Recovering from bad registry on a T60 and XP Pro SP3

[RaviN]

I installed a CAD viewer from a reputable company this afternoon on my T60 running XP3, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, ATI graphics. All heck has broken loose. The system went unstable and now I cannot boot, even into any of the safe modes. There is some problem with the registry hive when trying to start XP. Trying to go into safe mode causes the system to hang at MUP.SYS (don't know whether it is MUP.SYS that is at fault or if it is just the last thing to show before the crash)

I have done some research on various websites and so far
1) It is not a USB problem. It happens when nothing is connected to the USB ports
2) People with MS versions of XP can go into some recovery console app. I can't find the equivalent in the Lenovo installation. Rescue and Recovery v4 does not offer this
3) The solutions on the MS tech support page specifically say to not use their solution on an OEM installed version of XP. This page is referred in another thread on the Thinkpads forum

I have removed my T60's HD and am backing up critical files. The HD is alive and there do not seem to be any problems with it.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on how to recover from this. Even getting to safe mode so I can uninstall the CAD viewer and run CCleaner on the Registry would be very helpful. I am using my Sony Vaio running XP Pro to do the backup. The T60 HD is attached to it. Perhaps there is some way to edit the T60's registry while it is hooked to this other machine? Can I run CHDKSK on it somehow?

Thank you.

Ravi

[GomJabbar]

Recovery console will not likely help much. Mostly it just gives you a command prompt. FYI, you can get to the recovery console if you boot a Windows install CD.

Can you choose "Last Known Good Configuration" at boot (press F8 at boot time for the boot menu)?

You can try to do a repair install if you can get your hands on a XP SP3 install CD.
Langa Letter: XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option

[RaviN]

When I tried Last Known Good Configuration, it would go into a loop. I'd see a mostly black screen for a while and then it would go back to the Boot Menu.

I have a set of Product Recovery CDs that Lenovo sent to me because their provided software wouldn't allow me to make a set for myself. Could this be an option?

I'll read the InfoWeek article as well.

[GomJabbar]

The Product Recovery Disks will erase EVERYTHING on your hard drive and reinstall the original Factory software and OS.

If you use them: you boot the first disk into Rescue and Recovery and choose "Restore Factory Contents", then after all the data is copied to your hard drive, you will again be in Rescue and Recovery where you have to choose "Restore Factory Contents" a second time. This time Windows and the original software is installed. You will have to reboot several times during the whole process. Alternatively, if you can boot into Rescue and Recovery from your hard drive, you will only need to Restore Factory Contents once. IIRC, if you Restore Factory Contents from your hard drive, only the C: partition is rewritten. Any D: and higher partitions should not be affected. If you use the Product Recovery Disks, all partitions are overwritten.

[RaviN]

Ok. Clearly I don't want to use the Product Recovery unless there's no other choice. I can get into Rescue and Recovery v4 so I will try restoring from there after my data backup completes.

Unfortunately, I never created additional partitions on my T60. It came with just the one C: drive and I left it that way.

[deforest]

Boot into safe mode, and then use windows system restore (found in programs, accessories, system tools in the start menu) to restore your system prior to when your system became unstable.

[ArtShapiro]

Boot into safe mode, and then use windows system restore (found in programs, accessories, system tools in the start menu) to restore your system prior to when your system became unstable.

He said that he couldn't boot into safe mode.

From another machine (or from a temporary parallel installation of Windows on your hard drive), you can move five registry hives from the original installation folders or - I imagine - from system restore's folder. I've successfully done this in the past. I can't parrot off the steps right now, as it has been a while and I'm soaking off the day's cycling in the tub, but some Googling will find it. It is not for the faint of heart.

Art

[RaviN]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I reinstalled XP from Rescue and Recovery which went faster than I expected. I'm up and running after several hours of patch installation, data transfer, and software reinstallation.

[GomJabbar]

Glad your back up and running!