Anyone who is tempted to call this post off-topic is invited to
observe that I am talking about recovering from a problem which
sometimes arises during the Linux installation process.
In W95 three or four years ago I stumbled upon what seems to me
a particularly simple way to fix Windows registry problems. It still
works in W98 & W98SE. I make no promises abut 2000 or ME;
try it at your own risk. I also do not explain how it works; I think it
invokes Windows' own internal registry restoration code, but that's
only an inference.
1. Boot your machine into Windows' step-by-step mode. There are
several ways to do this. Start with a hardware reset (push the reset
button on the case, if there is one) or a power-up reset (turn the
power off for 30 seconds or so, and then on again). I do not recom-
mend a mere warm start (ctl-alt-del). When the memory test ends,
hold down shift+F8 to go directly to step-by-step (or hold down ctl if
you prefer to go to a menu first, and then select step-by-step).
2. Step through the boot process by pressing Enter whenever it asks
you a question. Don't worry about what the question means, just go
on. At end, Windows will be up in either normal or Safe mode. If in
Safe mode, shut down & repeat this process.
I have never had to do this more than twice.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Garand" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 8:45 AM
Subject: [newbie] Help! Mandrake install destroyed windows registry,
keyboard doesn't work in gnome, DSL connection can't be configured......
> Yesterday i tried to install mandrake, but with problems that got worse
> every time i tried to fix them, i had to repartition my disk and reinstall
> windows. Here's everything i remember, can anyone help me with these
> problems?
>
> The first time i tried to install mandrake, i chose "customized"
> installation. After repartitioning and selecting packages, i got some erro
rs
> (before it started installing the packages). I started windows and ran the
> installer again, choosing "Automated". This time the only problem was that
i
> couldn't configure my printer (an HP Deskjet 720C), but the installation
> worked. I restarted my computer and went in to gnome under my normal user.
>
> The first thing I did was try to change the screen resolution. I went in
to
> the gnome control panel (i think that's what it was) and didn't find any
> resolution option, but i did change a few things in some other area, try
all
> the window managers, and choose Enlightenement. I'm not sure what i did
> after; i think i closed the control panel, ran gnomeicu (which crashed),
ran
> licq, and found out that i couldn't connect.
>
> My internet connection is DSL using a Startech (that's all i know about
it)
> NE2000 compatible ISA card. I tried to run the control panel again, but
when
> the root password dialog came up, i tried to click in the password area
and
> type the password, but nothing happened (i think pressing enter did close
it
> though). I tried restarting the computer, and had the same problem. I went
> in to root and ran drakconf, then went to the network configuration. I
don't
> know where to enter the information, but i looked around and found a few
> settings i knew, but i still couldn't type anything. I opened a terminal
and
> an editor, and the keyboard didn't work for them.
>
> I logged out then logged in to the KDE, and this time the keyboard worked.
I
> tried to enter my network information, but licq still didn't work. I
decided
> to go back in to windows to see if i could find some help. When i
restarted
> the computer and grub came up, it was configured to run linux by default.
I
> changed this (in linux) to run windows by default, and then restarted my
> computer. When grub camp up, it has windows selected, but after the 4
> seconds were done, it would run the commands to start windows, pause for a
> second, and return to the grub menu.
>
> I got out the windows(98) installation diskette and started the computer
in
> dos. I went to c:\windows and tried to run win, but i got an error about a
> resource missing. A few reboots later, i found that windows couldn't open
> the registry. I checked in c:\windows, and the registry files weren't
> there.
>
> I went back to the KDE (before this, in linux, i had found all my windows
> files in /mnt/windows/. I tried to run XMMS with my windows playlist (when
i
> was still using gnome), but it kept going through the playlist (in about
3-4
> second, i had 120-140 files) like i was holding the down key) and looked
in
> /mnt/windows/, but it was empty. When i checked in dos, all the files were
> still there. I tried to find a way to get windows running, but it wouldn't
> work.
>
> I ran windows setup to see if i could replace the registry, but it said i
> had to format the hard drive. Since there was nothing I could do, i
deleted
> all the partitions, made one partition that filled the drive, and
> reinstalled window. When i installed mandrake, i had one 12GB partition,
but
> i resized it to ~9GB and added a 2.5GB partition for mandrake and a 128MB
> swap partition after the main partition.
>
> What cause the problems i had? How can i get a normal mandrake install
> without destroying windows? Can i skip installing a bootloader (keep the
> windows loader) and make a boot diskette that will run linux?
>
>
