ReInstalling WindowsXP Without loosing your settings!

Posted by Tech Tactical on Friday, November 7, 2008
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ReInstalling WindowsXP Without loosing your settings

If you need to reinstall WindowsXP and want to keep all your current installed applications and settings:

  1. Start WindowsXP

  2. Go to the location of your source files

  3. Run WINNT32 /unattend

I’ve often need to do this to repair something that had gotten corrupted and didn’t want to do a clean install.

Other Cool XP tips:

Adding SafeBoot to the Boot Menu:

You can add Safeboot as an option to the normal XP boot screen

  1. Open a command prompt
  2. Copy the current c:boot.ini to another name (just in case)
  3. With your favorite text editor, edit c:boot.ini
  4. Copy then edit the current boot line to another line. For example:
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect
    might copy and then change to:
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safeboot” /fastdetect
  5. Start MSCONFIG
  6. Click on the BOOT.INI tab
  7. Highlight the second line with the additional name of Safeboot
  8. Check the /SAFEBOOT box with option you want
    Minimal - Minimal set of drivers
    Network - With Network Support
    Dsrepair - Directory Services Repair
    Minimal (Alternate Shell) - Standard Explorer Desktop
  9. You will now have this option every time you start XP

Changing the Default DOS Window Properties:

If you want to change the default DOS windows properties like:

  • Size
  • Color
  • Font
  • Buffer Size
  • Window / Full Screen
  1. Open up a DOS window
  2. Right click on the Title Bar
  3. Select Defaults
  4. Make any of the changes you like
  5. All subsequent DOS windows will assume these defaults

Set the Online Registration as Being Completed

You can set WindowsXP to assume the online registration has been completed.

  1. Run Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion
  3. Create a String Value called RegDone
  4. Give it a value of 1

Download reg file

Rollback a Device Driver

If you install a device driver that does not work correctly,
you can restore the previous one fairly easily.

  1. Log in with an administrator account
  2. Right click on My Computer
  3. Select Properties
  4. Click on the Hardware tab
  5. Click on the Device Manager button
  6. Go to the device you want to reconfigure
  7. Click on the Driver tab
  8. Click on the Roll Back Drive button

WindowsXP Command Line Utilities

While there are a lot of command line utilities in WindowsXP, here are few good ones:

bootcfg - Configures, queries, or changes Boot.ini file settings.

driverquery - Displays a list of all installed device drivers and their properties.

getmac - Returns the media access control (MAC) address and list of network protocols associated with each address for all network cards in each computer

gpresult - Displays Group Policy settings and Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP) for a user or a computer

netsh - You can use commands in the Netsh Interface IP context to configure the TCP/IP protocol

schtasks - Schedules commands and programs to run periodically or at a specific time

systeminfo - Displays detailed configuration information about a computer and its operating system

* To get a quick help for all the commands you can enter from WindowsXP,
simply create a shortcut:

hh.exe ms-its:C:WINDOWSHelpntcmds.chm::/ntcmds.htm

Creating an Automated Install of WindowsXP

On the WindowsXP CP, in the SUPPORTTOOLS directory,
there is a file called DEPLOY.CAB.

  1. Extract the programs DEPLOY.CHM (help file) and SETUPMGR.EXE (main program)
  2. Run SETUPMGR and answer the prompts.
  3. This will create both a unattend.bat and unattend.txt file you can use for automated installs.
  4. Note: The batch file might need some minor modification for file locations but it is fairly basic.

Using the System File Checker

You can run the System File Checker to verify protected system files.Command line switches are:

sfc [/scannow] [/scanonce] [/scanboot] [/revert] [/purgecache] [/cachesize=x]

  • /scannow - Scans all protected system files immediately.
  • /scanonce - Scans all protected system files once.
  • /scanboot - Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
  • /revert - Returns the scan to its default operation.
  • /purgecache - Purges the Windows File Protection file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.
  • /cachesize=x - Sets the size, in MB, of the Windows File Protection file cache.

Speeding Up the Display of Start Menu Items

An easy way to speed up the display of the Start Menu Items is to turn off the menu shadow.

  1. Right click on an open area of the Desktop

  2. Select Properties

  3. Click on the Appearance tab

  4. Click on the Effects button

  5. Uncheck Show shadows under menus

Changing the Default Search Settings

By default, when you start a search,
you are prompted for what you want to search for.
(e.g. Pictures, Documents, Files, Computers)

To change the preferences, simply click on Change preferences

From here you can:

  1. Turn off the animated screen character
  2. Change files and folders search behavior (setting it to Advanced changes the default search screen to be for simply files)
  3. Internet search settings
  4. Turn off balloon tips

Adding / Removing Additional Programs

By default, WindowsXP does not display all the programs you can add or remove.
To show this list:

Edit the WindowsInfsysoc.inf file

In the Components section, simply remove the word hide.
This will leave two commas together (like on the rest of the items).
Then you can go to the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / Add/Remove Windows Components and the new items will be displayed.

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7

Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

Changing Drive Letters

If you want to change the letters assigned to your fixed or removable drives:

  1. Right Click on My Computer
  2. Select Manage
  3. Select Disk Management

For a Fixed Disk:

  1. Select it
  2. Right click
  3. Select Change Drive Letter and Path
  4. Click on the Edit button
  5. Enter in the letter you want to use

For a Removable Disk:

  1. In the lower, right hand panel, right click on the Disk or CD ROM #
  2. Select Change Drive Letter and Path
  3. Click on the Edit button
  4. Enter in the letter you want to use

Note: This can only be done for drives that do not have the Operating System Installed or you are booting to.

Adding SafeBoot to the Boot Menu

You can add Safeboot as an option to the normal XP boot screen

  1. Open a command prompt
  2. Copy the current c:boot.ini to another name (just in case)
  3. With your favorite text editor, edit c:boot.ini
  4. Copy then edit the current boot line to another line. For example:
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect
    might copy and then change to:
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safeboot” /fastdetect
  5. Start MSCONFIG
  6. Click on the BOOT.INI tab
  7. Highlight the second line with the additional name of Safeboot
  8. Check the /SAFEBOOT box with option you want
    Minimal - Minimal set of drivers
    Network - With Network Support
    Dsrepair - Directory Services Repair
    Minimal (Alternate Shell) - Standard Explorer Desktop
  9. You will now have this option every time you start XP

Enable / Disable the Task Manager

  1. Start Regedit

  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem

  3. Create the Dword value DisableTaskMgr

  4. Give it a value of 0 to enable it

  5. Give it a vaule of 1 to disable it

Download Reg File

NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM Not Found

If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup,

If you have FAT32 partitions, it is much simpler than with NTFS.
Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files
from the i386 directory to the root of the C: drive.

For NTFS:

  1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
  2. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
  3. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
    Typically this will be #1
  4. Enter in the administrator password when requested
  5. Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.
    COPY X:i386NTLDR C:
    COPY X:i386NTDETECT.COM C:
  6. Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Corrupted or Missing WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIG

If you get the error:
Windows could not start because the following files is missing or corrupt
WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSYSTEM or WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSOFTWARE

  1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
  2. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
  3. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
    Typically this will be #1
  4. Enter in the administrator password when requested
  5. cd windowssystem32config
  6. Depending on which section was corrupted:
    ren software software.bad or ren system system.bad
  7. Depending on which section was corrupted
    copy windowsrepairsystem
    copy windowsrepairsoftware
  8. Take out the CD ROM and type exit

HAL.DLL Missing or Corrupt

If you get an error regarding a missing or corrupt hal.dll file, it might simply be the BOOT.INI file on the root of the C: drive that is misconfigured

  1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
  2. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
  3. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
    Typically this will be #1
  4. Type bootcfg /list to show the current entries in the BOOT.INI file
  5. Type bootcfg /rebuild to repair it
  6. Take out the CD ROM and type exit

NTOSKRNL Missing or Corrupt

If you get an error that NTOSKRNL not found:

  1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
  2. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
  3. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
    Typically this will be #1
  4. Change to the drive that has the CD ROM.
  5. CD i386
  6. expand ntkrnlmp.ex_ C:WindowsSystem32ntoskrnl.exe
  7. If WindowsXP is installed in a different location, just make the necessary change to C:Windows
  8. Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Repair Install

If XP is corrupted to the point where none of the previous solutions get it to boot,
you can do a Repair Install that might work as well as keep the current settings.
Make sure you have your valid WindowsXP key.
The whole process takes about half an hour depending on your computer
If you are being prompted for the administrator’s password, you need to choose the 2nd repair option, not the first.

  1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD
  2. At the second R=Repair option, press the R key
  3. This will start the repair
  4. Press F8 for I Agree at the Licensing Agreement
  5. Press R when the directory where WindowsXP is installed is shown. Typically this is C:WINDOWS
  6. It will then check the C: drive and start copying files
  7. It will automatically reboot when needed. Keep the CD in the drive.
  8. You will then see the graphic part of the repair that is like during a normal install of XP (Collecting Information, Dynamic Update, Preparing Installation, Installing Windows, Finalizing Installation)
  9. When prompted, click on the Next button
  10. When prompted, enter your XP key
  11. Normally you will want to keep the same Workgroup or Domain name
  12. The computer will reboot
  13. Then you will have the same screens as a normal XP Install
  14. Activate if you want (usually a good idea)
  15. Register if you want (but not necessary)
  16. Finish
  17. At this point you should be able to log in with any existing accounts.

Services You Can Disable

There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.
This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.
They are only suggestions so I suggestion you read the description of each one when you run Services
and that you turn them off one at a time.

Some possibilities are:

  • Alerter - Sends alert messages to specified users that are connected to the server computer.
  • Application Management - Allows software to tap directly into the Add/Remove Programs feature via the Windows Installer technology.
  • Background Intelligent Transfer Service - The Background Intelligent Transfer service is used by programs (such as Windows AutoUpdate) to download files by using spare bandwidth.
  • Clipbook - ClipBook permits you to cut and paste text and graphics over the network.
  • Error Reporting Service - Allows applications to send error reports to Microsoft in the event of an application fault.
  • Fast User Switching - Windows XP allows users to switch quickly between accounts, without requiring them to log off.
  • Help and Support - Allows the XP Built-in Help and Support Center to run.
  • IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service - You don’t need this if you have other software to create CDs.
  • Indexing Service - Indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language.
  • IP SEC - Manages IP security policy and starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) and the IP security driver. If you are not on a domain, you likely don’t need this running.
  • Messenger - Transmits net send and Alerter service messages between clients and servers. This is how a lot of pop-up windows start appearing on your desktop.
  • Net Logon - Supports pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain. If you are not on a domain, you don’t need this running
  • Network DDE - Provides network transport and security for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for programs running on the same computer or on different computers.
  • NT LM Security Support Provider - Provides security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs that use transports other than named pipes.
  • Performance Logs and Alerts - Collects performance data from local or remote computers based on preconfigured schedule parameters, then writes the data to a log or triggers an alert. If you don’t need to monitor your performance logs, then you don’t need this service.
  • Portable Media Serial Number - Retrieves the serial number of any portable music player connected to your computer
  • QOS RSVP - Provides network signaling and local traffic control setup functionality for QoS-aware programs and control applets.
  • Remote Desktop Help Session Manager - Manages and controls Remote Assistance. If you are not using Remote Desktop you don’t need this service.
  • Remote Registry - Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer.
  • Routing & Remote Access - Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments. Allows dial-in access.
  • Secondary Login - Enables starting processes under alternate credentials. This is what allows you to run an application as another user.
  • Smart Card - Manages access to smart cards read by this computer.
  • Smart Card Helper - Enables support for legacy non-plug and play smart-card readers used by this computer.
  • SSDP Discovery Service - Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network.
  • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper - Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution. This should not be needed in today’s network environment.
  • Telnet - Enables a remote user to log on to this computer and run programs, and supports various TCP/IP Telnet clients.
  • Uninterruptible Power Supply Service - Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer.
  • Universal Plug and Play Device Host - Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices
  • Upload Manager - Manages synchronous and asynchronous file transfers between clients and servers on the network.
  • Volume Shadow Copy Service - Manages and implements Volume Shadow Copies used for backup and other purposes.
  • Web Client - Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify non-local files across the Internet.
  • Wireless Zero Configuration - Provides automatic configuration for the 802.11 adapters
  • WMI Performance Adapter - Provides performance library information from WMI HiPerf providers.

Running Network Diagnostics

Network Diagnostics scans your system to gather information about your hardware, software, and network connections.

Start / Run / NETSH DIAG GUI

The following is the type of information that can be displayed:

  • Ping
  • Connect
  • Show
  • Verbose
  • Save to Desktop
  • Mail Service
  • News Service
  • Internet Proxy Server
  • Computer Information
  • Operating System
  • Windows Version
  • Modems
  • Network Clients
  • Network Adapters
  • Domain Name System (DNS)
  • Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
  • Default Gateways
  • Internet Protocol Address
  • Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS)

Not Viewing Zip Files as Folders

If you want to turn of WindowsXP showing Zip files as folders,
just run:

regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

Hiding a XP Computer from Network Neighborhood

If you want to share files from a XP computer,
yet want to remove it from showing up in the Network Neighborhood,

Run net config server /hidden:yes

Viewing Installed Drivers

If you want to see a list of installed drivers, you can run the driverquery program
There are a lot of available switches to view different types of information.
On use can be to export to a CSV file for viewing in Excel
An example would then be:

Driverquery /v /fo csv > drivers.csv

Identify Faulty Device Drivers

If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode,
often the problem is due to a faulty device driver.

One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program

  1. Start / Run / Verifier
  2. Keep the default of Create Standard Settings
  3. Select the type of drivers you want to confirm
  4. A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown.
  5. Reboot
  6. If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver
  7. To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset

Determining Which Services are Associated with SVCHOST

Since so many critical services are run with each svchost,
You can see which ones are being used by opening a cmd prompt and running:

tasklist /svc /fi “imagename eq svchost.exe”

Opening Shared Folders Snap-In

To manage all your shared folders, you can run the snap-in directly

Start / Run / fsmgmt.msc

This will show you all your shared folders in a single window
You can also see what other computers are connected and what files they have open

Running CHKDSK

One way to run a chkdsk (this is like Scandisk that was with Win9X), is to

  1. Double click on My Computer
  2. Right click on the drive you want to check
  3. Select Properties
  4. Click on the Tools tab
  5. Click on the Check Now button
  6. Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f
  7. If you want to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R. It can also add a lot of time to the scan
  8. Reboot if necessary

You can also run chkdsk from the command line with will give you more options.
The following switches are available:

/F - fix any errors
/R - identifies bad sectors
/V - with FAT32, displays a verbose output
With NTFS Volumes:
/I - Performs simpler check (stage 2)
/C - Skips the checking of cycles within folder structures
/X - Forces the volume to dismount if necessary. Intended for server administrators and should be avoided for normal use

Repairing Damaged Winsock2

The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged shows when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG.

And you get the following error message:
An error occurred while renewing interface ‘Internet’: An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

—–

If you have WindowsXP with Service Pack 2, there is a one line command you can run to reset the winsock2 registry entries
netsh winsock reset catalog

——

There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:

From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory

Winsock Test Method 1
Run netdiag /test:winsock

The end should say Winsock test ….. passed

Winsock Test Method 2

  1. Run Msinfo32
  2. Click on the + by Components
  3. Click on the by Network
  4. Click on Protocol
  5. There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok

MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

  1. Run Regedit
  2. Delete the following two registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesWinsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesWinsock2

Download Reg file to delete these entries

  1. Restart the computer
  2. Go to Network Connections
  3. Right click and select Properties
  4. Click on the Install button
  5. Select Protocol
  6. Click on the Add button
  7. Click on the Have Disk button
  8. Browse to the Windowsinf directory
  9. Click on the Open button
  10. Click on the OK button
  11. Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
  12. Click on the OK button
  13. Reboot

Or Download Reg file to add the correct registries back in. Then reboot the computer

For more great tips like these visit Bob Cerellis page here:

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/index.html

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