update made comp unbootable

[borat]

my friend, who has Windows XP (Dell version), was updating windows, and the comp crashed halfway through the installation. now, when he restarts, he gets that blue screen that you usually get when hardware is malfunctioning. this occurs even when booting in safe mode. i'll try to get the message it says later, when he's awake, but for now i wanna know if theres any way that, in recovery mode, i can roll back that windows update. or, does anyone know of something that might help, that i can use in recovery mode, since thats all thats available to him at the moment.

i realize that i probably have no choice but to reinstall windows, and i probably will even though i dont have XP for Dell or whatever it is.

but any help would be appreciated. thanks

[-pops-]

I think it would be worth while to wait and find out what the blue screen message says before doing anything irrecoverable.

Yes, it may well be that a re-install is necessary but it's always worth a try to avoid doing that :)

I don't know a lot about Dell machines but you may have to re-install from the Dell disc to get things going again. Dell are notorious (in my view) for using lots of non-standard components (software and hardware) such that non-dell repairs are very tricky.

[Scarecrow Man]

Dell should have given you a recovery disk. Some format and re-install windows, and some just recover your windows files. Do you have one of these?

[borat]

the error message on the blue screen reads:

PROCESS1_INITITALIZATION_FAILED

otherwise, its exactly the same as any other blue screen error, though im sure the hex address is different. anyone seen this particular error?

i tried installing win xp with his dell disk, but i cant even get through half of the install because his comp turns itself off out of nowhere. i'll never be able to complete a winxp install like this.

i think its a virus (the 2nd problem) because another friend i have, also a laptop user had this problem, but i cant scan his comp without windows, unless im mistaken. the 1 partition is NTFS and i cant find any rescue/emergency disk programs that work with NTFS systems.

i think im stuck and will have to format but im gonna wait before making such a drastic move.

note: the new install i tried was in a new folder, just in case, which means the old winxp install is still intact.

any advice?

[-pops-]

Hmmmmm....

Things aren't looking good to me.

I think the problem that you are having with the reinstall is, as you hint at, due to installing alongside the current version and the virus (or whatever it is) is influencing any attempts at repair.

My thinking now is that, as you suggest, a format and install is necessary and possibly the only way that you will get the machine going again :(

[Zfactor]

The stop code is unique (it is at the bottom of the blue screen, it will say like STOP: 0x00000050 then the location of the error in the memory - or at least that is what i think it is - all you need is the stop code). Try to get that, then look and see if you can find it on this list: http://www.sanx.org/stopdb.asp

I had the same screen recently because there was something wrong w/ my hardware that nobody seems to be able to figure out (so now Dell has to send me a new system and I have to install everything AGAIN :angry: ). At any rate, looking up your stop code will give you more insight as to what the problem is. I did not see the error you gave on that page (The one that appears at the top of the blue screen) but try to see if the stop code coincides w/ one of the ones on that list.

Who knows? maybe its a hardware error and you will not have to reinstall. Its worth a try looking it up IMO

[scuzzman]

Sorry - but the OS is most likely hosed.

You might be able to restore before the update

Reboot, and rapidly hit

you MIGHT come to a screen with multiple options - select "Restore form last known good configuration"

if that fails - sorry, reinstall