Home Made Restore Partition Menu

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I just got an email off someone stating that the technique didn't work,
but if you follow the instructions, it does work, it just needs a
little persistance.

Anyway, I made my recovery partition even better by making a few extras
on it.

=== BOOTLOADER ===

Assuming you copied all the Windows 98 boot disk files onto your
recovery partition (don't overwrite any files!), you can now change it
to be a little more sophisticated.

Open AUTOEXEC.BAT, then replace the contents with the following:

MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000
mouse.com
bootlo~1.bat

Then save the file. What this does is tell the computer to map your CD
drive to D:, then it runs the driver for your mouse in DOS (bear in
mind, only applications that take advantage of it can use it, like
Partition Magic and Ghost). Then last of all, it loads another batch
file, called BOOTLOADER.BAT, but DOS doesn't handle long file names, so
the remainder of the name is abbriviated to ~1 (just accept this).

Now, boot into DOS and type EDIT. This loads EDIT, the DOS text editor.
This is to make a nice menu interface, to allow partitions to be
restored without typing anything. This guide on how to make menu boxes
is invaluable, http://http-server.carleton.ca/~dmcfet/menu.html . You
also need to download CHOICE.COM , it is quite difficult to find, so I
uploaded it here ( http://www.geocities.com/blessani/choice.zip ), this
link might not last forever though. My bootloader.bat , looked similar
to this (bear in mind, the special border characters are lost when
displaying this over the internet)

@echo off
:0
cls
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo
ษอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออป
echo บ ACER Recovery System
บ
echo
ฬอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออน
echo บ
บ
echo บ 1. D2D Recovery
บ
echo บ 2. Ghost
บ
echo บ 3. Partition Magic
บ
echo บ 4. Exit to DOS Prompt
บ
echo บ
บ
echo
ศอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออผ
echo.
echo.
choice Your Choice: /c:123456
if ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO end
if ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO pmagic
if ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO ghost
if ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO d2d

:pmagic
cls
pqmagic.exe
GOTO 0

:ghost
cls
ghost.exe
GOTO 0

:chkdskc
cls
chkdsk.exe c:
GOTO 0

:chkdskd
cls
chkdsk.exe d:
GOTO 0

:d2d
cls
d2d.bat
GOTO 0

:end
cls
echo Your CD-ROM Drive is D:\
echo.


This menu system gives 4 options, open the restore utility (another
batch I made), open Partition Magic, open Norton Ghost or exit to DOS
(where it prints, Your CD-ROM Drive is D:\). For the restore utility,
it was another batch file, called d2d.bat (for Disk2Disk recovery).
This is the contents of that file,

@echo off
:0
cls
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo
ษอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออป
echo บ ACER Recovery System
บ
echo
ฬอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออน
echo บ
บ
echo บ 1. Restore Computer From Original Image
บ
echo บ 2. Restore Computer From Latest Image
บ
echo บ 3. Replace Original Image
บ
echo บ 4. Replace Latest Image
บ
echo บ 5. Go Back To Previous Menu
บ
echo บ
บ
echo
ศอออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออผ
echo.
echo.
choice Your Choice: /c:12345
if ERRORLEVEL 5 GOTO end
if ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO replalate
if ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO replaorig
if ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO restolate
if ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO restoorig

:replaorig
cls
ghost.exe -clone,mode=pdump,src=1:2,dst=c:\orig.gho -z9
echo The original image was re-written
pause
bootlo~1.bat

:replalate
cls
ghost.exe -clone,mode=pdump,src=1:2,dst=c:\late.gho -z9
echo The latest image was re-written
pause
bootlo~1.bat

:restolate
ghost.exe -clone,mode=pload,src=c:\late.gho:1,dst=1:2
echo The computer has been successfully restored.
pause
bootlo~1.bat

:restoorig
ghost.exe -clone,mode=pload,src=c:\orig.gho:1,dst=1:2
echo The computer has been successfully restored.
pause
bootlo~1.bat

:end
cls
bootlo~1.bat


That menu gives a few other options, I like to maintain 2 images of my
PC, the very original Windows XP installation (pre-tweaks and software)
and the the optimised, or latest image - this means I can install
crappy software and not worry about the effect it may have on the PC,
as I can restore back to the latest image.

To explain a little of the Norton Ghost commands,

ghost.exe -clone,mode=pdump,src=1:2,dst=c:\orig.gho -z9

ghost.exe (opens Norton Ghost)
-clone (tells Ghost to clone the disk either from/to an image)
mode=pdump (tells Ghost it is creating a new image, on a partition)
src=1:2 (tells Ghost what partition it should make the image from)
dst=c:\orig.gho (tells Ghost what file it should dump the image to)
-z9 (tells Ghost the level of compression on the file, 1 being no
compression, to 9 being very high compression)

mode=pload (tells Ghost it is restoring an image to a partition)


With a little batch file knowledge, this can be easily pulled off, and
it makes restoring the computer a dream. To put the finishing touch on
the item (if you used a Windows 98 boot disk to copy the files from),
you can make an image that will load when you boot the recovery
partition. If you create a file named logo.sys and put it in the root
of your FAT32 partition, it will load that file as the boot image. A
tutorial on how to make those images is here,
http://www.nucleus.com/~kmcmurdo/win95logo.html .

Enjoy your new restore boot menu kids!
- Hide quoted text -





lessani@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I don't really expect a reply to this, I am just posting a little
> tutorial. I spent hours trying to work out how to do this, and everyone
> seems to think its impossible, but my persistance paid off.
>
> === MY FIRST ATTEMPT (FAILURE) ===
>
> I used my friends IBM the other day, and it had a Disk2Disk recovery
> feature on it, which I thought was pretty cool. So I tried to make my
> own one (as best I could). I didn't want to use any third party
> software to use as a boot loader, so I chose to use the one built into
> XP.
>
> Dual booting XP with a DOS partition is EXTREMELY easy, I simply set up
> my partitions like so,
>
> 1:1 FAT32 ACERDOS 4GB DOS O/S / Recovery Partition
> (ACTIVE)
> 1:2 NTFS ACER 10GB WINDOWS O/S
> 1:3 NTFS ACERDATA 25GB Storage for My Documents etc.
>
> I didn't actually want to use DOS, I just needed a DOS interface, so
> using Partition Magic, I set up my partitions. Then I booted using a
> Windows 98 Floppy (but on CD - available here
> http://www.allbootdisks.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=42&func=fileinfo&parent=folder&filecatid=1866
> ). I used
>
> X:\> FORMAT C:\ /Q /S (where X is your CD drive)
>
> The two switches at the end signify,
>
> /Q - Quick format
> /S - Make the partition bootable
>
> So, now, when I turned my laptop on, it would boot into a dos prompt,
> great! Then I installed Windows XP onto the 2nd partition. When Windows
> was finished being installed, I was then presented with a problem.
> During the installation, it had set up the boot loader by itself, but
> it also meant that it used the 1st partition as the boot partition.
> Now, as I wanted the 1st partition just to be used for recovery, its
> really meant to be hidden. But in Windows, I now had this,
>
> C:\ ACERDOS
> D:\ ACER
> E:\ ACERDATA
>
> Which meant, not only was the 1st partition visable, my Windows
> partition was on drive D - which can cause problems for some older
> legacy applications. So I had to scratch that whole idea.
>
> === THE SOLUTION ===
>
> This time I set up the partitions like so,
>
> 1:1 FAT32 ACERDOS 4GB DOS O/S / Recovery Partition
> 1:2 NTFS ACER 10GB WINDOWS O/S
> (ACTIVE)
> 1:3 NTFS ACERDATA 25GB Storage for My Documents etc.
>
> I then installed Windows XP first, and set up the boot loader myself.
> Again, I booted off a Windows 98 CD, and performed the following
> actions,
>
> X:\> FORMAT C:\ /Q /S (where X is your CD
> drive)
> X:\> SYS C:\
>
> The second operation copies the neccesary system files to the drive. I
> booted into Windows once again, and edited my BOOT.INI like so,
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=30
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
> c:\="Acer Recovery"
>
> I gave it a test, by restarting the computer and selecting the "Acer
> Recovery" option, but it just made the computer return an error,
> something along the lines of,
>
> I/O Error accessing boot sector file
> multidisk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\BOOTSECT.DOS
>
> So, I had to make my own BOOTSECT.DOS, I did this like this. Boot into
> Windows, then open notepad, and enter this information,
>
> L 100 2 0 1
> N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
> R BX
> 0
> R CX
> 200
> W
> Q
>
> Then, save the file as READ.SCR . Reboot onto your Windows 98 Bootable
> CD, then go to your C:\ drive (which is the FAT32 partition, the NTFS
> drives are ignored when in DOS), and type,
>
> C:\> DEBUG <READ.SCR
>
> This will either, just display all the information in the file, and
> freeze at the end (which hopefully shouldn't happen if you followed my
> instructions right - but if it does happen, then erm......start again
> ?). Otherwise, it will create the BOOTSECT.DOS - awesome! Then, once
> again, boot into Windows, and copy the BOOTSECT.DOS to your C:\ drive -
> which in my case was ACER (NTFS).
>
> To hide the FAT32 drive, I did this,
>
> CLICK START
> CLICK CONTROL PANEL
> DOUBLE CLICK ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS
> DOUBLE CLICK COMPUTER MANAGEMENT
> CLICK DISK MANAGEMENT
> RIGHT CLICK The first partition (FAT32)
> CLICK DRIVE LETTERS AND PATH
>
> Then it is up to you, you can remove the drive letter, and Windows
> won't see it, or, like I did, you can mount the drive as a folder in
> another partition.
>
> So, if I need to get onto that drive, I simply access it by opening
>
> C:\Restore
>
> And that displays the contents of my first partition, Magic. Make sure
> your BOOT.INI contains,
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=30
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
> c:\="Acer Recovery"
>
> And that is you finished. You can now boot into DOS or Windows and have
> both hidden from each other. What I plan to do is, take this one step
> further.
>
> I copied my Norton Ghost boot disk onto my Recovery Partition, and I
> edited the AUTOEXEC.BAT (again, on the FAT32 partition) to contain,
>
> ghost.exe -clone, mode=restore, src=c:\orig.gho, dst=1:2
>
> The switches all mean,
>
> mode=restore //This tells ghost what it is doing, whether backing
> up or restoring
> src=c:\orig.gho //This tells ghost where the file it wants to
> restore is location
> dst=1:2 //This tells ghost where to restore the image
> file, being the 1st disk and the
> 2nd partition
>
> So now, when I select my Recovery option, it loads ghost and restores
> the partition instantly. I know its a bit dodgy making it restore
> instantly, but thats my risk.
>
> Enjoy your new restore partitions kids!

.

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