Boot Disc

[SuiCidAl-KiSmEt]

While deleting a virus, I messed up my registry. My laptop is telling me to enter a password in some login form and I can't even login any of my accounts, even in safe mode. I was so ignorant enough to believe I wouldn't mess up my registry that I didn't make a back-up. I’m moving to Texas and the only thing I brought is an .mp3 player and my laptop. So, I can’t even reinstall Windows XP.

I've been looking around at Microsoft.com and saw that I could download Bootable Setup Discs. X (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&familyid=e8fe6868-6e4f-471c-b455-bd5afee126d8)
It says I need floppy discs in order for me to use it, but the only thing I could put in my computer is a flash drive and a CD disc, which I both have. So... this is where I'm stuck in.

[Neo]

Have you ever had a password set? (Have you tried a blank password? :P)

Here...

http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/ I think you can use that to help you. Read the FAQ/Readme/Instructions carefully though. And, it has a cd version (yay for you :))

I hope that helps. Please though, you need to read through this guy's instructions carefully and make sure you change the right stuff. I don't think it should to hard, especially if you have access to another computer (print out the instructions or something).

-Neo

[SuiCidAl-KiSmEt]

And, it has a cd version yay for you :)
yay!
I hope that helps.
And It isn''t ;(

I read through all the instruction, from the top of the page to all the way to the bottom. When I boot it up with my computer, nothing happened. My computer still keeps telling me to enter a password in some login form.

I tried using another program like this, it didn't work too. Maybe my computer isn't really loading the discs or the programs won't work for me,

[Neo]

Dude, you have to burn it to a cd using the "burn a bootable cd" option from Nero (or whatever you use)

You can't just burn the iso and have it work :P

Also, make sure your bios is set to boot from the cd first.

-Neo

[Mindslaver]

As Neo said, you must make a CD from the CD image, not just burn the ISO file to the CD. Use a burning software (such as Nero) to burn the ISO - the option normally looks like "Burn ISO to CD" or something like that.

Other than that, the FAQ says it all:


I have the CD in my CD drive, but it starts on the haddrive (sic).


Check your BIOS manual on how to boot from CD, or if the CD-ROM is on a SCSI-card, check the cards manual.
For those of you without manuals: Try hitting ESC or F10 or F12 for bootmenu right after the RAM-count.
Or enter BIOS setup and change the boot order. Either you can figure that one out from the menus, or you really need the manual.
I don't remember when BIOS-folks started implementing the CD boot (El Torito) standard, but it was around 1995? Older computers won't CD boot.
But BIOS-programmers never actually READ the bloody standard, so you may have a buggy one that only boots some CDs.
If it boots (first banner page), the same problems as for the floppy may show, please read on..

[U-238]

Or just set the file extension to open with your burning program and then all you'll have to do is ddouble click on the iso file and it should come up and be ready to burn.

[SuiCidAl-KiSmEt]

Hm... well, I didn't have Nero, after downloading a free program, the iso halfway worked.
I just found this webpage just now and It seems pretty intresting; http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/12/06/boot-windows-xp-off-a-usb-flash-drive/
[More]http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/09/windows_in_your_pocket/index.html

It seems like another way to fix my comuter; after putting %systemdrive%\boot.ini, %systemdrive%\ntldr, and %systemdrive%:\ntdetect into my flashdrive into my laptop, my laptop booted up saying

Windows could not start becouse the following file is missing or corrupted: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of a the above file.

Does anyone know how I can reinstall a copy of that file?
Post: nvm I got it to work.