Thanks for all your help. Really appreciate it. I just wish they were easier to understand!!

Im a marine biology graduate so dont really know the first thing about computers!!

Sorry I was bad and cross-posted. I just seem to have so many things going wrong with XP at the moment, I thought id separate them into different posts!!

Should be able to do the missing tcpip.sys file later. Will it know where to put the file or do i have to select a directory/file for it?? Why would Windows XP not install it in the first place??
The missing drive gets a bit more complicated. Ill probably be posting tomorrow saying the whole lot doesnt work at its sitting outside my window in pieces!!

Yes, I am reading replies to this thread every chance I get (check your REP and you'll see) but you're doing such a fine job, and I can't remember the last time I fired up the fdisk command, it's pointless for me to get involved with my guesses.

Thank you Garth, remember... hundreds if not thousands will be going through this thread in time.

__________________
J de Silva
Learning Journal | GIDForums™ | GIDNetwork™ | GIDWebhosts™ | GIDSearch™

Yeah, they're ridiculously complicated, quite unnecessarily so. I use Macs aswell & they're far easier.

Cuz it's stupid.
It's a lot of work to find the file & restore it manually, there may be other files missing too. Try my Add/Remove suggestion first before attempting that. It's in the i386 folder, with named "tcpip.sy_" - you'll have to copy it & rename it to tcpip.sys. You need to place it in:
C:\winnt\system32\drivers\
I'm uncertain that this works however through XP itself. These sy_ files are compressed on the CD, and I'm unsure that they're uncompressed when they're moved to the hard disk. So I've an alternative:

Using the Recovery Console. You need to boot from the XP CD.
1. The computer will look like it's installing - it's not, just loading enough files to run itself. Wait until you're asked the option to install or repair.
2. Choose to repair.
3. Select the Recovery Console.
4. You'll arrive at a DOS like prompt. It may ask you for your Administrator password, so oblige it.
5. Type in the following command (where C is the partition Windows is on, and D: is your CD drive letter)
COPY D:\i386\tcpip.sy_ C:\winnt\system32\drivers\tcpip.sys
6. It may ask whether you wish to overwrite, hit Y
7. Now remove the XP CD, type EXIT and your computer will reboot, hopefully with a properly decompressed tcpip.sys file.

See how that goes!

And no worries about the cross-posting, many's a time 2 seperate problems have the same source (tho not this time: )
GF

P.S. If neither of those options work, I've quietly left a copy of this file www.maths.tcd.ie.

Thanks for the reply. Will try tonight.

Couldnt access your link. DanGuardian-Access Denied. It found a dodgy word on the site....ZIP!!!!!!!!!!

What? That's my University webspace! There's nothing dodgy there!
I can email you the file if you PM me your details.
GF

The dodgy word was ZIP!!!

Im at work so i guess they got a program on to stop people accessing dodgy sites. Ill try from Dads Pc at home tonight.

Didnt get time to sort the PC last night and off on holiday tomorrow, but will keep you updated!!

Well I must be doing something wrong. Tried the whole process again and the other hard drive is still missing. Went into the BIOS settings. Had primary master and primary slave so i guess thats both of them. DIdnt want to change anything there as not really sure what im doing!!

Tried to copy that TCPIP.SYS file via the promt from the XP CD and came up with some error message about not being able to find file.

Its going out the window!!!!!!

Hmmm.

Let's tackle the tcpip.sys problem first. Have you tried the Add/Remove Programs suggestion? If it didn't work, lets try another way to restore it.

I've a copy of the file www.maths.tcd.ie which you should be able to download - I've renamed it from tcpip.zip to tcpip.jpg - you've just to rename it back to .zip (Windows hides the file extensions by default, turn this off for little while by - in a My Computer window - Tools->Folder Options, click the View tab & deselect 'Hide extensions for known file types' & hit apply). Then unzip & place in C:\winnt\system32\drivers & reboot.

I'm confused why my COPY command didn't work. Were you sure that the D: drive is your CD drive? Let's first locate the file on the CD, while you are in Windows, insert the XP CD & hold down the SHIFT key - this stops the autorun thing.

Go to My Computer, right-click your CD drive & select 'Search'. Go for 'all files & folders' & enter 'tcpip.sy_' and see if it can be found. If it is, not down in what folder it resides in, so that you can type in it's path explicitly. I did this & got:
D:\i386\tcpip.sy_

If you get something different, then substitute it in the command:
COPY <your path to file> C:\winnt\system32\drivers\tcpip.sys

To prove to yourself that the D: drive is the CD drive, type the command DIR - gives a directory listing. Are there loads of files you don't recognise & the CD spins up? If not, try typing "E:" - no quotes - and see if it lets you.

Hard drive thing has really confused me! I've never encountered such a problem before! I've always thought that a disk will show up as long as the BIOS can see it - apparantly not. You may try the following:

1. Reboot using the boot floppy disk - choose no CD support.
2. Type 'C:' and hit enter. What does it say? If doesn't exist, good. If you're dumped at a 'C:\>' prompt - wierd - type 'dir' and see what's there! If there's stuff there, try running 'scandisk' & see if it fixes anything. Reboot & see if there's any change.
3. Type 'A:\fdisk' - no quotes.
4. See if there is an option 5 to 'Change current disk'
5. If you do have 2 hard drives installed, there should be 2 entries on this page.
6. Select the drive that's been invisible until now.
7. Delete whatever partitions are on it & create one big Primary Partition on it (see previous instructions).
8. Quit out of fdisk & reboot back into the DOS floppy (no CD).
9. Type 'C:' again & hit enter. Are you allowed now? If yes, good. If not, argh!
10. Type 'format C:' & hit enter. Confirm & wait.
11. Boot back into XP & see if anything's changed.

Hope this helps!
GF

Thanks very much for the very simple instructions. Wont be able to do it tnt. Catching a plane to Spain. Will have another crack at it next weekend.

Bit confused with " If C doesnt exist then good" I thought we wanted it to exist????

Been into my Computer:
A:\ is floppy disk drive
C:\ is First Hard drive
D:\ is CD ROM Drive

It was a copy of a copy of XP so maybe it didnt copy properly and the TCPIP. SYS file is missing. I will try and find someone with an original. Most people just have the restore disks though!!