Reinstall: No Second Repair Option

[hksoftware]

Hi,
I'm trying to repair my windows installation.
I'm following this article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;315341

And in fact every 'repair XP pro' article on the net!
When I boot from the CD, I press enter on the first screen which asks to press 'r' to start the recovery console.
After the licence agreement, I should see this screen:

But I don't. It goes straight to the partitions screen.
I'm not getting the second repair option!

I'm 100% certain this is WinXP Pro SP2.

What can I do?!!
Thank you very much for any help.

 

[hksoftware]

*EDIT* IT SHOULD BE THIS SCREEN ABOVE!!!:

 

[bcastner]

Users who have purchased their computer from an OEM or with a pre-installed version of Microsoft Windows XP may get a Recovery CD or another non Microsoft Windows XP CD. Unfortunately these CD's often do not have the recovery console feature found with the standard Microsoft Windows XP CD.

You will have to get a "real" XP installation CD to use.

Should you purchase an OEM license version of XP?
faq779-4004

While there, install Recovery Console:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp&NoWebContent=1

 

[hksoftware]

Thanks for your reply. As far as I know this is a standard
Windows XP Pro disc. Is there any other way to repair
Windows please ?

 

[bcastner]

3. Hopefull you can find the setupp.ini file in the \i386 directory if the CD. Open it up with notepad, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're in this for. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, OEM, or volume license edition. First, we must break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, i.e. is it a retail CD that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an OEM CD that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determine what CD key it will accept.

Here are the individual values, the first and last values are interchangeable but you should keep them together:

Retail = 51882 335 <--- Yes, Recovery Console is available
Volume License = 51883 270 <--- Yes, Recovery Console is available
OEM = 82503 OEM <---- Recovery Console likely not available

 

[hksoftware]

Thanks very much. I've found a specific Microsoft article on fixing the problem I was trying to fix by reinstalling WinXP.
I'll try that.

 

[hksoftware]

I've tried Microsoft's idea but the computer restarts whenever I select safe mode.
I know someone who has a WinXP home disc. Will this do the job and allow me to repair or must it be a pro disc?

 

[bcastner]

1. You do not need Safe Mode to do a repair reinstallation of XP;

2. You cannot use an XP Home image to do the reinstallation. It will give you a message to this effect of using the wrong version if you try.

3. You really should consider using Recovery Console first, and from the Recovery Console typing chkdsk /r

To start the computer and use the Recovery Console you require the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD-ROM.

For more information about how to create Startup disks for Windows XP (they are not included with Windows XP), click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310994 (

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310994/)

Obtaining Windows XP Setup boot disks

Note To start the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, you must configure the basic input/output system (BIOS) of the computer to start from your CD-ROM drive.

To run the Recovery Console from the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD-ROM, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted.

2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the Recovery Console.

4. When you are prompted, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.

5. Type: chkdsk /r and then press Enter.

6. To exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer, type exit at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.