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joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

[XP Home] XP Repair Install: "Repair" Option Missing

I've tried 4 different Win XP Home and Pro CD's and none will give me the "R" option after the license agreement. It is a Dell 8200 series PC.

Any suggestions??

Joe P

jp0469
JP
join:2000-12-13
Rochester, MA

jp0469

Member

You have to continue as if you are doing a fresh install and then select the partition where Windows is already installed. Setup will recognize the existing installation and then ask if you want to repair it.

JP

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

1 edit

joepwpb

Premium Member

said by jp0469:

You have to continue as if you are doing a fresh install and then select the partition where Windows is already installed. Setup will recognize the existing installation and then ask if you want to repair it.

JP
That path will take you to a reinstall. There is supposed to be a screen after the license agreement to choose "R" for repair and its not there.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup


Joe P

»The Broadband Reports Windows XP FAQ »How do I repair Windows XP?

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

said by joepwpb:

said by jp0469:

You have to continue as if you are doing a fresh install and then select the partition where Windows is already installed. Setup will recognize the existing installation and then ask if you want to repair it.

JP
That path will take you to a reinstall. There is supposed to be a screen after the license agreement to choose "R" for repair and its not there.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup


»The Broadband Reports Windows XP FAQ »How do I repair Windows XP?
That's correct, you do not want the Recovery Console. You want the 'Repair' option that comes later.

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

said by AB57:

That's correct, you do not want the Recovery Console. You want the 'Repair' option that comes later
Now all I need is to discover why I don't have that option...

Joe P

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

said by joepwpb:

said by AB57:

That's correct, you do not want the Recovery Console. You want the 'Repair' option that comes later
Now all I need is to discover why I don't have that option...
If you say so. Seems odd enough. You're satisfied that you've gone far enough?
If so, the only thing I can figure is that you must need the CD that belongs to that particular installation. You did say that you had tried several different ones. I'm not sure if that should make a difference or not, but apparently it may.

BK3
join:2001-04-10
Geneva, IL

BK3 to joepwpb

Member

to joepwpb
You need to use the XP version and type that was installed, IE if Home OEM was installed, you need a Home OEM version to repair it, likewise with Pro. However, if the winXP installation is screwed up enough, no install CD will recognize it as a valid install, and the repair option may not appear.
You do not need to use the specific CD, just the same version / type.
Also, be prepared with your license key, you may need to enter it.

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

said by BK3:

You need to use the XP version and type that was installed, IE if Home OEM was installed, you need a Home OEM version to repair it, likewise with Pro. However, if the winXP installation is screwed up enough, no install CD will recognize it as a valid install, and the repair option may not appear.
You do not need to use the specific CD, just the same version / type.
Also, be prepared with your license key, you may need to enter it.
I and the Dell Tech on the telephone with me used the CD that came with the PC and my Pro and Home CD and none of them would produce that screen to use the "R" option.

Joe P

BK3
join:2001-04-10
Geneva, IL

BK3

Member

said by joepwpb:
said by BK3:

You need to use the XP version and type that was installed, IE if Home OEM was installed, you need a Home OEM version to repair it, likewise with Pro. However, if the winXP installation is screwed up enough, no install CD will recognize it as a valid install, and the repair option may not appear.
You do not need to use the specific CD, just the same version / type.
Also, be prepared with your license key, you may need to enter it.
I and the Dell Tech on the telephone with me used the CD that came with the PC and my Pro and Home CD and none of them would produce that screen to use the "R" option.

Joe P
Then it may be that the WinXP installation on your HDD is too messed up to be properly recognized as a repairable installation. This can occur if:

1) There is a defect with your hard disk.
2) There is a missing/unreadable hive or hives in your registry.
3) There is a problem with your file system, your MBR or partition table.
4) You have a virus or Malware or use a utility like Norton GoBack.

Unless there is data on the HDD that you need to save, it may be best to reformat the drive and do a fresh install. Another option may be to do a fresh install on a different drive, then set up your current drive as a slave, and recover data from it.

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

BK3...

This is a running system with none of those problems you listed but it is experienciing problems installing USB printers. HP and Dell recommend a Repair of Windows but neither can explain why I cannot get the "R" option to do the repair. Needless to say, I am desperately trying to avoid a format and reload. My objective is to somehow salvage this thing!!

Thanks

Joe P

»[XP Home] Reinstalling USB Controllers

BK3
join:2001-04-10
Geneva, IL

BK3

Member

Hmmm, that puts a different spin on things. In that case, I really don't know. I have never encountered your situation before. Sorry that I can't be of more assistance.

BobbytheBrain
@sbcglobal.net

BobbytheBrain to joepwpb

Anon

to joepwpb
You know, I tried the same to do the same thing today. Could it be that the OEM edition does not have the repair feature? Seems like the OEM version can do nothing other that install a fresh copy of XP.

Barbara Ann
MVM
join:2000-10-17
Canada

Barbara Ann to joepwpb

MVM

to joepwpb
My Dell OEM version of WinXP Home that came with my Dimension 9150 has no 'R' option, just a fresh install!!!!!!!!!
I found out the hard way in trying a repair a while back with a Dell teck guiding me on the phone and I thank my lucky stars I had Acronis True Image.

I couldn't boot and after installing a fresh copy of WinXP, I installed Acronis TI and did a restore.

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

said by Barbara Ann:

My Dell OEM version of WinXP Home that came with my Dimension 9150 has no 'R' option, just a fresh install!!!!!!!!!
I found out the hard way in trying a repair a while back with a Dell teck guiding me on the phone and I thank my lucky stars I had Acronis True Image.

I couldn't boot and after installing a fresh copy of WinXP, I installed Acronis TI and did a restore.
Thanks Barbara Ann...

I had suspected that there may be a restriction on that Dell CD but none of the Dell Techs knew that!! As I stated in an earlier post, in addition to the Dell Reinstallation CD, I tried several different XP CD's but was not able to get the "R" option. Do you know what the "trick" is to get an XP CD to show the "R" option screen??

Thanks

Joe P
Shootist
Premium Member
join:2003-02-10
Decatur, GA

Shootist

Premium Member

said by joepwpb:
said by Barbara Ann:

My Dell OEM version of WinXP Home that came with my Dimension 9150 has no 'R' option, just a fresh install!!!!!!!!!
I found out the hard way in trying a repair a while back with a Dell teck guiding me on the phone and I thank my lucky stars I had Acronis True Image.

I couldn't boot and after installing a fresh copy of WinXP, I installed Acronis TI and did a restore.
Thanks Barbara Ann...

I had suspected that there may be a restriction on that Dell CD but none of the Dell Techs knew that!! As I stated in an earlier post, in addition to the Dell Reinstallation CD, I tried several different XP CD's but was not able to get the "R" option. Do you know what the "trick" is to get an XP CD to show the "R" option screen??

Thanks

Joe P
I own and work on many Dell PC's and have never had a problem using any Dell supplied XP CD to do a repair install on any Dell PC. Could you please post a screen shot of the screen you get just after the license agreement.
To my knowledge there are NO restrictions place on the Dell supplied CD to only do a full/new install of the OS.
The only time I did not get the repair option was when the system was furbar, but not to the point it would not boot. To get the repair option the XP CD setup routine must see certain files on the disk. If those files are corrupted then you don't get the repair option because the setup routine can't see you have a version of XP on the drive. But I have had it where the PC still booted into the OS.

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

said by Shootist:

You may be correct in stating that "The only time I did not get the repair option was when the system was furbar" because that is what I was told by more than one Dell Tech, well not exactly "fubar"!! Their exact explanation was that if the system could not be "repaired" then the "R" option on the third screen would not be available. I wouldn't say the system is fubar by no means because it boots and everything runs fine except for any USB devices. (The USB controllers need to be reloaded via the Resource CD because they will not reload upon removal from Device Manager and a reboot »[XP Home] Reinstalling USB Controllers ). In the last two days I've been in 2 lengthy chat sessions, 1 remote access by Dell, and have had 4 very lengthy phone calls from more than one Dell Tech and they have not been able to get the controller drivers to load or get access to the "repair" option.

I assure you that the screen following "ENTER" at setup and F8 for the license is not the repair option when using the Dell Reinstallation CD or the two XP discs I have from other PC's. I cannot explain it but I do know that all efforts by me and Dell have failed to get that "R" option. If you know of some trick to do so please let me know.

Thanks for your input.

Joe P
RdKryton
Premium Member
join:2002-03-17
Downingtown, PA

RdKryton to joepwpb

Premium Member

to joepwpb
said by joepwpb:

BK3...

This is a running system with none of those problems you listed
Maybe I missed something but I would run chkdsk /f and see if that clears up the USB problems.

Jim

jap
Premium Member
join:2003-08-10
038xx

jap to BobbytheBrain

Premium Member

to BobbytheBrain
said by BobbytheBrain :

... Could it be that the OEM edition does not have the repair feature? Seems like the OEM version can do nothing other that install a fresh copy of XP.
Compaq Laptop XP-homie OEMs now have a Compaq interface between the user and MS system restore & replace/reload tools and called the whole mess "restore". The selection of each option is hidden behind an optional "Advanced" button on the 4th or 5th screen and if you choose "normal" restore defaults you get a complete over-right of any file location that is somehow access-controlled by the OS: user accounts, everything under MyDocs, all appdata, etc.. Worse, the Compaq GUI actually lists "backing up user data" as the first executed "restore" function, failing to qualify they mean user data not in a MyPics, MyMusic, MyDocs, or a application sub-directory of \Programs\ ... which just about covers *all* user data. It's frikken criminal, but they know they are untouchable for designing it to fail.

Their BS excuse would surely be "we're protecting a thief from seeing previous user files" but certainly the real reason is MS wants to sell more retail packages so they give HP/Compaq a break on OEM costs for obfuscation. Cynical?, no -- just modern business practice, unfortunately.

joepwpb -- if your repair/restore functions are behind a Dell graphical interface then make sure to check behind all the hidden options on each screen.

BobbytheBrain
@sbcglobal.net

BobbytheBrain to joepwpb

Anon

to joepwpb
Fairly certain that modern HP/Compaq machines include the i386 directory which is suppose to be identical to what is on the XP CD. At least that was the case on my 1.5yr old Compaq. They also have include a program where you can make the restore DVD's or multiple CD's, but if i386 folder is present, that would be a better option for starting from scratch in my opinion.
Expand your moderator at work

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

Re: [XP Home] XP Repair Install: "Repair" Option Missing

Finally got the "R" option screen!!!

Thanks to a post I found on a forum (don't remember the name) I was able to boot and get to the third screen with the repair option. His post stated the following:

Repair not an available option

Reply:
"Hi, I recently had to go through the same.
The first thing to notice is if your original CD came with SP1 and you have upgraded to SP2. Second, if you have Norton goback installed and functioning you must disable it while doing repair installation.
Third, some OEM CD´s don´t repair installation without special technique. It then comes down to making a new CD from your original with SP2 using "slipstreaming" which you can GOOGLE for..."


On the first and the third tip I was OK because the original OEM Reinstallation CD was SP1 but I slipstreamed a disc with SP2 but still couldn't get the "R" screen. So that left Norton Goback which this PC just happened to have. I then chose the option to disable Goback which, unfortunately deletes all Goback recovery files, but there was no choice at this point. (this is not my PC so I was reluctant to take the chance). Once I got Goback disable, Voila I got the to the recovery routine!!! That's the good news...the bad news is the recovery went through without a hitch until the final reboot to go into Windows when I got an error:

"The file Aicy8u2.sys is corrupted"

At this point it would boot to the menu choice for Safe Mode, Start Windows Normally, etc., and all of the choices just reboot back to the menu.

So, at this point I am taking a short breather and then I will work on trying to get around that error. If anyone has any suggestions they would be welcomed.

Thanks

Joe P
Shootist
Premium Member
join:2003-02-10
Decatur, GA

Shootist

Premium Member

Well good luck on that error. I did a google search for it and nothing comes up.

Cudni
La Merma - Vigilado
MVM
join:2003-12-20
Someshire

Cudni to joepwpb

MVM

to joepwpb
the fact that there is no reference of the file (Aicy8u2.sys) on google; did you check the comp for malware?
»Security Cleanup FAQ »Mandatory Steps Before Requesting Assistance

Cudni

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

1 edit

joepwpb

Premium Member

Sorry for the typo!!!

aic78u2.sys

I tried to copy it in Recovery Console from floppy to c:\i386 but I got access denied and I could not determine the drive letter of the CD to copy it from there.

Thanks

Joe P

Cudni
La Merma - Vigilado
MVM
join:2003-12-20
Someshire

Cudni

MVM

try either letter D or E and if no luck try few more around those letter

Cudni

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

I gave up on trying to get the file copied in recovery console and connected the hard drive via a IDE-USB cable and performed the copy. It may have worked because I didn't get that error but I did get a Stop 0x0000007B. I then performed a chkdsk /r in recovery console but still got the stop error. Next, I attached the IDE-USB and ran a Windows check disk and that did not resolve the issue.

The grim reaper of reinstall is looming unless I can find a freeware disk repair program. Know of any?? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Joe P

bmantz65
join:2001-07-23
united state

bmantz65

Member

said by joepwpb:

I gave up on trying to get the file copied in recovery console and connected the hard drive via a IDE-USB cable and performed the copy. It may have worked because I didn't get that error but I did get a Stop 0x0000007B. I then performed a chkdsk /r in recovery console but still got the stop error. Next, I attached the IDE-USB and ran a Windows check disk and that did not resolve the issue.

The grim reaper of reinstall is looming unless I can find a freeware disk repair program. Know of any?? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Joe P
Have you run the drive diagnostics on the drive yet?

joepwpb
Premium Member
join:2000-12-15
West Palm Beach, FL

joepwpb

Premium Member

Yes, I ran chkdsk /r in Recovery Console and chkdsk /f in Windows, when the drive was attached to my laptop via ide-usb, there were no errors.

Thanks

Joe P