Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (
More info?)
Harry - thanks very much for the suggestions. I almost got there (took
owenership of folders in safe mode, etc), but when I right click on the
device, I get the menu with properties at the bottom, but when clicking on
properties, nothing happens. Is there another way to get around this? I
can't do this or install other software if I can't get the DVD RW drive to
work. Any additional advice gratefully received!
"Harry Ohrn" wrote:
> You have a lot of work on your PC but haven't backed it up already? From now
> on make certain you do.
>
> In order to work with your current files you will likely have to take
> ownership of them. Check this link out for instructions on how to do that
>
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421
>
> Now get your important data copied to CD or DVD. For that you might need to
> install third party software if you can't get XP's software to work for you.
> Right click your CD/DVD Burner device and select Properties->Recording Tab
> and check the box to Enable recording on this device. then see if you can
> copy the files to CD. XP can not write to DVD without additional software.
> If you don't have third party CD/DVD writing software you can install the
> freeware program CDBurnerXP Pro. It is a good product and can burn to either
> CD or DVD http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
>
> An excellent option if you can afford it is to use third party imaging
> software like Acronis TrueImage or Symantec Ghost. That way you can burn an
> image (exact copy but in a image file format) to CD or DVD. You then have
> all your current data safely backed up and can mess around with the system
> to your heart's content.
>
> Once you've safely tucked away your important work I'd suggest that you do a
> fresh install of XP and start over again.
>
>
> --
>
> Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
>
> "The knitted bloke" <Theknittedbloke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:6717579C-B7A6-4182-96E2-69E495DECDA7@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have an Advent PC with XP home edition as
> > the
> > operating system. From memory, there are three options in the recovery
> > menu
> > and I elected for the least severe (reinstall operting system without
> > affecting other work or files). The PC boots up slowly, but the screen
> > resolution is very low (4 bit colour quality, etc) and can't be changed
> > via
> > the control panel. There are multiple error messages when it all loads up
> > and I key in my password. Then when I try to copy my work (which I can
> > see)
> > to discs - CD, floppy or DVD - it won't allow me to do it. There's no
> > drag a
> > drop facility, for example, and it won't allow me to individually save
> > word
> > documents to a floppy. The frustration is that all the content is there,
> > but
> > the PC is effectively useless. I have tried saving work in safe mode to
> > other discs, but it doesn't like that either. I have thousands of hours
> > of
> > work on the PC. Any hope?
> >
> > "Harry Ohrn" wrote:
> >
> >> Can you tell us more about how you did the System Recovery? what type of
> >> disc was it and how did you perform the recovery? How do you know your
> >> work
> >> is still on the PC? Which settings are you having trouble with?
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
> >> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
> >>
> >>
> >> "The knitted bloke" <Theknittedbloke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> >> message news:FCFD9F40-C3CD-4042-A2FA-658FCD3C993B@microsoft.com...
> >> | I do hope someone can help. I have done a very silly thing. When I
> >> went
> >> to
> >> | turn on my PC, I had left a floppy disc in drive A. The PC came up
> >> with a
> >> | message "unable to start NTLDR" and I assumed there was a major
> >> problem.
> >> So
> >> | I ran the system recovery disc. All my work is still on the PC, but
> >> the
> >> | settings are all to pot. Is there an easy way of undoing this silly
> >> mistake
> >> | or of reestablishing the settings I had previously in place? Help
> >> greatly
> >> | appreciated!
> >> |
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>