the password is recognised, yet login stops

[Pegasus [MVP]]

This reminds me of a couple of years ago when I was rude to you, thinking
you had something to do with some of my posts not showing up in OE.
http://groups.google.com/g/cfd7fef5/t/16b89b7be8dc7a46/d/5b4c57fdf645c0a0
-Paul Randall

Wow, the memory you have! Anyway, after reading your post of two years ago
once more, I would not call it "rude". We had a disagreement, that's all.
Getting a peer review is one of the benefits of newsgroups. Sometimes the
discussion gets a little heated, in particular when two experts clash. So
what!

 

[aa]

Maybe your OE read option for limiting the number of headers being read
accidently got checked.

This options is pre-set to 300.
Does the number of headers mean number of subjects or number of messages?
Anyway this should not be relevant in this particular case for now, without
changing this option, I can see a lot of new messages but still cannot the
that one of Pegasus. Unless OE selects these 300 messages at random, without
taking into account chronology and logic of discussion.
I have beed using OE for years to read NGs, and dissapearing messages or the
whole threads is systematic. I thought it was the result of moderation,
thought could not fihure out what was wrong with those messages.

 

[aa]

"Pegasus [MVP]"

*** Your questions suggest that you have limited experience when it
*** comes to in-depth Windows maintenance. There is no shame in
*** this - your have strong skills in other areas - but it makes it doubtful
*** that we'll succeed with this method. Instead there is a substantial
*** risk that we do irreversible damage to the Win2000 registry.

Very limited indeed. Yet so far I see no rocket science in executing the
steps you specified. Also no need not worry about damaging my reg for I was
about to clean re-install w2k anyway just before you replied that it is
repairable.

My regedit shows only MyComputer and 5 HKEY entries to XP register
*** No, I meant "Load Hive".

As I said, I have no "Load Hive" option in my registry. I searched MS site
for "Load a hive into the registry" (
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759303(WS.10).aspx ):
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. In the registry tree (on the left), click either the HKEY_USERS or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE keys.
3. On the File menu, click Load Hive.

Thing is that in my Registry not only "Load Hive" is missing, but File menu
is missing. I have Regisry, Edit, View, Favorites, Help (does not help too).
Neither of these have "Load Hive" inside


please send a note to

*** pegasus_fnlATyahooDOTcom so that I can explain the process.

Thank you for offering that, I am sending you a message, but I think we
first try to resolve the problem here for it might be inteesting for other
people

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

"Pegasus [MVP]"


Very limited indeed. Yet so far I see no rocket science in executing the
steps you specified. Also no need not worry about damaging my reg for I
was
about to clean re-install w2k anyway just before you replied that it is
repairable.


As I said, I have no "Load Hive" option in my registry. I searched MS
site
for "Load a hive into the registry" (
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759303(WS.10).aspx ):
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. In the registry tree (on the left), click either the HKEY_USERS or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE keys.
3. On the File menu, click Load Hive.

Thing is that in my Registry not only "Load Hive" is missing, but File
menu
is missing. I have Regisry, Edit, View, Favorites, Help (does not help
too).
Neither of these have "Load Hive" inside

Things are getting from bad to worse. Your initial problem relates to your
inability of logging on to Windows 2000 after resizing your partitions with
PQ Magic. This is usually caused by an unintended change of the System drive
letter. You now report that regedit.exe under Windows XP lacks the "File"
pull-down menu. I suggest you take a screen shot of the regedit screen with
the PrtSc key, paste it into mspaint.exe, save it as a .jpg file, then
attach it to your reply or upload it to one of the many free file storage
services so that respondents can see what you see. If you are correct then I
think you have some serious problems with malware or viruses.

 

[aa]

"Pegasus [MVP]"

I suggest you take a screen shot of the regedit screen

Sorry, Pegasus, for misleading you a bit - when replying I was at another
computer and open Regedit there.
On the sick computer we are talking about Regedit has File-->Load hives, but
they are grey.
The screenshot you asked for is here
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg

This is a Russian version and the Load Hive is the third line in File menu

 

[aa]

Things are getting from bad to worse. Your initial problem relates to your
inability of logging on to Windows 2000 after resizing your partitions with
PQ Magic. This is usually caused by an unintended change of the System drive
letter.

Indeed, when I resized the partition, and rebooted the computer, the
partition dissapered and opening Partition Magic again I saw that no letter
was assigned to this partition. So I assigned the letter which PM offered,
and now I see that I should have selected the original letter. Thing was
that if I remember correctly,
the disk letter shown from XP were different from disk letters shown on w2k.

Anyway, seemingly the most natural solution would be to change back the
drive letters using Partition Magic - why this is not possible?

 

[John John - MVP]

"Pegasus [MVP]"

Sorry, Pegasus, for misleading you a bit - when replying I was at another
computer and open Regedit there.
On the sick computer we are talking about Regedit has File-->Load hives, but
they are grey.
The screenshot you asked for is here
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg

This is a Russian version and the Load Hive is the third line in File menu

You *must* click on and highlight the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_USERS
key to be able use the Load Hive feature, the Load Hive option is only
enabled when one of these keys is selected.

John

PS. I don't know what is going on with this thread but I couldn't reply
(crosspost) to both the Windows 2000 and the XP groups, I had to remove
the crosspost to XP to be able to post.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Indeed, when I resized the partition, and rebooted the computer, the
partition dissapered and opening Partition Magic again I saw that no
letter
was assigned to this partition. So I assigned the letter which PM offered,
and now I see that I should have selected the original letter. Thing was
that if I remember correctly,
the disk letter shown from XP were different from disk letters shown on
w2k.

Anyway, seemingly the most natural solution would be to change back the
drive letters using Partition Magic - why this is not possible?

I recommend you ask your Windows-savvy friend to do this for you:
1. Launch Windows XP
2. Run regedit.exe.
3. Navigate to HKLM.
4. Click File/Load Hive.
5. Enter the location of the Win2000 "System" file, e.g.
X:\WinNT\System32\config\system
and click Open.
6. Enter a name when prompted, e.g. Win2000 and click OK.
7. Open HKLM in the Win2000 hive, then navigate to
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
8. On the right half of the screen, rename \DosDevices\X: to \DosDevices\C:
with a right-click of your mouse. "X:" can be any drive letter you see. If
the
first rename does not work then you must reverse the rename, then rename
another drive letter to C:.
9. When finished, click the Win2000 key, then File / Unload Hive.
10. Boot into Win2000.

Warning: There is a serious risk of the following happening:
- You might permanently damage your Win2000 registry.
- You might inadvertently modify the WinXP registry, which will prevent it
from booting.
If you lack experience in registry editing then you *must* ask an
experienced person to assist you. I cannot accept any responsibility for he
consequences of your actions.

 

[aa]

You *must* click on and highlight the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_USERS
key to be able use the Load Hive feature, the Load Hive option is only
enabled when one of these keys is selected.

Thank you, John, it worked this way

 

[aa]

I recommend you ask your Windows-savvy friend to do this for you:

Pegasus, of all my friends I am the savviest.

- You might permanently damage your Win2000 registry.
- You might inadvertently modify the WinXP registry, which will prevent it
from booting.
If you lack experience in registry editing then you *must* ask an
experienced person to assist you. I cannot accept any responsibility for he
consequences of your actions.

As I said I am about to clean reinstall w2k. And to delete XP for good
because this XP cane preinstalled with this computer and did not work
properly from the start. So both OS are of little value for me. Of value are
my data and they are on a separate disk for I never used that Microsoft's
My Documents to store anything, thank God!
I also appreciate that not being at my computer you can only guess? but I
think this is a correct guess of yours and before formatting the disk I will
try to use the chance you offered. On my own risk of course. Even if things
will go wrong, I will be thankful to you for your time.

Thank you for adding more details to the Instruction - I was just about to
ask what should I enter when prompted for a name at step 6

 

[aa]

1. Launch Windows XP
2. Run regedit.exe.
3. Navigate to HKLM.
4. Click File/Load Hive.
5. Enter the location of the Win2000 "System" file, e.g.

X:\WinNT\System32\config\system and click Open.

6. Enter a name when prompted, e.g. Win2000 and click OK.

Done except the name was entered as "w2k"

7. Open HKLM in the Win2000 hive, then navigate to

HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

After Step 6 entry "w2k" was added to XP's HKLM and under this entry there
is no HKLM\SYSTEM\
Instead I have w2k\MountedDevices (see
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg ) is it OK?

8. On the right half of the screen, rename \DosDevices\X: to

\DosDevices\C: with a right-click of your mouse. "X:" can be any drive
letter you see.

Under w2k\MountedDevices I have 7 entries DosDevices from A to H.
XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
A - floppy
C - partition with XP
D - CD drive
E - partition with w2k
F - logical partition with data

I understand one of those seven entries should be renamed to E
Can you guess which one, or the only way is to try and see?

If the first rename does not work then you must reverse the rename, then

rename another drive letter to C:.

How shal I see if it works or not without attempting to boot into w2k?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

X:\WinNT\System32\config\system and click Open.

Done except the name was entered as "w2k"

HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

After Step 6 entry "w2k" was added to XP's HKLM and under this entry there
is no HKLM\SYSTEM\
Instead I have w2k\MountedDevices (see
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg ) is it OK?


\DosDevices\C: with a right-click of your mouse. "X:" can be any drive
letter you see.

Under w2k\MountedDevices I have 7 entries DosDevices from A to H.
XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
A - floppy
C - partition with XP
D - CD drive
E - partition with w2k
F - logical partition with data

I understand one of those seven entries should be renamed to E
Can you guess which one, or the only way is to try and see?

rename another drive letter to C:.

How shal I see if it works or not without attempting to boot into w2k?

Since you're about to re-install Win2000, there seems to be little point in
persisting with the registry hack.

 

[aa]

Since you're about to re-install Win2000, there seems to be little point

in persisting with the registry hack.

I said I WAS about to reinstall it to relieve you from worries. Of course,
if there is a chance I can restore w2k, I will use it. Even if I fail, I
will get precious knowledge and experience.
Please will you attend the points raised in my previous message

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

in persisting with the registry hack.

I said I WAS about to reinstall it to relieve you from worries.

*** You said "I am about to clean reinstall w2k" which in the English
*** language implies that you will do it within a very short time.
*** Doing so may relieve *you* from worries. It can't relieve *me*
*** from worries. While I'm happy to assist you, my help does not
*** go as far as worrying about your machine.

Pegasus, of all my friends I am the savviest.

*** It's time to look for a few new friends . . .

Of course, if there is a chance I can restore w2k, I will use it.
Even if I fail, I will get precious knowledge and experience.
Please will you attend the points raised in my previous message

After Step 6 entry "w2k" was added to XP's HKLM and under this entry there
is no HKLM\SYSTEM\
Instead I have w2k\MountedDevices (see
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg ) is it OK?

*** Yes, this is correct.

Under w2k\MountedDevices I have 7 entries DosDevices from A to H.
XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
A - floppy
C - partition with XP
D - CD drive
E - partition with w2k
F - logical partition with data

*** The above assignments are your guesses. You don't really know
*** if they are correct. It is possible that all drive letters have moved.

I understand one of those seven entries should be renamed to E
Can you guess which one, or the only way is to try and see?

*** You should rename C: to X:, then rename D: to C: and check if
*** this solves your problem. If it does not, rename C: back to D:, then
*** rename E: to C:, then G: to E:. This is what I mean with "trial and
*** error".

How shal I see if it works or not without attempting to boot into w2k?

*** You can't - you must attempt to boot into Win2000.
*** It would also be a good idea to create a backup copy of the
*** System file, just in case things go worse rather than better.

 

[aa]

Thanks, Pegasus, for the most detailed reply.

*** You said "I am about to clean reinstall w2k" which in the English

language implies that you will do it within a very short time.

Thank you for a bit of English lesson, Pegasus - I'm always happy to learn.
Yet how do you define "very short time" in English?
Depending on context, a year may be a very short time while a second could
be too long

While I'm happy to assist you, my help does not *** go as far as worrying

about your machine.

This is exactly what I hope to find here - thank you again.

*** It's time to look for a few new friends . . .

I am old-fashioned and do not replace friends just because I cannot extract
use of them. I would rather replace Windows ;-)

*** The above assignments are your guesses. You don't really know
*** if they are correct. It is possible that all drive letters have moved.

This is not MY guess, this is how XP's WindowsExplorer guesses them. Do you
mean that w2k might have it differently? If so, then we have another unknown
variable in the equiation - we do not know what X is. From
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg I thought X=E. Now I see that
this might not be the case. So the operation you describe below may have to
be repeated for different value of X like X=D, X=E and X=F ?
If I boot into w2k from ERD disk - will it show the disks letters the same
way w2k sees them?

*** You should rename C: to X:, then rename D: to C: and check if
*** this solves your problem. If it does not, rename C: back to D:, then
*** rename E: to C:, then G: to E:. This is what I mean with "trial and
*** error".

So there is no way to determine which entry is relevant to userinit.exe ?
Are there other system files which, like userinit.exe depend on disk letter?
I mean I can sort out userinit.exe by changing D to C but something else
will stop working because of changing C to X.
If I assume X=E, I rename, C to E and D to C then I will have two entries
with the same letter E - is this acceptable, or I have to rename other
entries to avoid duplications?

*** It would also be a good idea to create a backup copy of the System

file, just in case things go worse rather than better.

As I mentioned, this WinExplorer refuses settings to see hidden and system
files so I cannot copy it from Win Explorer. Can I do it from RegEdit?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Thanks, Pegasus, for the most detailed reply.

language implies that you will do it within a very short time.

Thank you for a bit of English lesson, Pegasus - I'm always happy to
learn.
Yet how do you define "very short time" in English?
Depending on context, a year may be a very short time while a second could
be too long

~~~ Indeed!

about your machine.

This is exactly what I hope to find here - thank you again.


I am old-fashioned and do not replace friends just because I cannot
extract
use of them. I would rather replace Windows ;-)


This is not MY guess, this is how XP's WindowsExplorer guesses them. Do
you
mean that w2k might have it differently?

~~~ I am referring to the drive letters as your Win2000 installation sees
~~~ them. They are likely to be different from what WinXP reports.

If so, then we have another unknown
variable in the equiation - we do not know what X is. From
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg I thought X=E. Now I see
that
this might not be the case. So the operation you describe below may have
to
be repeated for different value of X like X=D, X=E and X=F ?
If I boot into w2k from ERD disk - will it show the disks letters the same
way w2k sees them?

~~~ No, it won't. I know of two ways to show the true Win2000
~~~ drive letters:
~~~ a) By booting into Win2000.
~~~ b) By launching a Command Processor with psexec.exe, using
~~~ a networked machine.
~~~ There is a third way that may or may not work - see below.

So there is no way to determine which entry is relevant to userinit.exe ?
Are there other system files which, like userinit.exe depend on disk
letter?

~~~ It's actually not just userinit.exe but the whole Win2000 installation
~~~ that is affected.

I mean I can sort out userinit.exe by changing D to C but something else
will stop working because of changing C to X.

~~~ Yes, Windows will be unstable. You may be able to log into
~~~ Windows by copying userinit.exe to ?:\WinNT\system32 where
~~~ ?: represents each and every partition you have on your hard disk.

If I assume X=E, I rename, C to E and D to C then I will have two entries
with the same letter E - is this acceptable, or I have to rename other
entries to avoid duplications?

~~~ No, regedit won't tolerate duplicated values.

file, just in case things go worse rather than better.

As I mentioned, this WinExplorer refuses settings to see hidden and
system
files so I cannot copy it from Win Explorer. Can I do it from RegEdit?

~~~ It's time to start working at the Command Prompt (which you start
~~~ by clicking Start / Run, then type the letters cmd, then click OK).
~~~ The following command will create a backup copy in less time than
~~~ it takes to read these instructions:
~~~ copy X:\WinNT\System32\config\System c:\System

 

[aa]

~~~ I know of two ways to show the true Win2000 drive letters:
~~~ a) By booting into Win2000.
~~~ b) By launching a Command Processor with psexec.exe, using a

networked machine.

Both are not practical in my case

~~~ It's actually not just userinit.exe but the whole Win2000 installation

that is affected.

So userinit.exe is just the beginning and if I do not change the letter
correctly, other things would not work.
But I guess that all the Win2000 installation is sitting under a single
drive letter, therefore if I find the right letter for userinit.exe, it
will sort out all other things.
If so, it should not matter how I change the letters for the remaining 6
DosDevices keys as long as there is no duplication in letters - is this
correct?
This should not affect XP-installation, should it?

BTW, on this machine I have floppy, CD, three partitions - why the register
shows 7 DosDevices ?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

networked machine.

Both are not practical in my case

*** I know - that's why you should explore the third option. If
*** it works then you get two benefits:
*** 1. You will *know* what the incorrect drive letter is.
*** 2. You can use the simple registry hack method that I gave
*** to Sid Elbow earlier in this long thread.
*** If it does not work then there is no damage.

that is affected.

So userinit.exe is just the beginning and if I do not change the letter
correctly, other things would not work.

*** Windows would be unstable.

But I guess that all the Win2000 installation is sitting under a single
drive letter, therefore if I find the right letter for userinit.exe, it
will sort out all other things.

*** Yes.

If so, it should not matter how I change the letters for the remaining 6
DosDevices keys as long as there is no duplication in letters - is this
correct?

*** Yes.

This should not affect XP-installation, should it?

*** Of course not - as long as you restrict your registry
*** hacks to the Win2000 hive.

BTW, on this machine I have floppy, CD, three partitions - why the
register
shows 7 DosDevices ?

*** It is normal for this registry key to show more drives than
*** you have current devices.

 

[aa]

Thanks, Now I am equipped with theory to proceed.

*** I know - that's why you should explore the third option.

I will explore

*** Of course not - as long as you restrict your registry hacks to the

Win2000 hive.

I understand that disk drive letters on one OS have nothing to do with disk
drive letters on another OS on the same computer.
Yet I wonder how come resizing partitions with Partition Magic on XP
affected w2k so badly.

 

[Bob I]

Thanks, Pegasus, for the most detailed reply.



language implies that you will do it within a very short time.

Thank you for a bit of English lesson, Pegasus - I'm always happy to learn.
Yet how do you define "very short time" in English?
Depending on context, a year may be a very short time while a second could
be too long

I think you are looking for "Soon" or "near future", as in "I will be
reinstalling W2K soon."