Urgent help needed

[Industrial One]

http://i49.tinypic.com/i739ug.jpg

That's what I'm stuck with when I try to log into my main system partition. No module to log into account/enter password. Same thing when trying to boot into safe mode.

I can't do a repair install because the WinXP CD is not recognizing the Windows installation on there for some reason.

I really need access restored to that partition, I got an important project on it that needs to be done fast.

 

[Paul]

http://i49.tinypic.com/i739ug.jpg

That's what I'm stuck with when I try to log into my main system partition. No module to log into account/enter password. Same thing when trying to boot into safe mode.

I can't do a repair install because the WinXP CD is not recognizing the Windows installation on there for some reason.

I really need access restored to that partition, I got an important project on it that needs to be done fast.

OK, you've been working on the 250GB, and getting no where.

You made a clone to the 2TB.

Install *only* the 2TB and disconnect the 250GB one.

1) Does the recovery console work with the 2TB ?

2) If not, and you're in an awful rush, try a repair install
to the 2TB drive. On the theory the partition can be
recognized.

3) If still no dice, do a clean install to the 2TB.

3) Once the "2TB fun" is finished, *then* plug in the 250GB
and work on it with things like TestDisk, PTEDIT32 or whatever.

You want speed, and I suspect the 2TB might be a better bet
than the 250GB one.

I have more obscure methods, but they're only going to upset you.

Paul

 

[Industrial One]

OK, you've been working on the 250GB, and getting no where.

You made a clone to the 2TB.

Install *only* the 2TB and disconnect the 250GB one.

1) Does the recovery console work with the 2TB ?

2) If not, and you're in an awful rush, try a repair install
to the 2TB drive. On the theory the partition can be
recognized.

3) If still no dice, do a clean install to the 2TB.

3) Once the "2TB fun" is finished, *then* plug in the 250GB
and work on it with things like TestDisk, PTEDIT32 or whatever.

You want speed, and I suspect the 2TB might be a better bet
than the 250GB one.

I have more obscure methods, but they're only going to upset you.

Paul

No recovery console or repair for the 2 TB either, I've already tried. I'm not convinced it was properly cloned so I dont really care for that drive at this point, there's no telling what went wrong in the cloning process andthats something else for me to deal with for another day.

I already have a clean install on a different partition on this 250GB drive, so I can still access its files, what do you suggest I try?

 

[Paul]

No recovery console or repair for the 2 TB either, I've already tried.
I'm not convinced it was properly cloned so I dont really care for that
drive at this point, there's no telling what went wrong in the cloning
process and thats something else for me to deal with for another day.

I already have a clean install on a different partition on this 250GB drive,
so I can still access its files, what do you suggest I try?

Can you finish your urgent project ?

I thought you had priorities right now.

Are your project files safe ? Can you see them ?
Can you install your tools on the Windows that is
running right now ?

Maybe it's better to leave the repair step, for later
when you have time.

Now, I don't want to scare you, but if I had to guess,
the install you just did on the 250GB, doesn't have its
own boot files, and is using the boot files from the
other partition. The installer may have made a "logical"
partition, rather than a primary partition, for your
new install. (In other words, in some ways, the new install
is linked to the old install. Not a big deal, but still,
has to be taken into account when looking at the next step.)

I would use Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc in Run), to
have a look at how things are set up right now. That
would be a starting point.

You can also use PTEDIT32 for a look too if you want.
It shouldn't hurt anything. Just don't change any settings
in there. At this point in time, you just want to see if
partitions are visible, what they are, and so on. And
whether they make sense, from the standpoint of what
you know, should be there.

Paul

 

[Industrial One]

Can you finish your urgent project ?

I thought you had priorities right now.

Are your project files safe ? Can you see them ?
Can you install your tools on the Windows that is
running right now ?

Maybe it's better to leave the repair step, for later
when you have time.

Now, I don't want to scare you, but if I had to guess,
the install you just did on the 250GB, doesn't have its
own boot files, and is using the boot files from the
other partition. The installer may have made a "logical"
partition, rather than a primary partition, for your
new install. (In other words, in some ways, the new install
is linked to the old install. Not a big deal, but still,
has to be taken into account when looking at the next step.)

I would use Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc in Run), to
have a look at how things are set up right now. That
would be a starting point.

You can also use PTEDIT32 for a look too if you want.
It shouldn't hurt anything. Just don't change any settings
in there. At this point in time, you just want to see if
partitions are visible, what they are, and so on. And
whether they make sense, from the standpoint of what
you know, should be there.

Paul

I:\ drive (the 193GB main system partition i've been using for years that got borked yesterday) is displayed from here as C: drive and status: Healthy (system)

This temporary new installation just so I could use to post on this newsgroup is D:\ drive 40GB with status Healthy (boot)

Nothing I didn't already know.

Can you finish your urgent project ?

Not without access to the account.

 

[Paul]

I:\ drive (the 193GB main system partition i've been using for years that got borked yesterday) is displayed from here as C: drive and status: Healthy (system)

This temporary new installation just so I could use to post on this newsgroup is D:\ drive 40GB with status Healthy (boot)

Nothing I didn't already know.


Not without access to the account.

System means the 193GB partition's boot files are being used.

Boot means the 40GB is your currently running system.

The terminology is the reverse of what you'd assume.

And what you're seeing, means the two installs are "coupled together".

Now, that means the boot files on the 193GB (like boot.ini)
must have been intact. Does the 193GB have a Windows folder ?
Each install should have its own Windows folder.

I only learned about what happens on a second install recently,
when the same kind of thing you're seeing, happened to me
with a second install of Win2K. The new partition was a "logical"
(it doesn't actually boot the computer). The original
partition is doing the booting, because the active flag is
set on it, and the boot files are there. My new install of
Win2K, had practically no files in the new C:, at the root level.
There was some sort of Windows directory, as you'd expect. But
the logical did not have (and did not need) the usual cruft at
the root level of the new C:. My new Win2K, was using the files from the
original install. Which also makes it pretty hard to "compare partitions"
to see what broke. As things stand now, the two partitions are
"different by design".

So that tells us, on the original installation, "something is missing"
(because the repair console wouldn't log in), and that something
is not boot files (because the new install was happy to use them).

I presume as well, when the system boots, you see a black screen
with something like two OS boot choices. The boot menu is
actually presented by the 193GB partition.

WinXP
WinXP

and you select one of those to boot from. If you select the second
one, you get the new install. If you select the first option,
is it still stuck at the logo ?

*******

Using the Google image search capability (where I fed it the URL to
your posted pic), it came up with this article.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Windows-XP-3282/2008/9/t-load-log-screen.htm

Suggestion was to delete pagefile and hiberfile. Now, given
your current "tied together" install, I don't know how easy this
is going to be. On the other hand, if the files *are* shared,
maybe booting to the 193GB partition will work now ?

Another thing that comes to mind, is checking the registry files,
to see if they're present. (Note - don't do the procedure in
here - just check to see if the files are present. For this
procedure to actually work, you need working System Restore points,
which aren't always available.)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Check to see if you have c:\windows\system32\config\system on
the 193GB partition. The registry is a bunch of files, and the
307545 article gives their names. With your two installations, they will
keep separate registry files (thank goodness). None of that
sharing crap for them.

Paul

 

[Paul]

One other thing comes to mind.

The cloning tool. There are a couple ways you can clone.

You can use Volume Shadow Service, and copy C: without shutting down.

Or, the "old fashioned way", is to reboot the computer during the
cloning operation, and a program runs from DOS. This might be
an approach the old Ghost would use. It involves interrupting the
boot process, by installing *something* to make the machine come up
in a DOS-like environment. Then, C: is no longer busy, the files
aren't in usage, and they can be safely copied.

If the old fashioned way was being used, perhaps whatever it
inserted to do that, broke something.

It doesn't seem very consistent with your symptoms though.
At that point in time (stuck on logo), the computer could be looking at
account information, loading a user profile, looking at
registry files, pagefile, hiberfile. I just don't see how it got
where it is, in that picture of yours. "Fiddling with the MBR" and
"cloning", don't see to be in the same constellation,
as the things that could be broken right now.

http://i49.tinypic.com/i739ug.jpg

Paul

 

[Industrial One]

And what you're seeing, means the two installs are "coupled together".

I would normally have provided a screenshot but as you can see it shows nothing out of the ordinary.

Does the 193GB have a Windows folder ?

Yes. Remember, thats the primary partition that I've been using for years. No reason it wouldn't have a Windows folder.

and you select one of those to boot from. If you select the second
one, you get the new install. If you select the first option,
is it still stuck at the logo ?
Yes.

Suggestion was to delete pagefile and hiberfile. Now, given
your current "tied together" install, I don't know how easy this
is going to be. On the other hand, if the files *are* shared,
maybe booting to the 193GB partition will work now ?

I just deleted both files. Problem persists.

Check to see if you have c:\windows\system32\config\system on

I do. I've even tried reverting them to 4-month-old backups. This used to save my ass countless times in similar hopeless situations where everything failed and nobody had any idea about the problem.

In response to your latest post, thats EXACTLY how Drive Image XML did it, it required MS Shadow service to be enabled I remember clearly. But it doesn't matter, leave cloning for now. My source drive is ****ed up, the cloneddrive is unbootable. Until the source is fixed, there's nothing to clone.

 

[Industrial One]

And what you're seeing, means the two installs are "coupled together".

I would normally have provided a screenshot but as you can see it shows nothing out of the ordinary.

Does the 193GB have a Windows folder ?

Yes. Remember, thats the primary partition that I've been using for years. No reason it wouldn't have a Windows folder.

and you select one of those to boot from. If you select the second
one, you get the new install. If you select the first option,
is it still stuck at the logo ?
Yes.

Suggestion was to delete pagefile and hiberfile. Now, given
your current "tied together" install, I don't know how easy this
is going to be. On the other hand, if the files *are* shared,
maybe booting to the 193GB partition will work now ?

I just deleted both files. Problem persists.

Check to see if you have c:\windows\system32\config\system on

I do. I've even tried reverting them to 4-month-old backups. This used to save my ass countless times in similar hopeless situations where everything failed and nobody had any idea about the problem.

In response to your latest post, thats EXACTLY how Drive Image XML did it, it required MS Shadow service to be enabled I remember clearly. But it doesn't matter, leave cloning for now. My source drive is ****ed up, the cloneddrive is unbootable. Until the source is fixed, there's nothing to clone.

 

[Industrial One]

Guys, I got repair install to work finally, but now it hangs at the installation process and it displayed 27 minutes left for half an hour. No known activity on the HDD or CD. This sucks...

 

[Paul]

Guys, I got repair install to work finally, but now it hangs at the installation
process and it displayed 27 minutes left for half an hour. No known activity on \
the HDD or CD. This sucks...

Check the log files ?

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article...s-does-windows-xp-create-during-installation-

I can't find anything definitive for 27 minutes.

Paul

 

[RJK]

Check the log files ?

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article...s-does-windows-xp-create-during-installation-

I can't find anything definitive for 27 minutes.

Paul

FWIW ...several times across the past few years, I've recovered boot up
partitions using steve Gibsons Spinrite 6. ...which seems to repair a
multitude of sins all on its' own !

e.g. out of the blue, Dad's PC a couple of years ago, (on power up / after
bios), presented empty black screen with blinking underscore, screen top
left, (corrupt boot sector / start up files etc.),...
....booted from Spinrite 6 cd | waited for it to do its' thing, ...fault
fixed ! ....immediatley followed by a hasty Ghost image out to external
hard disk !

regards, Richard