Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 Hi, my setup: Windows XP Professional with Frontpage 1GB memory 500GB x 2 HD I, foolishly, deleted what I thought was a driver causing problems with my SD card reader - snaprtt.sys (was installed with an Acronis program, uninstalled a long time ago). It was in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers. Immediately on restart the computer will not boot, tried all the usual - Safe Mode, Last Known Good Configuration etc. - nothing works. Using the Recovery Console I have discovered that I cannot access the RECYCLER folder - access denied, which I now understand is the default. I have 99.9% of my computer backed up to an external HD so no big worries there but would rather not have to rebuild windows. Any ideas how I can restore this file?
BeeCeeBee Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 snaprtt.sys is not a windows system file so any attempt to recover it through a windows Recovery Console would be futile. Similarly it is difficult to believe that it would remain in the recylcer folder even if you could gain access. You are correct that it is related to Acronis Snaphot manager (I believe that is the name) and its removal should not cause the pc to not be able to boot. Is there anything else that was deleted or uninstalled at the same time? "Familiarity breeds contempt - and children." Mark Twain
Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Author Posted March 8, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't do anything else at all. Had been searching around for why the SD reader would not work and found this file referred to in Device Manager. Seemed an innocuous file. Little did I know :). Deleted the file, tried to restart and zilch! Is there anyway to get to a command line in XP? Have been searching around on the Internet and nothing as yet. Edited March 8, 2009 by Fortwilliam
Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Author Posted March 8, 2009 Do you have the XP disk? Yes, I have my original installation Disk. That is what I used to get into the Recovery Console. Have found "BartPE" and am currently trying to create a boot disk.
Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Author Posted March 8, 2009 Bit of a pain getting the disk made for BartPE. It initially scans for the XP installation files then writes them to the hard drive (on my laptop) BUT then tries to write to the XP disk!! Solved that by coping the files off the disk onto the hard drive and hey presto I have a BartPE boot disk. I am able to get to the RECYCLER folder with the File Manager but cannot open the single file in there. I think this file holds whatever has been deleted recently. Using the command line does not help as the RECYCLER folder seems to be hidden. Any ideas?
Tootech Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 The only way I can think of to get your file back it to drop the hard drive in another PC as a slave and run an undelete program over it. Another option is to install your Acronis software on another PC and then copy the file over to the poorly PC using Bart and a USB flash drive. Or.......perform a Windows repair install. That will overwrite all the Windows files, and get your system booting again. Sometimes some programs needs reinstalling - it can save the day, depends on your priorities. Also have to say that we are all a little puzzled as to why removing that file prevents Windows booting.
Guest Wolfeymole Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Author Posted March 8, 2009 Thanks for all the suggestions. Have got it sorted :D. I tried copying the file, with the File Manager in BartPE, from the RECYCLER folder onto a USB stick and I could see loads and loads of files being transferred. But when I opened the USB stick on my laptop nothing appeared, hidden files and folders shown are shown. The stick properties showed that it was full. Tried this again with the same result. Formatted the stick and tried again - nada. Anyhow I copied the file into the My Documents folder on the non-booting HD and was able to open it :D:D. Looks like all the files were renamed. However the last one in the list had the .sys extension. I was able to copy that onto the USB stick and rename it snaprtt.sys, copied into the Drivers folder and now everything is back to normal. If you can think of why the deletion of this file cause the computer not to boot I would be interested to hear from you. Thanks again.
Guest Wolfeymole Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 To be honest I don't know why you messed about like this when a simple XP repair would have done the job and left your stuff intact.
Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Author Posted March 8, 2009 To be honest I don't know why you messed about like this when a simple XP repair would have done the job and left your stuff intact. I have read elsewhere that sometimes an XP repair can cause additional problems. I was trying to take a 'safer' route. Oh well! It was a bit of an adventure, and I learned a few things along the way.
Guest Wolfeymole Posted March 8, 2009 Posted March 8, 2009 What? How can a repair cause additional problems? There is more to this than meets the eye and some poxy driver for a card reader would not cause the issues that you have had.
Fortwilliam Posted March 8, 2009 Author Posted March 8, 2009 What? How can a repair cause additional problems? There is more to this than meets the eye and some poxy driver for a card reader would not cause the issues that you have had. To quote from the page you gave a link to above, [/url]Warning! #1 Should you do a repair install and is it the best choice? A Repair Install is not foolproof and should not be considered the cure-all fix for non-boot situations. Warning!! #2 If the Repair Option is not Available What should I do? Most important do not ignore the information below! If the option to Repair Install is NOT available and you continue with the install; you will delete your Windows folder and the Documents and Settings folders. All applications installed that place keys in the registry will need to be re-installed and will require the original install media. Warning!! #3 Updates must be applied before connecting to the internet after a repair install. Reapply updates or service packs applied since initial Windows XP installation. Please note that a Repair Install using an Original pre service pack 1 or 2 XP CD used as the install media will remove SP1/SP2 respectively and service packs plus updates issued after the service packs will need to be reapplied. So it is clear that a repair is not foolproof. All my service packs and my updates are intact. All my files are secure. So I think I choose the best option. It is clear in my mind that it was the 'poxy' driver. Deleted - no boot. Restored - successful boot. Don't know why you appear to be so miffed. As I said before I learned a few things along the way and had succesful resolution to my problem. So thanks once more.
Guest Wolfeymole Posted March 9, 2009 Posted March 9, 2009 Your supposed arguments are not only illogical but irrelevant. I don't wish to be at war here but I will reiterate that there is more to this than meets the eye.
Fortwilliam Posted March 10, 2009 Author Posted March 10, 2009 Your supposed arguments are not only illogical but irrelevant. I don't wish to be at war here but I will reiterate that there is more to this than meets the eye. It's clear your 'Mule' is the size of one you would buy in a toyshop. Why can you not accept that you don't know everything?
BeeCeeBee Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) This ends now! You do not have to accept the opinion offered by anyone. Wolfeymole may have been adamant but he was not rude. I expect it to be kept that way. Edited March 10, 2009 by BeeCeeBee "Familiarity breeds contempt - and children." Mark Twain
Fortwilliam Posted March 10, 2009 Author Posted March 10, 2009 This ends now! You do not have to accept the opinion offered by anyone. Wolfeymole may have been adamant but he was not rude. I expect it to be kept that way. So his insisting that there is more to this than meets the eye is not rude? Why does he not make it clear exactly what he is saying? What does he think is going on? All I did was seek some help for my problem. Never thought I would be treated like this.
Tootech Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 Fort, Please, if you wish to take this up with Wolfey, do so using PM, not on the open forum. The problem you originally posted has been solved, by you and some rather clever tinkering. That said, there is no reason to take this any further and the thread is now closed.
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