Used computer, wont boot up to desktop

[Etard]

I just purchases a used tower computer at auction.
When I power it on it automatically loads this "Smartlaunch"
program then goes to a gaming type program that wants a log in and password. If I hit esc it asks for a pw and log in again.

I didn't get any recovery disks or password info. I bought this for a good deal so It's worth a little goofing around.
It's a P4 / 3ghz With 1 gb ram, running win XP pro.

I can get into safe mode with prompt and access the control panel and add remove programs.
I get a message saying it wont remove the smartlaunch in safe mode.

I've opened explorer in safe mode and moved the program to the recycle bin and rebooted but then it goes to a blank pale blue desktop that I get no action or response on.

I did a search on this site and found one post that said "content removed" so I assume that it was something about a hack or similar.
If this can't be addressed publicly can some one PM me as to how to get around this or delete the program?

Thanks, Ken

[sparkax]

Do you have any XP os disks ?

[Wil 0' Wisp]

All instructions are carried out at your own risk. If it that badly broken what are you gong to lose, but remember The cost of the data on the system = time to recover the system and data x the salary of the person or entity doing it

Have you access to another PC? If yes remove the disk and mount it in the other PC. Has it got a COA on the box if yes then OK, If no then download keyfinder and once installed browse to the windows directory or what ever folder the windows is installed into. That should get you the product installation code. Search or look for the i386 directory copy the entire directory to another hard disk. Get a boot image for XP either download or use ISObuster (another Download and install) to get one from an XP disk. You will need the cd label for the version installed google for XP cd lables. That little lot will enable you to use some cd burning software to assemble a bootable CD to re install xp without have to buy one. More complete instruction can be found on the web.

No other PC? this is tricker But if you have another PC and if you have already done the backup bit. you can do all the copying and pasting and creating on the broken disk using the instructions below. Yes they do work as I have used them to recover non booting disks, security errors, blah blah etc etc Or If you can get a BART PE disk or Flash stick to bring the system up. Thats another learning curve.
Downloaded of the internet
Note that this procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. If you installed Windows to a different location, make sure to change C:\Windows in the following directions to the appropriate windows folder if it's at a different location. Copy commands will show you they completed successfully by showing you a message saying "file copied".
The delete commands just move on to the next line but won’t say that they happened or not. Just assume they did provided you type each command I give you exactly as I have them listed. I've separated each command by an empty line. Type the whole command in one line and when you've finished typing that command hit the Enter key.

Start Here!

Get the Windows XP CD you used to install your operating system. Put the XP CD in your CD drive and restart the computer once you have confirmed it will boot from the CD-ROM first and then from the hard drive. When it says "press any key to boot from CD," press any key. At first it will look like you are reinstalling but you aren’t at all. XP is simply loading enough files for it to be able to function since the original files are still corrupt that are on the hard drive. Wait during this process. Don’t select anything until it stops loading files and a screen will come up asking you if you want to Setup Windows or Repair Windows XP. Press R to Repair which will launch the Recovery Console which looks like this:

_________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Windows XP<TM> Recovery Console

The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.

1: C:\WINDOWS

Which Windows Installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?

_________________________________________________________________

(Make sure your Num Lock is on if you use the number key pad on the right of your keyboard) Select the number which corresponds to the operating system location you were using which broke and then hit enter, (Usually this is the number 1). Now it asks you for your administrator password. Enter your administrator password, and then hit enter. If you entered the correct password then you will get a C:\Windows prompt on the screen. That means you’re in! By the way, if you don't know your administrator password, just try hitting the Enter key. If that doesn't work either then go to the following site and get the necessary tools to get you in:

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_admini...r_password.htm

(In my case, even though I knew and entered my administrator password it still said it was wrong because the file that kept that information was now corrupt. I used my own program that allowed me to reset my admin password then I continued)

In this step, we are going make a new directory on your hard drive and store some files there as back-ups in case this process doesn’t work for you. That way you’ll still have all of the original files and can at least restore your computer to its exact current BROKEN status as if you never tried this!
On your monitor you should be looking at a prompt that looks like this:
c:\windows>
Add md tmp to the prompt to make it look exactly like this and then hit enter: (Remember to hit enter at the end of each command line below)
c:\windows>md tmp
cd c:\windows\system32\config (now your prompt on the screen should look like this: c:\windows\system32\config>

copy default c:\windows\tmp\default

copy sam c:\windows\tmp\sam

copy security c:\windows\tmp\security

copy software c:\windows\tmp\software

copy system c:\windows\tmp\system

ren default default.her

ren sam sam.her

ren security security.her

ren software software.her

ren system system.her

OK! So far you have copied the last original (broken) copies of the startup files to a back up location and you then renamed
the originals to have new names so Windows won’t touch them anymore. Now we want to go and get a fresh set of original start up files from a place on your hard drive that they were put when XP was originally installed. They were put here for exactly what you are doing now. Here we go…

cd ..\ ( Note that this is typed out as cd space dot dot backslash )

cd ..\ ( Note that this is typed out as cd space dot dot backslash again )

So now your prompt should look like this: C:\windows>

cd c:\windows\repair (Now your prompt should look like this: c:\windows\repair )

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\repair\system\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\repair\system\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\repair\system\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\repair\system\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

exit ( Yes, type in the word exit )

The computer should reboot now and yes it will ask again for you to press any key to boot from the CD. Don’t press anything yet. Let the PC start up normally but understand that we aren’t done yet which is why it will look very strange. Just keep following the directions. You are getting very close to seeing your PC work again like it did before it broke. Wait for a while and give the computer some time to start up all of the way. Usually a couple of minutes are good to let it boot up.

Now we are going to copy the saved repair files you copied earlier into the right spot so the computer will use them properly. We will be using the actual System Restore from within windows now that you are in. The Restore folder is usually made to be very hard to find but I’ll tell you how to find it now. Note that at this point I was forced to use a program I had again that allowed me to reset my administrator password because no matter what I put in, it said it was wrong. If a bubble pops up talking about your video settings being awful say OK to let it auto configure your video settings. Say yes again to confirm the settings work and are OK to keep.

Right click on the start button in the task bar and then when the menu of options appears select Explore. Now, click on tools in the file menu then folder options and then select the view tab.

Under Hidden files and folders, select “Show hidden files and folders”.
Now scroll down some and put a check in the box that says “Show contents of system folders”. Click to clear the "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" check box. (Take the check out of the box)

Click “Yes” when the box pops up asking you to confirm that you want to display these files. Click Apply and then click OK.

Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to view the list of the folders inside of it.

Locate the “System Volume Information folder. This folder appears faded because it is normally set as a hidden folder.

Double click the “System Volume Information” folder. If the folder opens for you, skip down to the paragraph that starts with “The System Volume Information” folder is now opened. If you got an error saying access is denied, do the following:

Right click on the “System Volume Information” folder and select the Sharing and Security option. Then click the Security tab if there is one. (If there is no security tab available to select then skip down to the paragraph that starts with “But what if no security tab is available to select?” If you do see a security tab then click Add, and then in the box that says "Enter the object names to select," type the name of the user that's at the top of the Start menu which is probably you. Make sure you type the name the way it's listed on the Start Menu. I made the mistake of typing my first name only and it wouldn't let me in. Type first and last name if that's how it's written on the top of the Start menu. After you've typed that in, click OK until you are back to looking at the folder that wouldn’t let you in and double click it again to open it.

You should be in it now. If not then you didn’t type the name exactly as it is listed on top of the start menu. It has to be the same for the folder to open for you.

“But what if no security tab is available to select?” Do this: Click to put checks in BOTH checkboxes in the "Network sharing and security" area. One of them is labeled "Share this folder on the network" and the other is labeled "Allow network users to change my files." Change the share name from “System Volume Information to something short, like SysVolInf as in only the first three letters of the words “System and Volume and Information. Click Apply and you will get an error possibly. If you get the error then just do it again and it will let you in the second time. Put a star next to this section on your print out because you’ll want to come back after you are restored and make sure to put this back to the way it was if the restore doesn’t do it for you. Just double check this when you’re running again is all I’m saying. Double click the folder now to get in it.

“The System Volume Information folder is now opened.” This folder may contain one or more folders with names like this”

_restore{F4EB0E83-91FF-4B7D-ABC2-287358719EAE}”

Right click on each of them and note the date they were created. You DON’T want the one created with today’s date and time.

Open the one that doesn’t have today’s date and time but is closest to the latest date before the problems happened. Inside are several folders with names like RP37, RP38, and RP39 etc. These are each a separate restore point. Go up to the file menu and select view. When the drop down menu opens select “Details”. Now you can see the dates of when each of these was created listed next to them. Double click on the one that has the date
that was one day before you started having trouble with your computer. So as an example if your computer died last Saturday on June 18 of 2006 then you would most likely want to open the folder that was created on Friday, June 17, 2006 which as you see was the day before the computer broke.

Now that you have opened the RP******* folder: Find and open the “Snapshot” folder. Select view from the file menu again and select details from the drop down menu so you can read the file names more easily. Copy the following files from this “Snapshot” folder to the C:Windows\Tmp folder using the copy/paste process or however you know how to do this to get them copied from here to there. Here is the list of files to copy:

_registry_user_.default
_registry_machine_sam
_registry_machine_security
_registry_machine_software
_registry_machine_system

You are getting very close to being done so hang in there! Make sure your Windows XP CD is still in the drive and restart

Windows making sure to hit any key this time when it tells you to do that to boot from the CD. Once it finishes with that long start up process again you’ll have those same options again like before. Press R to select Repair using the Recovery Console. Again, make sure your num lock is on if you use the number keypad on the right of your keyboard and then select the number that best describes the location of where you installed Windows XP to. Enter your admin password when prompted to do so. Now, you are again looking at a c:\windows> prompt.

Type in cd c:\windows\system32\config and hit enter so that your prompt should now look like c:\windows\system32\config>

From within Recovery Console, type the following commands:
del default
del sam
del security
del software
del system

cd ..\
cd ..\
cd tmp ( now your prompt should look like this: c:\windows\tmp> )

copy _registry_user_.default c:\windows\system32\config\default (Notice the period (".") before the word default in the first parameter)

copy _registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy _registry_machine_security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system

If you can, remove the Windows XP CD from the CD-ROM now.

Type exit and your computer will reboot into whichever restore point you chose. Now you're done except that you may want to reset your current time and go back up to where I told you to mark that spot where you will make sure that the sharing isn’t still turned on for the System Volume Information folder. I hope this saved your butt. Always help others when you get a chance.

Or

You can carry the cut n' paste routine out on the disk if you mount in another PC

Browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32\config

Create a origdate ie orig7621 easy to spot and find

Back up the existing files! to a origdate by copying them

Use the trick to share the system volume infomation
(Your words)
Right click on the “System Volume Information” folder and select the Sharing and Security option. Then click the Security tab if there is one. (If there is no security tab available to select then skip down to the paragraph that starts with “But what if no security tab is available to select?” If you do see a security tab then click Add, and then in the box that says "Enter the object names to select," type the name of the user that's at the top of the Start menu which is probably you. Make sure you type the name the way it's listed on the Start Menu. I made the mistake of typing my first name only and it wouldn't let me in. Type first and last name if that's how it's written on the top of the Start menu. After you've typed that in, click OK until you are back to looking at the folder that wouldn’t let you in and double click it again to open it.

You should be in it now. If not then you didn’t type the name exactly as it is listed on top of the start menu. It has to be the same for the folder to open for you.

“But what if no security tab is available to select?” Do this: Click to put checks in BOTH checkboxes in the "Network sharing and security" area. One of them is labeled "Share this folder on the network" and the other is labeled "Allow network users to change my files." Change the share name from “System Volume Information to something short, like SysVolInf as in only the first three letters of the words “System and Volume and Information. Click Apply and you will get an error possibly. If you get the error then just do it again and it will let you in the second time. Put a star next to this section on your print out because you’ll want to come back after you are restored and make sure to put this back to the way it was if the restore doesn’t do it for you. Just double check this when you’re running again is all I’m saying. Double click the folder now to get in it.

copy a good set of

copy _registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy _registry_machine_security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system

to the C:\WINDOWS\system32\config directory

Delete the existing ones and rename the new files to sam,security,software,system

shut down and replace the drive in the original PC, boot the PC

[caperjack]

All instructions are carried out at your own risk. If it that badly broken what are you gong to lose, but remember The cost of the data on the system = time to recover the system and data x the salary of the person or entity doing it

Have you access to another PC? If yes remove the disk and mount it in the other PC. Has it got a COA on the box if yes then OK, If no then download keyfinder and once installed browse to the windows directory or what ever folder the windows is installed into. That should get you the product installation code. Search or look for the i386 directory copy the entire directory to another hard disk. Get a boot image for XP either download or use ISObuster (another Download and install) to get one from an XP disk. You will need the cd label for the version installed google for XP cd lables. That little lot will enable you to use some cd burning software to assemble a bootable CD to re install xp without have to buy one. More complete instruction can be found on the web.

No other PC? this is tricker But if you have another PC and if you have already done the backup bit. you can do all the copying and pasting and creating on the broken disk using the instructions below. Yes they do work as I have used them to recover non booting disks, security errors, blah blah etc etc Or If you can get a BART PE disk or Flash stick to bring the system up. Thats another learning curve.
Downloaded of the internet
Note that this procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. If you installed Windows to a different location, make sure to change C:\Windows in the following directions to the appropriate windows folder if it's at a different location. Copy commands will show you they completed successfully by showing you a message saying "file copied".
The delete commands just move on to the next line but won’t say that they happened or not. Just assume they did provided you type each command I give you exactly as I have them listed. I've separated each command by an empty line. Type the whole command in one line and when you've finished typing that command hit the Enter key.

Start Here!

Get the Windows XP CD you used to install your operating system. Put the XP CD in your CD drive and restart the computer once you have confirmed it will boot from the CD-ROM first and then from the hard drive. When it says "press any key to boot from CD," press any key. At first it will look like you are reinstalling but you aren’t at all. XP is simply loading enough files for it to be able to function since the original files are still corrupt that are on the hard drive. Wait during this process. Don’t select anything until it stops loading files and a screen will come up asking you if you want to Setup Windows or Repair Windows XP. Press R to Repair which will launch the Recovery Console which looks like this:

_________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Windows XP<TM> Recovery Console

The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.

1: C:\WINDOWS

Which Windows Installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?

_________________________________________________________________

(Make sure your Num Lock is on if you use the number key pad on the right of your keyboard) Select the number which corresponds to the operating system location you were using which broke and then hit enter, (Usually this is the number 1). Now it asks you for your administrator password. Enter your administrator password, and then hit enter. If you entered the correct password then you will get a C:\Windows prompt on the screen. That means you’re in! By the way, if you don't know your administrator password, just try hitting the Enter key. If that doesn't work either then go to the following site and get the necessary tools to get you in:

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_admini...r_password.htm

(In my case, even though I knew and entered my administrator password it still said it was wrong because the file that kept that information was now corrupt. I used my own program that allowed me to reset my admin password then I continued)

In this step, we are going make a new directory on your hard drive and store some files there as back-ups in case this process doesn’t work for you. That way you’ll still have all of the original files and can at least restore your computer to its exact current BROKEN status as if you never tried this!
On your monitor you should be looking at a prompt that looks like this:
c:\windows>
Add md tmp to the prompt to make it look exactly like this and then hit enter: (Remember to hit enter at the end of each command line below)
c:\windows>md tmp
cd c:\windows\system32\config (now your prompt on the screen should look like this: c:\windows\system32\config>

copy default c:\windows\tmp\default

copy sam c:\windows\tmp\sam

copy security c:\windows\tmp\security

copy software c:\windows\tmp\software

copy system c:\windows\tmp\system

ren default default.her

ren sam sam.her

ren security security.her

ren software software.her

ren system system.her

OK! So far you have copied the last original (broken) copies of the startup files to a back up location and you then renamed
the originals to have new names so Windows won’t touch them anymore. Now we want to go and get a fresh set of original start up files from a place on your hard drive that they were put when XP was originally installed. They were put here for exactly what you are doing now. Here we go…

cd ..\ ( Note that this is typed out as cd space dot dot backslash )

cd ..\ ( Note that this is typed out as cd space dot dot backslash again )

So now your prompt should look like this: C:\windows>

cd c:\windows\repair (Now your prompt should look like this: c:\windows\repair )

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\repair\system\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\repair\system\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\repair\system\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\repair\system\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

exit ( Yes, type in the word exit )

The computer should reboot now and yes it will ask again for you to press any key to boot from the CD. Don’t press anything yet. Let the PC start up normally but understand that we aren’t done yet which is why it will look very strange. Just keep following the directions. You are getting very close to seeing your PC work again like it did before it broke. Wait for a while and give the computer some time to start up all of the way. Usually a couple of minutes are good to let it boot up.

Now we are going to copy the saved repair files you copied earlier into the right spot so the computer will use them properly. We will be using the actual System Restore from within windows now that you are in. The Restore folder is usually made to be very hard to find but I’ll tell you how to find it now. Note that at this point I was forced to use a program I had again that allowed me to reset my administrator password because no matter what I put in, it said it was wrong. If a bubble pops up talking about your video settings being awful say OK to let it auto configure your video settings. Say yes again to confirm the settings work and are OK to keep.

Right click on the start button in the task bar and then when the menu of options appears select Explore. Now, click on tools in the file menu then folder options and then select the view tab.

Under Hidden files and folders, select “Show hidden files and folders”.
Now scroll down some and put a check in the box that says “Show contents of system folders”. Click to clear the "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" check box. (Take the check out of the box)

Click “Yes” when the box pops up asking you to confirm that you want to display these files. Click Apply and then click OK.

Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to view the list of the folders inside of it.

Locate the “System Volume Information folder. This folder appears faded because it is normally set as a hidden folder.

Double click the “System Volume Information” folder. If the folder opens for you, skip down to the paragraph that starts with “The System Volume Information” folder is now opened. If you got an error saying access is denied, do the following:

Right click on the “System Volume Information” folder and select the Sharing and Security option. Then click the Security tab if there is one. (If there is no security tab available to select then skip down to the paragraph that starts with “But what if no security tab is available to select?” If you do see a security tab then click Add, and then in the box that says "Enter the object names to select," type the name of the user that's at the top of the Start menu which is probably you. Make sure you type the name the way it's listed on the Start Menu. I made the mistake of typing my first name only and it wouldn't let me in. Type first and last name if that's how it's written on the top of the Start menu. After you've typed that in, click OK until you are back to looking at the folder that wouldn’t let you in and double click it again to open it.

You should be in it now. If not then you didn’t type the name exactly as it is listed on top of the start menu. It has to be the same for the folder to open for you.

“But what if no security tab is available to select?” Do this: Click to put checks in BOTH checkboxes in the "Network sharing and security" area. One of them is labeled "Share this folder on the network" and the other is labeled "Allow network users to change my files." Change the share name from “System Volume Information to something short, like SysVolInf as in only the first three letters of the words “System and Volume and Information. Click Apply and you will get an error possibly. If you get the error then just do it again and it will let you in the second time. Put a star next to this section on your print out because you’ll want to come back after you are restored and make sure to put this back to the way it was if the restore doesn’t do it for you. Just double check this when you’re running again is all I’m saying. Double click the folder now to get in it.

“The System Volume Information folder is now opened.” This folder may contain one or more folders with names like this”

_restore{F4EB0E83-91FF-4B7D-ABC2-287358719EAE}”

Right click on each of them and note the date they were created. You DON’T want the one created with today’s date and time.

Open the one that doesn’t have today’s date and time but is closest to the latest date before the problems happened. Inside are several folders with names like RP37, RP38, and RP39 etc. These are each a separate restore point. Go up to the file menu and select view. When the drop down menu opens select “Details”. Now you can see the dates of when each of these was created listed next to them. Double click on the one that has the date
that was one day before you started having trouble with your computer. So as an example if your computer died last Saturday on June 18 of 2006 then you would most likely want to open the folder that was created on Friday, June 17, 2006 which as you see was the day before the computer broke.

Now that you have opened the RP******* folder: Find and open the “Snapshot” folder. Select view from the file menu again and select details from the drop down menu so you can read the file names more easily. Copy the following files from this “Snapshot” folder to the C:Windows\Tmp folder using the copy/paste process or however you know how to do this to get them copied from here to there. Here is the list of files to copy:

_registry_user_.default
_registry_machine_sam
_registry_machine_security
_registry_machine_software
_registry_machine_system

You are getting very close to being done so hang in there! Make sure your Windows XP CD is still in the drive and restart

Windows making sure to hit any key this time when it tells you to do that to boot from the CD. Once it finishes with that long start up process again you’ll have those same options again like before. Press R to select Repair using the Recovery Console. Again, make sure your num lock is on if you use the number keypad on the right of your keyboard and then select the number that best describes the location of where you installed Windows XP to. Enter your admin password when prompted to do so. Now, you are again looking at a c:\windows> prompt.

Type in cd c:\windows\system32\config and hit enter so that your prompt should now look like c:\windows\system32\config>

From within Recovery Console, type the following commands:
del default
del sam
del security
del software
del system

cd ..\
cd ..\
cd tmp ( now your prompt should look like this: c:\windows\tmp> )

copy _registry_user_.default c:\windows\system32\config\default (Notice the period (".") before the word default in the first parameter)

copy _registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy _registry_machine_security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system

If you can, remove the Windows XP CD from the CD-ROM now.

Type exit and your computer will reboot into whichever restore point you chose. Now you're done except that you may want to reset your current time and go back up to where I told you to mark that spot where you will make sure that the sharing isn’t still turned on for the System Volume Information folder. I hope this saved your butt. Always help others when you get a chance.

Or

You can carry the cut n' paste routine out on the disk if you mount in another PC

Browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32\config

Create a origdate ie orig7621 easy to spot and find

Back up the existing files! to a origdate by copying them

Use the trick to share the system volume infomation
(Your words)
Right click on the “System Volume Information” folder and select the Sharing and Security option. Then click the Security tab if there is one. (If there is no security tab available to select then skip down to the paragraph that starts with “But what if no security tab is available to select?” If you do see a security tab then click Add, and then in the box that says "Enter the object names to select," type the name of the user that's at the top of the Start menu which is probably you. Make sure you type the name the way it's listed on the Start Menu. I made the mistake of typing my first name only and it wouldn't let me in. Type first and last name if that's how it's written on the top of the Start menu. After you've typed that in, click OK until you are back to looking at the folder that wouldn’t let you in and double click it again to open it.

You should be in it now. If not then you didn’t type the name exactly as it is listed on top of the start menu. It has to be the same for the folder to open for you.

“But what if no security tab is available to select?” Do this: Click to put checks in BOTH checkboxes in the "Network sharing and security" area. One of them is labeled "Share this folder on the network" and the other is labeled "Allow network users to change my files." Change the share name from “System Volume Information to something short, like SysVolInf as in only the first three letters of the words “System and Volume and Information. Click Apply and you will get an error possibly. If you get the error then just do it again and it will let you in the second time. Put a star next to this section on your print out because you’ll want to come back after you are restored and make sure to put this back to the way it was if the restore doesn’t do it for you. Just double check this when you’re running again is all I’m saying. Double click the folder now to get in it.

copy a good set of

copy _registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy _registry_machine_security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system

to the C:\WINDOWS\system32\config directory

Delete the existing ones and rename the new files to sam,security,software,system

shut down and replace the drive in the original PC, boot the PC

sure hope you didn' sit type all that info .
they bought the computer with no disks at an auction ,there the data on the computer is of no importance to them ,if there is a windows key on the tower ,then borrow a friends window cd ,same version ,and format and reload computer ,if no key on the tower go buy winxp for it

[Etard]

Wil 0' Wisp Thanks and :icon_eek: :icon_eek:

I dont think aything's damaged I'd just like to get around the smartlaunch program.

I have my XP upgrade disk that I have on this current machine that I use but it's not the pro version and I'd like to keep that if I can.

Keep in mind I'm an atuo mechanic with very limited knowledge. I'm actualy suprised I got as far as I did with the safe mode and all.

There is a acronis recovery program I can access but I have no idea about that, does it have something to do with Linux?

THANKS for all the reply's so far. If you guys need any car help hit me up

[caperjack]

My cars working fine thank!

If you ever intend to connect it to the internet I you i would get a winxp pro cd and reload that tower ,you have no idea what malicious program could be lurking just waiting to grab you personal info.
if there is no key on the case for windows ,you could use this key finder to get the key being used on it ,
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

[Etard]

My cars working fine thank!

If you ever intend to connect it to the internet I you i would get a winxp pro cd and reload that tower ,you have no idea what malicious program could be lurking just waiting to grab you personal info.
if there is no key on the case for windows ,you could use this key finder to get the key being used on it ,
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

How do I use that info?

I haven't gotten that machine on line yet

I don't keep personal info on my computer I look at too much porn :wink:

[caperjack]

wink wink !
let me as you a question does the tower have a sticker on the side with the windows activation key on it .if so reload windows
good luck