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Using XP System Restore Offline

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tomos:
Given the extra info the method I would use to restore the system, (which, personally, I never had any luck with on XP so I removed it from all subsequent installs), would be:

1) Boot from a BartPE/WinPE based CD/drive and copy any important data to another external/internal HDD.
2) Download an XP Home ISO, (supposedly legal if you have a license), and perform an 'Install/Repair in place'.

The XP installer should pick up the existing installation, unless it is severely munged, and give you the option to repair it.
-4wd (March 13, 2010, 04:28 AM)
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I thought 'repair' didnt work with XP home (well I read that somewhere - after an unsuccessful repair attempt)

4wd:
I thought 'repair' didnt work with XP home (well I read that somewhere - after an unsuccessful repair attempt)-tomos (March 13, 2010, 09:10 AM)
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AFAIK, it will work for both Home and Pro - admittedly I've only ever done it with Pro and it's always worked.

Just to make it clear, this is the second 'Repair' option you're offered, (the first takes you to CLI based command repair), once it's detected there's a previous XP installation on the HDD.

You do have to make sure you're using the same version, (Pro/Home), SP revision and distribution, Retail/OEM.

ie. The install CD you're using to repair has to exactly match what's already installed.

More info here for XP in-place Upgrade as MS call it.

Or the main page for all their versions.

Given the extra info the method I would use to restore the system, (which, personally, I never had any luck with on XP so I removed it from all subsequent installs), would be:-4wd (March 13, 2010, 04:28 AM)
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It meant to read that I never had any success with XP's System Restore so that is what I removed from subsequent installs.

My tenuous grasp of English grammar deserted me at that point.   :-[

'Install in place' has always worked for me except where I had severely nobbled the existing installation.

MerleOne:
Thanks all,

The PC to repair is equipped with a set of recovery CDs.  A 1st one proposes a XP home installation, together with access to the recovery console, the 2nd one just installs a copy of Windows in another folder, c:\windows.0\.

If I want to perform an "installation in place", I guess I should use the 1st one.

MerleOne:
You mention that you can't boot to Safe Mode or Last Good Config but not whether you can boot to CLI or not.

If you can boot to CLI then you can use System Restore as given here.
-4wd (March 12, 2010, 03:45 PM)
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I just tried to boot to CLI mode : "no go".  It freezes at the moment where the XP safe mode is displayed (white text on back screen) at the four corners of the screen, the pointer appears and it won't go further.

4wd:
It sounds like some of the base system files have been munged beyond repair so an Install in Place might be the only way to go if you really want to recover the existing system.

However, if some or parts of the registry were affected, (or installed program dependencies have also been affected), it may not be possible to recover to the point where all the previously installed programs will work correctly.

In that case a full reinstall might be the only option after recovering any important data via BartPE/WinPE.

It should also be noted that an Install in Place will also wipe any Service Packs or Hotfixes that were done after the initial system installation - at least, it always has here.

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