SP3 cant uninstall

[Tootech]

Hi David,

 

Can we take a breather and look at what info we have before going any further.

 

We 'Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Helper's' have had a chat about this one and think it would be useful to gather a bit more information from you.

 

You've mentioned that your PC is an HP - can you let us know what model it is.

 

Most HP's have a recovery partition, which is hidden in normal use and can be accessed during bootup by pressing F10 - is that something your are familiar with?

 

You have mentioned attempting to install Windows XP, but couldn't because setup couldn't find a hard drive - there are a couple of possibilities here, but for now, can you let us know if your XP CD is an HP Recovery CD, and if not what CD you do have.

 

One other thing, we are talking about doing some major work on your Windows installation - do you have data on your PC that needs backing up, just incase things go wrong. For example, emails, music, documents.

 

Thanks

[david87654321]

i really appreciate the effort you guys are putting in. thanks.

 

its a hpxw4300 workstation

i have a hp operating system cd for installing microsoft windows xp professional service pack 2. i also have a HP restore plus cd.

 

not familiar with the recovery partition.

will back stuff up just now.

[david87654321]

all stuff backed up

[Tootech]

You've mentioned that everything seems to work ok in Safe Mode.

 

I'm wondering if, before running a recovery it might me worth using MSCONFIG to disable all non essential processes and running your PC in normal mode to see if it does infact run ok.

 

Are you comfortable with that?

 

Run MSCONFIG - do it from Safe Mode if it's easier, click Start, then Run, then type msconfig. Click on the Services tab, tag the box Hide All Microsoft Services. The items left are non essential to Windows running - click Disable All.

 

Next, click the Startup tab, again click Disable All - Windows will re-enable one or two of them, but that's fine. Click Apply, then restart you PC.

 

If it starts and runs ok in normal mode, try getting on the internet and running Windows Update.

 

If it doesn't make any difference then its recovery time.

 

If it does make a difference let us know and we'll try and fish out the junk.

 

The other option is to run a recovery straight off. The problem with the repair you tried was that you have a SATA hard drive, for which Windows doesn't have a driver - hence it cannot see it. Normal practice is to use a floppy drive and point Windows to the floppy during setup. It is a documented grumble with your machine (I have found out today!).

 

The way to do it is to run your Recovery Plus CD and follow the instructions

 

I took this from the manual for your machine

 

[ATTACH]274[/ATTACH]

 

So, as long as you have all the CD media that came with your unit this option would put it back to factory standard.

 

Phew, that's about it for the moment, let us know how things go

Edited September 27, 2009 by Tootech

[david87654321]

will give it a go. and let you no how i get on.

 

It is a documented grumble with your machine (I have found out today!).

looks like we are both learning then lol

[Tootech]

Yep, I'm always learning!

 

Here's the link I referred to:

 

Business support forums - HP xw4300 Workstation Windows XP SP 2 Install Fail

[david87654321]

used restore cd and everything is running like new.

ran windows update and have sp3 working fine.

must of been somethin i installed or done wrong before.

thanks very much for all your help and have a very merry christmas.

[DirtyPolo]

We are always glad to help,

I'm sure everyone that put time and effort into helping you will be glad that it got sorted :)

And a Merry Christmas to you too!

Edited December 25, 2008 by DirtyPolo