Re: Reinstallation erases all?

Thanks for Your efforts "John John", we could se in your former posting its
near end of line with knowledge in this case when PM got involved. I just
wondered then how u could end it when u cant do no more. But Msoft cant
merger and extend parts. etc. so we cant only use Msoft. I did what u asked
and answered, so please dont make it to an comedy. I'm sorry if I confused u
that I will just look at Paragon sometime to replace PM. Didnt u mean I
should use PM to unhide?

As I mentioned W2k is active and not hidden according to PM, only XP parts.
are hidden and PM warns of unhide them all, are they wrong and where else
can it be made unhidden if not in PM?

Anton

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:O2pMtBUtIHA.672@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You refuse to follow any instructions so I can no longer help you. Now,
as if things aren't badly enough mucked up by Partition Tragic, you
decide to create more confusion by introducing yet another partitioning
tool into the problem (Paragon). The key to fixing your problem is to
make sure that the right partition is active and that the conditions I
mentioned earlier earlier are met.

A second bit of advice, please realize that a boot floppy containing
ntldr, NTDETECT.COM & boot.ini will be able to boot an NT/2K/XP
installation even if none of the earlier mentioned conditions exist on
the disk, it boots from the boot sector on the floppy so the state of
the partitions on the disk is somewhat irrelevant, as long as the
partition can be read and as long as the Windows folder is present and
readable the boot floppy will be able to boot the installation,
regardless of which partition is active or not active, but it won't boot
hidden partitions! Good luck with your efforts.

John

Anton wrote:

Repair install option isnt visible in either CD, at least in XP thats
normal
when NTLDR is missing.
W2 is active on C and only visible in PM and install.
XP is hidden inactive and visible on consol and install. It contains ini
etc.
Next I can think of is unhide XP and/or run over W2000 with a new
installation, XP is more important.

PM is often a mess as we can read, but does a very good job sometimes.
It
doesnt have a forum, they had good telephone-support before Symantec
took
over. I'll take a look at Paragon as are in that Boot CD I linked to.

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:OSa35sStIHA.3680@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Windows 2000 setup program (cd) can see *all* FAT16, FAT32 & NTFS
partitions, if you cannot see the XP partition with the Windows 2000
setup cd then don't expect to be able to be able to boot it using the
Ntldr boot loader. The partitions should *all* be visible from either
the Windows 2000 or XP cd and they should *all* be visible when booted
to the Recovery console from either one of the cds.

If you want to fix the problem I can only suggest that you return the
Active partition status to the partition that it was on before this mess
started and that you not change it around back an forth!

To boot an NT installation with a hard disk the following conditions
must be met:

1- The hard disk must contain an Active Primary partition.

2- The MBR must contain instructions allowing it to pass the boot
process to the boot sector, these instructions can be written to the MBR
by using the FIXMBR command in the Recovery Console.

3- The Active partition must contain an NT boot sector, the partition
must have been formated with an NT type operating system or it must have
had an NT boot sector written to it using the FIXBOOT command in the
Recovery Console.

4- The files boot.ini, ntldr & NTDETECT.COM *MUST* reside in the root
folder of the Active partition.

5- The boot.ini file must contain a valid ARC path to the Windows
installation to be booted.

If you are confident that your computer meets all of the above
conditions and if you still cannot boot your operating systems all I can
suggest is that you do a repair install of the operating systems.

John

Anton wrote:


Last night I'd set xp active with Fdisk for a test, today I'd set

W2active

instead with PM as also made it visible and it did hid XP instead, it

warns

of unhiding all since it may change drive letters, drive mapper have to

work

fixing it.
The only difference I can see is visibilty in explorer. W2 is visible
in
install and active so it should work, xp is visible in XP CD console,

I've

learned not to ignore warnings in PM. But I guess PM is not your field

so

much so I kept it out at first in this thread. If there are nothing
else

to

do I will unhide XP etc. I've not used PM at all since starting this

thread,

until now for unhiding.


"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:#VuIXGRtIHA.748@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


You just told us in your other post that Partition Magic shows it as a
hidden partition, so something must have hidden it! Unhide it and try
the floppy disk again! Unhide *ALL* the partitions and park that
cursed
Partition Magic! If you keep playing with PM you will end up losing
all
the data on your drives. And forget about the drive letters in the
Recovery Console, they may not necessarily be the same as that used by
the Windows installations, they certainly won't match if you keep
hiding
and unhiding the partitions and changing things around with PM!

John

Anton wrote:



I didnt unhide it, cause I've never hidden it, w2 worked before and

nothing


is changed of me. Also it warns of changing drive letters doing that,

so

I


hesitated what use to get in a new mess, if Driver Mapper doesnt work

and


all actions need a restart.
Instead I set W2 active in PM, that hid XP and warn of unhiding, none

boots


now, not even XP as last time with starter disk, it just restarts.

Part.

letters changed in XP consol with that action, with w2 CD one less.
W2

is


still lost in consol but active visible as C in install, XP not
active.
Consol finds nothing in C. W2 is active in PM.
Time for fixboot mbr?


"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:OMZTYsPtIHA.3680@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



It no surprise the installations can't be booted with the NT startup
floppy diskette! Use your Parition Magic tools and unhide *ALL* the
partitions then try the floppy boot diskette again.

John

Anton wrote:




W2 CD cant find W2 in R or install, PM can where I can see what
space

it


have but shows its "Hidden", 95-Fdisk shows its active non-dos, XP

CD

cant



find W2 in R but in install as K inactive/OS2 boot man, the same as

other



W2s but not XP.
That starter disk have changed some.
K: dir shows its empty, PM its not.

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:#p5I6#CtIHA.1316@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




Anton wrote:





And those shall not be expanded?

No, they aren't in a compressed form on the XP cd, just copy them
to

the


floppy diskette.






I understand there are expanded and not expanded, possibel to
copy.

They aren't compressed, just use the copy command as instructed in
another post.



They have diff. sizes and expand is not copy.





Names in ini are for our id, perhaps fastdetect is missing?

What do you mean? Tell us how many hard disks and how many

partition

you have on each of these hard disks, or paste the contents of
your
boot.ini file here for us to have a look at it. The second sample

that


I posted can boot either Windows 2000 or Windows XP on all
possible
partitions on two hard disks with two partitions each.






http://www.ubcd4win.com/downloads.htm is taken down now.

What do you intend to do with this that you can't do with the

Recovery


Console or with a repair installation?



I will just look at it if other methods fail.





It all started with merging 2 NTFS files over a bootsector with

Part.

magic,




as use to restart automatic, but may need my passwords. I did
this
overnight, woke up and thought it was finished, shutting it off
as

perhaps




should have been restarted instead.
XP stopped but W2k worked and should at least be possible to

regain?

You should have said that in your first post! Partitioning errors
seldom forgive and mistakes when using these tools is a fine to
completely wreck the operating systems or lose all the data on the

disk.


What do you mean by "merging 2 NTFS files over a bootsector"? Do

you

mean that you merged two partitions?

Windows 2000 was working but it stopped after you changed the
active
partition to another partition. If Windows 2000 was working then
it
should boot with the floppy diskette and a correct boot.ini file.

This


partition merging would certainly explain the hal.dll is missing

error

when you were trying to boot Windows XP, by merging partitions the

disk


layout was changed and the partition number for the Windows XP
installation changed, the partition that the boot.ini file pointed

to

was rendered invalid.

Other than that all I can suggest is that you make sure that the

correct


partition is marked as active and that you make sure that the
files
boot.ini, ntldr and NTDETECT.COM are in the root of this active
partition. After you are certain that these conditions are met
boot

to


the Recovery Console and navigate to the root of the active

partition

and issue the following commands:

fixboot

fixmbr

For good measure, as there is no way of knowing what Partition
Magic
did, it would be a good idea to make sure that the disk contains
the
standard Microsoft NT type MBR, the fixmbr command will do that.
If

you


want more help you will have to state exactly how your hard disks

and

partitions are laid out, and where the operating systems are

installed.


John






"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:#ujqQA#sIHA.3564@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx





I'm not sure what you mean, the floppy diskette will only
contain

3

files:




boot.ini
NTDETECT.com
ntldr

We don't know how many hard disks and partitions you have, by

default


Windows 2000 installs to the WINNT directory while Windows XP

installs


to the Windows directory, the boot.ini file should reflect that,

perhaps



you can try this for the boot.ini file:

=========================================================
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP First harddisk,

first


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP First harddisk,

second


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Second harddisk,

first


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP Second harddisk,

second



partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="W2K First harddisk,

first

partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="W2K First harddisk,

second


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="W2K Second harddisk,

first


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="W2K Second harddisk,

second


partition" /fastdetect


=====================================================================
=

=

=


If you cannot boot any of the operating systems with that then
you

will



have to use your installation cds and repair the installations.

John

Anton wrote:






Its all there plus hal.dll.
Put expanded ones (renamed) on also?

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:ulQZ0B9sIHA.1436@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx






No. Put a all purpose boot.ini file on the diskette, like the

one

on



Bart's site:

============================================================
[boot loader]

timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="First harddisk,

first

partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="First harddisk,

second


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="First harddisk,

third

partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="First harddisk,

fourth


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Second harddisk,

first


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Second harddisk,

second


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Second harddisk,

third


partition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Second harddisk,

fourth


partition" /fastdetect


==================================================================
=

=

John

Anton wrote:







PS
XP got SP2 and are on NTFS if it makes any diff. W2 are on
FAT.

"Anton" <nosp@xxxxx> skrev i meddelandet news:...







First in the broken PC via CD and R, now it worked a little

better


and




simpler on a working PC.

Without starting disk "NTLDR missing"
With -:- hal.dll missing on all but not XP, it started on

second

but



stopped







at the XP logo.
Last working still wrong I/O.
Now I'll try to implement the missing ones the new way.

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i
meddelandet
news:ugA1Tb7sIHA.1436@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx







How are you trying to copy the files? From which operating

system



are





you trying to do this? Just navigate to the i386 directory

on

the



Windows XP cd and copy them to the floppy diskette.

John

Anton wrote:








Access denied.

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i

meddelandet

news:#0mtzi5sIHA.4476@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx








copy x:\i386\ntdetect.com a:
copy x:\i386\ntldr a:

X is the drive letter of the CD-ROM.

John

Anton wrote:








Those files are only in XP as Sp's, otherwise in W2, as

found


in



3




other







PC's. Now I'll try on the XP CD but where?

W2 didnt start to my surprise.


"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i

meddelandet


news:ecZTnx2sIHA.1220@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx









You *MUST* use the Windows XP version of the files
ntldr

and


NTDETECT.COM, extract them from the Windows XP cd. As

mentioned




in





another post the Windows 2000 version of these files

*cannot*


boot





Windows XP.




Does your Windows 2000 installation now boot properly?

John

Anton wrote:










Windows XP version of the ntldr & NTDETECT.COM files

are?

I used those from w2k, it started but didnt work:

"Previous


working






OS







I/O









fault at use of startsector s.."
Otherwise on first its ntoskrln missing, second w32
conf

sys,



the





rest







ntoskrln.
This or similar will be next


http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/UBCD4WIN.
s

h

t


m



l




or







I'll









try bootfix mbr and cfg again when acitve now is

changed.

Last



I'll






run







over









W2000 on C if nothing better turns up.

Moving the disk over as slave and then transfer what I

need


didnt





work







last









time, some things couldnt be found but got back when
OS

was


repaired.







"Anton" <nosp@xxxxx> skrev i meddelandet
news:OKGrDjvsIHA.1772@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx










First part ok.

Copy from XP even if its starting with W2k on C?

"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i

meddelandet



news:O7iNKNnsIHA.1952@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx










The Active partition flag can be set with a Windows
98

boot



diskette







and









the fdisk utility, Windows 98 boot diskettes are

available


on




the






Bootdisk.com site. You can also do this with third

party


tools





like







BootItNG by TeraByte Unlimited.

If you have a floppy drive you can make an XP/NT
boot

floppy



diskette







and try to boot the Windows installations with it.

Remember



to





use







the








Windows XP version of the ntldr & NTDETECT.COM files

to

create




the







floppy diskette. Also, the floppy diskette must

contain

an



NT




boot







sector, it *must* be formatted with Windows

NT/2000/XP,

if


you




format







it









with DOS or Windows 9x the diskette will fail to
boot

Windows




2000/XP.