Your point is well taken. I am not complaining. In addition, of course, my
system will run very smoothly (at first anyway) with a fresh install.

John



"JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]" wrote in message
...
I worked for a company that supposed backed up the network drive nightly. I
had been having some minor computer issues and had copied my files over to
my part of the network for several days. (I was doing CAD work at the time,
printed circuit board design specifically.) I tidied up my system and moved
files back to my hard drive. It was Friday the 13th a little after 1 p.m.
(about 13:13 military time) and everything went SEE YA! Gone - as in
everything was wiped out. No OS, nothing.

Our IT guy said it wasn't a virus but there was too much timing
coincidence for me ever to believe him. I thought I was safe - files had
been on the network over night and everything was backed up, right? Wrong.
The main part of the network was backed up. Our personal share of it was
backed up *if* there was space. Apparently because the guys had used the
network space for games, there was nothing left over. (This was before we
were hooked into the Internet and before MP3's, etc.)

I lost months worth of work. I was able to salvage some but most was gone
for good. You're only out a day at the most - and have lost no work.
You're fortunate. Really.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"John Blaustein" wrote in message
...
JoAnn,

You are right. It's just about time, but the last time I did this, it
took a good solid day to get back to square one, so it's not
insignificant.

John



"JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]" wrote in message
...
Well, you did say you had everything backed up. That's a very good
thing. (I know it's tough to be positive right now but you have backups
and that's more than a lot of people have when they need to start from
square one. All you've lost is a little time.)

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"John Blaustein" wrote in message
...
I tried to uninstall or repair MS Office. Can't do. I get an error
saying installer files are missing. Back to square one = clean install.
Ugh.

John



"JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]" wrote in message
...
Make this your mantra - "I love computers." Repeat it 50 or 60 times a
day.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"John Blaustein" wrote in message
...
The plot thickens...

I thought to look on the Western Digital support site and found a KB
article
that addressed the exact System Restore problem I encountered:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1

That's KB #1231 on wdc.com in case the link doesn't work.

The WDC solution to restore System Restore is the same as what MS
walked me
through. This does not, however, address the problem of my changing
icons
(which is happening again for Roxio programs only), or my inability
to use
Office Update. I have posted a question for Western Digital support
and
will see what they say. In the meantime, I may reinstall the Roxio
program
and Office (Word and Excel).

For now, I'm holding off on a clean install, though that may be the
final outcome.

Ya gotta love these machines!

John



"JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]" wrote in message
...
I know a clean install can be a pain in the arse but I've never heard
anyone say they had a problem after a fresh start that would have
been
avoided if they'd (fill in the blank).

I'm sorry you're having these problems and I'll keep my fingers
crossed
that goes well.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"John Blaustein" wrote in message
...
JoAnn and others who might be interested,

I spoke on the phone this afternoon with a MS Support person who
specializes in XP. After fully explaining my problem, and telling
the
guy that I'd recently replaced my HDD with a new drive, we
concluded that
problem is related to unsuccessfully mirroring the old drive onto
the new
drive. Apparently, the MBR does not get copied bit for bit, and XP
has a
problem with that and the Registry on the new drive. Furthermore,
some
hidden XP files don't get copied correctly, or don't get copied at
all,
leading to further problems.

The MS tech was able to walk me through restoring System Restore,
but he
explained that other apps may still not work and that "only time
will
tell."

My next step is a clean install! Ugh. You live and learn. At
least no
data has been lost.

John



"John Blaustein" wrote in message
...
JoAnn,

For whatever reason, all my icons are back. Your husband was
right.

Yes, everything is backed up.

The plot thickens, however.

When I open System Properties and click on the System Restore tab,
it
freezes and I get an error message about rundll32.exe not running
and
DrWatson PostMortem Debugger not running. I send both error
reports to
MS.

I got a message back from MS support in response to my "call for
help."
The suggestion was as follows:

As a Customer Service Representative, I can assist you with the
support
options available with your Microsoft product. However, I have
taken the
time to look through our self help website and found that the
rundll32.exe file is located in the c:\windows\System32 folder.
RunDLL32 is used to run DLL
s as programs. The following steps may resolve your issue:

1. Search for the file in c:\windows\servicepackfile\i386 folder.
2. Copy to c:\windows\system32 folder.
3. Restart your computer.

I followed these instructions, but the problem persists --
clicking the
System Restore tab still causes a "crash" -- the rundll32.exe
error
message.

I am really baffled by this whole thing.

Since last posting here, I remembered one key thing -- no doubt
important. A week ago, I got a new HDD and used the Western
Digital
utility to transfer my C: drive to the new HD. I've done this in
the
past with no problem. I am thinking my current problem may be
related.

I have run ScanDisk and the Western Digital error checking utility
and
no problems are reported.

JoAnn... perhaps your husband will have some ideas. All idea are
welcome.

John



"JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]" wrote in
message
...
John -

I was talking to my husband about this. He said it happens to him
at
work often. He said just reboot and everything will be fine. He
said
it's always the same icons that go first too. Something about
something
stepping on the part of the RAM where this info is stored.

I've learned that he's usually right. And yes, I've told him that
I say
that. :-)

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"John Blaustein" wrote in message
...
Hi...

I'm using Office 2000 -- Word and Excel only. Windows XP Home
SP2.
All XP and Office updates applied.

For some reason, all the icons for Word and Excel changed today
from
the Office icons to the "standard DOS-style icon" -- little
white
rectangle with blue bar at the top. When I right click one of
these
icons and select Properties, the "Change Icon" button is grayed
out.

Not only did all the Word and Excel icons disappear (change to
the
DOS-style icon), but the StartAll Programs icons for "New
Office
Document," and "Open Office Document" changed to that standard
DOS-style icon. Also, StartAll ProgramsMicrosoft Office
Tools --
all icons are gone, replaced by the generic icon.

I am also using FrontPage 2003, and the same thing happened with
that
icon.

I am able to restore the icon by finding the .EXE file for each
program and right-dragging it to the desktop (or Start Menu
folder)
and selecting create shortcut here.

Can someone tell me what's going on here? This is very strange
behavior and only just happened.

Thank you.

John