It's one of those software design decisions that makes you scratch your head and wonder, "What were they thinking?"
The "it" in this case is XP's most powerful rebuild/repair option, and yet Microsoft chose to hide it behind seeming dead ends, red herrings, and a recycled interface that makes it hard to find and (at first) somewhat confusing to use.
Just thought it went beyond using the recovery console which may be of help to someone.
Quote from the article:
The poorly worded options in Screen Four lead many users astray. The only mention of "Repair" here is "...repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console..." but that's not the no-reformat repair/reinstall we're seeking. (The Recovery Console Repair option is useful in its own right for fixing relatively minor problems with the operating system, and we fully explore it in the links listed above.)
The repair option we do want--a nondestructive, no-reformat reinstall--is actually hidden beneath the Setup option, "To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER."
So hit Enter, just as if you were setting up Windows afresh and from scratch.
Regardless of how experienced someone is it's impossible to know everything which is why I think the information is very useful, and I only wish I had known about it back in September '05 because it may have saved me a full format and reinstall.
I saw this on digg maybe a few days back and thought the fact that they thought it was some big secret was pretty dumb. I always thought this was pretty self explanitory but it obviously helped someone.
I agree. The author of that article is a total idiot. It takes a little exploring to find your options, big deal. Use your brain, it's what separates us from the idiots like the author of that article.
I agree. The author of that article is a total idiot. It takes a little exploring to find your options, big deal. Use your brain, it's what separates us from the idiots like the author of that article.
Geez Tarun,a bit mean saying the author is a total idiot.
If it can help just one person or add to their knowledge I would be happy with that.
If everyone was as clever as yourself I doubt there would be a need for any help forums.
I didn't mean it harshly, but he did make it seem kind of like a conspiracy. At any rate, several Microsoft KB articles tell you to do this procedure whenever they've recognized that it can help.
shame i wasnt given a copy of xp when i got my comp cos this would be useful. out of curiosity if i got say a cough pirate cough copy but used my official key code would that work?