How to clone Windows XP back to your HD?
in [Windows XP New Users]
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From: Tim Meddick on 20 Apr 2010 15:59 I did say in my initial reply - the Admin password is *usually* NOT set to anything - therefore: just press [ENTER] when asked for the Administrator password - instead of trying to enter one. You are nearly there! == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "Carl" <carlhammel1(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:a3ecaa59-7af2-4208-b04e-3a92a770fdf3(a)l24g2000vbn.googlegroups.com... > Tim - > > Thank you ever so much for those detailed instructions. > > I followed them to the letter, inserted the USB flash drive and booted > the Netbook. > > I saw the _starting windows recovery console_, and now sit at the > prompt: > 1: C:\Windows > > Which Windoes installation would you like to log onto > <To cancel, press ENTER>? > > Googled what to do next and discovered I should enter the numeral 1, > then my admin password. > > I do not understand: it will not accept my admin password. I have > entered it repeatedly, I am sure it is the right one, but no go. > > It returns _the password is not valid_. > > Any other options open to me??? > > Again, many thanks. > > > > On Apr 19, 3:44 pm, "Tim Meddick" <timmedd...(a)gawab.com> wrote: >> The ZIP file contains paths within it. >> >> If you were to open the ZIP file in explorer (with XP's in-built ZIPfile shell >> extension) then you would see the folder structure and "UDF" within! >> >> However, your would NOT see the folder structure within if you opened the ZIPfile >> with WinZip or a similar program, as the folder structure is not displayed but >> internal paths are just listed in their own column (if chosen to be shown). >> >> TO re-create the folder structure contained within a ZIP file when "unpacking" >> (WinZip), you will have to checkmark the box called "Use folder names" in the >> "Extract to..." dialogue. >> >> Or something similar in other archiver programs. >> >> And with the command-line utility : PKUNZIP.EXE it's the [/r] switch >> (r=recursive): >> >> pkunzip /r "MyZipFile.zip" >> >> == >> >> Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) >> >> P.S. Here is a folder / directory "tree" of the correctly un-packed archive : >> >> Root: >> | >> --------UFD >> | >> --------cmdcons >> | >> --------system32 >>
From: Carl on 21 Apr 2010 11:16 On Apr 20, 3:59 pm, "Tim Meddick" <timmedd...(a)gawab.com> wrote: > I did say in my initial reply - the Admin password is *usually* NOT set to anything - > therefore: just press [ENTER] when asked for the Administrator password - instead of > trying to enter one. > > You are nearly there! > > == > > Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) > --------system32 Thank you once again, Tim. I booted again, and at the press ENTER>? prompt, I entered 1, and at the request for an Administrator password, I hit Enter. I am now looking at the C:\WIDOWS> prompt. I should have mentioned somewhere in this thread, that my computer experience has been, until last year when my wife gave me the Netook, entirely with Macintosh. I am retired, now working as an independent contractor, and my colleagues, all seniors, look to me for computer help at work, a Windows environment. This led to my wife's getting me the Netbook and my setting out to learning Widows. This is my first shot at serious troubleshooting in Windows. So, I read all your instructions again then entered FIXMBR. It produced dire warnings, "If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue." I continued, got "The new master boot record has been successfully written. Shut down, rebooted, and once again got: GRUB loading. error: no such partition grub rescue> Followed these instructions from you: If there is still a problem, repeat the above procedure to start Recovery Console again, then type in the command : FIXBOOT C: then press [ENTER] then again type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot. If the XP partition is still intact, then usually just following the first part of this procedure should recover the MBR so that XP can be booted to again. Received this: The file system on the startup partition is NTFS FIXBOOT IS writing a new boot sector New boot sector was successfully written Exited & restarted holding down the f2 key to return the boot order to IDE HDD : Samsung at the top. And found myself once again back at: GRUB loading. error: no such partition grub rescue> Is there anything else that can be attempted in an effort to resolve this problem???
From: Tim Meddick on 21 Apr 2010 14:59 Carl, I am so sorry to hear of your continued problems. However, I am truly heartened by your tenacity in getting the USB Recovery Console fully working for yourself. One thing - because you logged on to C:\WINDOWS you know your XP partition is still there, along with all your personal data! The next thing I would have advised, would be to start-up your PC with a Win98 floppy boot-disk. I would then have instructed you to type the command FDISK - which would list any partitions that still exist on the boot device. If the XP partition still existed you could make it bootable. But, as we are talking about a Netbook, this won't be possible. BTW - You are getting "GRUB loading" because the boot-sector (a small hidden section at the start of each partition) has been taken over by a Linux loading program written on to it, in place of the Windows boot-sector loading "program" which searches for NTLDR on C:\ The only thing I can then advise is to again, start up the PC with the bootable USB drive, then type *both* commands - one after another - without [re]booting in-between. FIXMBR C: FIXBOOT C: ....then reboot. This has worked for me in the past. And, if still no joy, reverse the order of the commands. I do feel quite confident that we will get there in the end... == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "Carl" <carlhammel1(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:96b47ae8-86b3-4dc4-8a8a-7f0d65427ffa(a)g9g2000vba.googlegroups.com... On Apr 20, 3:59 pm, "Tim Meddick" <timmedd...(a)gawab.com> wrote: > I did say in my initial reply - the Admin password is *usually* NOT set to > anything - > therefore: just press [ENTER] when asked for the Administrator password - instead > of > trying to enter one. > > You are nearly there! > > == > > Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) > --------system32 Thank you once again, Tim. I booted again, and at the press ENTER>? prompt, I entered 1, and at the request for an Administrator password, I hit Enter. I am now looking at the C:\WIDOWS> prompt. I should have mentioned somewhere in this thread, that my computer experience has been, until last year when my wife gave me the Netook, entirely with Macintosh. I am retired, now working as an independent contractor, and my colleagues, all seniors, look to me for computer help at work, a Windows environment. This led to my wife's getting me the Netbook and my setting out to learning Widows. This is my first shot at serious troubleshooting in Windows. So, I read all your instructions again then entered FIXMBR. It produced dire warnings, "If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue." I continued, got "The new master boot record has been successfully written. Shut down, rebooted, and once again got: GRUB loading. error: no such partition grub rescue> Followed these instructions from you: If there is still a problem, repeat the above procedure to start Recovery Console again, then type in the command : FIXBOOT C: then press [ENTER] then again type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot. If the XP partition is still intact, then usually just following the first part of this procedure should recover the MBR so that XP can be booted to again. Received this: The file system on the startup partition is NTFS FIXBOOT IS writing a new boot sector New boot sector was successfully written Exited & restarted holding down the f2 key to return the boot order to IDE HDD : Samsung at the top. And found myself once again back at: GRUB loading. error: no such partition grub rescue> Is there anything else that can be attempted in an effort to resolve this problem???
From: Carl on 24 Apr 2010 09:50 On Apr 21, 2:59 pm, "Tim Meddick" <timmedd...(a)gawab.com> wrote: > Carl, I am so sorry to hear of your continued problems. > > However, I am truly heartened by your tenacity in getting the USB Recovery Console > fully working for yourself. > > One thing - because you logged on to C:\WINDOWS you know your XP partition is still > there, along with all your personal data! > > The next thing I would have advised, would be to start-up your PC with a Win98 floppy > boot-disk. I would then have instructed you to type the command FDISK - which would > list any partitions that still exist on the boot device. If the XP partition still > existed you could make it bootable. > > But, as we are talking about a Netbook, this won't be possible. > > BTW - You are getting "GRUB loading" because the boot-sector (a small hidden section > at the start of each partition) has been taken over by a Linux loading program > written on to it, in place of the Windows boot-sector loading "program" which > searches for NTLDR on C:\ > > The only thing I can then advise is to again, start up the PC with the bootable USB > drive, then type *both* commands - one after another - without [re]booting > in-between. > > FIXMBR C: > FIXBOOT C: > > ...then reboot. This has worked for me in the past. And, if still no joy, reverse > the order of the commands. > > I do feel quite confident that we will get there in the end... > > == > > Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) > Tim - Many thanks for your patience and perservance on this problem. I am away from my Netbook, visiting family in South Carolina for a few days, but will follow your instructins when I return home, early next week. I'll report on the results. Carl.
From: Tim Meddick on 25 Apr 2010 15:21
I look forward to it. == Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-) "Carl" <carlhammel1(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:5ed98394-2e02-4026-aa34-7d6fa58d41dc(a)5g2000yqj.googlegroups.com... > > < clipped > > > I'll report on the results. > > Carl. > |