Hi Nrthnbkr, When you aid you shut down in the middle of a Windows restore operation, I am assuming you did a hard shut down ( pressed the button the computer). First, that operation should have been allowed to complete before shutting down the computer. The problem with some recovery disks is, if you've made any hardware changes ( changed the original configuration), they won't work. That having been said, you can generally change out the processor and add memory with no effect. Those recovery disks usually give you several options, 1) reset to last known good configuration 2) non destructive reinstallation ( this will reinstall your OS with out interfering with other installed programs) and 3) Destructive reinstallation ( this will reformat your Hard drive and reinstall the OS, drivers, and the bloatware back to Factory settings as it was out of the box. You will lose all your programs that you installed unless you have previously backed them up). You said that you have at least upgraded the Hard Drive. That may have a bearing on whether or not the recovery disk will work. You might also want to consider buying a Windows intallation disk for your OS. These can be found at newegg.com or TigerDirect.com to name two. coastie65

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eMachines T5212.... Intel Pentium D 925 3.0 Ghz..... evga 8600 GT 256 Mb PCI-E video card..... Realtec HD audio......2 Gb 533 Mhz DDR2 memory..... Lite on CD RW; DVD +R / RW DL optical drive...... Windows XP MCE 2005....... Antec Basiq 500w PSU