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Unintended NT Re-Install

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14 replies

by chuckab 1 view

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

No, that's not a typo. 'Unintended' is what I meant.
I already fixed the problem by re-installing the software and service packs (3 hours), but I would like to know what happened.
User started with NT 4.0, SP6a.
User is in Admin group for his machine.
User had a stack of folders resting on his keyboard.
User accidently hit power strip while machine was running causing a power cycle.
When user called me, it appeared that NT was running in VGA (/SOS) mode. In fact it was as if NT had justbeen re-installed: No service packs, no userlist (only Administrator with blank password), old system name(original!), no network, no installed software (program and user files were there - just not installed).
What combination of keys did the folders hit to start this process? What would the user have seen? How could I have recovered from this without re-installing?

14 replies

by dmiles

I am not sure that it was the keys but once the machine was re-booted it boot process booted to the last known good configuration,it was not

by dmiles

I am not sure that it was the keys but once the machine was re-booted it boot process booted to the last known good configuration,it was not

by mjbatme

Because of the folders on the keyboard it sounds like the original hardware profile was invoked. Unless you have created other profiles you wont be able to recover. You might want to create profiles once you have the system the way you want it. Control Panel/system/hardware profiles

by chuckab

Appears to be part of the answer. Unfortunately, the machine has been replaced and I had no time to test any of the theories.

by chuckab

The last unrated answer looks like what I was looking for, but I will have to verify it. Looks like instructions for Win9x - not NT. Was it complete?

by xaeryth

Are you sure the user did not try to reinstall their machine? Perhaps to cover up something they messed up. I can not think of any keystrokes that would cause this to happen. WinNT does save Emergency Repair information on the hard drive which couldhave been used by accident to revert the system to the installed state. Another thing I've seen is an NT mirror set that only worked when it was implemented and never updated so when the primary went offline, the secondary brought the system to the state where the mirror was created. Another thing could be that the original hardware profile was used but this would require making a new hardware profile right after install then making it default and only updating it (this is not standard so probably unlikely). When rebooting, the original was either selected or the new hardware profile was deleted before shut down. Hope these help out. -Corey Hitchcock, IT Manager, Interdev Technologies Inc.

by chuckab

Appears to be part of the answer. Unfortunately, the machine has been replaced and I had no time to test any of the theories.

by chuckab

soulrider - could you re-post, please?
Xaeryth - This user would have frozen and called me at the first request for data on a re-install. Also, the machine was named exactly as it was when the system was first installed. No mirrors or other hidden partitions on the drive.
All - I will try to test mjbatme's hypothesis on Friday and distribute the points.

by blue12

A rather obvious point. Was the CD still in the drive?. I've done that before. Very annoying!

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