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Microsoft Windows XP SP2
3.2Ghz P4 HT
512 ram
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Alright.

Lets skip back a few hours. Im sitting there, impressed how I cleaned my rooom spotless, and decided it was time to give my computer a new look. I downloaded a few themes, and wanted to change the startup logo.

Ive read about this before, but never actually attempted it. So I restart the computer in safe mode, copy over ntoskrnl.exe and logonui.exe to a folder on my desktop called sys32. I copy the new ntoskrnl.exe and logonui.exe into the system32 folder in windows, which were the new edited logon screen and startup logo.

I restart the computer in normal mode, and, alas, it hangs.

I remembered it said if I did something wrong the computer would hang. Damn, well, I just gotta replace the files with the old ones. Ok, no biggie. Or so I thought.

I first went with the windows XP recovery thing on the CD, but it doesnt allow access to c:\documents and settings, which is where I had my backups.

Ah. Strike 2.

But wait, I remember knoppix! I grabbed the CD, kissed it, put it in, and found out how horrible NTFS works with linux. Nope, no write support.

Sure, I can access anything on the drive, I just cant save anyhting to it.


I then find out about this little 50mb livecd, insert 1.2.18 (inside-security.de/insert_en.html). It has this thing called captive-ntfs. From what ive heard its not too reliable and people have had problems with it. Well, why not, I think.

It needs 2 files from windows... ntfs.sys and ntoskrnl.exe (hah I found it funny that the one that I broke was the one that it needs...)

So I copyed both files, the ntfs from the normal system32/drivers dir, and the BACKEDUP copy of ntoskrnl.exe.

I try to mount it with captive-ntfs, and it just sits there.



Then I tried kanotix, a build-off of knoppix with captive on it. Same thing.

Then tried sysrescCD. No help eather.




Alright. This isnt looking too good I thought. I then find out that theres a ntoskrnl in the $ntservicepackuninstall$ folder, inside the windows folder. Boot up rescue CD and copy that over. Restart windows, and got the error ntfs.sys is missing or corrupt, and that I should run the rescue CD...

Look online, and find that you can copy it right off the CD. I do that.

Still the same error.

I also copied the ntoskrnl.exe off the cd, it was called ntoskrnl.ex_ on the CD.

I tried running the rescue windows thing.

This is looking very grim for me. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you.

As you've found, NTFS support in Linux isn't the best. It is possible to force write-permissions to NTFS, but it's not advised which is why it's not enabled by default.

It sounds like the files you tried to copy over might be compressed, or at least not fully functional. They were uncompressed prior to the copy/install, right? You may have to run a .cab extractor or similar depending on how they are stored on the CD.

From what I've heard, using Linux CD's to try and recover a Windows drive is well-nigh impossible. Most stories I've read state that people used Linux to save all their data and then reinstall Windows. You may have to do that; Win Recovery Console may let you fix Windows w/o a full reinstall, but I doubt it. It may come down to a format/reinstall.

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.

Well, after hours of screwing with it, I finally got the windows XP to repair itself in the install thing... It went thru the whole re-installing windows thing, and booted it up.

Now im at another problem. It wants me to activate windows.


I try to activate it online, and it says it cant establish a connection. I try to call and tell the damned robot girl thing my code, and it tells me there are no records or something of it being a valid key.

I cant get thru to their support, I hit 0 at the menu and it tells me their transfering me to a representitive, and then it plays some song while im on hold, and insted of just doing that for a while (ive called up like 20 times and went thru this), now it picks up and goes beeeeeeep BEEP beeeeeep BEEP beeeeep BEEP beeeeeep BEEP.

I am getting quite upset.

There is no CD key on the cd or package anywhere to be found (the CD im using came with my stepfathers laptop, he just got a new one a few weeks ago and left all his software and such here, so I found the XP cd from that.

Well, since it came w/ the laptop, it technically can only be used on the laptop; that's what activation means. If there is a CD key, it would be on a separate paper, maybe the something that looks like the Certificate of Authenticity. If you can talk to a real person, you might be able to convince MS that you now legally own the s/w and they will activate it on your computer.

I think you have a month before it truly has to be activated, so just keep trying.

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Common Sense v2.0-Striving to make the world a little bit smarter.