Help .... I've killed my laptop

Discussion in 'Windows OS's' started by pinki, Nov 20, 2001.

  1. pinki

    pinki Geek Trainee

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    AMD K6-2 400 running WinXP.

    I've downloaded some new skins to be used with logonui selector. One of the logon screens only has a shut down button, there is no where to log in. Basically I can't get into my operating system at all, I can't even use a win98 boot disc as my file system is NTFS.

    Anyone help .... please :confused:
     
  2. syngod

    syngod Moderator

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    You should still be able to use your 98 Boot disk to get to the Dos prompt in order to do a format c:, ar at least I've never had any problems when formatting the HD in order to upgrade to the latest beta of XP durings it's testing cycle.

    Any information you have on the drive you might be able to back-up from the DOS-Prompt although it's been years since I've used it for anything other than formatting so I can't guarantee it.

    I'm guessing though you'll probably have to reformat and start from scratch.

    Edit: Just reread your post, have you tried booting into safe mode? If you haven't you might want to try that and revert your ini file back to the original XP version.
     
  3. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    or you could start the computer with the win xp cd and choose the 'repair windows' option. I'm not sure if that will fix it or not.

    other wise the only solution that I am aware of is a format useing the win98 startup disk.
     
  4. pinki

    pinki Geek Trainee

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    When ever I try and boot into safe mode it takes me straight to the log on screen, which seems to have been made with no user or administrator log on boxes, only a shut down box. I haven't tried formatting the drive yet using FDISK but I don't think I will have any joy as the drive is using NTFS and finally I can't boot from the cd as my laptop won't support it. I have downloaded a boot disc and will give that a go. If that doesn't work the only way I can think of doing it is to boot up using partion magic recovery discs and format the drive to FAT32, then do a re-install.

    Thanks for your replies, I'll keep you posted :(
     
  5. pinki

    pinki Geek Trainee

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    Didn't need the boot disc, got the answer from a guy at the forum at tweakxp.com. If you hit Ctrl, Alt, Del twice at the welcome screen it takes you into the classic desktop login screen. I'm off to delete a dodgy logonui file now :D
     
  6. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    nice one, simple, I wasnt aware if that would work, as I thought you logon screen didnt load... :rolleyes:

    nice tip, for any other user having the same problem :)
     
  7. pinki

    pinki Geek Trainee

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    The logon screen wouldn't load, it seems that using Ctrl, Alt, Del forces the default logon box to come up. Like you said, it's useful thing to know for the future.
     
  8. Moobrack

    Moobrack Geek Trainee

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    I can tell you where you have made a mistake, you selected NTFS and you should have kept PHAT32, this is a problem that many people encounter.
     
  9. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    Moobrack, FAT32 is good, but NTFS if better in my opinion, mainly because of the security features it allows.
     
  10. Moobrack

    Moobrack Geek Trainee

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    when I installed Xp (corporate edition) on my PC, I chose FAT32.I had no problem with it at all, what does NTFS have that FAT32 doesn't?
     
  11. pinki

    pinki Geek Trainee

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    NTFS has superior security advantages over FAT32 and is also a more logical file system. The only reason FAT is still around is due to the limitations of the 9x windows family. Expect to see FAT32 a dim and distant memory in a few years time :D
     
  12. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Yup. NTFS is the way of the future for security, large storage, and less disk errors after unexpected shutdowns (i.e. power loss)

    I've lost power from storms where I live and my NTFS partitions don't end up being scanned for errors normally. It's also saved my ass on a few occasions. If you've got a small drive (2GB) NTFS isn't the way to go, because you have a master file table (MFT) that takes up some space as well as reserved system space. That and an OS can eat up space pretty quickly. That's why I had to extend my swap file partiton so it could be defragged.
     
  13. Moobrack

    Moobrack Geek Trainee

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    cool thanx guys!
     

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