eicar_test string

[Bill in Co.]

Ummm... You previously stated that one of the main reasons for using
FAT32 for your XP system was so that you could bootable DOS disks to do
things that DOS can't do with NTFS.

Just as an aside, doesn't this have SOME merit? The "security" of knowing
you can always boot down to that DOS disk if necessary (if windows has
problem)? How do the people get by with NTFS in such an eventuality?

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Just as an aside, doesn't this have SOME merit? The "security" of knowing
you can always boot down to that DOS disk if necessary (if windows has
problem)? How do the people get by with NTFS in such an eventuality?

Some. I don't know what others do, but I use the XP Setup CD to run a
recovery console. Command prompt and as much permission as you're going
to get on NTFS

 

[Bill in Co.]

Some. I don't know what others do, but I use the XP Setup CD to run a
recovery console. Command prompt and as much permission as you're going
to get on NTFS

And what if you don't have access to the CD drive at the time?

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Ummm... Why wouldn't they have access to the CD drive? Better put, they
are two separate problems, and you would of course need to remedy the CD
drive issue before going any further. What happens if you don't have
access to a floppy drive. Does life stop, <s>?

 

[Bill in Co.]

Ummm... Why wouldn't they have access to the CD drive? Better put, they
are two separate problems, and you would of course need to remedy the CD
drive issue before going any further.

But with FAT32 you could drop down into DOS and work at that level, if
needbe.

What happens if you don't have access to a floppy drive.

You may be out of luck. I don't even want to think about that one!

But it is MUCH less likely that you would lose access to a (simple) floppy
drive, than a CD drive, I think.

On a (somewhat) related note, I definitely recall one time in DOS not having
access to the CD drive (but never the floppy). (I think it was due to a
driver issue - but I've forgotten now)

Does life stop, <s>?

Yes, eventually, for all of us.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

But with FAT32 you could drop down into DOS and work at that level, if
needbe.

The entire focus of this particular thread is how you acces the hard
drive without running anything from that same drive. It is entirely
possible to "drop to" a command line functionality in NTFS-based
systems. However, it is *more* likely that when you want to access low
levels in NTFS, you have to do so without running from the same disk.
Which is why the Repair Console exists.

You may be out of luck. I don't even want to think about that one!

But it is MUCH less likely that you would lose access to a (simple) floppy
drive, than a CD drive, I think.

Not that I'm aware of. Not in a modern machine. What makes you say that?
It's a plain fact that a CDROM drive is an indispensible component in
any Windows system since the release of Windows 98. For the purposes
we're discussing here, a CDROM drive that is bootable by the BIOS is
also a requirement. If you don't have that basic minimum, you need to
get it. Fact is, most "proprietary" systems--Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.,
provide their basic emergency access functions via bootable CD, also,
and have been doing so since the mid to late 90s.

On a (somewhat) related note, I definitely recall one time in DOS not having
access to the CD drive (but never the floppy). (I think it was due to a
driver issue - but I've forgotten now)

If you want to use a CDROM drive from an MS-DOS OS, whatever its
configuration, you need appropriate drivers to read a CDROM, yes. But
primarily, you need a CDROM drive.

Yes, eventually, for all of us.

<g>. OK, let me put it another way--If you need to access your system
without loading anything from the HD, you need to use an OS loaded from
some removable drive--floppy, bootable CD, USB stick, whatever (or even
another HD.) You are used to the floppy drive being indispensable
because the basic system provided with Win9x systems for doing the
chores we contemplate is able to fit onto a floppy disk. In the case of
Win2K and XP, a floppy simply does not accommodate the files needed, so
the basic procedure is CDROM based. In the same way you can't imagine
getting anything done without a floppy drive, a 2K or XP user can't
imagine getting anything done without a bootable CDROM. Mechanically,
there is no significant difference. They are both, at this level, run by
the BIOS. No drivers needed. My own experience is that both types of
drives are equally prone to mechanical failure.

I'm still at a loss to understand why you think a floppy-based emergency
access is any less complicated than a CD-based emergency access.

 

[Bill in Co.]

The entire focus of this particular thread is how you acces the hard
drive without running anything from that same drive. It is entirely
possible to "drop to" a command line functionality in NTFS-based
systems. However, it is *more* likely that when you want to access low
levels in NTFS, you have to do so without running from the same disk.
Which is why the Repair Console exists.


Not that I'm aware of. Not in a modern machine. What makes you say that?
It's a plain fact that a CDROM drive is an indispensible component in
any Windows system since the release of Windows 98. For the purposes
we're discussing here, a CDROM drive that is bootable by the BIOS is
also a requirement. If you don't have that basic minimum, you need to
get it. Fact is, most "proprietary" systems--Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.,
provide their basic emergency access functions via bootable CD, also,
and have been doing so since the mid to late 90s.


If you want to use a CDROM drive from an MS-DOS OS, whatever its
configuration, you need appropriate drivers to read a CDROM, yes. But
primarily, you need a CDROM drive.


<g>. OK, let me put it another way--If you need to access your system
without loading anything from the HD, you need to use an OS loaded from
some removable drive--floppy, bootable CD, USB stick, whatever (or even
another HD.) You are used to the floppy drive being indispensable
because the basic system provided with Win9x systems for doing the
chores we contemplate is able to fit onto a floppy disk. In the case of
Win2K and XP, a floppy simply does not accommodate the files needed, so
the basic procedure is CDROM based. In the same way you can't imagine
getting anything done without a floppy drive, a 2K or XP user can't
imagine getting anything done without a bootable CDROM. Mechanically,
there is no significant difference. They are both, at this level, run by
the BIOS. No drivers needed. My own experience is that both types of
drives are equally prone to mechanical failure.

I'm still at a loss to understand why you think a floppy-based emergency
access is any less complicated than a CD-based emergency access.

Probably because I'm not used to it. I've never checked to see if this
system will "boot up" from a CD. (In fact, I don't recall having a boot
CD, so to speak, but who knows. Never had the need to use one).

Even when I was doing a clean (re) install of Windows, I had previously
copied all the windows CAB files from the CD over to the HD, since 1) I
wouldn't have to *depend on* the CD being accessible at the DOS level, and
2) it is MUCH faster to do the installation, obviously.