restore error

[snoxcrawler]

I have been trying to restore my desktop to factory settings using a restore cd. But when I run the cd I get a message saying"cannot detect partition settings" Then my desktop restarts and I end up going no where. How can I fix the problem. I though restorin the computer would fix all these problems but I cant even run the cd. Please help

 

[PC eye]

Well first of all we'll start by giving you a Welcome to the Computer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html Please remember to revies the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

If you are running XP you can manually start the system restore process from the safe mode /command prompt only option seen in the Windows F8 boot menu. You press the F8 key to enter this as soon as the post tests are completing to avoid Windows from then loading. The command to enter at the prompt that looks similar to an older dos prompt is "
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe " without the quotes. You then simply follow the onscreen instructions and choose an earlier date.

The Windows installation or recovery disk can also be booted from in order to reach the recovery console where two commands are generally used to repair the master boot record and boot sector information. These are the "Fixmbr" and "Fixboot" commands you type in upon choosing the "R" option for repair and pressing the enter key.

The last option is to perform a repair install if running XP with the instructions seen at http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm This is generally a sort of "last option" when no other method sees working results. The link there along with the Microsoft article seen at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449/ are always good references to hang onto.