help! traveling and tpad won't boot

[niccolo]

I need help. I have an old but faithful t42. I'm traveling abroad, and just installed Roxio media manager software for a new blackberry, and post reboot the computer won't get past the fingerprint access prompt, it just stalls, I.e. blank screen with cursor. I thought I could use restore and recovery software, but the only options seem to be restoring off a saved backup I don't have or factory fresh. I'm traveling for a few more weeks, this is a big problem for me. Any help very much appreciated!

[Harryc]

Can you boot into safemode (F8 on boot) and uninstall the Roxio software or fall back to an earlier restore point?

[niccolo]

When I hold F8, now I get an error message, ERROR 0210: Stuck Key 42 Press F1 to Setup. I'm not a sophisticated user, can you walk me through the steps required to uninstall or return to a previous state? Really appreciate the help!

[niccolo]

Managed to get into safemode, selected boot into last known good configuration, still stalling in same way. Mulling trying to turn off power on password, since fingerprint reader software interaction seems to be hanging the system. Or how do I uninstall/revert to prior state from safemode?

[niccolo]

After a long time (20+ mins?), system finally loaded fully, but can't do anything, continuous hourglass cursor, can open windows task manager, shows "System" taking up 99 percent of CPU capacity.

[TTY]

After a long time (20+ mins?), system finally loaded fully, but can't do anything, continuous hourglass cursor, can open windows task manager, shows "System" taking up 99 percent of CPU capacity.

If this doesn't resolve with time, you could boot into safe mode again. From there, you could check if it's possible to start the ThinkVantage Fingerprint Software and change authentication method from fingerprint to password. To uninstall the Roxio software from safe mode, open control panel, click software or programs.

[Harryc]

Managed to get into safemode, selected boot into last known good configuration, still stalling in same way. Mulling trying to turn off power on password, since fingerprint reader software interaction seems to be hanging the system. Or how do I uninstall/revert to prior state from safemode?

You want to select an older restore point;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Personally I'd probably fool around with eliminating startup items, drivers, and processes using msconfig in safe mode. You can google msconfig if you want to give it a shot.

[niccolo]

Fixed! Booted in safe mode, went into system restore, restored to the day before I installed the problematic software, everything seems to be fully functional again. Thanks all for your help! Unfortunately this means no downloading photos from the blackberry the next few weeks of travel, and don't really want to risk trying that again, but happy to have the laptop back!

[Harryc]