PC help needed :(

[Sergeant Pluck]

OK. I have banjaxed my computer.

Windows XP
Office 2007

The problem: I got a new phone running WM6.1. I was having problems with Activesync. I did not know at the time, but this is a known problem with no known solution that affects WM6.1 and Activesync.
Anyway to cut a long story short, not knowing the above, my efforts to resolve the sync problem led me to mess with the .pst files. Later, much later, I ended up attempting to uninstall and reinstall Outlook.

One thing that I noticed is that my Search tool (from start menu) does not work - for some reason I do not seem to have indexed my files. Thus, I was unable to complete the required deletion of certain files, as per internet instructions, to remove Outlook.

The current state of play:
- unable to uninstall Outlook
- unable to reinstall Outlook
- unable to do a system restore
- lots of things do not work on the computer as Outlook is neither installed or uninstalled.
- lots of registry settings are probably f*cked up beyond recognition.

I'm going to need help with this one, paid for if necessary. Who can you recommend to help with this - can it be done via some kind of remote access? Ideally I need to completely remove Office 2007 and start with a totally fresh install.

I've even considered what I used to occasionally have to do with my old PC: a complete fresh reinstall of everything. But this does not seem to be an option as the computer was never supplied with a Windows image CD.

Help and advice appreciated.

 

[pcolbeck]

Buy a copy of XP it would be cheaper than paying for expert help. That's assuming you actually have CDs for your applications.

[border-rider]

Can you go to a previous "system restore" point, and fix it from there ?

[Sergeant Pluck]

A new copy of XP would be a fresh start or does it retain settings / registry entries from the previous install?

I have the installation CD for Office 2007, all the rest I can save or re-download. I am loath to take that step and lose all the settings I want to keep.

[Greenbank]

Buy a copy of XP it would be cheaper than paying for expert help. That's assuming you actually have CDs for your applications.

If it's a legitimate install of XP then there's no problem using a copy of the XP CD to reinstall.

He'll just need something to extract the installation key from his install (I think the MS phoneline can help with this) if it isn't on a sticker on the machine somewhere, and someone's XP CD to borrow/copy.

Same goes for Office 2007.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Can you go to a previous "system restore" point, and fix it from there ?

If only...  

No, system restore fails to complete as presumably some of Outlook is still there and some not.

[tiermat]

If have an XP disk, a repair install *should* keep all your settings, but the software would probably all need installing again.  Note however that this method is not guaranteed to clear the registry properly so you may still end up in the same situation...

[Sergeant Pluck]

So I can choose "complete" or "repair" install?

If I am going to do this I need it to wipe / recreate all the registry stuff. 

Do you think this is the way to go rather than try (again) to manually un-install Outlook completely?

It's a bit of an arse, this business of getting your computer without copies of the software. 

[tiermat]

Yes, you can either choose to do a new install (by wiping the disk then re-formatting it and doing a new install) or repair the install, just boot off the CD, let it run through the first bit, hit F8 at the license screen then it should look at your disk and see the previous installation, it will then ask you if you want to repair that install or do a new install, select repair and away you go.

Your downloads will still be intact (you do keep all the downloads on disk after installing don't you?), in theory the registry should be wiped clean and you can start again.

[токамак]

If you re-install XP you're going to lose your .pst files and therfore all your email - if you want to be able to restore your email messages you're going to have try and backup your .pst files. The default location will be in your Documents and Settings folder - actually, just search your C: drive for .pst - copy any that you find, they can be imported into a fresh install of Outlook later.

[edit] I can send you software on a CD if you need any.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Yes, you can either choose to do a new install (by wiping the disk then re-formatting it and doing a new install) or repair the install, just boot off the CD, let it run through the first bit, hit F8 at the license screen then it should look at your disk and see the previous installation, it will then ask you if you want to repair that install or do a new install, select repair and away you go.

Your downloads will still be intact (you do keep all the downloads on disk after installing don't you?), in theory the registry should be wiped clean and you can start again.

Thanks. Email is not a worry, as at home I do my email via the Gmail web page itself or Thunderbird. I only use Outlook for contacts and calendar, both of which are on my phone and work domputer. So losing emails is not a problem.

The bit that worries me is re-doing my internet settings.

[токамак]

what kind of settings? Connection settings? I think from Explorer they can be saved for exporting. If it's your Favorites you want - they're also in your Documents and Setting folder.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Yes, connection settings, but I guess I can just look through and note them down. But I'll see what can be exported / imported.

Can't deal with it until Sunday or Monday - in the meantime, any further advice is appreciated even if I don't respond to the thread until tomorrow night.

Any recommendations as to cheapest place to purchase xp? Or even Vista?
Is OEM single license software kosher?

[токамак]

YHPM

[Zipperhead]

Yes, connection settings, but I guess I can just look through and note them down. But I'll see what can be exported / imported.

Can't deal with it until Sunday or Monday - in the meantime, any further advice is appreciated even if I don't respond to the thread until tomorrow night.

Any recommendations as to cheapest place to purchase xp? Or even Vista?
Is OEM single license software kosher?

Does it not have the windows licence on a sticker on the machine? If it does, or you can get microsoft to give you the licence key, you're not far from me and I've got a genuwine XP cd.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Many thanks Zipperhead: I already have a very good offer in that regard, but much appreciated.

Looks like there is indeed a license key there, but the computer did not come with a disc. I did think the installation software for xp was on a separate part of the disc that you could access as a last resort, but it seems not?

[токамак]

Consumer versions of XP need to be activated after installation by connecting to Microsoft and proving you have a legit copy - if you don't have your original discs or product key though this can be a major problem. Fortunately there are other versions of XP that don't require activation - used in business and education - get hold of one of these and you're laughing.

[edit] and if your PC was supplied with an OEM license, it's quite legal reinstall from a non-OEM or voulume licensed copy of the software, which is nice...

[pcolbeck]

If you have a big brand PC with a XP licence sticker on it then these guys can usually provide the original recovery CDs to reinstall XP from.

Genner Sales Europe Homepage (Windows Recovery CDs, Car Manuals, Windows Restore CDs, Motorbike Manuals etc) throughout Europe

Pat

[Sergeant Pluck]

Further to this, I note that my computer will not copy or drag files from one drive to another. 

This is bad.

If I buy an external HD, what are the chances of the software that comes with it allowing me to copy files, given that Windows does not want to?

[TimO]

Fire up a command prompt and use copy or xcopy.  If that doesn't work, you're probably going to need said expert.

(type "xcopy /?" for more help on xcopy).

[Sergeant Pluck]

I don't think I am techy enough to use xcopy.

I am hopeful a repair install, if possible, might allow things to work well enough to permit drag and drop to an external drive before I do a proper clean install.

Needless to say I need to improve my start doing proper back-ups.

[pcolbeck]

Get an external USB hard drive and then boot your PC from CD using Knoppix Linux. This should let you access your current hard drive and the new external one and copy the data between the two. You can then reformat the old one and reinstall Windows from scratch. I have recovered the data from several very poorly Windows installations this way.

[Sergeant Pluck]

That reminds me - I have xandros on the computer but never use it - I could go into that OS on bootup instead. Is that likely to be able to help me?

[pcolbeck]

From a data recovery point of view yes. So long as Xandros can read whatever partition type your Windows partition is it should let you copy of your data (photos, emails etc) onto an external hard drive. I haven't played with Xandros so cant be more specific sorry.

[Sergeant Pluck]

In the end all went well; in fact I was able to use the on-board recovery wotsit once I had figured out how to access it. Which is just as well as for some reason it would not allow me to format the drive as I've done with other 'puters.

Thanks to all for the advice. Computer seems to go better and all the problems mentioned above are resolved.