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9.7

What files do I remove to stop Windows XP Setup from starting every time I boot my computer?

Asked by columbusdata in Windows XP Operating System

Tags: Windows, XP, Professional, Setup, Files

I have a user's computer who was working fine last Friday, but when they came into the office on Monday and turned their PC on, it went straight into a Windows XP Installation screen (where it says "Setup will complete in approximately 39 minutes."). After a few seconds, it then prompts for a Windows XP Professional SP2 disc. When given, it fails with a fatal error.

I've cradled the hard drive and see the full file structure of the previous Windows XP Professional installation. Windows folder is there, user profiles are there, etc...

I need to be able to cancel this Windows XP Setup screen from loading every time I boot the PC. Listed below are the things I've done so far:

1) Made CD-ROM the only bootable device. Attempted a boot from CD-ROM with Windows XP Pro SP2 disc inserted. When the screen says "Press any key to boot from CD...", I press a few keys (not enough to get POST keyboard errors), and it does not accept the keyboard input. Result: Boots to XP Setup Screen

2) Attempted a boot to Safe Mode or Last Known Good. Pressed F8 during POST, and got the menu of options. At this point, the system stopped accepting keyboard input (I've tried all of this with multiple keyboards, by the way).

3) Booted to Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. Browsed the file structure and opened Boot.ini. Boot.ini looked as it should. There was only one boot line for Windows XP Professional. There was NOT an extra line for the Windows XP Setup. Boot.ini file is printed below:

----START BOOT.INI FILE----
[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
----END BOOT.INI FILE----

4) Tried pressing F12 during POST to get the boot menu. Forced it to boot to Windows XP Pro SP2 CD-ROM, but still had no keyboard input as soon as it said "Press any key to boot to CD...".

There must be files resident somewhere on the system that's causing it to disable keyboard input after POST because it knows there's an unfinished XP installation waiting to finish. That being said, does anyone know what folders/files I need to delete when I boot into the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows? I can boot into that just fine (it does not require me to "press any key to boot to cd") and can browse the file system.

HELP and Thanks!

[+][-]09/02/09 01:16 PM, ID: 25245147Accepted Solution

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About this solution

Zone: Windows XP Operating System
Tags: Windows, XP, Professional, Setup, Files
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Solution Provided By: flubbster
Participating Experts: 4
Solution Grade: A
 
[+][-]09/02/09 12:46 PM, ID: 25244847Expert Comment

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[+][-]09/02/09 12:53 PM, ID: 25244903Expert Comment

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[+][-]09/02/09 01:01 PM, ID: 25244969Author Comment

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[+][-]09/02/09 01:10 PM, ID: 25245050Expert Comment

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[+][-]09/02/09 01:46 PM, ID: 25245540Author Comment

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[+][-]09/02/09 02:45 PM, ID: 25245972Expert Comment

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