Saran said:
Hello, I am using XP Pro (SP2) on a laptop, and some how the boot
sector seems to have gone sour (though I can read the drive fine
form recovery console and if I plug it into my main computer
(using an adapter), I see all the files and already backed up the
non redundant stuff.)
Back in win95/98, I could boot from a floppy, cd to c:\windows,
and type 'win' and get in that way when the boot sector is
fubar'ed.
Is there an XP equivilent? Would I need to make a special boot cd?
(This laptop lacks a floppy drive.)
Shenan said:
Not going to happen in Windows XP.
But you could make a UBCD for Windows (BartPE) and boot with it -
read the drive and stuff to get things off, etc.
Why wouldn't it be possible? It make no sense to me. Most other
Os's, like linux and win98 allowed this, why would it not be
possible with XP (nt?) ?
Windows XP is not sitting on top of another OS - it is not a "skin"
for the OS - it is the OS.
Windows 9x all "sat on top of" DOS in some version of its life.
Windows XP does not sit on top of DOS. It is "Windows XP".
Therefore - beyond booting into its various "modes" (Safe, Safe
with Networking, Safe Command Prompt) - it is a stand-alone thing.
You boot into Windows XP or you boot into a different OS that is
compatable with the file system you have formatted with. If you
formatted with FAT32 - you could have Windows 9x on the machine and
read all the files there - you cannot do that if you formatted with
NTFS.
Linux is a command line OS where people have made shells to make
things "easier" for the visually oriented.
Windows 9x is a shell sitting on top of DOS.
I know I know, but there should still be _some_ way to launch the nt
boot loader, other than from the HD's boot sector.
In fact, I remebmer once reading of a way to setup a NT boot loader
on a floopy (or bootable cd) but I an find the article anywhere. So
it IS possible.
Any ideas?
No.. It WAS possible - before Windows XP.
Now - you have the bootable Windows XP CD and it's Recovery console or
Repair installation (or even performing a parallel installation) or you
create a Bart PE CD (like the Ultimate Windows Boot CD) and boot into it to
try and recover your lost system. You do not boot into anything and type in
any magical command to load up your copy of the FUBAR'd OS - unless you have
repaired it and the boot.ini still points to it and you have rebooted the
machine so it boots to the hard drive.
If anyone was going to come up with what you are looking for it would be:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
You can try:
- XP Quick Boot Diskette Files | Read.1st
- NTFS Bootdisks And Bootable CDs
from that page and see if they do what you are trying to do.. The first may
help, dependent on what was FUBAR'd and the particulars of your setup..
Otherwise - go back and look into BartPE and the Windows Ultimate Boot CD
and go with what is known to work - especially if all you are trying to do
is recover your files/folders - although you state you have already done
that.
Perhaps if you described your problem a little better - I know there are
some tricky ways to recover a non-booting system.. For example:
-----
If System Restore was ON, this may help you recover your system to a
working state!
- Get the Windows XP CD out.
- Change the BIOS to boot from CD first.
- Put the XP CD in the drive, and restart.
- When it says "press any key to boot from CD," go ahead, press any key.
- When you see the screen that asks you if you want to install Windows,
don't! Just hit R for recover, and you'll load the Recovery Console
You should see something like this:
----------
Microsoft Windows(R) Recovery Console
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows Installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?
----------
- Just select 1 and press ENTER. The path may be different.
- When it asks for the Administrator password - enter it. If you didn't
have one or don't know - try just pressing ENTER. If that does not work, go
here:
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm
- Follow along and keep in mind that each command must be typed exactly as
you see it here. Please note that this procedure assumes that Windows XP is
installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the
appropriate windows folder if it's at a different location. The copy
commands will answer you with a little "file copied" message. The delete
commands just move on to the next line. Type the whole command in one line,
and when you've finished typing that command, hit the Enter key.
md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\system C:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\software C:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\sam C:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\security C:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy C:\windows\system32\config\default C:\windows\tmp\default.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\system
delete C:\windows\system32\config\software
delete C:\windows\system32\config\Sam
delete C:\windows\system32\config\security
delete C:\windows\system32\config\default
copy C:\windows\repair\system C:\windows\system32\config\system
copy C:\windows\repair\software C:\windows\system32\config\software
copy C:\windows\repair\sam C:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy C:\windows\repair\security C:\windows\system32\config\security
copy C:\windows\repair\default C:\windows\system32\config\default
** It is entirely possible - I have seen it - that you may have to get a
directory listing of C:\Windows\Repair and verify all of those files are
there. In one case I had to copy "software.bak" to
"C:\windows\system32\config\software" instead of just SOFTWARE. But the
results should be the same.
- Now that you have typed all of that in - you are done with the first of
three major steps. Take a breather. This did NOT restore your windows
system to the state it WAS in - but to a state like it just arrived in the
box. This is not what you want - so continue on!
- Type EXIT and press enter. It will reboot - do NOT "Press Any Key to Boot
to CD" - let it boot happily into Windows XP. If this step fails - the
computer is FUBAR - copy what you can off (or ghost it) and either perform a
clean install or get a new hard drive.
- Make the hidden files visible in Windows Explorer...
1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select
Show hidden files and folders, and then click to
clear the
"Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)"
check box.
- Open the System Drive (C:\)
- Open the "System Volume Information" folder. This folder appears dimmed
because it is set as a super-hidden folder. If you cannot get in - change
the security on the folder so you can...
- Once in the folder, you should see folders (one or more) that look like
this:
"_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}"
- Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to
click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There
may be one or more folders starting with "RP" x under this folder. These are
restore points.
- Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder; the following
path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder:
"C:\System Volume
Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot"
- From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp
folder (you can use your mouse, you're in Windows now, remember?):
_registry_user_.default
_registry_machine_security
_registry_machine_software
_registry_machine_system
_registry_machine_sam
- Now that you have done all of that - you are done with the second of three
major steps. Take a breather. This part merely set you up for the
(hopefully) final step - so continue on!
- Put the XP CD in the drive, and restart.
- When it says "press any key to boot from CD," go ahead, press any key.
- When you see the screen that asks you if you want to install Windows,
don't! Just hit R for recover, and you'll load the Recovery Console
You should see something like this:
----------
Microsoft Windows(R) Recovery Console
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows Installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?
----------
- Just select 1 and press ENTER. The path may be different.
- When it asks for the Administrator password - enter it.
- Follow along and keep in mind that each command must be typed exactly as
you see it here. Please note that this procedure assumes that Windows XP is
installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the
appropriate windows folder if it's at a different location. The copy
commands will answer you with a little "file copied" message. The delete
commands just move on to the next line. Type the whole command in one line,
and when you've finished typing that command, hit the Enter key.
Del c:\windows\system32\config\sam
Del c:\windows\system32\config\security
Del c:\windows\system32\config\software
Del c:\windows\system32\config\default
Del c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_software
c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_system
c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_security
c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_user_.default
c:\windows\system32\config\default
- That's IT! Type EXIT and press ENTER and eject the CD - letting Windows
XP boot - hopefully - into what WAS your previous system. If it is still
not QUITE what you wanted, you can restore (attempt to anyway) to another
restore point:
1. Click Start, then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous Restore
Point.
GOOD LUCK!
