The SYSTEM file is corrupt (it isn't) after moving windows to another disk

[H. Debs]

After an unfortunate incident, I lost a (unimportant) disk, ran out
and bought 2 new ones which I connected as RAID0 on a controller I
wasn't using like that before (but it was on the mobo, win driver
installed and everything), copied both windows installations (dual
boot Win2K_Pro + WinXP_Pro) from the old disk to the new Raid (booted
into 2K, copied the XP partition, and vice versa) modified boot.ini to
point the new partitions and fired away! Big flop. For both Win2K and
XP didn't boot, complaining that the file SYSTEM is corrupt.

I don't want to die an idiot, since I'll definitely be replacing disks
again and again in the future and definitely don't want to reinstall
everything every time (forget about Ghost for just a second), so...
What didn't windows like? The fact that it was on a different physical
hard disk? Or that it was on a different IDE channel? Or that it was
on a different IDE controller? Or that it was on a RAID0 array now?
Or that according to DOS drive letters, it wasn't on drive E: any
more? In other words, how much of a change can Win2K (and XP)
tolerate before going nuts? (And why does windows need to keep a
reference to which disk, partition or controller it is running from? I
thought you pointed to the correct partition using boot.ini and it
expects to find its files on that partition, basta!)

The second question is, how does a knowlegeable person get out of this
situation without having to install everything? I've tried (nothing
worked):
1) Restoring an older version of SYSTEM file
2) In-place re-install ("repair".. HA!)

Third and last quesiton, I read about "sysprep" and how it tickles
windows into re-enumerating all its hardware the next time it is
started. Wouldn't that be a perfect solution? Because although I
reinstalled Win2K, I'd like to recover my old WinXP installation.
Would that work, or am I just too tired??

Thanks a lot for any help or pointers.

Habib

PS/ One really last question:
What should I do next time that I want to change disk and partition
and controller, but prepare for it such that windows will stay
operational with a minimum of fuss?

 

[Dave Patrick]

These articles may help.

How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=249694

HOW TO: Replace the Motherboard on a Computer That Is Running Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=824125

After-the-fact your best shot is a repair install.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=292175

What an In-Place Windows 2000 Upgrade Changes and What It Does Not Change
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=306952

Be sure to apply these to your repair install before connecting to any
network.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

--

Regards,

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

:
| After an unfortunate incident, I lost a (unimportant) disk, ran out
| and bought 2 new ones which I connected as RAID0 on a controller I
| wasn't using like that before (but it was on the mobo, win driver
| installed and everything), copied both windows installations (dual
| boot Win2K_Pro + WinXP_Pro) from the old disk to the new Raid (booted
| into 2K, copied the XP partition, and vice versa) modified boot.ini to
| point the new partitions and fired away! Big flop. For both Win2K and
| XP didn't boot, complaining that the file SYSTEM is corrupt.
|
| I don't want to die an idiot, since I'll definitely be replacing disks
| again and again in the future and definitely don't want to reinstall
| everything every time (forget about Ghost for just a second), so...
| What didn't windows like? The fact that it was on a different physical
| hard disk? Or that it was on a different IDE channel? Or that it was
| on a different IDE controller? Or that it was on a RAID0 array now?
| Or that according to DOS drive letters, it wasn't on drive E: any
| more? In other words, how much of a change can Win2K (and XP)
| tolerate before going nuts? (And why does windows need to keep a
| reference to which disk, partition or controller it is running from? I
| thought you pointed to the correct partition using boot.ini and it
| expects to find its files on that partition, basta!)
|
| The second question is, how does a knowlegeable person get out of this
| situation without having to install everything? I've tried (nothing
| worked):
| 1) Restoring an older version of SYSTEM file
| 2) In-place re-install ("repair".. HA!)
|
| Third and last quesiton, I read about "sysprep" and how it tickles
| windows into re-enumerating all its hardware the next time it is
| started. Wouldn't that be a perfect solution? Because although I
| reinstalled Win2K, I'd like to recover my old WinXP installation.
| Would that work, or am I just too tired??
|
| Thanks a lot for any help or pointers.
|
| Habib
|
| PS/ One really last question:
| What should I do next time that I want to change disk and partition
| and controller, but prepare for it such that windows will stay
| operational with a minimum of fuss?
|
|

 

[H. Debs]

These articles may help.

How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=249694

I'd read some of the articles you mention, but the one above... is
scary! It sounds like a bloody hack! I mean if you have to verify all
those things in the registry after you restore a simple backup to an
identical (actually the same) machine, who's to say there isn't
something else that's broken that the writer/hacker wasn't aware of?

And asking people to install Windows on the _empty_ destination hard
disk while you have a full backup available is... mysterious. Why?
Just to be able to run the backup tool on the destination (because it
is a windows-only program)? So you can then overwrite all the files
you just installed? And if/when you get a problem restarting after
the backup, you have to do an "in-place upgrade" (they mean downgrade
to the original unpatched version), and you then have to re-reinstall
all the windows and IE patches and security updates again! Why all
that work?

HOW TO: Replace the Motherboard on a Computer That Is Running Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=824125

This one is interesting. But again requires reinstalling and
re-reinstalling.
I'm sure I read that if you run the sysprep tool on a system, then you
make an image of it with Ghost, 2 things will happen when either the
original system or the Ghost copy is first started after the sysprep:
1) The OS will invent a new SID for itself so it can identify itself
as a unique machine on the network, and 2) Mini-setup will run and
re-discover all hardware, load all drivers, etc..
I'm very tempted to do that it someone can tell me that it will work
in my case (I changed the hard disk and the hard disk controller).
That would be so much easier than having to reinstall everything
again.

After-the-fact your best shot is a repair install.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=292175

I tried that with my Win2K. It didn't work. Had to reformat and spend
a week reinstalling everything from scratch (200 applications, plus
the time to set them up).


Have you tried sysprep ?


Thanks,

Habib

What an In-Place Windows 2000 Upgrade Changes and What It Does Not Change
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=306952

Be sure to apply these to your repair install before connecting to any

network.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

--

Regards,

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

:
| After an unfortunate incident, I lost a (unimportant) disk, ran out
| and bought 2 new ones which I connected as RAID0 on a controller I
| wasn't using like that before (but it was on the mobo, win driver
| installed and everything), copied both windows installations (dual
| boot Win2K_Pro + WinXP_Pro) from the old disk to the new Raid (booted
| into 2K, copied the XP partition, and vice versa) modified boot.ini to
| point the new partitions and fired away! Big flop. For both Win2K and
| XP didn't boot, complaining that the file SYSTEM is corrupt.
|
| I don't want to die an idiot, since I'll definitely be replacing disks
| again and again in the future and definitely don't want to reinstall
| everything every time (forget about Ghost for just a second), so...
| What didn't windows like? The fact that it was on a different physical
| hard disk? Or that it was on a different IDE channel? Or that it was
| on a different IDE controller? Or that it was on a RAID0 array now?
| Or that according to DOS drive letters, it wasn't on drive E: any
| more? In other words, how much of a change can Win2K (and XP)
| tolerate before going nuts? (And why does windows need to keep a
| reference to which disk, partition or controller it is running from? I
| thought you pointed to the correct partition using boot.ini and it
| expects to find its files on that partition, basta!)
|
| The second question is, how does a knowlegeable person get out of this
| situation without having to install everything? I've tried (nothing
| worked):
| 1) Restoring an older version of SYSTEM file
| 2) In-place re-install ("repair".. HA!)
|
| Third and last quesiton, I read about "sysprep" and how it tickles
| windows into re-enumerating all its hardware the next time it is
| started. Wouldn't that be a perfect solution? Because although I
| reinstalled Win2K, I'd like to recover my old WinXP installation.
| Would that work, or am I just too tired??
|
| Thanks a lot for any help or pointers.
|
| Habib
|
| PS/ One really last question:
| What should I do next time that I want to change disk and partition
| and controller, but prepare for it such that windows will stay
| operational with a minimum of fuss?
|
|