mike Posted October 8, 2005 Posted October 8, 2005 HI. My wifes pc just up and won't go to windows. It goes to the "options" of whether to choose normal, safe, and boot to last good configuration but no matter which one we try it only comes back to the same page. I am now running Spinrite on it , which will take all night. Has anyone had this happen? Quote
Madmanmcp Posted October 8, 2005 Posted October 8, 2005 Hi Mike, try the Recovery Consol and see if that helps. Start the computer with the Windows XP installation CD in the CD drive. When prompted during text-mode setup, press R to start the Recovery Console. Quote
mike Posted October 8, 2005 Author Posted October 8, 2005 Yes, I tried that madman, but unfortunately it wanted the administrator password, and though it's been awhile I don't recall ever setting one. So, I tried admin, and the ones I commonly use and got, of course, kicked out. Is there a default by microsoft, if you don't set it?? Quote
Madmanmcp Posted October 8, 2005 Posted October 8, 2005 Thats not good. Here's an article I found in the Knowlegebase but I'm afraid it won't help you and you are stuck with reinstalling. h_tp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321305 Quote
vengavenga Posted October 8, 2005 Posted October 8, 2005 Have you tried not entering an admin password? Just press return and it should accept that if you didn't set one. HTH Ali. Quote
mike Posted October 8, 2005 Author Posted October 8, 2005 (edited) Yes, I tried entering no password but it didn't like that either. I think Madman is right. And I imagine a clean install is the only way ?? Edited October 8, 2005 by mike Quote
mike Posted October 8, 2005 Author Posted October 8, 2005 whoa dobbin. I tried the "no password", ( just hit enter ), and I got to the prompt. Now I can try to figure out what's going on. Glad I tried that again, or ...... did I before. ( heh heh ) thanks Ali, I will let you all know . Quote
mike Posted October 9, 2005 Author Posted October 9, 2005 ok, so has anyone heard of a dos-based product key finder? Can't seem to find one. keyfinder.exe works .........from windows. heh heh. not from recovery console mode. ( the wife or I apparantly lost the key ) Quote
Head Guru Posted October 9, 2005 Posted October 9, 2005 If your XP was factory installed, look on the bottom or back of the PC for the Windows XP key sticker. MS requires it to be present if XP installed by factory or OEM Builder. Quote
mike Posted October 10, 2005 Author Posted October 10, 2005 Ok gang here it is: I called microsoft and they gave me a new product key. this allowed me to do a "repair install" , which I did. It now seems that the system is back on its feet and I lost no data. You KNOW how much the wifey loves me now don't you?? Thanks for all the help guys. :tchrocks: Quote
Head Guru Posted October 10, 2005 Posted October 10, 2005 Time to backup and format. Then install Linux Quote
mike Posted October 10, 2005 Author Posted October 10, 2005 Whoa there Chief, why Linux, and how much does it cost? And I've been with Microsoft quite some time; can Linux do all the good stuff? Quote
TCH-Rob Posted October 10, 2005 Posted October 10, 2005 Linux can be downloaded from the net and most versions have no cost. What good stuff do you want it to do? Quote
stevevan Posted October 10, 2005 Posted October 10, 2005 I called microsoft and they gave me a new product key. How long did they keep you on hold? And Linux can do pretty much everything that Windoze can do. Quote
mike Posted October 20, 2005 Author Posted October 20, 2005 And does Linux have all the software windows runs? Quote
stevevan Posted October 21, 2005 Posted October 21, 2005 From what I understand (and have played with)...pretty much. See this thread also. Quote
leland Posted November 23, 2005 Posted November 23, 2005 Just so you know Windows XP Home does not come from the factory set with an admin password. The password is blank and then hit enter. The only way to set a administrator password in XP Home is from safe mode. Safe mode is also the only way you can set permissions on files and directories. XP Home drives me crazy. If you must use windows and want to have the least problems XP Pro is the only way to go. As for Linux, yes, you can do everything in Linux that you can do in Windows. The main difference is you can't necessarily use Windows programs. Yoiu can use things like Crossover Office to run some Windows apps, but not all. On the plus side though there are many good open source programs that can do everything their closed source counterparts do, it just means learning something new. The best part is if there is some aspect you don't like you could always look at the code and make it work the way you want. That is the true beauty of open source. I am glad you solved your problem. I'm adding these comments to clarify what you found. Leland Quote
mike Posted November 23, 2005 Author Posted November 23, 2005 thanks, leland. that was the most information on Linux I have had. Just haven't had the time to look into it. I think I will take an extra pc and load it on and try it. thanks Quote
Madmanmcp Posted November 23, 2005 Posted November 23, 2005 The main difference is you can't necessarily use Windows programs.So we just throw away all these windows programs we spent good money on? it just means learning something new. Agian we waste the money and time we already spent learning Windows? The best part is if there is some aspect you don't like you could always look at the code and make it work the way you want. 85% of the population can not read the code and will not be able to change anything. Windows is king because you buy a PC, plug it in and it works. You don't have to do anything and thats what the users want. Users are lazy and do not want to work hard to get what they want. Linux is difficult and doesn't always work with everything you want it too and only power users will be the ones to use it. Linux may be your choice but its not going to overtake Windows until it can stand toe to toe with Windows in the "easy to use" department. Quote
TCH-Rob Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Linux is difficult and doesn't always work with everything you want it too and only power users will be the ones to use it Now Bob, you know as well as I do that Windows doesnt always work with everything either. If it did it wouldn't pay our bills. If set to use a graphical desktop environment there is not much to learn and if set up for the end user many Windows programs will run as well. The issue is change. Not how much change but the fact that there is any change. Heck, getting your average user to switch from IE to Firefox is bad enough. Quote
TCH-Bruce Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Rob, you are partially right about getting people to change but I think Bob's point is correct. Until you can buy a Linux box in a store bring it home and plug it in and start using it people aren't going to go there. You know *nix, I know *nix and it's not as simple as plug 'n pray like Windows is. Quote
Madmanmcp Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Yeah Rob, you are correct, nobody is perfect and MS is far from it. But the facts speak for themselves. Windows is on the majority of machines at this point in time because of its ease of use and its compatibility with most 3rd party products. Linux is making headway but I'm afraid its not enough to overtake the leader at this time. We'll just sit back and watch and when it does start to catch up and the oppotunity presents itself, I'll go pick up some Certs for Linux so I can get paid more for fixing things . Quote
TCH-Rob Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Bruce, I agree. At this point, unless you have someone set it up and configure it for the average user, there is no way you can get them to try it. Bob, I agree entirely. I believe it will be a long time before we see anything really give MS a run for their money in the OS side of things. Heck, for the longest time I hated XP and told myself I would never upgrade from Windows 2000. After having to use it at work I found it growing on me. Now I am running the pro version of XP at home. Each OS has its strong points and weaknesses and I use them for those purposes. Quote
TCH-Bruce Posted November 25, 2005 Posted November 25, 2005 Of all the Windows OS versions to be released I like XP the best. I've used 2000, NT4 and still use 98 on one machine in our office. Of course it's probably not so much XP that I like but the newer faster machines I run it on. Quote
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