My Start menu and Taskbar disapperaed. Research suggested maybe the Blast
worm but I could not find Blast.exe. Help on this forum suggested that I
should try an in place repair of Windows XP. Tried to reinstall from my Dell
OEM disks. All seemed ok until Windows reboots when I get Fatal Error:

Setup failed to install the product catalogs....

Setup was unable to start service tabsrv because of the following error:
OpenService (tabsrv) returned eror 1060 (424).

Error:

The signature for Windows XP Professional Upgrade is invalid. The error
code is 426.

The service has not started.

If I try and boot from the hard disk I just get into a setup not completed
loop.

Can anyone help?

Ignite wrote:

Problems installing an operating system (and the symptoms you described
before your attempted repair) are often cause by hardware failures.
First, make sure you have backed up all your data. It is possible to
back up data even if you can't get into Windows. Post back if you need
to do this and want help with that.

Then test your hardware, starting with the RAM and the hard drive. Here
are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...roubleshooting

If all the hardware tests good, then do a clean install of Windows:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Malke, thanks for your suggestions. I'll try them this evening. I would
appreciate help with backing up data given that I can't get into Windows.

Ignite wrote:

OK, this involves booting with another operating system or PE-type CD. I
like to use Knoppix, but you can also use a Bart's PE or Winternals ERD
Commander (very expensive). In all cases, you obviously need to get the
tools from a different computer with a fast Internet connection and a
cd burner that has third-party burning software. Here's the information
about using Knoppix and links for the other tools:

An easy way to retrieve Windows files is to boot with Knoppix, a Linux
distro on a live cd. You will need a computer with two cd drives, one
of which is a cd/dvd-rw OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to
hold your data. To get Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast
Internet connection and third-party burning software. Download the
Knoppix .iso from www.knoppix.net and create your bootable cd. Then
boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows files. If you are
using the usb thumb drive, right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to
get its properties and uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then
click on it to open it. Note that the default mouse action in the
window manager used by Knoppix (KDE) is a single click to open instead
of the traditional MS Windows' double-click. Otherwise, use the K3b
burning program to burn the files to cd/dvd-r's.

http://tinyurl.com/coyca - Winternals emergency downloads
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ (Bart's PE)

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Thanks Malke. Very detailed. Probably need to get organised at the weekend
to haver a go.

"Malke" wrote: