I decided to update to the newest version of Returnil. I uninstalled the version I had and rebooted the machine as prompted. This went fine. I then downloaded and installed the newest version and rebooted as prompted and again this went fine. No errors or strange occurrences during the uninstall or install.

After the install I went into the Returnil GUI and started to set my options. It was when I was doing this that I notice the Session Lock feature was grayed out and could not be used. Other than that everything looked fine with Returnil and the computer in general. I started a thread on their forum about the problem with Session Lock and than shut down the computer for the night. The shut shut down went normal. No errors or anything unusual.

This morning when I started the computer is when the problems started. The computer will not boot properly. It boots into the Advanced Options Menu.

Normally when you have an issue after an install of a new program and the computer won't boot properly you tap F8 to get into safe mode by getting to the Advanced Options Menu. Well I have no problem getting this menu in fact it boots there on it's own. Problem is none of the options work. I select safe mode and hit enter and it looks like it's going into safe mode but just boots back to the Advanced Options Menu again. Same thing when I select Last Known Good Configuration. Keeps going back to the same screen.

Any suggestions before I just reinstall Windows which I would rather avoid.

Let's see what I would try in that situation if I had no ghost images to restore from.

First I would turn off the computer, pull the plug from the power supply and hold the start button in for at least 30 seconds to dissipate any static. (Hazel's tip)

If still no go then probably boot from the XP cd and try a repair install maybe.

That's all I can think of ATM.

Tried the reboot after unplugging the power source and that did not work. There is no XP Cd for this machine (it's not mine) just the recovery CD's that will wipe everyhting and put it back to where it was when it was new.

There isn't much to lose on the machine so it looks like the simplest thing to do is start over.

We should have left everything alone. The version of Returnil that we had was working well.

Thanks

I take it there is no chance of any sort of non -destuctive recovery from the HP partition? (F10 I think)

Never tried that. What needs to be done?

Been trying to contact a friend who did one but no luck so far.

He was able to keep his data this way, but everything else got restored to factory settings I beleve.

I'm not even sure there is even a HP recovery partion to do this with. I can't get into the file system to look.

Too bad about this because I really liked Returnil and now I don't know. It was definitely Returnil though that did it. There were no problems with the machine until the install of Returnil. The fact that Session Lock was not functional after the install indicates something went wrong with the install.

Hazels right, if you have a recovery partition, F10 immediately after booting accesses it, and you have the options of a "Recovery", or a "Destructive Recovery".

The first option is supposed to leave all your personal data files intact.

Another option I have for you is a "Recovery Media Builder" CD, which I passed to another guy on here who couldn't get into his computer.

Although it was made on my pc, it worked on his. The only thing is, you'll need to be able to burn the files to a cd on another pc. Then just pop it in the drive and see what happens.

It can be downloaded here:

MediaFire.

4th of July is coming up and a few blockbusters stuffed into your PC would be so cool. Let's blow it up!

It's not my computer. If it was I probably would have did just that. Today is Canada Day. This is our day for fireworks like your 4th of July.

Not yer pooter? Oops. I was fascinated by the concept behind Returnil but never ventured further than downloading it when it was a freebie. I installed it, looked at it, then uninstalled it because I think its purpose was beyond my typical PC ventures. I downloaded Sandboxie today. I don't know why. I still haven't installed it. I kinda get the gist behind its purpose but then again, I don't go to strange bizarre (cough)pr0n(cough) sites so I have no need for super security like that.

Oh & happy Canada 1st of July!

Well the computer was restored to the state it was at when it was bought with 3 recovery disks that were made with Symantec Ghost. Good thing about this disaster is that after the reinstall/recovery the computer was at the state it was at 2 years ago when it was purchased so it needed a ton of MS updates. This is what SP3 was made for. I had burned a disk with the ISO image that MS released for SP3 and the link was posted here http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=16412 I popped the disk in and installed SP3. When it was done there were only 11 updates left to download and install from Windows Updates. That was nice. I am sure there would have been a couple million without it.

I don't think I will be installing Returnil again anytime soon. The version that was in was working great. I should have left well enough alone. The new version of Returnil simply did not have anything I needed and the older version was working perfectly. I hate updating for the sake of updating. If what I'm using is doing what I want with no bugs or security holes I see no need to update. If the update offers some new features I want or fixes a security problem or bug fix it's worth the risk. Every time you update there is a risk of a disaster like this one. I know this and updated anyways. I am a blond female with big hooters for Canada Day

Did you have a paid version of Returnil or the Giveaway Of The Day freebie? The giveaway was specifically marked "as is" & not upgradeable.

True. The unfortunate thing though is all the time involved to undo a disaster like you've dealt with. Nice to know that SP3 shaves off a ton of update time though.


Learn something new everyday.

There is a Personal Edition that is free and available to any one free of charge at anytime. It's a limited version so it doesn't have all the features of the paid version.

http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/index...rvspersonal.htm

One of those features would probably be upgrades, which might've screwed your system up.

I did a clean install after removing the old version.