Member Avatar for HeYhEy488

So.. my computer has gradually been screwing up and now it's to the point where I want to use recovery and start from scratch. I get numerous errors with almost everything I try to do. At one point my computer wouldn't even go past the Compaq loading screen. Being the HP/Compaq it is, no recovery discs came with my computer. I can't access recovery from the PC because it won't let me. It keeps saying 'Only An Administrator Can Access' or something close to that. I AM the administrator. I've tried reverting back to Windows XP with no luck. My computer's requirements apparently aren't 'acceptable'. That makes no sense because this PC CAME with XP. I've tried everything I know to do but something always seems to go wrong. I simply do not want to pay for recovery discs that SHOULD be free. If anyone can help or has any suggestions, please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

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Short summary tied to the thread: reported that a recovery run left the machine unstable — installers failing and a user-profile/login problem — and noted how OEM recovery behavior can vary. Below is a compact, practical cleanup checklist and what to try next before considering ordering recovery media or doing a full reinstall.

  • Back up personal files first (external drive or image). Do not proceed until data is safe.
  • Check disk health (manufacturer diagnostic or a surface check) and repair file-system errors (for example, run a disk-check utility). Bad sectors or an interrupted recovery can leave files unusable.
  • Repair system files with System File Checker (sfc /scannow) from an elevated prompt or recovery environment; run it more than once if needed. See Microsoft documentation for SFC details: .
  • Test with a fresh administrative account (boot safe mode if required). If a new account works, the original profile is likely corrupted; copy Documents/Desktop/AppData out and create a new profile for daily use.
  • Fix installer-related failures by ensuring the Windows Installer service is running, checking permissions on Temp and Program Files folders, and running Microsofts installer troubleshooter if needed.
  • If permissions or registry profile entries look wrong, back up the registry and inspect the ProfileList keys for orphaned SIDs (take caution here).
  • After repairs, fully update Windows, drivers, and reinstall apps. Create recovery media or a full system image once stable.

If these steps do not restore reliability, a clean install using official media (and the product key on the machine) is the most reliable final option.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

Being the HP/Compaq it is, no recovery discs came with my computer

it *should* have a hidden recovery parition on the disk. This is the case with dells and ibms that dont ship with disks - normally you hit F11 or something during boot and it will run,.

Member Avatar for HeYhEy488

Hmm.. I've recovered this PC before.. I pressed F10 and recovered from there. It seems after Vista was installed that doesn't work for me anymore. On the screen that comes up it looks like I could type something in but I wouldn't know what that would be.. If I could figure out what to do to start recovery before logging into Windows that would be great.

Member Avatar for jbennet

Oh yeah, if you upgrade the OS it tends to nuke the recovery partition

Looks like you will have to send off for the XP cds.

Member Avatar for HeYhEy488

I finally found out how to recover my PC.. by opening recovery with 'Run as Administrator'...stupid Vista. Anyway, I think that was a bad idea. I now am having problems installing many programs, and getting various errors. Yahoo perpetually tries to connect but never does, AIM won't install - 'error codeIS-2002'. 'Can't initialize plug-ins directory' on other installations, etc. Oh, and when logging into Windows, it says something like 'the default user cannot log in'..something along those lines. I am just extremely frustrated with all this!

Member Avatar for HeYhEy488

This problem has been resolved. Thank you very much for your help.

Member Avatar for jbennet

Glad you got it sorted. Ive marked it as sloved.

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