's post b4 posing this.

Had a quick look. There is an application already in XP called Diskpart, which can be used to extend a partition. Have a look here for how to do it, if you wish:
http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-tips/diskpart-windows-xp-help-use/
BTW, it would be a good idea to make copies of anything on the hard drive you can't afford to lose before doing any of these things.

 

Downloaded it and used it and it shows it fixed it to 10GB. Trying to Update windows now.
Just noticed it says I have No Audio Device now. Having no sound is what started me on this path to begin with. I have some CDs that came with either the desk top or my laptop both are HP but sadly I am not sure which they belong to. Lesson learned to lable in the future I guess. The CDs are:
Microsoft Windows XP Critical Security Updates
Application Recovery CD
WinDVD Creator 2
Driver Recovery CD Disc 1 & 2
HP Image Zone Plus
Should I install any of these?

Too late to make a copy of hard drive. It does not show anything but Windows every other program was lost in the Reinstall.

 

YES! Make back-ups! Backing up data is goooood!

katkat, HP puts all the drivers for their computers on their website, so you can download the latest ones for your specific laptop there. Start here and put in your model, and look for "downloads" and then for "audio driver".

If you don't know the model, it's typically printed on a sticker underneath the laptop.

 

This is my desktop but thanks I will go to HP site after windows finishes updating.

 

Whoooooopssss....! :-o I could have sworn I saw you use the word "laptop" earlier. LOL My bad!

And yeah, the whole drivers thing applies if you have a desktop as well, of course. Download driver, run driver exe, and hopefully that takes care of it all. If not, we're not going anywhere.

 

If there's anything you desperately need off the hard drive, it is often possible to get things back. If you need to get something, don't put anything else on the hard drive now, as adding new stuff overwrites the stuff that has "disappeared".

 

Windows did all Updates and I downloaded the driver for my Realtek AC97 Audio and I still have no sound. :cry

Also I keep getting a message that my virtual memory is low. This never happen before this reinstall. It says it is readjusting and then the message balloon goes away.

In Device Manager under Other Devices there are some yellow question marks for:
SM Bus Controller
Universal Serial Bus(USB)Controller
Unknown device
USB Wireless 802.11b/g adapter
Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

Have not had time to see what else is missing but of course all pre installed programs are gone.
It is a work in progress.

I do really appreciate all your help and suggestions!
Thanks!

 

You might want to consider just downloading and installing all the drivers for your computer. Windows XP is nearly 10 years old, the drivers that were bundled with the OS are not going to be the most current.

From here on it would really help us to know what computer you have, and what you have in it. The easiest way to get us that information is to download and run Speccy. Go to File, and pick "Save snapshot" and save it, and then attach the snapshot to your post. If it's too big, right-click on it and compress it into a .zip file. It will tell us what we need to know about your hardware, and help us help you with the sound problem.

Did you rule out your speakers by trying a different set or trying with headphones?

What size is your virtual memory and how much physical memory do you have installed? You can find out by going to your start menu and picking "Run..." and typing in msinfo32 in the window that comes up. That opens your system information window, and it will tell you both virtual and physical in the System Summary.

 

You might also go to your Sounds and Audio Devices under Control Panel and see that everything is in order there. And make sure nothing is muted under Volume Control (right click on the Speaker icon in your System tray - bottom right). Also make sure the mute option is not checked on the first tab in Sounds and Audio Devices.

 

Yes I had tried checking all the settings before ever positng the other thread on this forum. Microsoft Tech had me recheck all those things also and I checked them all again after reinstalling windows. Nothing was muted and it says everything is working properly. I tried headphones and checked other settings on speakers. They are Monitor speakers.
HP Pavilion s7520n
Total Virtual Memory:2.00GB Available Virtual Memory: 1:96GB
Total Physical Memory: 1,024.00MB Available Physical memory 375.12MB

 

Try this:

In your device manager, rightclick on everything that has a yellow question mark and uninstall it, including the unknown device, and then reboot. Now, cancel out of every single "New Hardware!" wizard you see, and manually run the new drivers.

For the SM Bus Controller and Universal Serial Bus(USB)Controller, install this driver.

For the Video Controller, install this driver.

For the USB Wireless 802.11b/g adapter, you need to find the manufacturer's website and drivers. However, according to your Speccy snapshot you are connected through a non-wireless RealTek Network card, so this one isn't strictly necessary.

As for the unknown device, well, it remains unknown, but we will get to that one as well. No worries.

Do the drivers thing first, and let us know how it's working now.

 

(I've got to go to bed--work is nasty that way--but will check back in the morning. post back with updates and we'll keep at this.)

 

I did as you said and uninstalled the yellow things and downloaded the drivers and the SM Bus Controller and Universal Serial Bus(USB)Controller instaled.
The Video Controller driver did not Install. Says "Setup was unable to complete the install. Try to setup your display adapter with a standard VGA driver before you run setup.

 

Did you end up with a yellow question mark again? If you did, repeat the uninstall process with it, and this time let the hardware wizard install the default driver it wants to install. After that, try the downloaded HP driver again.

 

There were no yellow question marks.

 

Hm, that's odd. What do you have listed as your video adapter in Device Manager? If you can find it, right-click on it and update the driver that way.

 

Could it be called something different than video adapter? I don't see anything saying video adapter. There is a Legacy Video Capture Devices & Video Codecs.

 

Your Speccy report lists only a monitor under "Graphics" (Speccy's fault, not yours) so All I know about your video card is what I got from HPs website. If you see no display adapter, video adapter, or ATI-anything listed, your device manager might not know what kind of graphics card you have.

Let's try this: Go to your start menu and open "Run...". Type in the command "dxdiag" (no " " !), and copy-paste the info from the display tab. That will tell us more about your video card and your drivers.

I'm assuming you still have a sound problem, btw. Yes? No?

(Also, I'm gaming on my PC all night, so I'm available for the next 3-4 hours, assuming I remember to check the thread. :-D )

 

Yes I have NO sound!

Humm it won't copy and paste but it says
"The system is using a generic video driver. Please install video driver provided by the hardware manufacturer. To test DirectDraw functionality, click the "TestDirectDraw" button above. Direct3D functionality not available. You should verify that the driver is a final version from the hardware manufacture."

 

OOPS! Sorry I got busy with "life" after uninstalling the yellow question marks and I think I forgot to restart after that. So when I restarted just now I had yellow question marks so I did the uninstall again. I will try to download the drivers the hardware wants and let you know from there.

 

By the way I am still getting the memory balloon every time I restart windows.

 

I did what you suggested before "For the Video Controller, install this driver." and after I restarted I now have a yellow exclamation mark on BCM5701 Gigabit Ethernet.


Sorry for the multiable post.

 

Life has an inconsiderate way of hitting us when it's least convenient. Feel free to smack "life" around as you see fit.

You still have internet though... right? If not, we have a major problem.

 

Yes I have Internet.

Yeah "life".... I have to get to bed so I function tomorrow.
Thanks for all your help!

 

I and the rest of MGs will still be here tomorrow. Don't sweat it, just keep posting.

(Internet is good! Without internet it's kind of hard to get new drivers.)

 

In the mean time, this might fix your virtual memory problem:

• Click Start, then open the Control Panel.
• Click System.
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Under Performance, click Settings.
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Under Virtual memory, click Change.
• Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file (virtual memory) settings that you want to change. Probably your C: drive.
• Click to select the "System managed size" option, then click Set.
• Click OK three times and restart your computer.

 

Thanks GCWesq I did the memory things and this time I did not get the balloon message. So far so good!

So back to my driver problems.
Network adapters, BCM5701 Gigabit Ethernet has a yellow exclamation mark.
And of course no sound.

Totally different question here. After reinstalling windows I have noticed that when scrolling down pages sometimes but not everytime it does not roll smoothly as it did before. Not sure how to explain this. Seems before when you scrolled down or up your page just moved and did not roll. Does that make sense? Also when windows loads I get flickering I did not get before. Of course now I am taking note of every little that is different.

 

Scrolling can indicate the wrong mouse driver. Flickering on your display can indicate the wrong video driver.
All I've seen, granted I read the 3 pages very fast, that it is an HP computer.
What model and numbers?
HP is very good about on site drivers so there might be some things you missed or downloaded the wrong driver for your hardware.

 

Broadcom drivers for 570x

Look under NetExtreme Drivers and grab the second from the top, the one marked "Windows XP 32-bit". Having the right driver might take care of the stuttering when you scroll web pages.

Have you tried to uninstall the AC97 sound device in device manager, reboot, and then reinstall the driver? That could take care of the sound, if not, we want to rule that out. (Driver here.) Are you getting any sounds at all, for example the start-up sound, or beeps? If not, it's also possible there's something wrong with the hardware, though hopefully not.

 

It's a Pavilion s7520n.

Feel free to check out the driver list, I haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet, and it wouldn't surprise me if I've missed something.

 

OK question??
Broadcom drivers for 570x

You said ""Look under NetExtreme Drivers and grab the second from the top, the one marked "Windows XP 32-bit".
I downloaded it and get this message.""

I did and I get this.
"Windows cannot open this file. File b57xp32.sys To open this file Windows needs to know the program that created it. Windows can go online to look automatically or you can manually select from a list of programs on your computer. What do you want to do?"

So what do i do?

I had uninstalled the driver and tried to reinstall the driver for AC97 before.
But will do it again.

 

Awesome. Apparently bundling a regular installer with the driver to make it easy didn't occur to Broadcom. LOL

Try doing it from the opposite direction. Right-click the BCM5701 in Device Manager and tell it to update the driver. Then manually browse to the folder with the driver files and follow the prompts in the windows to click on next and okay and so on when it tells you. That should install the driver.

EDIT:
If it wants you to pick a single file in the folder, pick the .inf