Boot from Network?

[MS]

I'm not a network expert, so I hope someone can explain this to me simply.

My notebook computer, running windows xp home sp1, will not boot from the
hard drive. I tried every option--all three varieties of safe mode, and
"boot with latest good configuration", a few times.

Always right after the GUI starts, it freezes to a blue screen with an error
message, which never explains what is causing the problem.

I then changed the boot order in the BIOS to boot from CD first. I had a
couple of CDs that the computer would boot from, but they didn't do me any
good. One is the "Recovery CD" that comes with that computer. It will boot
from that, but then I get a message that if I choose "Yes", I will lose all
data on that hard drive, that it will return that computer to its original
configuration. Well, I'm not ready to do that yet, to lose everything on
that HD, if I can at all help it!

I have a CD that came with Norton Systemworks 2003, which says "Recovery
CD". I tried that, and it boots to that CD, and one can run norton antivirus
from that CD. However, one cannot access the HD from that boot. (I would
like to make a couple changes on the HD (I have a suspicion of what might
have caused the problem), but cannot access the HD at all. (This problem
would have been easier to deal with in Win 98 or 95, in which if one could
not boot to Windows, one could at least boot to DOS, and make changes to the
HD from DOS.)

I do not have the Windows CDs. Windows was pre-installed on the notebook,
and Windows installation CDs did not come with it. (Only that "Recovery
CD".)

Then I realized another option, "boot from network". Although I do not
really have a network per se, the computer has a built-in NIC (Realtek
8139), I have another computer with that same NIC, also running Windows XP,
and I have a crossover cable, with which I have sometimes transferred files
between the two computers. I changed the boot order to "network" first. I
connected the computer via the crossover cable to the other computer (which
was running), and re-booted.

The other computer showed an icon that the LAN was connected! But still, the
computer I was trying to boot never did so. It would try for a while, with
the message:

For Realtek RTL8139(X)/8130/810X PCI Fast Ethernet Controller v 2.13
(020326)

CLIENT MAC ADDR: 00 E0 00 F5 FB 49 GUID:
FA85D52A-47A2-11D7-8B14-00E000F5FB49

with a little symbol turning--

Finally it gave up, with the message:

PXE-E51-No DHCP or proxyDHCP offers were received.

PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM.

(the other computer still shows the "LAN connected" icon though)

Could someone explain simply what I would need to do on the working computer
while the other one is trying to boot from the network, to get it to work?
Is there a command I would need to send from the command line of the working
computer, which would get the other one to boot? If so, please give me the
exact syntax of what I would need to type, as I really know nothing about
networking commands. (I did a search on Google of the phrase "boot from
network", and came up with nothing that I could understand.)

If I was able to boot that way, would I be able to access the HD of the
non-booting computer from the working one?

If anyone has any other suggestions on how to get out of this rut (other
than use the "Recovery CD", and lose everything on that HD, which would only
be a very last resort), please post it here.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Jym]

What does the BSOD error message say? Jym

I'm not a network expert, so I hope someone can explain this to me simply.

My notebook computer, running windows xp home sp1, will not boot from the
hard drive. I tried every option--all three varieties of safe mode, and
"boot with latest good configuration", a few times.

Always right after the GUI starts, it freezes to a blue screen with an error
message, which never explains what is causing the problem.

I then changed the boot order in the BIOS to boot from CD first. I had a
couple of CDs that the computer would boot from, but they didn't do me any
good. One is the "Recovery CD" that comes with that computer. It will boot
from that, but then I get a message that if I choose "Yes", I will lose all
data on that hard drive, that it will return that computer to its original
configuration. Well, I'm not ready to do that yet, to lose everything on
that HD, if I can at all help it!

I have a CD that came with Norton Systemworks 2003, which says "Recovery
CD". I tried that, and it boots to that CD, and one can run norton antivirus
from that CD. However, one cannot access the HD from that boot. (I would
like to make a couple changes on the HD (I have a suspicion of what might
have caused the problem), but cannot access the HD at all. (This problem
would have been easier to deal with in Win 98 or 95, in which if one could
not boot to Windows, one could at least boot to DOS, and make changes to the
HD from DOS.)

I do not have the Windows CDs. Windows was pre-installed on the notebook,
and Windows installation CDs did not come with it. (Only that "Recovery
CD".)

Then I realized another option, "boot from network". Although I do not
really have a network per se, the computer has a built-in NIC (Realtek
8139), I have another computer with that same NIC, also running Windows XP,
and I have a crossover cable, with which I have sometimes transferred files
between the two computers. I changed the boot order to "network" first. I
connected the computer via the crossover cable to the other computer (which
was running), and re-booted.

The other computer showed an icon that the LAN was connected! But still, the
computer I was trying to boot never did so. It would try for a while, with
the message:

For Realtek RTL8139(X)/8130/810X PCI Fast Ethernet Controller v 2.13
(020326)

CLIENT MAC ADDR: 00 E0 00 F5 FB 49 GUID:
FA85D52A-47A2-11D7-8B14-00E000F5FB49

with a little symbol turning--

Finally it gave up, with the message:

PXE-E51-No DHCP or proxyDHCP offers were received.

PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM.

(the other computer still shows the "LAN connected" icon though)

Could someone explain simply what I would need to do on the working computer
while the other one is trying to boot from the network, to get it to work?
Is there a command I would need to send from the command line of the working
computer, which would get the other one to boot? If so, please give me the
exact syntax of what I would need to type, as I really know nothing about
networking commands. (I did a search on Google of the phrase "boot from
network", and came up with nothing that I could understand.)

If I was able to boot that way, would I be able to access the HD of the
non-booting computer from the working one?

If anyone has any other suggestions on how to get out of this rut (other
than use the "Recovery CD", and lose everything on that HD, which would only
be a very last resort), please post it here.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[purplehaz]

Boot to a win9x floppy boot disk or an xp floppy boot disk to get to dos. If
your drive is formatted in fat32 either will work, if ntfs only xp boot disk
will work. Get boot disks here: www.bootdisk.com

 

[MS]

Boot to a win9x floppy boot disk or an xp floppy boot disk to get to dos. If
your drive is formatted in fat32 either will work, if ntfs only xp boot disk
will work. Get boot disks here: www.bootdisk.com

I tried a Win 9x floppy boot disk. Booted to the disk, but again couldn't
access the HD, as it is NTFS.

So, if I use the Win XP boot disks, will they enable me to access the HD,
without a Windows CD?

I saw the bootdisk file on Microsoft to download. It then installs onto 6
floppies. Is it possible to install it onto one CD instead, set the boot
order to CD first, and boot from CD?

I'd still like to hear more about how that network option works, if anyone
understands it.

Thank you.

 

[MS]

What is BSOD?

What does the BSOD error message say? Jym

 

[Jym]

Blue Screen Of Death. Do you have a error message on the blue screen? Jym

 

[Guest]

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

its a crash.

What is BSOD?


first.

 

[purplehaz]

dos.

I tried a Win 9x floppy boot disk. Booted to the disk, but again couldn't
access the HD, as it is NTFS.

So, if I use the Win XP boot disks, will they enable me to access the HD,
without a Windows CD?

I saw the bootdisk file on Microsoft to download. It then installs onto 6
floppies. Is it possible to install it onto one CD instead, set the boot
order to CD first, and boot from CD?

I'd still like to hear more about how that network option works, if anyone
understands it.

Thank you.

The six boot disks will allow you to get into the recovery console and I
think from there you can copy files off the drive. I'm not sure if you can
put them on a cd or not, many times the install program will look to the a
drive specfically and if it on a cd it wont see it. I'm not familar with the
network boot option, sorry.

 

[MS]

Blue Screen Of Death. Do you have a error message on the blue screen?

Jym

It really didn't say anything. There was a long number there. Sorry, I
didn't write it down.

 

[MS]

After a lot of hassle (bad floppies, etc.), I finally got the 6 XP boot
diskettes to work.

I clicked the "repair with recovery console" option, and now I am in
something that looks like DOS, indeed on the hard drive. Is that what the
"recovery console" is, something that looks like DOS, a command prompt? Or
should there be a GUI?

Anyhow, now that I can access the HD, here is what I want to do, which I am
having problems with: I want to copy a few files in a folder on the desktop
to the \windows\system32\drivers folder.

The reason for that is: right before the shutdown before I couldn't boot up
again, I had moved 3 files from that \drivers folder to a new folder I
created on the desktop. I don't want to go into here the details of why I
did that. I was trying to solve another problem, and had no idea the files I
moved were important for booting. I did that in Windows, and it seemed to
have no problem letting me do that, so they didn't seem like protected files
or anything.

However, since the system would not boot up after that, I suspect that
caused the problem, and want to move those files back into the
\windows\system32\drivers folder.

So, the system looking like dos, I tried to CD into that folder on the
desktop, first with the command--

CD "\Documents and Settings" , just for a start, and then I was going to go
further one by one until reaching the desktop folder, and that other folder
inside it, with those three files. However, when I typed that command, I
received the message "access denied". I don't see any way to get to those
files to move them back into the \drivers folder.

I am the only user of this computer, therefore the administrator. I am
always logged into Windows as the "Administrator" (or perhaps it's "Owner").
I have not set a password, and never need one to log on.

However, when starting the recovery console, it asked for my password. Not
having set one, I just pressed "Enter", and came to that Dos prompt. (At
first in C:\Windows, I was able to CD it to the root directory, but now
cannot get into the D&S folder.)

Any suggestions on how I can do that?

What else can be done with the "Recovery Console"?

Thanks again to all of you for your help.

 

[Brian K]

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Check this.

Brian

 

[philip ashley]

when you are in the Recovery console type

set AllowAllPaths = True

useful site here

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307654

hth

philip ashley

 

[purplehaz]

He has no XP cd, that is the problem, or else a simple repair install would
fix him up, but he bought an oem computer that comes with a recovery cd
only.

 

[MS]

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Check this.

Brian

I looked at it. He says to not choose "Recovery Console", and instead choose
"Repair Installation"?

But what exactly will the latter do? Will it wipe out everything on my HD
like that "Recovery CD" that came with my notebook? Don't want to do that
now. Or will it just fix the problems with booting?

If the latter, I might try it. Since the last post, I have tried more things
with the Recovery Console (enabling and disabling various services, don't
have time for details at the moment), tried to boot from HD, and again got
"Blue Screen of Death".

If the "Installation" option will fix my boot problem automatically, without
destroying my data and programs, I might try it.

It looks like that "recovery console" wasn't saved anywhere, or the
installation, etc. I think I have to go through all six diskettes again to
get there, as I already have done a couple times! Seems like they should
make that burnable to a CD also, for those who can boot from CD, but do not
have the Windows CDs. (Many computers come with Windows installed, but
without the CDs, so this must be a problem for many.).

 

[purplehaz]

I looked at it. He says to not choose "Recovery Console", and instead choose
"Repair Installation"?

But what exactly will the latter do? Will it wipe out everything on my HD
like that "Recovery CD" that came with my notebook? Don't want to do that
now. Or will it just fix the problems with booting?

If the latter, I might try it. Since the last post, I have tried more things
with the Recovery Console (enabling and disabling various services, don't
have time for details at the moment), tried to boot from HD, and again got
"Blue Screen of Death".

If the "Installation" option will fix my boot problem automatically, without
destroying my data and programs, I might try it.

It looks like that "recovery console" wasn't saved anywhere, or the
installation, etc. I think I have to go through all six diskettes again to
get there, as I already have done a couple times! Seems like they should
make that burnable to a CD also, for those who can boot from CD, but do not
have the Windows CDs. (Many computers come with Windows installed, but
without the CDs, so this must be a problem for many.).

A repair install only works if you have a real xp cd. You said you only have
a recovey cd which will not do repair installs.
The recovery console can only be loaded from the six disks or a real xp cd.

 

[MS]

He has no XP cd, that is the problem, or else a simple repair install would
fix him up, but he bought an oem computer that comes with a recovery cd
only.

I discovered that. I tried that other option, to setup Windows. It asked me
to install the Windows XP CD-ROM. I tried my "Recovery CD". Didn't work.

These diskettes are obviously for people who have the Windows CDs, but
cannot boot from their CD drives. I can boot from my CD drive, but do not
have a CD that will work for repairing Windows without formatting the HD, or
just to a virus scan.

It's actually rather irritating. If users need the Windows CD-ROMs to repair
broken Windows, and the computer makers have purchased Windows from
Microsoft, those CDs should be included with the computer. Microsoft must
know that this is the case, as they could easily stipulate to the computer
manufacturers, as a condition of sale of their OS, that the CDs must be
included with the computer. They don't, and they must know that the CDs are
usually not included. Yet, all their setup information assumes that the
users have those CDs.

At least I can get to the Recovery Console this way, and it seems like I
have to see what I can do with it. Any further suggestions? Any `command for
it to check what's causing the boot problem, and fix it? There should be.

Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[R. McCarty]

Unfortunately, it is relatively easy to add the Recovery console to
any Windows XP install. Why the OEM's don't include that in their
images is a mystery. You would think anything that keeps the calls
to Bangalore, India down would be high on their list.

 

[Jym]

I'm not that familiar with the recovery console , (but I should be) . Found
this information in Help and Support , here is part of what I found. Jym
a.. Attrib
Changes the attributes of a file or directory.

b.. Batch
Executes the commands specified in the text file.

c.. Bootcfg
Boot file (boot.ini) configuration and recovery.

d.. ChDir (Cd)
Displays the name of the current directory or changes the current
directory.

e.. Chkdsk
Checks a disk and displays a status report.

f.. Cls
Clears the screen.

g.. Copy
Copies a single file to another location.

h.. Delete (Del)
Deletes one or more files.

i.. Dir
Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

j.. Disable
Disables a system service or a device driver.

k.. Diskpart
Manages partitions on your hard drives.

l.. Enable
Starts or enables a system service or a device driver.

m.. Exit
Exits the Recovery Console and restarts your computer.

n.. Expand
Extracts a file from a compressed file.

o.. Fixboot
Writes a new partition boot sector onto the specified partition.

p.. Fixmbr
Repairs the master boot record of the specified disk.

q.. Format
Formats a disk.

r.. Help
Displays a list of the commands you can use in the Recovery Console.

s.. Listsvc
Lists the services and drivers available on the computer.

t.. Logon
Logs on to a Windows installation.

u.. Map
Displays the drive letter mappings.

v.. Mkdir (Md)
Creates a directory.

w.. More
Displays a text file.

x.. Net Use
Connects a network share to a drive letter.

y.. Rename (Ren)
Renames a single file.

z.. Rmdir (Rd)
Deletes a directory.

aa.. Set
Displays and sets environment variables.

ab.. Systemroot
Sets the current directory to the systemroot directory of the system you
are currently logged on to.

ac.. Type
Displays a text file.

Related Topics

 

[TV-Engineer]

When you get to the recovery console, the C prompt, try typing fixboot and
then enter. If that does not solve the problem, get to the recovery console
and type chkdsk c:/R and enter.

Good Luck
Eric

 

[MS]

Thanks, Eric.

I thought of trying Fixboot, not sure if it might do damage. Any possibility
of it wrecking something?

I tried chkdsk, and it won't work, says I need some kind of autochk file
too, which apparently isn't there. Anyhow, I don't think anything is wrong
with the drive.