Xp Boot Cd Needed?!

[Geek-9pm]

The machine is out of warranty. Hard to know what problesm the original owner may have had.
But still your best option is to beg Toshiba for a recovery CD. It is a special item the have and you can not get it off of the internet.
What you can get is a "recovery Console" for Windows XP, but this may not be enough to fix your problem.
As mentioned earlier, You need to think about a backup of out data. You remove the hard drive and image backup the data to a desktop PC with an adapter, if needed.

[dahlarbear]

1.  Slave Hard Drive.  Pull the hard drive out of the Toshiba laptop and hook it up as a "second" hard drive to a desktop computer. (As a slave - you do not want to boot this drive).  You may need to purchase an interface adaptor to do this.  Also, if you're working with IDE drives; you may have to adjust "jumper" settings.  Best to use one of the internal interfaces of the "other" computer rather than an external "USB" connection.

2.  Recovery Console.  The default state for a Windows XP Home Edition system is no password set for Administrator" account.  Unless you explicitly set a password for this account, just hit <Enter> key when it is requested.

So...  You ran Recovery Console and did commands, "fixboot", "fixmbr", and "chkdsk /p /r".

     a.  Does that mean you successfully booted from CD, selected option to "repair" a Windows installation, selected the desired Windows installation, successfully responded to the prompt for Administrator password (which you successfully entered?), and then successfully executed all of those commands?

     b.  And now it requests an Administrator "password" that you don't know?

     c.  Did the "chkdsk" commands report and/or "fix" any errors?

     d.  Did any of the commands report any warnings and/or errors?

3.  Windows XP Install CD.  If you're thinking of reinstalling the operating system, you'll need compatible installation media.  A Windows XP Home Edition "product key" will require a Home Edition install CD. Try to get SP3.  A "repair" install will revert your system files back to the version of the source CD.  Look for a "product key" sticker on the bottom of the laptop or possibly under the battery.  Not sure, but I don't believe OEM and Retail versions of the CD accept each others' keys.

[jkolak]

Not sure I can contribute to this discussion until this is sorted out a little more.

I just wanted to mention that BT3 is BackTrack3. This is a Linux live CD security suite. I don't know that any of the tools are useful in this scenario.

Ubuntu is an easy Live CD download that will give a desktop to use in retrieving your data to another media.

[CyberHunter]

Not sure I can contribute to this discussion until this is sorted out a little more.

I just wanted to mention that BT3 is BackTrack3. This is a Linux live CD security suite. I don't know that any of the tools are useful in this scenario.

Ubuntu is an easy Live CD download that will give a desktop to use in retrieving your data to another media.

I have Ubuntu 9.4 or  9.5 burned into a CD, works. how can I do this Retriving Data.

[dahlarbear]

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

[jkolak]

Thanks for that link.

[dahlarbear]

Don't thank me yet... I've never used it!

[jkolak]

Ohhhhh!!!

I just mentioned it because Linux Live CDs have gotten me out of jams twice now, the last one being the current version of Ubuntu.

Since I recommend it to people, I'm glad for the link to instructions for inexperienced users! (so I won't have to explain it.... a link is worth a thousand words!!!)

SOOOOOOO!!! Thanks again!!!

[CyberHunter]

1.  Slave Hard Drive.  Pull the hard drive out of the Toshiba laptop and hook it up as a "second" hard drive to a desktop computer. (As a slave - you do not want to boot this drive).  You may need to purchase an interface adaptor to do this.  Also, if you're working with IDE drives; you may have to adjust "jumper" settings.  Best to use one of the internal interfaces of the "other" computer rather than an external "USB" connection.

2.  Recovery Console.  The default state for a Windows XP Home Edition system is no password set for Administrator" account.  Unless you explicitly set a password for this account, just hit <Enter> key when it is requested.

So...  You ran Recovery Console and did commands, "fixboot", "fixmbr", and "chkdsk /p /r".

     a.  Does that mean you successfully booted from CD, selected option to "repair" a Windows installation, selected the desired Windows installation, successfully responded to the prompt for Administrator password (which you successfully entered?), and then successfully executed all of those commands?

     b.  And now it requests an Administrator "password" that you don't know?

     c.  Did the "chkdsk" commands report and/or "fix" any errors?

     d.  Did any of the commands report any warnings and/or errors?

When Laptop starts, it gives me 2 options to load, Recovery or WinXP Normal Boot. I didnt run this with a CD. Bu anyway in Recovery Console in Admin Password, I hit enter , and took me to, C:\WINDOWS worked

now doing this command, chkdsk /r

Finished with......


Volume created 03/08/04
The volume Serial Number: b4bd-a73c

CHKDSK is checking the volume....
CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery....
CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery....
CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery....

117025460 kilobytes total disk space.

30427484 kylobytes are available.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.

29256365 total allocation units on disk.

7606871 allocation units available on disk.

C:\WINDOWS>

Still wont boot normally, reboots by itself

3.  Windows XP Install CD.  If you're thinking of reinstalling the operating system, you'll need compatible installation media.  A Windows XP Home Edition "product key" will require a Home Edition install CD. Try to get SP3.  A "repair" install will revert your system files back to the version of the source CD.  Look for a "product key" sticker on the bottom of the laptop or possibly under the battery.  Not sure, but I don't believe OEM and Retail versions of the CD accept each others' keys.

All I have is the product key, which is on the bottom of laptop. no CD

[CyberHunter]

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

ty for link

[jkolak]

All I have is the product key, which is on the bottom of laptop. no CD

The ideal situation is to borrow the correct CD and try the repair install which is theoretically non-destructive of your applications and data, but things have been known to go wrong. Product key is not needed for repair install if it repairs without reinstalling. Reinstalling does call for the product key, in which case the type of XP CD must also match what was on your computer.

[CyberHunter]

The ideal situation is to borrow the correct CD and try the repair install which is theoretically non-destructive of your applications and data, but things have been known to go wrong. Product key is not needed for repair install if it repairs with reinstalling. Reinstalling does call for the product key, in which case the type of XP CD must also match what was on your computer.

That's another issue I do not know which CD is the right one for me. All I know it had when I got this laptop,    Windows Xp Home, Sp3

You say get the correct CD, how many are there for Windows Home Xp..?

[patio]

Any XP Home CD will do...
You will have to slipstream SP 3 into it...

Slipstream Guide

[jkolak]

Right. You can't use an XP Media Center or XP Professional CD. It has to be XP Home.

Is there an issue with OEM versus Retail editions of XP Home?

Sorry I just caught this typo: "if it repairs withOUT reinstalling". I corrected my post, but it has already been quoted with the error.

[patio]

OEM CD's won't facilitate a Repair Install...
They are designed to wipe everything and take a machine back to Day One status...