Hi,
I have installed Win 2000 prof over Win Millennium. Recently I had
a system crash (i.e. one of the logon files became corrupt) Repairing
did not fix it so I reinstalled Win 2000. However, upon completion I
had 2 separate OSs: C:/Windows and C:/WinNT. I only wanted WinNt so I
removed the C:\Windows (albeit also Win 2000) and edited the
C:\boot.ini to have only 1 OS.
All was well until I tried to uninstall a program. My Add/Remove
Programs clains "There are no programs on this computer" Of course
down from the blank area are all the programs but when I click on them
the Remove button is grayed. According to the internet this is not
that uncommon but all the suggested fixes did not work:
Repairing Win 2000
sfc/purgeCache
sfc/scannow
modifying the Registry
repairing the Registry
As far as I can tell, I only have 1 OS on my PC, but Win 2000 thinks
I have 2 and all the programs are loaded in the other. I would
appreciate any and all advice on overcoming my dliema. It is VERY
frustrating and time consuming. Thx in advance.
Post a follow-up to this message
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Hmmm...just realized the "Repairing Win 2000" was probably the ERD process for you. You should try the Recovery Console. Boot from CD, pick R, then pick C. Select the Windows installation that contains the most recent installation (if you get a choice). When the prompt comes up, run the following commands:
chkdsk /p
fixboot
fixmbr
Type exit then reboot. Since you mentioned corrupted files, perhpas more was affected. These could help. Its worth a shot. It can't get much worse.
James
i have to disagree with jamesreddy,,, if you select the first repair option in 2000/xp this hardly does anything at all,, instead you will need to choose install first,,, then a few steps later it will recognize that you already have 2000 installed on the PC and it will then ask you again if you want to repair it,,, choose repair the second time,, this does a full repair of the OS and puts it everything back to just as if the os was installed fresh,, except you dont lose any data. you WILL lose all of the registry settings since it resets them to the factory defaults. Your drive will not be formated though. This option will give you basically the same result that mattisflones suggested (clean install) without formatting.
That's incorrect Mike. The ERD option is the way to do it for Windows 2000. The option you are suggesting is how you perform an ERD in Windows XP. When you do an ERD from the 2000 CD, it will reinstall ALL files from their orginal CD versions (as long as you don't use an ERD disk). I done it hundreds of times in the Windows 2000 classes I used to teach at a private college.
XP and 2000 have different processes for doing this repair. The one you cited is how you would do the same thing I am suggesting, in Windows XP. Windows 2000 must be done the way I suggested. It will not ask to repair it. They changed the repair process between 2000 and XP. They are not the same. Since he stated he is using Windows 2000, I told him how to repair a 2000 installation. Your method would work...if it was Windows XP.
No...we're speaking of two different things. When you press R, then R again....it asks you for an Emergency Repair Disk. You can put the disk in, or you can say you don't have a disk. If you say you don't HAVE a disk, it will use the files from the CD to perform a full fledged repair. All I am saying is that he should try that. Your method is more extreme because it performs an in-place upgrade of his system. The Emergency Repair process I outlined will"
Inspect Startup Environment Inspect Startup Environment verifies that the Windows 2000 files in the system partition are correct. If any of the files that are needed to start Windows 2000 are missing or corrupted, Repair replaces them from the Windows 2000 Setup CD. These include NTLDR and Ntdetect.com. If Boot.ini is missing, it is recreated.
Verify Windows 2000 System Files Verify Windows 2000 System Files uses a checksum to verify that each installed file is good and that it matches the file that was installed from the Windows 2000 Setup CD. If the recovery process determines that a file on the disk does not match what was installed, it displays a message that identifies the file and asks if you want to replace it. The Emergency Repair Process also verifies that startup files, such as NTLDR and Ntoskrnl.exe, are present and valid.
Inspect Boot Sector Inspect Boot Sector verifies that the boot sector on the system partition still references NTLDR. The Emergency Repair Process can only replace the boot sector for the system partition on the first hard disk. The Emergency Repair Process can also repair the boot sector for the system partition on the startup disk.
For reference...straight out of the Microsoft Book (pretty much) on steps to take when repairing a system. Mike...you method is second to last resort....last resort being a cold reinstall.
http://www.microsoft.com/r
James
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by: mattisflonesPosted on 2004-06-17 at 09:10:53ID: 11336148
Looks like you have it all wrong... I would reinstall and do it clean. I can imagine that you will get loads of trouble with this installation in the future if you dont.