Richard Lennox

I am a little annoyed, my new computer has a problem with the svchost process.  This is a particularly important process in Windows and manages the running of DLL files.  The only solution it appears is a Repair installation of Windows.  This is on the go as I type. It isn't such a painful process, it is just time consuming and unwanted!!

For those of who who want instructions on how to do this here is a public service announcement:

1. First you need to find your Windows CD.  This is the installation disc that was originally used to install Windows.
2. Reboot your machine from the Windows CD.
3. On the Windows setup screen: press ENTER (This selects Enter Windows Setup.) Do not select "To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R."  This will take you to a Windows console, which will be of little help to you.
4. Accept the license agreement and Windows setup will find your existing Windows installation.
5. Enter the number of your Windows installations.  (This will generally be 1.)  You may need to enter your administrator password also.
6. Setup will then copy the files to your hard drive and then reboot leaving all your files intact.
7. Once Windows reloads you should update your computer getting the latest drivers etc.

Having decided to install Linux on my old machine, I can happily browse away using this machine, in fact I am typing this here now using it.  It seems my installation isn't going well, I will need to take a look and see what is going on.  I will update soon….