copy files in dos possible

  • Thread starter Thread starter DrB
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DrB

Have a second hard drive that is no longer visible and failed according to
Maxtor. Would like to copy some of the file to primary drive so I got a
WinXp boot disk made and restated in dos. Tried to xcopy.exe files but get
error message the it will not run in dos environment. Use to be able to do
this with WinMe, but not able after loading WinXp on computer. Anyone know
what to run and be able to copy in dos since the hard drive is only
visible/readable in that environment?
 
DrB said:
Have a second hard drive that is no longer visible and failed
according to Maxtor. Would like to copy some of the file to primary
drive so I got a WinXp boot disk made and restated in dos. Tried to
xcopy.exe files but get error message the it will not run in dos
environment. Use to be able to do this with WinMe, but not able after
loading WinXp on computer. Anyone know what to run and be able to copy
in dos since the hard drive is only visible/readable in that
environment?
Click to expand...


The bootable floppy created within Windows XP does not include
xcopy.exe. In fact, few files are put onto that floppy. So just where
did you REALLY get a copy of xcopy.exe to run? xcopy.exe must match the
version of the OS put onto the bootable floppy. I think the bootable
floppy created within Windows XP uses an image file that puts Windows ME
onto the floppy. If you need a complete bootable floppy, go to
http://www.bootdisk.com/ to get the images for whatever OS version you
want, use it to create a bootable floppy, and use that floppy. If you
used NTFS on the second drive or you only have NTFS partitions on your
first drive then you won't be able to access those partitions when
booting to DOS (unless you put the NTFSDOS driver on the bootable floppy
and load it).
 
I already have a bootable disk (when booting it shows WinMe) from your
referenced site some time back. It did not put xcopy on the floppy so I
copied it from my computer which uses WinXp-Pro and does not work in a DOS
environment. I probably need xcopy from WinMe, right? Do I need to go to the
old WinMe CD to copy?

Will it work when I have NTFS on the secondary drive?

The primary drive uses FAT32 and the bad secondary from my son's computer
where it failed has NTFS so I need the NTFSDOS driver, right? How do I get
it to load?
 
DrB said:
I already have a bootable disk (when booting it shows WinMe) from your
referenced site some time back. It did not put xcopy on the floppy so I
copied it from my computer which uses WinXp-Pro and does not work in a
DOS environment. I probably need xcopy from WinMe, right? Do I need to
go to the old WinMe CD to copy?
Click to expand...

Correct. You need a copy of xcopy.exe for Windows ME if the bootable
floppy is loading the Windows ME (MS-DOS 7) kernel. I haven't used
Windows ME in probably 4 years so I don't know if xcopy.exe exists on
the install CD for Windows ME or if you will have to extract it from a
..cab file. I suspect none of the bootdisk.com images contain NTFSDOS.
You can get that separately (the read-only mode is free so you will be
able to read from NTFS partitions but you won't be able to write to
them). Do a Google search to find where to download NTFSDOS.

I have a bootable CD so I don't have nor have never made the bootable
Windows XP setup floppies. You might download the file(s) from
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994 to see what files it puts onto
the bootable floppy set. There is also the UltimateBootCD
(http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/) which lets you load an instance of
Windows using a bootable CD, but your computer must be able to boot
using the DVD/CD drive. You will some CD burning software that will lay
an .iso image file onto a CD-R[W] disc, like Nero, Easy CD Creator, or
WinOnCD. I believe it loads NTFSDOS (read-only) when it boots but
you'll have to read the information at their web page which has links to
every product they include. Products like Partition Magic will let you
convert an NTFS partition to a FAT partition (Windows won't do this; it
will only convert from FAT to NTFS). The Ranish Partition Manager is
included on the UltimateBootCD but I've not used it so I don't know if
it can convert from NTFS to FAT[32]. I suspect not but I could be
wrong.
Will it work when I have NTFS on the secondary drive?

The primary drive uses FAT32 and the bad secondary from my son's
computer where it failed has NTFS so I need the NTFSDOS driver, right?
How do I get it to load?
Click to expand...

Yep.
Probably by adding a line to load it in config.sys (if booting under
DOS). I'm sure the download for it includes instructions on how to use
it.

I'm not sure you are bothering to set all this up if the Maxtor
diagnostics say the drive is bad. Of course, you never elucidated on
what "bad" was as reported by "Maxtor" (I doubt the company diagnosed
your drive so you also omitted what Maxtor *software* you used). Does
the Maxtor drive, now the second drive, actually show up in the BIOS
status screen (so you know that, at least, the BIOS can see it)?
 
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