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Win 2000 Pro damaged by AOL install?

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5 replies

by boulderridge

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Someone tried to install AOL 5.0, which failed, then AOL 7.0 on my Windows 2000 Pro machine. It started locking things up and screens like Add/Remove Programs, Control Panel, and Print dialog either don't appear or appear incompletely. I managed to uninstall all the AOL files (I think) from the AOL Uninstall program and have rebooted but the damage is done. I'm afraid I need to reinstall Windows, but I have some local networking settings to my two Win 98 machines that I hate to lose.
1) Do Ineed to reinstall Windows 2000?
2) Can I specify that it just fixes broken files without wiping out my other settings?
Please reply in laymen's terms; I do VB and SQL but I'm not very savvy on hardware and OS issues. Thanks!

5 replies

by dmiles

Consider using a backup if available to restore the system

Other options would be to use the windows startup disk a select the option to do a repair install of W2K

Back up the files and settings that you want to keep and then proceed to do a Repair Install of the OS.

by boulderridge

I backed up the drive and with much fear and trembling reinstalled Windows using the "upgrade" option; couldn't find a repair option. However, the upgrade retained everything including my network settings (whew) and it cleared up the damage. Thanks!

by jsarinana

Try using F8 at reboot and select option "Last Good Nkown configuration"
or
I you can, try going to regedit and removing AOL from the two following locations

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software

Good luck

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