BleepingComputer.com: Im Stupid !!! Compaq system recovery issue!!

So.. yeah.. I did the stupid thing.. Did a system recovery on my Presario S4300NX.. now the silly thing is working.. BUT.. the 107GB C Drive is showing FULL! well almost.. 106GB .. I was given the choice to do a recovery that would save my data and files or the one that wipes every thing clean. I chose to save my files etc.. well.. the folders are there..but many of them are missing contents and.. My Microsoft Office is showing as uninstalled. and Word is gone too. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks in advance

Keepin my fingers crossed.

Ben

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/138-how-to-repair-windows-xp/page__view__findpost__p__489

Please read this article on Repair Install (Not Full Reinstall) -
It can save most of your settings etc -

Regards -

At least it did something. On my Compaq, the Windows-based recovery software just renamed config.sys and restarted the computer. The only way to reinstall Windows on it is to boot from the recovery CD, which formats the hard drive.

I would back up all data that remains on the drive and perform the destructive recovery.

Can you go to Disk Management...and then post a screenshot?

If the Windows partition does not have sufficient free space...it is unlikely that Windows functions will work properly.

How To Capture And Edit A Screen Shot. - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic43088.html

Louis

Here is teh screen shot you asked for

hmmm let me try that again

 New Compressed (zipped) Folder.zip (106.93K)
Number of downloads: 3 I hope this works

Thanks .

I've attached for the convenience of others here.

Louis

Clearly, you need more free space for the larger partition. If possible, I would suggest moving graphics, music, and video files to other storage media.

This post has been edited by hamluis: 24 December 2011 - 03:06 PM

Ok so .. heres the thing.. BEFORE I didn the system RECOVERY.. I had about 2/3 of my drive as free space.. What happened to it? Not only that but I didnt do a destructive recovery. I have found some of the files If i got to , My Computer, C drive, Documents and Settings, Default user.. there are a ton of my files.. with the info in them.. but on my desktop now.. all the folders are there but there is nothing in them. Its really freakin wierd.

<<...I had about 2/3 of my drive as free space.. What happened to it?>>

You were there...we weren't and can only speculate about what happened.

a. You did not have 2/3 of your drive as free space. Even if the recovery process saved everything that was on that partition without compression...you would still have approximately 1/3 of your partition reflecting free space now. When I throw in the fact that such backups which are saved...are probably under compression algoriths of some sort...it's impossible for that much space to have been available.

b. A destructive recovery/restore probably would have left you with sufficient space to run Windows effectively.

c. The possibility of file system/partition/hard drive problems has to be considered. Determination of such has not been suggested, the theoretical possibility does exist.

IMO...Windows cannot function properly with insufficient free space. If I assume that you had a reasonable amount of free space when you started your attempt...what happened points to something beyond Windows and the recovery/restore mechanism. Logical suspects are hardware and malware, but...you never stated just why you had determined to attempt a restore operation. Knowing that might help with ideas.

Louis

I agree with Iti.

The only way to truly fix it is to back up your data then do a destructive reinstall.
You will also have to reinstall all subsequent programs

Ok so.. I did the restore because I was an idiot. I had been having some malware issues.. Like most. Ran AVG ran Avast.. ran malwarebytes.. the later found NOTHING.. the other two found plenty and removed them.. My problem was that my dvd drive was not finding any dvd's . Cd's yes it could see but nothing else.. I messed around with tons of attempts to fix it.. SO.. I got real stupid and decided to try the restore.. and YES my C drive was showing almost 2/3 free space at the time. I selected the non destructive restore.. the system was showing the files being backed up during the process. AND like I said.. all my files SEEM to be somewhere.. I have found them but they are not in the current desktop just the folders are.. and Word and Microsoft office appear to not be installed but I have found them buried in several places. They wont funtion.At startup I get the message MicrosoftOffice.lnk.disabled cannot open... The programs are there.. just somehow.. not available. I will try running avast in safe mode and see what happens.

Wont help unfortunately.

Your only real option is to backup your data and do a destructive restore back to factory settings.
I know it is a lot of work but in your situation it really is the best and only way to go.