John Willett said:
Dave --
I don't understand your reply, but being stubborn (and ignorant,
obviously),
I used the tools pointed out by DL to create a set of Windows 2000 Setup
Diskettes. Now I see that there is NOTHING that they, nor, apparently, an
Emergency Recovery Disk, will do for me in the absence of a Windows CD
(which
I have never had -- IBM provided only a hidden OS-re-installation volume
on
the hard drive of this laptop, which I have already used once).
I was, however, able to use "C:\I382\winnt32.exe /cmdcons" (the IBM
re-installation process apparently created copies of most, but not all,
setup
files in that directory) to create a boot option into the Recovery
Console,
which is what I really needed (I think). With that and my Windows Boot
Disk
(see, for example, MKB Article 318728), I should be able repair the MBR to
get rid of the pesky "NTLDR Is Missing" error for good, if it occurs
again.
Right or wrong?
*** Assuming this is the reason for the error.
In the future, an image backup of the C: drive (plus an image backup of
the
hidden re-install volume, of course) should allow me to recover from most
problems, but it's not the most satisfying solution. Is the Emergency
Repair
Process really that useful? If so, is my only option to obtain an
original
Windows 2000 CD-ROM? In that case, any suggestions where to get one that
would work with my IBM laptop?
*** Here's some detail of what you can do with the repair process.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238359
Also backup the registry often.
If you run Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Backup, then choose ERD, then
if you check the box for "Also backup....", then the reg will also be backed
up to
%systemroot%\repair\RegBack
leaving the
%systemroot%\repair\
directory files intact as original installation.
Repair, Recovery, and Restore
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/samplechapters/f...
You can replace registry hives from within the recovery console by copying
the files from
%systemroot%\repair\regback
to
%systemroot%\system32\config
To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%
--
Regards,
Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect