XP SP2 ntfs.sys question

[Pete]

Anyone out there know if XP's ntfs.sys has been fixed in SP2 to be more
tolerant of nfts volume errors?

I have abandoned ntfs after I had a ntfs.sys Stop x:024 which resulted in my
system becoming non-recoverable, meaning that my Rrecovery CD would hang
rather than allow me to reach either Setup or the Recovery Console. I had
to reformat the HD completely. MS does not provide a repair utility for ntfs
seperate from Chkdsk which requires ntfs.sys to run, and if ntfs.sys crashes
(stop x24) on the error in the ntfs volume, you are hosed.

Any other thoughts??

 

[Dick Kistler]

Anyone out there know if XP's ntfs.sys has been fixed in SP2 to be more
tolerant of nfts volume errors?

I have abandoned ntfs after I had a ntfs.sys Stop x:024 which resulted in
my
system becoming non-recoverable, meaning that my Rrecovery CD would hang
rather than allow me to reach either Setup or the Recovery Console. I had
to reformat the HD completely. MS does not provide a repair utility for
ntfs
seperate from Chkdsk which requires ntfs.sys to run, and if ntfs.sys
crashes
(stop x24) on the error in the ntfs volume, you are hosed.

Any other thoughts??

Does this mean that a tool like BartPE would not let you recover your data?

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Could you not put your hard disk in another machine to recover your data
and maybe repair it?

Dick Kistler

 

[Pete]

Yea, specifically another WIN 2000 OS machine could be used to repair it
based on what I have found out, but nothing else. I will have to check
Bart's PE for a fixer. I have not found anything else that a single
computer user at home can use.

 

[Dick Kistler]

Yea, specifically another WIN 2000 OS machine could be used to repair it
based on what I have found out, but nothing else. I will have to check
Bart's PE for a fixer. I have not found anything else that a single
computer user at home can use.

BartPE is a version of Windows Server or Windows XP
that can be run from CD. It is sort of the free version of
WindowsPE. To qualify for WindowsPE, you basically
have to be an OEM, but BartPE can be built from your
XP install disk(gotta be SP1 or SP2 slipstream).

The BartPE site points you to drivers and plugins
for many commercial and free programs that can be used
with BartPE to recover your system.

I have used it for a recovery tool but
you have to be careful that you don't violate your XP
EULA in using it. I only use a copy of Bart PE that
I have built on a particular computer's install disk on
that particular computer for recovery purposes only.
Also only using apps that are licensed for that computer,
unless they are free, or allow multiple copies.
I think that I am at least complying with the spirit of
the Microsoft EULA, if not the wording. Same for the
applications. However, it would be very easy to use
such disks on any computer.

My guess is that Microsoft will eventually specifically
rule out this sort of thing in their EULA. This would be
a shame, but since BartPE also can be configured to
be a more or less general purpose version of XP
that can be run from CD, somewhat like Knoppix
Linux, I can see their point. This type of very useful
tool is a potential sales item that Microsoft has pretty
much dropped the ball on so far.

Dick

 

[Greg Hayes/Raxco Software]

Pete,

NTFS.sys isn't known for having errors

I suspect that some other 3rd party file system filter driver may be the
actual culprit and that if you actually looked at the full memory dump
created by the crash you could identify that driver.

- Greg/Raxco Software
Microsoft MVP - Windows File System

Want to email me? Delete ntloader.

 

[Pete]

Sorry, but system and/or ntfs.sys didn't crash until start-up. What happend
during startup/boot with original my XP, I got a STOP x:24 in ntfs.sys. I
was screwed. My system volume was ntfs, and I could not boot even the
Recovery Console or Setup because they require ntfs.sys to load. When
ntfs.sys loads, it found a problem with the volume, STOPed and the system
was dead! That was the reason for my question, has this been fixed so you
can boot to the Recovery Console even when your system ntfs volume is
broken?

BTW, I have no idea why this happened. Usually you would expect hardware to
be the cause of the problem. However, running a full suite of diagnostics
on the HD, controller, processor and memory resulted in all passing with no
errors. Since reformatting the HD system volume as FAT32 and re-installing
XP, I have had ZERO problems. I would switch back to ntfs if I thought I
could recover. I like the secruity features ntfs offers, but not if I loose
the volume after some random interval of time.

 

[Dick Kistler]

Sorry, but system and/or ntfs.sys didn't crash until start-up. What
happend
during startup/boot with original my XP, I got a STOP x:24 in ntfs.sys. I
was screwed. My system volume was ntfs, and I could not boot even the
Recovery Console or Setup because they require ntfs.sys to load. When
ntfs.sys loads, it found a problem with the volume, STOPed and the system
was dead! That was the reason for my question, has this been fixed so you
can boot to the Recovery Console even when your system ntfs volume is
broken?

I don't understand why the install CD would not boot on its own and let you
do
a repair or reinstall. It shouldn't need anything on the HD.

BTW, I have no idea why this happened. Usually you would expect hardware
to
be the cause of the problem. However, running a full suite of diagnostics
on the HD, controller, processor and memory resulted in all passing with
no
errors. Since reformatting the HD system volume as FAT32 and
re-installing
XP, I have had ZERO problems. I would switch back to ntfs if I thought I
could recover. I like the secruity features ntfs offers, but not if I
loose
the volume after some random interval of time.

Cosmic rays probably. Sounds to me like ntfs.sys was corrupt in some way.
You just need a floppy or CD recovery disk. There is a commercial dos
program called ntfsdos that will let you read ntfs from dos. BartPE should
work also, that's what its designed for.

 

[Pete]

At the time I used ntfsdos to recover the critical files that would fit on a
floppy, then reformatted the HD (as FAT32) and reinstalled XP. Things have
been fine since. So I am still wary of NTFS especially since I don't know
of any tools from MS to fix this kind of problem other than with WIN 2000,
which I don't have. I am not even sure that WIN 2003 would work the same
way as WIN 2000. There is nothing in the MS Knowledge Base other than for
using WIN 2000. BartsPE uses your own copy of XP to create its disk, so if
ntfs.sys has a problem with the problematic volume, I am not sure the result
would be any different than what I experienced with the boot process for the
Recovery Console.