Member Avatar for aguy007

Hi, I installed an add-on to IE7 and my computer stalled. After forcing a restart, the started getting a variety of error messages during boot-up, all pointing to corrupted or not found -

\windows\system32\config\system
or
<windows root>\system32\
or
<windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
or
\windows\inf\biosinfo.inf

I have tried the repair process - it did not work.

For the recovery procedure, I don't remember the admin password (it is not blank). So, the system does not allow me to get inside the recovery menu. I am confused as to which password this is. I am the admin on the machine but the password I use to login to windows xp does not seem to work for the Recovery Console.

I was wondering if there was any way to recover my PC, anything short of a clean install. I have most of the data backed up but I just hate to go through having to reconfigure my machine.

Another question - will I be able to access the files on this hard drive if I make it a slave on another machine?

thanks.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by uniquestar

Dani AI

Generated

The errors you described usually mean Windows' on-disk registry or other critical boot files were damaged when the add-on install stalled. Priority one is getting your personal data off the disk before trying fixes that can make things worse (especially if any files were encrypted with EFS).

Two points that explain the Recovery Console confusion and a safe path forward:

  • Recovery Console asks for the built‑in Administrator account password, not necessarily the password of an admin-level user you normally log in with. That is why your usual login password can be rejected.
  • If you cannot supply the built‑in Administrator password, use a bootable rescue environment (WinPE/BartPE, Hiren/BootCD, or a Linux live CD with ntfs-3g) to copy user data to external media first. After data is safe, either use an offline password-reset tool (for example, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor) to clear the Administrator password — with the strong caveat that resetting the SAM can break EFS/encrypted files and stored credentials — or perform an offline hive restore.

If you choose the offline-hive approach, back up the existing hives and then replace them with the copies in the Repair folder (or from a recent System Restore snapshot). From a rescue command prompt, an example sequence is:

cd /d C:\Windows\System32\config
md backup
copy * backup\
ren SYSTEM SYSTEM.bak
ren SOFTWARE SOFTWARE.bak
ren SAM SAM.bak
ren SECURITY SECURITY.bak
ren DEFAULT DEFAULT.bak
copy C:\Windows\Repair\SYSTEM C:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM
copy C:\Windows\Repair\SOFTWARE C:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE
copy C:\Windows\Repair\SAM C:\Windows\System32\config\SAM
copy C:\Windows\Repair\SECURITY C:\Windows\System32\config\SECURITY
copy C:\Windows\Repair\DEFAULT C:\Windows\System32\config\DEFAULT

After replacing hives, run a chkdsk on the volume and try to boot. As and noted, getting into a Windows environment to uninstall the add‑on is ideal, but when you cannot, the offline methods above are the practical next steps. If unfamiliar with these tools, preserve the data and consider professional recovery help to avoid accidental data loss.

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All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for DenisOxon

Hi,

Have you tried booting in safe mode and removing the IE addon ?

Yes you should be able to access files on disk if you make it a slave.

Denis

Member Avatar for caperjack

did you try just hitting enter ,at password prompt.

gotta love IE7 .

Member Avatar for aguy007

I can't get to the boot menu so pressing F8 doesn't do anything!


Hi,

Have you tried booting in safe mode and removing the IE addon ?

Yes you should be able to access files on disk if you make it a slave.

Denis

Member Avatar for uniquestar

If you're getting the error messages, then its starting to boot windows, keep hitting F8 from when the computer starts up.

Out of interest, which add-on were you installing?

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