Windows XP repair help

Soldato
Joined
7 Apr 2004
Posts
4,212
Hey,

I've got a Windows XP system, and I have no idea which version/service pack it is. I've had to put a new motherboard in (old one got fried), and cannot format it and need to repair the system if at all possible.

Because its a new board, I'm under the impression it wont boot first time because of Windows being configured to use old chipset drivers.

So, from searching around I think I can either:

a) Do a repair installation, to reset the hardware profile and hopefully make it bootable on the new board.

b) Get to a recovery console and disable all the drivers so it defaults to the generic chipset drivers and boots up.

I have various XP CD's here, but say for example the current install is XP SP2, can I use an XP SP3 integrated CD to repair & use recovery console?

Is there anyway I can tell from a Linux live CD the XP version/sp from looking at files to determine which XP disc I need?

(I realize formatting is the best option with a new MB, but I need to avoid it in this instance)

Thanks.

Jack
 
Associate
Joined
12 May 2006
Posts
1,744
Location
UK
If you want to do a repair installation on your current install, you`ll have to use the same XP CD your install came from.

I`ve tried to do a repair installation on a install from a XP with SP2 integrated.

I tried to repair the install with a newer XP CD that had SP3 integrated and it wouldn`t work.

If you have second hard drive installed in your system, you could install windows on that, then you could try and back up your other hard drive partition with the windows installed on it with hard drive image backup software and then you can test your various XP CD's on the install to see which one will let you do the repair.
 
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