I recently lost most of the functionallity of Windows XP Pro. Typically I would reload the OS yet for some reason (???) I misplaced my CD. I ordered a new one and when it arrives will be reloading. My question is, what will I need to do in loading the replacement in order to retain as much of my years worth of settings? I am good at following directions but I lack the knowledge/experience to just dive in with confidence. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Steve

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Steve
'87 300TD - 132K - Soon 4-Sale
'84 300D Turbo - 122K - Driving
'77 VW Type II - 77K - Restored
'08 250EX Ninja
English Bulldog (Brier) - My best friend. Passed away 12/02/04 while in my arms.

Use the Files and Settings transfer wizard to back it up to a DVD, Dongle or CD.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/crawford_november12.mspx



Is there a reason that you are deleting the whole partition?

If you back everything, up make sure that the files are not infected with viruses or spyware which may be causing the XP functionality issues with your current image.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

Further, you do not need to re-install XP. Just use the Restore feature -- it will return the OS to the original configuration. You will lose anything you put on after the initial installation, but you are going to get that result anyway with the new disc. Just make sure everything is backed up and virus checked first so you can rebuild.

…except if the system restore directory has been violated by malware…

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Can you be more specific about your problem? Anything in particular trigger it?

Which settings are you referring to? User preferences, IE settings, etc.? These will be stored in your user profile which is easy enough to copy. However, the reason for the failure of your OS could also have affected your user profile.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Thanks for chiming in. Restore does not correct the problem. When I select any of the users (family) the system brings up the fancy background each has selected. No icons appear. No system tray below. No "Start" button. Nothing except the wallpaper. By using ctrl+alt+del I can bring up the "task manager" and through there browse for the individual applications. Of course I can then launch and use them. That is all I can tell you so far. Reloading XP did not change it as some of you suspected it wouldn't. Current virus/worm/trojan horse scans come up empty. I still need some help. Thanks. Steve

__________________
Steve
'87 300TD - 132K - Soon 4-Sale
'84 300D Turbo - 122K - Driving
'77 VW Type II - 77K - Restored
'08 250EX Ninja
English Bulldog (Brier) - My best friend. Passed away 12/02/04 while in my arms.

Brier,

Going only on what you have said so far, it could just be a corrupt user(s) profile. Try creating a new user and login as that user. See if you get a desktop. If this doesn't work, I'd be tempted to wipe the drive and do a clean install. XP is a rock solid OS, but I don't like messing with core Windows issues. They tend to come back and haunt you. I use two hard drives in my machines so I can dump data to one, wipe the other, and then reload the OS. Is reformatting an option for you or do you have data on your hard drive that you cannot back up?

It would also be worth checking into what may have caused this to occur in the first place. I've seen all kinds of weird causes - from dodgy memory modules to inconsistent power supplies to the aforementioned malware/viruses, etc.

Have you ever used Hijack This! to scan your PC?

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

hmmm XP, eazy enough to fix, buy a mac.

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2003 VW Passat GLS 1.8t wagon 73k mi
1998 Dodge Dakota Sport 228k mi
1974 VW Karmann Ghia Coupe 74k mi (for sale)

. . . and buy Idaho potatoes, RI lobsters, off-shore sardines, Canadian blueberries . . .

I am not opposed to Mac yet I happen to have what I have and it has a problem I would love to get solved. Can you offer any help?
Steve

__________________
Steve
'87 300TD - 132K - Soon 4-Sale
'84 300D Turbo - 122K - Driving
'77 VW Type II - 77K - Restored
'08 250EX Ninja
English Bulldog (Brier) - My best friend. Passed away 12/02/04 while in my arms.

I have tried creating a new user ID and it has the same result as the previously created ones. The wallpaper appears, no icons, no start button, no signs of a system startup tray (lower right). Using ctrl+alt+del I can bring up the task manager and launch my programs. I have been to the MS site, printed and followed some of the possible solutions. When I use msconfig and start the System Configuration utility and load basic devices the icons return as does the Start and sys tray. Problem is, it won't recognize my settings for the internet, etc. ???

__________________
Steve
'87 300TD - 132K - Soon 4-Sale
'84 300D Turbo - 122K - Driving
'77 VW Type II - 77K - Restored
'08 250EX Ninja
English Bulldog (Brier) - My best friend. Passed away 12/02/04 while in my arms.

Have you restarted in safe mode?

Yes to starting in Safe Mode. I have been that route a few times to get at the Start, Run functions. As you probably suspected, that brings the icons, etc up the way they would normally appear. Problem is, the settings for connectivity and passwords are not available/valid in Safe Mode.

Before this problem happened, we had four users and all could log on and use their own presets. All stopped working properly at the same time. As to what could have caused this . . . could have been a spike/drop in the power supply, simply an OS quirk, hard to say.

I use a Firewall, two anti-virus scans that each get updated, and I use MS for regular patches, updates, security issues.

One kicker to all of this is that when I use Safe Mode one of my sons and administrator are the two choices to launch. This supposedly means something since three of the users do not show.

If I don't get a solution I'll likely remove the hard drive, put another one in and then reinstall this one (one I'm using to access this forum) for transfering some files to.
Steve

__________________
Steve
'87 300TD - 132K - Soon 4-Sale
'84 300D Turbo - 122K - Driving
'77 VW Type II - 77K - Restored
'08 250EX Ninja
English Bulldog (Brier) - My best friend. Passed away 12/02/04 while in my arms.

Here's one other thing you could try. Boot up normally and get Task Manager up. Choose "File" then "New Task(Run)". Enter "explorer.exe" in the box and see if that restores your desktop.

If not, it looks like you might have to reload Windows. Again, you can try restores, etc. but I always find that when you start getting mysterious Windows errors, it's best to reload clean.

Yeah, the double drive system is a good way to go when using Microsoft products.

I usually reload windows annually anyway, just out of habit. The OS, esp. the registry, tends to take a beating as you use it - new programs installed, others uninstalled, new driver versions, patches, etc. More and more, 3rd party software likes to leave registry keys scattered everywhere.

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon