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From: dwn dwn on 4 Apr 2010 11:45
On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 06:47:17 -0500, "BillW50" <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote:

>2) On the active primary partition (there can be only one and you can
>select which one is active with partitioning software, boot managers,
>FDISK, etc.)
>
>3) The active primary partition must have the following files:
>
>ntldr
>NTDETECT.COM
>Boot.ini

Sorry, found it in C:/windows.
I use "search" and could not find it.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
/fastdetect /noexecute=optin

What next? Thanks

>
>If one of the three files is missing, it often reports that ntldr is
>missing. And Boot.ini is editable and points to the drive and partition
>where Windows could be found and booted from. Microsoft OS isn't alone
>here. As all PC 32-bit OS needs these loaders to load the code to switch
>the processor from 16-bit mode to 32-bit mode. That is because all
>standard PC BIOS starts the processor in 16-bit mode for backward
>compatibility for 16-bit OS like MS-DOS. And btw, MS-DOS could and has
>been used as a loader as well. Such as it was in Windows 3.1, W9x, and
>ME.
>
>So when you take a functioning XP system and mess around and change the
>active partition, delete the recovery partition, or boot partition, you
>end up with boot problems and NTLDR errors. But with the right software
>tools, this can be easily fixed. So you need those three files on the
>active primary partition and not just on any primary partition. You
>could have these files on all primary partitions if you wanted to, then
>it wouldn't matter which one was set as active. As the results would be
>the same anyway.
>
>So that is all to it. The only other tricky part is editing the Boot.ini
>file to the right drive and partition Windows is installed on. And that
>isn't really hard at all. And there are software utilities out there
>that will create Boot.ini from scratch. There is even one on the Windows
>XP install disc.
>
>If you have any other questions, just ask.

From: John Doue on 4 Apr 2010 12:18
On 4/4/2010 3:13 PM, Barry Watzman wrote:
> Partition Magic 8 is fine for systems running Windows XP.
>
>


Barry,

Having used PM for a long time with Windows XP, I have to qualify your
statement.

First and most important,if PM make tell you that your drive has serious
errors (and sometimes, offers to correct them): NEVER NEVER accept. Try
the same drive with, say, Acronis Disk Director. If Disk Director works
all right on your drive, forget the warning from PQ Magic and do not use
it, use Disk Director.

Second, on fairly large drives IDE (considering PM age), say over 250G
conservatively, use caution. For instance, do not attempt to create a
partition at the right of the disk as PM sees it, while leaving a large
empty space before the partition you want to create. Chances are PM will
mess the operation. In that case, be wise: create it next the rightmost
existing one, and then, if desired, move it. You will improve your
chances of success.

On SATA drives of 500G for example, absolutely refrain from attempting
the operation I described above. Too risky. Use Disk Director. Other
than that, try to do the operations you plan one at a time, and always
have a rescue plan in mind if PM fails. I am not paranoid, but with
this type of drive, PM is really out of its design envelope.

With this in mind, whenever I can, I still use PM which I find to have
the best, by find, UI, even if competitors have tried to mimic it.

A word of warning about Paragon: I recently tried a very recent version,
and IIRC, tried to do a simple copy operation, something PM and Disk
Director would have easily done. This version I tried totally messed up
my system. Fortunately, I had a fallback solution and restored my disk
fairly easily. My advice: older versions (2009 and 8.5) were ok, newer
.... try with care).

-
John Doue
From: BillW50 on 4 Apr 2010 12:23
> On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 06:47:17 -0500, "BillW50" <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote:
>
>> 2) On the active primary partition (there can be only one and you can
>> select which one is active with partitioning software, boot managers,
>> FDISK, etc.)
>>
>> 3) The active primary partition must have the following files:
>>
>> ntldr
>> NTDETECT.COM
>> Boot.ini
>
> Sorry, found it in C:/windows.
> I use "search" and could not find it.
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=30
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
>
> What next? Thanks

Those three files needs to be in the root directory (aka folder). They
won't do anything if they are in say the Windows folder or any other
folder. You can keep copies of them in the Windows folder if you would
like. As they won't hurt anything.

That last line in the Boot.ini file which reads:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=...

It should work as is, but if it doesn't work, change that partition(1)
to partition(2) and try again. It depends on whether there is another
partition ahead of it or not. Like a recovery partition or a secret
hidden partition. And you can't go by drive letters, as Windows XP drive
letters doesn't have to match the partition sequence order. But a
partitioning program should see them in the right order.

I am not sure what you did or what happened to the recovery partition.
But if it isn't corrupt, everything can be easily fixed again. Right now
this should get Windows bootable again. Might need to set the Windows
partition as active though with FDISK, a partitioning utility, or
something else though first before it will boot.

To get the recovery partition to work again if it isn't corrupt, is
sometimes necessary to make the recovery partition set as active instead
of the Windows partition. And you should be all set.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2


From: dwn on 4 Apr 2010 13:22
On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 11:23:08 -0500, "BillW50" <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote:

Maybe we are in the wrong frequency here. My T30 run, but at crawling speed.
I would like to recover to original factory condition. Using the hidden recovery
program by depressing F11 during startup. Instead of invoking the IBM recovery
program, It quit in black screen with the following words..

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

How do I invoke IBM recovery program? I don't have the IBM Recovery CD
with me now. I would like to do it this way as I am out of the States. It will
take week to get it here.

more below....

>Those three files needs to be in the root directory (aka folder). They
>won't do anything if they are in say the Windows folder or any other
>folder. You can keep copies of them in the Windows folder if you would
>like. As they won't hurt anything.
>
>That last line in the Boot.ini file which reads:
>
>multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=...
>
>It should work as is, but if it doesn't work, change that partition(1)
>to partition(2) and try again. It depends on whether there is another
>partition ahead of it or not. Like a recovery partition or a secret
>hidden partition. And you can't go by drive letters, as Windows XP drive
>letters doesn't have to match the partition sequence order. But a
>partitioning program should see them in the right order.
>
>I am not sure what you did or what happened to the recovery partition.
>But if it isn't corrupt, everything can be easily fixed again. Right now
>this should get Windows bootable again. Might need to set the Windows
>partition as active though with FDISK, a partitioning utility, or
>something else though first before it will boot.
>
>To get the recovery partition to work again if it isn't corrupt, is
>sometimes necessary to make the recovery partition set as active instead
>of the Windows partition. And you should be all set.

If the hidden recovery partition is not corrupted, how come the NTLDR is missing
or maybe all the three files missing? How do you make the hidden partition
active? Mind you this T30 is Greek to me (migrate from Win98SE few mths). How
to boot up in MSDOS? I still have bootup diskette for Win98SE. (all the
necessary Format, fdisk, edit etc.) Will it work?

Thanks again

From: BillW50 on 4 Apr 2010 15:20
In news:hpahsg02k9s(a)news2.newsguy.com,
dwn typed on Sun, 04 Apr 2010 10:22:25 -0700:
> On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 11:23:08 -0500, "BillW50" <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote:
>
> Maybe we are in the wrong frequency here. My T30 run, but at crawling
> speed.
> I would like to recover to original factory condition. Using the
> hidden recovery program by depressing F11 during startup. Instead of
> invoking the IBM recovery program, It quit in black screen with the
> following words..
>
> NTLDR is missing
> Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
>
> How do I invoke IBM recovery program? I don't have the IBM Recovery CD
> with me now. I would like to do it this way as I am out of the
> States. It will take week to get it here.
>
> more below....
>
>> Those three files needs to be in the root directory (aka folder).
>> They won't do anything if they are in say the Windows folder or any
>> other folder. You can keep copies of them in the Windows folder if
>> you would like. As they won't hurt anything.
>>
>> That last line in the Boot.ini file which reads:
>>
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=...
>>
>> It should work as is, but if it doesn't work, change that
>> partition(1) to partition(2) and try again. It depends on whether
>> there is another partition ahead of it or not. Like a recovery
>> partition or a secret hidden partition. And you can't go by drive
>> letters, as Windows XP drive letters doesn't have to match the
>> partition sequence order. But a partitioning program should see them
>> in the right order.
>>
>> I am not sure what you did or what happened to the recovery
>> partition. But if it isn't corrupt, everything can be easily fixed
>> again. Right now this should get Windows bootable again. Might need
>> to set the Windows partition as active though with FDISK, a
>> partitioning utility, or something else though first before it will
>> boot.
>>
>> To get the recovery partition to work again if it isn't corrupt, is
>> sometimes necessary to make the recovery partition set as active
>> instead of the Windows partition. And you should be all set.
>
> If the hidden recovery partition is not corrupted, how come the NTLDR
> is missing or maybe all the three files missing? How do you make the
> hidden partition active? Mind you this T30 is Greek to me (migrate
> from Win98SE few mths). How to boot up in MSDOS? I still have bootup
> diskette for Win98SE. (all the necessary Format, fdisk, edit etc.)
> Will it work?
>
> Thanks again

Okay here is what I think is going on here. I think your recovery
partition is using WinPE to load the recovery software. WinPE is a
non-hardware dependant version of Windows XP. And it is basically a
stripped down version of XP which you can do only basic tasks with. In
this case, run the recovery software.

If pressing F11 at startup works, but it states it can't find ntldr.
Then those three files needs to be on the recovery partition and not on
the Windows partition. Meaning whichever one is set as active. I have to
investigate the deal with Boot.ini on the recovery partition. As I
believe it is quite different.

If the files are already there, something else is wrong. And don't
replace them without making copies of what is there. As they could be
different versions than what is on the XP partition.

And yes, a MS-DOS disk or a Windows 9x Startup disk will work if you run
FDISK to set which partition you want to be set as active. These disks
can't see inside of NTFS formatted partitions, but that is okay. And
*most* recovery partitions are in FAT32 format. So you should be able to
peek inside with DIR or something.

If you can see into the recovery partition under XP. Then the following
might work too. Run XP in safe mode and run the recovery software (from
the recovery partition) from XP in safe mode. Which folder and file it
is I can't tell you offhand. But you maybe able to figure it out. I say
run it in XP safe mode as XP normal mode might complain about running
the recovery software. Say, now that I think about it, safe mode might
complain too. But you have a better chance under safe mode than you
would under normal mode.

So there you go, try the first part first. If that fails, try that later
trick.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2


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