Strange Partition F:\ points to C:\

[Arsen V.]

Hello,

We just noticed a very strange problem. Two of our Win2000 SP4 Servers now
have both letters C: and F: pointing to the same partition on a
software-mirrored disk0.

Part of the registry references (to DLLs and other files) point to files
using C:\ the other (smaller) part points using F:\

In Disk Manager we see only F:. Obviously, it does not let us change it back
to C:

What is going on? How did this happen? Anyone know what to do?

Thanks in advance!
Av

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hello,

We just noticed a very strange problem. Two of our Win2000 SP4 Servers now
have both letters C: and F: pointing to the same partition on a
software-mirrored disk0.

Part of the registry references (to DLLs and other files) point to files
using C:\ the other (smaller) part points using F:\

In Disk Manager we see only F:. Obviously, it does not let us change it back
to C:

What is going on? How did this happen? Anyone know what to do?

Thanks in advance!
Av

This can happen after disk imaging or disk manipulation. You should
now change things so that your system drive becomes C: again.
- Navigate to HKLM\System\MountedDevices
- Rename \DosDevices\F: to \DosDevices\C:
- Reboot the machine

 

[Arsen V.]

Hi Pegasus,

We were planning to do that Registery Change. However, I looked around and
saw that hundreds of registry entries are pointing to some important DLLs
(system related) using the F:\ path.

If we do the change in the Mounted Devices key from C: to F: and reboot,
will the system even boot? And if it does, will it ever clean its own mess
in the registry?

Thanks for your help!
Av

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I do not know the history of your machine, hence I do not
know how these entries came to be there. Here are the
possible scenarios:
a) You leave the machine as it is and observe if there are
any problems.
b) You change the DosDevice reference back to C:. If the
server boots normally, you check if the registry entries
point back to drive C:.
c) You change the DosDevice reference back to C:. If the
server fails to boot then you change the DosDevice
reference back to F:, using regedit.exe from some
networked machine.

It is unlikely that this change will cripple your machine. You
can greatly reduce the risk factor by creating and testing a
full backup beforehand.

 

[Arsen V.]

Hi Pegasus,

Thank you again. We are going to do this test after making full backup of
the server.

Question re: backups/restore. Do you know a way to restore an ntbackup on
"bare metal" without having to go through and first install a clean win2000
server on that other box?

 

[Dave Patrick]

Are you using dynamic disks? These articles may help. Also there is now a v2
of the rollup but WU won't suggest it if v1 is installed.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891861
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Hello,
|
| We just noticed a very strange problem. Two of our Win2000 SP4 Servers now
| have both letters C: and F: pointing to the same partition on a
| software-mirrored disk0.
|
| Part of the registry references (to DLLs and other files) point to files
| using C:\ the other (smaller) part points using F:\
|
| In Disk Manager we see only F:. Obviously, it does not let us change it
back
| to C:
|
| What is going on? How did this happen? Anyone know what to do?
|
| Thanks in advance!
| Av
|
|

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

These days I use snapshot.exe (http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/down.htm).
It's a very fast and a very affordable product to create a disk image.
It will run off a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com) when you
need to restore an image to a blank disk.

 

[Arsen V.]

Hi Dave,

Yes, indeed our system is using dynamic disks for software mirroring... So I
think the article kb891861 is describing our problem. However, by the time
we noticed drive F:, there were already installations that referenced it in
the registry. Will the hot fix or v2 of the Rollup fix the problem in the
registry?

Thanks,
Arsen

 

[Arsen V.]

Hi Pegasus,

Will Snapshot.exe allow me to create and restore an image of Windows 2000
SERVER on hardware RAID5 array?

Thanks,
Arsen

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Since it's a hardware rather than a software array,
the software does not even know it's an array. It
looks like an ordinary disk.

 

[Dave Patrick]

The system alternates between the original system drive and the new virtual
system drive letter every time that you restart so I'd restart and make sure
the drive letter is correct and then apply V2

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904564/

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Hi Dave,
|
| Yes, indeed our system is using dynamic disks for software mirroring... So
I
| think the article kb891861 is describing our problem. However, by the time
| we noticed drive F:, there were already installations that referenced it
in
| the registry. Will the hot fix or v2 of the Rollup fix the problem in the
| registry?
|
| Thanks,
| Arsen