A neighbor's XP Media Center system had a browser hijack and some other malware. We used a combination of Hijackthis, Trend Micro AV, and SuperAntispyware to remove as much of the junk as possible.
However, after doing that, the system would not boot. I suspect that the malware had replaced some Windows components.
We attempted to do a Windows Repair with the original vendor-provided XP media center DVD. Part way through, the system demanded a CD with XP SP2. If we did not insert media containing XP SP2, the repair terminated.
We could not find a copy of SP2 on Microsoft.com. The only copy we could find was for IT professionals.
MS advises that individual users should just use Windows Update, which we couldn't do, because the XP repair was requiring SP2 in order to proceed to completion.
We were able to expand the SP2 file linked above and copy it to a CD, which we then inserted when the Repair asked for SP2. However, the Repair quit again soon, asking for a missing file - NT5INF.CAT, which was nowhere to be found on the SP2 CD.
Now when we try to repair XP, the system tells us that the installed OS is XP Professional rather than XP Media Center.
We would really rather not erase the system and start over - the user has a fair amount of software installed for which she no longer has the original program media.
I am suspicious of the "IT Professional" version of SP2 that we used.
Any suggestions on how to repair this system? Is there another way to get a good copy of SP2?
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forbin4040 said:Honestly, reinstall. Once you get a bad malware they are almost impossible to remove.
I know you have to reinstall all your programs but your pc will run faster.I understand what you're saying and normally I do that, however, in this case it would be onerous because of the number of the irreplaceable programs that the owner has installed.
A full, clean install will be the last resort. I've done a number of XP repairs before and never encountered this problem.
Message edited by: Xnarg on 2009-10-30 13:42:27 CDT
The SP2 for IT professionals is only the service pack and will not take the place of full XP *including* the service pack. However, that is the file you need to combine with an XP disk by slipstreaming. Take the XP media center disk you have and slipstream it with SP2 and then burn a new disk. Autostreamer from neowin will do this in a few clicks.
jolma said:Take the XP media center disk you have and slipstream it with SP2 and then burn a new disk. Autostreamer from neowin will do this in a few clicks. MS doesn't support slipstreaming Service Packs onto XP MCE/Tablet discs, only XP Home/Pro.
Xnarg said:I have the original XP MCE which came from Dell with the computer. That's not going to work, as you've already discovered. It needs SP2 slipstreamed onto the installer, and MS doesn't support slipstreaming Service Packs onto MCE.
You may be able to get by with an OEM XP Pro SP2 install disc, especially since the Windows installer seems to think that's what the install is now. However, they may be activation issues due to different keys once the install is finished.
nlite supports MCE. Program can add the service packs & security patches to create a new disk. Then, you would use this new disk to do the repair. nlite does not enable the repair option by default so you have to make sure the box is checked in the disk creation wizard. This process should have worked, but now I have my doubts since you seem to be stuck on a Pro repair instead. You can try nLite with MCE and see if the repair can be done. If not and Pro is required for the repair, you could borrow a Dell XP Pro disk or buy a Dell Reinstallation CD for XP Pro on somewhere like eBay.
Xnarg said:I am suspicious of the "IT Professional" version of SP2 that we used.This is SP2 in one file as opposed to the incremental version available via Windows Updates. It includes all required files for SP2 and allows IT Pros to install without an Internet connection. I use it all the time (same for SP3) because it is much faster and it is easier to just pop a CD in with one EXE file. My point? Your SP2 source is not the problem.
I am suspicious of your neighbor's installation of Windows. A repair install with the original disk should work no matter what SP or updates have been installed. It will replace those files with the originals, putting the system back to whatever SP was on the original media. I have done many repair installs and have never had one require a service pack unless the original install used something different. OR my original media was bad - any chance his DVD is scratched?
As for Media Center saying it is Pro - that is completely normal. Media Center is Pro with some add-ons and during install it will ID as Pro.
Hmmmm..... We finally gave up on trying to repair the system and tried to do a full installation. We did a full format. The system hangs and the install fails after it asks for the SP2 CD. I don't understand how it would know to ask for SP2 since the system originally shipped without it.
I tried this with the original XP MCE, XP Home full, XP Home upgrade, and XP Pro full. I'll try swapping out the CD/DVD drive to see if that's it. I'm wondering if there is some mobo or HD controller driver that needs to be loaded.
Message edited by: Xnarg on 2009-10-31 11:35:37 CDT
I agree, that doesn't make any sense. It can't ask for the SP2 disk unless there is something left on the system. Did you check for a recovery partition?
How about wiping the partition instead of just formatting it?
Another thought - just to be safe how about running a drive diagnostic? On a Dell you should be able to get to that with F12 at boot.
Most Dell machine have a "diagontic" partition which you can assess by F8 during boot. I wonder if this causing issues. If this exists, try a HD and memory check using this utilities.
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