Infamous "NTDETECT failed" Message

[Patrick Whittle]

Our Windows 2003 Server hard drive must have a couple bad sectors. Without
a recovery CD, do you know how to recover?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Our Windows 2003 Server hard drive must have a couple bad sectors.
Without a recovery CD, do you know how to recover?

Make yourself a Windows 7 Repair CD
(http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/), then boot
the machine with this CD. Now copy the hidden file c:\boot.ini to a floppy
disk or a flash disk (e.g. with "type E:\boot.ini > F:\). You can now do
this:
1. Format a floppy disk on some Windows 2000/XP/2003 machine.
2. Copy the hidden files c:\ntldr and ntdetect.com to the floppy disk.
3. Copy the above file boot.ini to the floppy disk.
4. Boot the server with this floppy disk. If it does not have a floppy disk
drive, burn a bootable CD from your floppy disk.

 

[Jonathan de Boyne Pollard]

Now copy the hidden file c:\boot.ini to a floppy disk or a flash disk (e.g. with "type E:\boot.ini > F:\).



That should be type E:\boot.ini > F:\boot.ini, of course. 




The reason for using TYPE instead of just ordinary COPY, by the way, is that the file has the hidden attribute.  The COPY built-in to Microsoft's CMD won't copy such files.  If you are using a different command interpreter, this is not an issue and you can use COPY.  With 4NT and Take Command, for example, simply use the /H option to COPY to tell it to include hidden and system files, thus: copy /h E:\boot.ini F:\

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

this in news item
Now copy the hidden file c:\boot.ini to a floppy disk or a flash disk (e.g.
with "type E:\boot.ini > F:\).

That should be type E:\boot.ini > F:\boot.ini, of course.

So it should - thanks for the correction.