Windows XP fails to boot after Drive Image 7 restore

[Milleniumaire]

I have just restored one of the disks on my system using Drive Image
7. The disk contained 4 partitions (originally labelled C:, E:, F:
and G. I also have two other disks which were untouched by Drive
Image and were labelled H: and I:.

Partition C: was my Windows XP Professional system partition. I
restored partitions C:, E: and F: (G: would not fit on the disk
despite being the same reported size! Why is this?) and no errors were
reported.

When I try to start Windows I get the following error:

missing or corrupt <windows root>\system32\hal.ddl

Anyone know why this has happened and how I can repair it?

I thought that Drive Image restored an EXACT image of the backed up
drive. If this is so then why is this restored file causing a
problem? It didn't cause a problem when the system was running at the
time the backup was taken.

One thing I have noticed, which may or may not be contributing to the
problem, if I boot the machine with the Drive Image CD and run PQRE,
the drives labels have all changed i.e. Windows XP system is now drive
E: when it was originally drive C:. The two "untouched" drives are
now C: and D: when they were H: and I: before the restore.

Anyone know why the drives have been re-labelled by Drive Image? I
would have expected Drive Image to put them back EXACTLY as they were
backed up i.e. C: to C:, E: to E: etc. Is it possible that the boot
process is looking for Windows XP files on the C: drive but (thanks to
Drive Image) they are now on the E: drive and so can't be found?

Any help explaining the problems and recovering my system would be
appreciated.

Regards.
Paul.

 

[Joep]

[SNIP]

Did you actually search the PQ support site because this 'error' is
described there?

Drive letters and labels aren't the same. A drive letter is not a 'part' of
a partition (where a volume label is) no matter how exact the image is. It's
Windows that assigns drive letters. You can restore an image that is
identical to the source partition and still it may be assigned a different
drive letter. In other words, DriveImage did not re-label drives, first
because it's the wrong terminolgy and secondly it is Windows that assigns
the drive letters.

 

[CWatters]

Possibly...
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000490.htm


Colin

 

[CWatters]

or ...

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

 

[CWatters]

or perhaps this....

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3659.cfm

Quote:
PowerQuest also provides a utility called CHKBTINI.EXE that fixes the
Windows directory pointer in the BOOT.INI.

 

[Joep]

or perhaps this....

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3659.cfm

Quote:
PowerQuest also provides a utility called CHKBTINI.EXE that fixes the
Windows directory pointer in the BOOT.INI.

Exactly! Now my point is: Why didn't OP look there himself? It's awfully
nice of you to look it up for him, however it would have been better if he
would have done some searching himself first. Basically you're spoiling him:
He's probably to lazy to look (I assume, because it is so easy to find so
it's either that or being stupid), and you spent time searching for him and
writing 3 messages!

 

[Rod Speed]

Exactly! Now my point is: Why didn't OP look there himself?

Likely because he is out of his depth.

It's awfully nice of you to look it up for him, however it would have
been better if he would have done some searching himself first.

It would have been much better again if the powerquest
manual spelt that stuff out clearly in the first place.

The manual is basically a steaming turd which doesnt really do
much more than just list whats clearly visible in the user interface.

And the user interface should make it clear to the user
that that can be a problem when the software is used too.

Basically you're spoiling him:
He's probably to lazy to look (I assume, because it is so
easy to find so it's either that or being stupid), and you
spent time searching for him and writing 3 messages!

It cant be that easy to find if Colin had to write 3 posts on that.

 

[CWatters]

Actually I was looking it up for myself. When someone points out an problem
that could prevent me restoring my own backups I like to find the answer
before my PC dies. It took me 15 mins. Big deal.

 

[Milleniumaire]

(e-mail address removed) (Milleniumaire) wrote in message
Despite the ramblings of Joep I have spent a lot of time trying to
resolve this problem myself. however, I admit I have a limited
knowlege of how Windows XP works, but this is improving all the time
thanks to "helpful" people sharing information on Newsgroups like this
one. When I purchased Drive Image I don't recall reading the small
print that told me I need to be a Windows XP expert!

Colin, thanks for the pointers. I have already tried the suggested
Microsoft solution, but despite rebuilding boot.ini I get exactly the
same error when I reboot. I have also tried expanding the version of
hal.dll from the Windows XP cd but this also made no difference. I
get the feeling that the boot.ini and hal.dll files on the restored E:
Windows XP drive are not being used but I'm not sure how to prove
this.

Using one of the tools on the PQRE, I noticed that the "NEW" C:
partition (formally the H: BACKUP drive) is seen as a bootable
partition as is the E: partition (which I would expect as this is
where Windows has been restored to). Because the C: partition was
used purely for backup (contains my backup images) I don't know why it
should be bootable. Is it possible that when using bootcfg it has
created the boot.ini file on the C: partition? How does Windows XP
decide which drive and partition it will use to read the boot.ini
file? Is it possible it is reading the boot.ini from C: when it
should be using the one on E:?

Regarding the re-labelling of drives, I was aware that the PQRE would
display partitions with different labels (it warns this when
starting), but I expected the drives to be restored as they where
backed up. Obviously this is not the case. This is not the first
time I have had to restore this drive, but this is the first time the
drive labels have changed and the hal.dll error has been reported. I
can't say for sure but my last restore may have been done with Drive
Image 2001, not Drive Image 7, but I can say that the number of drives
and their structure were IDENTICAL so why am I having the problems
now?

I will try using the CHKBTINI.EXE utility tonight but I would
appreciate any help and advice you (even Joep - the expert Data
Recoverer) can supply. I have also emailed PowerQuest support but,
based on previous experience, it may be some time before I get a
response from them.

Paul.

 

[Joep]

(e-mail address removed) (Milleniumaire) wrote in message

Despite the ramblings of Joep I have spent a lot of time trying to
resolve this problem myself.

Well, if that is the case then it may be helpfull to indicate that in the
future + a summary of what was tried and didn't work. I did by the way
explain the fact that drive letters and labels aren't the same thing. It's
pretty vital to understand that.

From nothing in your innitial post it became clear you did already put some
effort in this ... so that was what triggered me ...

however, I admit I have a limited
knowlege of how Windows XP works,

Having limited knowledge or not is not the point I addressed. As a matter of
fact, anyones knowledge is limited ...

but this is improving all the time
thanks to "helpful" people sharing information on Newsgroups like this
one. When I purchased Drive Image I don't recall reading the small
print that told me I need to be a Windows XP expert!

Read again, it says so in the microscopic print: Thy shall be a Windows and
partitionus tablus expertus

Colin, thanks for the pointers. I have already tried the suggested
Microsoft solution, but despite rebuilding boot.ini I get exactly the
same error when I reboot.

Post the boot.ini content, maybe we cab help. Also post a partinfo so we
have an overview of the partitions. Te boot.ini and the partition order are
related. Tell us on which partitions the various Windows installations can
be found.

I have also tried expanding the version of
hal.dll from the Windows XP cd but this also made no difference. I
get the feeling that the boot.ini and hal.dll files on the restored E:
Windows XP drive are not being used but I'm not sure how to prove
this.

How Windows NT based stuff boots (briefly):

The MBR part is mostly the same as for other operating systems: The bootcode
contained in the MBR looks for an active partition. It is this partition it
will boot from. In case of NT (including 2000/XP) the executable code in
this active partition will look for some files, ntdetect, nlldr and, there
you have it, the boot.ini. In this boot.ini it is described on which disk
and partition the WINNT or Windows folder can be found.

Most of the times it is in any of these areas where boot problems are
caused.

Possibly with the partinfo and the boot.ini we can pinpoint the problem. One
more thing about the MBR and Windows NT/2000/XP. In the MBR Windows stores a
signature, this signature can be found back in several registry keys and is
used to identify the disk. This is needed to determine for this particular
disk how drive letters are assigned, messed up drive letters are another
common cause for Windows boot problems.

Removing this signature will cause Windows to re-assign drive letters again
which sometimes resolves boot problems.

Regarding the re-labelling of drives, I was aware that the PQRE would
display partitions with different labels (it warns this when
starting), but I expected the drives to be restored as they where
backed up. Obviously this is not the case. This is not the first
time I have had to restore this drive, but this is the first time the
drive labels have changed and the hal.dll error has been reported. I
can't say for sure but my last restore may have been done with Drive
Image 2001, not Drive Image 7, but I can say that the number of drives
and their structure were IDENTICAL so why am I having the problems
now?

DriveImage, apart from making it's exact image tries to be smart and see if
changes to the boot.ini are required due to different partitioning.
Sometimes it messes up, and sometimes this is the cause for boot problems.

I will try using the CHKBTINI.EXE utility tonight but I would
appreciate any help and advice you (even Joep - the expert Data
Recoverer) can supply.
I have also emailed PowerQuest support but,
based on previous experience, it may be some time before I get a
response from them.

Yes, I have heard that the UTAH PQ support department no longer exists. The
new support people (Symantec) may need some time to adjust and get to know
'their' new products ... Of course this is no excuse for no answer at all
....

N.B. Even as former PowerQuest employee I must say I was pretty pleased with
TrueImage 6 (got a full version on CD of magazine) ... It wasn't really
fast, but worked hassle free, and I liked their rescue CD (Linux based I
guess) which is much faster then the PQRE (to boot from).

Paul.

Joep

 

[Milleniumaire]

Joep,

Thanks for the info. I have made some substantial progress tonight
and my system is back up and running, however, I still have a problem!

I decided to experiment by renaming the boot.ini files that I found on
the C: and E: partitions. I have one installation of Windows XP Pro
on the E: partition. Renaming boot.ini on C: made no difference, but
when I renamed it on E: (so I no longer had a boot.ini file) the
following message was displayed when I rebooted:

invalid boot.ini fle
booting from C:\windows\

Then, to my surprise Windows XP started, although lots of programs
were giving 1706 errors (No valid source could be found for product
....). I determined that this was caused because I had not restored
one of the 4 partitions on the striped array so Windows had assigned
different drive letters than they originally had. (I was unable to
restore the partition because drive image said there wasn't room
despite it being reported as exactly the same size as the unallocated
space - but that's another story). Eventually, by a combination of
using Partition Magic to resize the partitions and re-assign the drive
letters, and Drive Image to restore the remaining partition everything
was working as normal, except that if I restore the boot.ini file then
reboot, I get the original hal.dll error!!!!

I noticed that once Windows had started, the partition letters
assigned by Windows were different to those assigned by Drive Image or
Windows Recovery Console - just as you said. E: as shown in DI is now
shown as C: in Windows.

I can use my machine providing the boot.ini file does not exist on the
OS drive. Obviously this is not a situation I want to remain in, I
would prefer to resolve the problem so that I don't get the invalid
boot.ini file each time I start the machine.

I have tried running fixboot and fixmbr from the Windows Recovery
console but this has had no effect.

My boot.ini is as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect


This looks okay to me. I only have one install of Windows XP on the
first partition of drive 3.

The partition info for the restored drive is as follows:

PowerQuest PartitionInfo 8.0 -- Windows NT/2000 Version
Date Generated: 02/27/04 19:32:15
Copyright (c)1994-2002, PowerQuest Corporation
Permission is granted for this utility to be freely copied so long
as it is not modified in any way. All other rights are reserved.

PowerQuest, makers of PartitionMagic(r), Drive Image(tm), and
DriveCopy(tm), can be reached at:
Voice: 801-437-8900
Fax: 801-226-8941
Web site: http://www.powerquest.com/support/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)

General System Information:
Total Physical Memory (bytes): 804,765,696
Used Physical Memory: (bytes): 297,213,952
Maximum Page File Size: (bytes): 1,968,680,960
Current Page File Size: (bytes): 246,439,936



===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 1: 1021 Cylinders, 255 Heads,
63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head
Sect StartSect NumSects
===========================================================================================================
BACKUP 0 0 80 0 1 1 0B 1020 254
63 63 16,402,302

===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 9964 Cylinders, 255 Heads,
63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head
Sect StartSect NumSects
===========================================================================================================
BACKUP1 0 0 00 0 1 1 0C 1023 254
63 63 160,071,597
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 0 00 0 1 1 0C 9963 254 63 63
160071597

===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 3: 9732 Cylinders, 255 Heads,
63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head
Sect StartSect NumSects
===========================================================================================================
0 0 80 0 1 1 07 1023 254
63 63 42,106,302
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 0 80 0 1 1 07 2620 254 63 63
42106302
0 1 00 1023 0 1 07 1023 254
63 42,106,365 21,109,410
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 1 00 2621 0 1 07 3934 254 63 42106365
21109410
0 2 00 1023 0 1 07 1023 254
63 63,215,775 50,797,530
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 2 00 3935 0 1 07 7096 254 63 63215775
50797530
0 3 00 1023 0 1 07 1023 254
63 114,013,305 42,138,495
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 3 00 7097 0 1 07 9719 254 63 114013305
42138495



===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 1: 8,009.0 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect #
StartSect TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
I:BACKUP FAT32 Pri,Boot 8,008.9 0 0
63 16,402,302


===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 2: 78,160.0 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect #
StartSect TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
H:BACKUP1 FAT32X Pri 78,160.0 0 0
63 160,071,597


===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 3: 76,340.1 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect #
StartSect TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
C: NTFS Pri,Boot 20,559.7 0 0
63 42,106,302
F: NTFS Pri 10,307.3 0 1
42,106,365 21,109,410
G: NTFS Pri 24,803.5 0 2
63,215,775 50,797,530
E: NTFS Pri 20,575.4 0 3
114,013,305 42,138,495
Unallocated Pri 94.1 None --
156,151,800 192,780


===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive I: (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 63, Type:
FAT32)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump: EB 58 90
2. OEM Name: MSWIN4.1
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 34
6. Number of FAT's: 2
7. Reserved: 0x0000
8. Reserved: 0x0000
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Big Total Sectors: 16402302 (0xFA477E)
15. Big Sectors per FAT: 15987
16. Extended Flags: 0x0000
17. FS Version: 0
18. First Cluster of Root: 2 (0x2)
19. FS Info Sector: 1
20. Backup Boot Sector: 6
21. Reserved: 000000000000000000000000
22. Drive ID: 0x80
23. Reserved for NT: 0x00
24. Extended Boot Sig: 0x29
25. Serial Number: 0xF4E3F8FD
26. Volume Name: BACKUP
27. File System Type: FAT32
28. Boot Signature: 0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive H: (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 63, Type:
FAT32)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump: EB 58 90
2. OEM Name: MSWIN4.1
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 64
5. Reserved Sectors: 38
6. Number of FAT's: 2
7. Reserved: 0x0000
8. Reserved: 0x0000
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Big Total Sectors: 160071597 (0x98A7FAD)
15. Big Sectors per FAT: 19537
16. Extended Flags: 0x0000
17. FS Version: 0
18. First Cluster of Root: 2 (0x2)
19. FS Info Sector: 1
20. Backup Boot Sector: 6
21. Reserved: 000000000000000000000000
22. Drive ID: 0x80
23. Reserved for NT: 0x00
24. Extended Boot Sig: 0x29
25. Serial Number: 0x3F0B404B
26. Volume Name: BACKUP1
27. File System Type: FAT32
28. Boot Signature: 0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive C: (Drive: 3, Starting sector: 63, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump: EB 52 90
2. OEM Name: NTFS
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 0
6. Number of FATs: 0
7. Root Dir Entries: 0
8. Total Sectors: 0
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB): 0 (0x0)
15. Unused: 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors: 42106301
17. MFT Start Cluster: 786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 2631643
19. Clusters per FRS: 246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number: 0xF78F447AE68F20AE
22. Checksum: 0 (0x0)
23. Boot Signature: 0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive F: (Drive: 3, Starting sector: 42,106,365,
Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump: EB 52 90
2. OEM Name: NTFS
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 0
6. Number of FATs: 0
7. Root Dir Entries: 0
8. Total Sectors: 0
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 42106365 (0x2827DFD)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB): 0 (0x0)
15. Unused: 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors: 21109409
17. MFT Start Cluster: 4
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 524288
19. Clusters per FRS: 246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number: 0x8D01176A121B0698
22. Checksum: 0 (0x0)
23. Boot Signature: 0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive G: (Drive: 3, Starting sector: 63,215,775,
Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump: EB 52 90
2. OEM Name: NTFS
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 0
6. Number of FATs: 0
7. Root Dir Entries: 0
8. Total Sectors: 0
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63215775 (0x3C4989F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB): 0 (0x0)
15. Unused: 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors: 50797529
17. MFT Start Cluster: 786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 3190906
19. Clusters per FRS: 246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number: 0x6AC1F425FF4780EB
22. Checksum: 0 (0x0)
23. Boot Signature: 0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive E: (Drive: 3, Starting sector: 114,013,305,
Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump: EB 52 90
2. OEM Name: NTFS
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 0
6. Number of FATs: 0
7. Root Dir Entries: 0
8. Total Sectors: 0
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 114013305 (0x6CBB479)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB): 0 (0x0)
15. Unused: 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors: 42138494
17. MFT Start Cluster: 4
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 524288
19. Clusters per FRS: 246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number: 0x6AC1F425FF4780EB
22. Checksum: 0 (0x0)
23. Boot Signature: 0xAA55



Disk 3 is the one that I restored.

So, to summarise my current problems:
If a boot.ini file exists on C:\ then when booting the machine I get
error:

missing or corrupt <windows root>\system32\hal.dll

and I cannot boot into Windows.

If I rename the boot.ini file so that one doesn't exist then when
booting I get the following message:

invalid boot.ini fle
booting from C:\windows\

but then the machine boots into Windows XP and I can use it as normal
i.e. everything appears to be working.

I have a whole bunch of questions but I don't want to bore you with
them and will attempt to get some answers from the Internet over the
weekend, but if you have any suggestions on how resolve this situation
I would appreciate them.

Paul.

 

[Milleniumaire]

Success!!

Finally, after many hours of research and effort I got my system back
up and running without boot.ini or hal.dll errors.

I tried everything, fixboot, fixmbr, copying hal.dll, copying other
system files and upgrading Windows XP over the top of itself..... All
failed to resolve the problem. My final attempt (before reinstalling
Windows XP) was to try restoring my C: drive (operating system) image
again from the backup image. In Drive Image 7 I selected to restore a
single drive, then the image containing the OS and then selected the
advanced options: "Set drive active (for booting OS)", "Restore
original disk signature" and "Restore MBR". After the restore
everything worked fine - no more hal.dll errors or invalid boot.ini!

Why didn't I choose these options the first time I restored? Because
they weren't presented to me! Originally, when the raid array failed,
I recreated it then used the PQRE to restore the partitions. I chose
the option to restore multiple files using the System Index File (sv2i
file). This does not then present options for each drive being
restored but simply restores all drives identified as part of the sv2i
file - and it doesn't do a very good job at that. As I recall, out of
the 4 partitions to be restored using the sv2i file, 2 of them were
correctly mapped to their original partitions (and showed green
ticks), one of them had a red cross against it and was mapped to
another drive and one of them was not mapped to anything (because
there wasn't room for it!). I had to re-select the image for the
partition with the red cross and then it was okay, however I still
couldn't select to restore the final partition as it wouldn't fit on
the drive, despite being EXACTLY the same size! I had to restore this
later after increasing the size of the partition.

In future, I will not use this method of restoring, but will choose to
restore multiple drives so that I can select them individually and set
the options as appropriate. I suspect I will still have trouble
getting all the partitions to fit on the disk despite them all being
backed up from the same disk!

Paul.