Am I screwed?

[imported_jeb]

I went to my Win XP Pro update and it downloaded a bunch of updates - oneof which was SP-3, which I had not been installing due to the problems with it.

I installed the updates without thinking and it installed SP-3 as well as all the other critical updates (recommended).

I then saw the "custom" update and, as I had never looked at it, I clicked on it.

A ton of updates for all kinds of stuff came up - I looked through some of them, not knowing what most did, but decided if MS puts them out I should install them.

I selected the first 3 - have no idea now as to what they were - and installed them. It then ask me to reboot my computer - which I did.

The screen came up back to the original XP screen - not the one I had before - with only about 10 icons on it and in a different resolution that I had been using.

I restarted and it came up to a window wanting my password - but different than the normal window that comes up. I could not put my password in because it seems my keyboard did not work.

I went to Safe Mode and in all but one of the possible boot options I get the message that it can't find the file - win\sys32\awina.dll.

If I boot from my XP install disc, it comes up to the window to "install XP" or to "repair" XP. No matter which I choose, it comes up with the message that, "no hard drive is found on this computer".

Any - all - help, suggestions, etc., would be greatly appreciated - jb

 

[bruceb]

Try this .. In Safe Mode, go to add remove programs and try to uninstall what ever you installed today.
You can get a list of your installs from the microsoft update site .. Also, just a warning for the future:
I and a lot of others, never trust Microsoft for any Hardware or Program Drivers .. only for updates to
their own software

 

[RebateMonger]

Microsoft will give you free assistance in fixing problems caused by installing SP3.
Microsoft Help for SP3.


As far as the "no hard drive is found" message:

You are probably running a SATA drive on your PC in AHCI mode. If so, to boot from the XP Install CD, you need to hit "F6" early in the boot process and load SATA controller drivers for your particular SATA drive controller. This needs to be done using a floppy drive. Otherwise, the version of XP running from the CD won't be able to see your hard drive and do the repair.

I'd regard a "Repair Install" as a later option for fixing this. Ideally, you'd have prepared a slipstreamed XP CD that's at Service Pack 2 and has drive controller drivers for your computer already slipstreamed in.

 

[imported_jeb]

Tks, guys - my thought to put the Maxtor Sata drive it in the other computer as a slave and see if I could get to it that way won't work.

There is a Western Digital drive in the new computer and the power cable has less pins in it and the smaller cable to the WD drive only has the one plug for it. The Maxtor Sata drive isn't going to work, I guess.

Will certainly try these two suggestions - I appreciate the help - jb

 

[imported_jeb]

Update -

I have the old drive - the one that has the problem on it - in the new computer as a slave.

1- have re-run antivirus on it and nothing is found.
2- I have transferred my files I need from it to the new drive.

Questions -

1- Can I now fix this drive while running as a slave or do I need to put it back in the old computer to do so.

2- How do I now fix the drive?

3- All the files I transferred come up looking for them in the old place on the new drive - is there a quick and dirty way to get all of them changed over to the new drive location other than doing so one at a time?

4- Is there a way to also move the programs on the old drive and get them to work on the new one or must I re-load them all? (Have already re-loaded MS Office Pro - as I have over 40 programs on the drive, this is going to be a major job to re-load all of them.)

I do appreciate all the help - tks much and have a great day - jb

PS - another question, if I may -

I copied the desktop icons from my old drive to the new computer but only about 2/3 of them come up and the files of the missing ones are not showing on either drive.

The ones that are missing seem to be the ones that I had put on the desktop while using FireFox browser but I don't find anything in the Moailla folder that seems to have anything to do with desktop icons.

Tks - jb

 

[imported_jeb]

I ran chkdsk and looked at details -

The only thing that comes up is it found free space marked as allocated in the master file table (MFT) bitmap.

Would this cause the problem with the drive not finding a .dll it is looking for?

It also said that some problems were found and were moved to a folder named "found" on the device or disc. - I can not find such a file anywhere on that drive or any other place in the computer.

Is the only way I can check to see if the drive is working is to put it back in the old computer and see if it boots? A real pain to have to unhook the new computer and hook the old one back up.

Again, tks for the help - jb