My hard drive recently refused to boot Windows. When I booted the computer to a command prompt with the Windows CD the drive appeared to be intact- all of my folders and files were there, it just wouldn't boot Windows, so I did the repair install.

The drive now boots but my software that was previously installed is not showing up in the Windows menus to run it. Mind you, all of the folders with all of my data files (meaning from Word, Excel and so forth) are still there, but the programs to access these files are not. Just to clarify this- my Excel data files are in the same folder as they were before I did the repair install but Excel is NOT in the Windows menu for me to run Excel.
FYI, as soon as I noticed that none of the software was showing up to run I replaced the original drive with an older drive that I had here and connected the original drive as a slave.

I set numerous restore points before I did the repair reinstall but the restore points are not showing up since the repair install either, even though I'm betting that the previous restore points are still on the drive somewhere- I just don't know where to look for them, and wouldn't know what to do with them even if I did!

I've read online all sorts of deeply-technical stuff about editing the registry, someone was talking about "hives" and a lot of other stuff that's way over my pay grade!

Does anyone know if there is a relatively easy way to repair Windows but to the place it was BEFORE the repair install? Granted, I can reinstall some of the program software but some I can't.

None of the programs you installed are available anymore. You may reinstall them using the original source or you can try searching for the uninstallers, and clicking repair if the option is presented.

I don't know if a repair installation wipes the add/remove programs list, you may try starting there. Control Panel > Add/Remove Protrams or Vista/Newer Control Panel > Programs and Features.

Greetings Infojunkie!
Thanks for writing back.
I realized right after I submitted my question that I hadn't explained my situation very accurately, which was completely my fault. After I thought about what I SHOULD have said, I tried to find where to either delete my post or edit it, but gave up on that idea. I'm new to this site and haven't yet figured out how it works.
Anyway- about my computer. I'll try to splain it a little better this time!
I have a 200 GB drive that was my main (boot) drive running Windows XP. About three weeks ago I installed Roxio's (ptewey) Easy CD/DVD burning software, and that's when the wheels came off the wagon! All of a sudden neither my DVD burner drive nor my CD burner drive would work. I tried swapping different DVD burners and even CD burners in an attempt to get the DVD burner to work, but nothing worked. I have a pretty good idea now that my DVD drive either died or went "off the reservation" and somehow corrupted some part of the 200 GB hard drive. Suddenly Windows wouldn't boot. I asked a local computer guru and he sent suggested using the Windows Repair Console on my Windows CD. He suggested that I first use the "fixmbr" utility, which I did, but that didn't fix the problem- the drive still wouldn't boot. He then advised me to do a "repair install" of XP and explained how to do it WITHOUT having Windows format the drive, which I did. That got XP to boot, but none of my drivers or software was showing up in Windows after the "repair install." I still have all of my folders with all of the data files from my previously-installed "aftermarket" (didn't come with Windows) software, but the software that I used to create the data files was NOT showing up in Windows. For example- my Word documents and Excel spreadsheets are still on the drive right where they were before the repair install, but Word and Excel are not. Same thing with (as far as I can see) all of the other "aftermarket" software that I've installed- the folders and files associated with the software are right where they were, but I can't run the software since doing the repair install- the software isn't showing up in Windows.
I've heard that Windows keeps numerous and redundant backup copies of things like the registry, and I've even set dozens of restore points over the last few weeks just before the 200 GB drive crashed, but these restore points don't show up in the "System Restore" utility.
I'm betting that these older restore points are still on my drive, but I not only don't know how to get them back, but I wouldn't know how to use them even if I did. I feel like the proverbial old dog chasing cars! I wouldn't know what to do with it even if I caught one!
I was hoping that someone out there has had something similar happen and might know what my problem is and how to fix it.
I have since reconfigured the crashed 200 GB drive as a slave and have been very careful not to write anything to the drive. I put in an old drive that already had XP on it as my new "boot" (master) drive. Come to think of it, the older drive may very well be the original drive that was in this computer when I bought it.
If anybody that reads this has any suggestions, I'll send you good karma for your help! :)
Thanks,
Dan in Plattsburgh, NY

You probably will not be able to use a previous restore point or even a registry file. It would be wise to manually install the programs and drivers you want. The drivers may still be on the machine. In Windows XP however, it can be very tedious to search around for each one and get them to install properly. I would advise to go to the manufactures website, find their support section, and download the drivers for your machine on another computer. You can burn them to a CD, or if the USB ports are functioning, to some other device. Once the drivers are installed the hardware will function normally again.

If you can give me the make and model of your computer, I can help you find the appropriate drivers.

Any software you have freeware can be re-downloaded and installed, others can be installed from the original medium. If there is some software that you cannot do either with, let me know and I will give you a detailed process to repair them.

Even if you went through the complicated process of loading all the original stuff from your hard disk, you may find that you encounter the same problem you had before the repair install. It is wisest to install the drivers and software from an external source.

As far as CD/DVD burning software I recommend either ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP as they accomplish most authoring needs and are fairly lightweight.

Ouch! I know it's a little late but I will explain the Windows XP non-destructive repair option for next time. When you first boot the XP CD it offers a repair option (the console you mentioned) but that's not the one that is non-destructive. Instead you continue on as if your going to do a clean install and after a few windows a new repair option shows up. The second repair option is the non-destructive one. That being said you probably made your first mistake by doing any repair at all. Roxio has screwed me too. What you probably should have done is to uninstall Roxio and try a System Restore to a point before Roxio first, and then if that didn't work do the non-destructive reinstall. The second repair option leaves all your data and programs intact but you lose your system files as they are replaced from the disk. That means all of the critical updates are gone. Unless you use a program like nlite to create a disk with the latest criticals slip-streamed on it, you have a ton of downloading to catch up on.

Hi, Appzalien!
Thanks for replying!
Here's the strange thing about what happened to my drive- I would swear that I did the non-destructive repair install just like you recommend in your reply! I got the same advice from a few other sites and did the non-destructive repair install just like it was supposed to be done. After the repair install Windows boots fine, but the drivers for the "devices" on the computer (video driver, ethernet card, etc. etc.) didn't get installed, and none of the other software that I had installed was there. Mind you, all of the folders from the software were still there, and any data files that were created by the software were there, but the software wasn't showing up in the Windows menu tree to run. That's when I reconfigured the "repaired" drive as a slave drive and installed an older drive that also had XP on it as the new "master" drive. I found the setup programs to install almost all of the device drivers on the "repaired" drive (the drive that was the master but is now a slave) because they were still right where they were before the repair install.
Am I misunderstanding what this repair install was supposed to do or did something with the repair install not do what I thought everybody was telling me that the repair install should do? It I was under the impression that the repaid install would reinstall Windows but not delete the software that I had before the repair install was done. In other words, just fix Windows so that the drive would perform (boot, etc.) like it did before Roxio crashed the drive. Is this wrong?
I can reinstall some of the software that I had, but some of the software was purchased by the original owner of this computer and when I got the computer I didn't get any disks.
Is there a way to "undo" the repair install to put the drive back to what it was before this repair install thing was done? I could swear that I did the repair install exactly by the instructions that I found online (and yours) but for some reason it didn't come out like the instructions said it was supposed to. Is it possible that because part of the Windows system files were damaged that THIS was the reason that the repair install didn't work like it was anticipated it would?
I've also heard that Windows keeps numerous and redundant backup copies of all sorts of critical files. Isn't there some way to find a system restore file from just before the drive crashed and have System Restore us THAT file? I set restore points numerous times every day during the week before the drive finally wouldn't boot.
Any suggestions you, or anyone else that reads this, could offer would be greatly appreciated! I'm hoping that somebody somewhere can pull a rabbit out of their hat and knows of a way to fix this nightmare!
Dan

Sorry but there is no way to undo a repair install. That's why even when they know it shouldn't be a problem, they tell you to make a back up of your drive before you do the repair. But that advice is not always useful when the system will not boot. Do you have any full backups of your system that you created before this happened? When I first install Windows the first program I install even before drivers (over the years video card might change or other hardware) is Acronis Backup and I make an image of the virgin drive on another hard drive. Then I install all my drivers and make a note in Acronis of what hardware is installed and make another image. Finally months later if everything is fine and my programs are installed and critical updates, I make a final image. This gives me three options for later recovery. Take a look at this web site and see if you did as they take you step by step. Langa Letter: XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option - InformationWeek they also have info about the Recovery Console which I fear is what you used. This is where I learned about the non-destructive repair and it has saved my butt many times.

I forgot to mention that it can be worth giving a try to copy the old directory from the program folder in one drive to the other and then double click the exe file that normally would start the program to see if it will run. Some programs search the registry for stuff and will not run if its not there. Others will rebuild the registry and other files and folders and run. I know this because I can copy whole game directories from one PC to another and as long as I use a nocd fix for the startup exe 90% of the games will rebuild other folders and files they need and work just fine. If the game looks for a serial that was entered into the registry though, it will not run unless it's there (I've put them in myself by using the free program regfromapp to track the registry during the initial install). If you try this and you get an error like "can not find X" search the drive you copied from for X and note where its located and put it in the other drive too. You might have to do that several time before it will run. Even then it may not run right. If it works just right click the exe file and choose "send to desktop create shortcut" and you have your program back. You can even drag the shortcut from the desktop to the start button and drop it in the start menu that opens where ever you want.