jaclaz

Ok. Check the Winsetup.lst on your stick. Should be something *like*: The shifthd,bat basically re-orders disks. Try the following (booting from the stick): 1) at the menu press C to get to the grub4dos grub> prompt. 2) run geometry (hd0) geometry (hd1) the disk you have (when you boot without the stick) as (hd0) should be now (hd1) and the stick should be (hd0) 3) run: map (hd0) (hd1) map (hd1) (hd0) map --hook 4) run again geometry (hd0) The disk should have been swapped. 5) run: chainloader (hd0)+1 rootnoverify (hd0) boot The above should be the same as what the winsetup.lst+shifthd.bat do. jaclaz

Hmmm. Everything looks fine. There is only one partition, it is active (of course, otherwise you wouldn't get to the boot.ini choices), partition type is correct, and arcpath multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS corresponds to (hd0,0), and the file (ntoskrnl.exe) is where it should be. Can you describe what happens when you boot from the USB stick with WinsetupfromUSB? Which entry do you choose to boot the windows from internal disk? jaclaz

Good. Try these commands: geometry (hd0) [ENTER] <- this should give us some info on the size of the disk cat --hex --skip=446 (hd0)0+1 [ENTER] <- this will provide the partition table (you will need to copy the hex output), or, if you can, get my mbrview.g4b batch and run that: https://msfn.org/board/topic/182116-winsetupfromusb-problem-installing-xp-on-legacy-system/?do=findComment&comment=1191284 then: find --set-root /windows/system32/ntoskrnl.exe [ENTER]<- this should establish root to the disk/partition where the file is root [ENTER] <- this should show current root (established above) try also: find --set-root /boot.ini [ENTER]<- this should establish root to the disk/partition where the file is root [ENTER] <- this should show current root (established above) Normally a XP is installed on first partition on first disk, that would be in grub4dos (hd0,0) and as arcpath multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS jaclaz

Wait a minute. You *somehow* have the XP installed AND it doesn't boot properly BUT by booting from a USB stick with WinSetupFromUSB you can boot the installed XP? So you might be having some issues with hard disk and/or partition order, that the grub4dos in WinsetupfromUSB solves. First thing check the BOOT.INI. Open the BOOT.INI (you will need to set "show hidden files", then unhide it) in notepad You should have the entry: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect if the BIOS (as it often happens) has promoted the USB stick as first disk, you may instead have: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect add at the bottom of the boot.ini the lines: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 1st disk" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect c:\grldr="grub4dos" and put a copy of grub4dos grldr in your C: drive (you can copy the one in WinsetupfromUSB for the test). Also, increase the timeout to 30 seconds or so, so that you have more time to make a choice. Reboot (from the internal hard disk, without the USB stick) and try the added entry for windows and see if it boots, otherwise try the grub4dos one, you should get to the grub> prompt. Report what happens, if you can get to the grub> prompt we can check what the situation is. About offline install with WINT32, see: https://msfn.org/board/topic/131021-winnt32-compatibility-error-from-vista/?do=findComment&comment=842405 jaclaz

If it is Sata and is set (fixed) to AHCI mode you might need to either integrate the Sata drivers or use a F6 floppy (that can be a virtual one). DELL hardware is notoriously tricky and (at least traditionally) their XP OEM disks were often not entirely standard, I wouldn't be surprised that there are issues installing from a "generic" standard XP CD. This said, I had a quick look at Dell's site and at first sight I couldn't find Sata/AHCI drivers for download, so the issue at hand may be completely unrelated. According to this: https://www.dell.com/community/Windows-General/Other-Devices-Drivers-Missing-after-Clean-Install-of-Windows-XP/td-p/3465463 it seems like there is not any particular complication in installing XP on that machine, so I wonder what it could be the problem. Maybe you can try removing the hard disk and do an "offline" install with WINNT32? jaclaz

As a side note, the same is/was true for Windows 7, vga.sys needs to be disabled: http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=21108 It is an old thread, without using other tools, possibly the VGA emulators talked about change the situation. jaclaz

VMware (it depends on the version) usually allow RAW (dd-like) images when a descriptor file is used. Very old versions could use .pln file descriptors, more recent ones use instead a .vmdk one. Clonedisk should be able to create a .vmdk descriptor from RAW, some info here https://www.forensicfocus.com/forums/forensic-software/raw2vmdk/ but it has to be seen if it is compatible with the converter, otherwise you can use my little batch here: https://www.forensicfocus.com/forums/general/boot-a-dd-into-a-virtual-machine-with-virtualbox/ or do it manually. In case none of the above works, there is a converter in Qemu, though you will need - I believe - the space for a copy of the image: https://www.qemu.org/ jaclaz Note, due to some (one among many) issues with the board, links *like* http://reboot.pro/5578/ need to be "translated" to: http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=5578

I don't know, that's the point, it should, but I cannot swear by it, sometimes there are (very small) differences between a "normal" OS and the corresponding Server edition. Personally, besides being old and grumpy (and cheap, but this is unrelated), I tend to be - generally speaking - very conservative when it comes to copying/moving data or changing partitions/filesystems, etc. and I would do the resizing from a PE to be on the safe side, in this particular case it would be probably overkill, as the "originals" (the A and B disks) are left untouched, so if anything goes wrong in the resizing of Y, in the worst case OP can go back and redo from start. You are welcome, of course. Let us know how it goes, I have done similar "swaps" on Server 2003, but a few things have changed, and for *some reasons* the managing of Dynamic Disks (and soft mirroring) in Windows are largely under-documented, most probably because very few people (among us "amateurs") actually use them everyday, possibly professionals, IT people, either know exactly the related procedures or are clueless but use third party tools. jaclaz

I wouldn't use any "cloning software", not that they are not good but it seems to me that the replacement can be done with the built in tools. Server 2012 shouldn't be much different from Server 2008, here is a primer for the latter: https://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Configuring_Disk_Mirroring_(RAID_1)_on_Windows_Server_2008 If we call the disks: A= 1st old 500 GB disk B= 2nd old 500 GB disk Y= 1st new 1000 GB disk Z= 2nd new 1000 GB disk You have now a mirrored set of A+B. When you boot now, you should have a choice between a "normal" BCD entry and another one with "Secondary Plex" in the description, a good idea would be to check the BCD (with BCDEDIT or BootIce). Theory of operation: 1. break (NOT remove, i.e. DO NOT use the "nokeep" parameter in Diskpart) the mirror (on disk B). 2. switch off the PC and remove (disconnect physically) disk B 3. reboot, the system should behave normally 4. switch off the PC and add (connect physically) disk Y 5. re-create a mirror set, adding Y as mirror of A, you have now a mirrored set of A+Y 6. break (NOT remove) the mirror 7. switch off the PC and remove (disconnect physically) disk A, and move disk Y to the port where A was connected. 8. reboot, the system should behave normally (but you will probably need to use the "Secondary Plex" entry [1]) 9. here is the point I don't know, will Server 2012 allow to extend the volume on Y? Or you might need to boot to a PE of sorts and extend the volume from it. 10. reboot, the system should behave normally 11.switch off the PC and add (connect physically) disk Z 12. re-create a mirror set, adding Z as mirror of Y, you have now a mirrored set of Y+Z In the above procedure disk A and disk B (besides breaking the mirror) are not modified, so it should be "safe". jaclaz [1] you may need to use a PE or some other means (grub4dos) to set the partition active, check this: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/lync/en-US/41adc54b-36ca-4aba-9861-05cd8deff8e6/make-mirror-drive-primary

Sure you cannot run it on a VM "as is", here is exactly where a P2V tool will become useful, likely the BSOD you have is a 0x0000007b (unaccessible boot device, or, in plainer English, "wrong disk drivers") but it could be another one related to the HAL. The VMware converter 4.01 suggested by blackwingcat could be a good choice (if the VM you wamt to use is a VMware one), but a download needs to be found as it is not offered anymore by VMware, filename should be "VMware-converter-4.0.1-161434.exe". jaclaz

Almost *any* (bootable) OS on a USB stick would do, you want to make a dd-like (or "forensic sound") image of the hard disk, personally I am not particularly fond of Clonezilla, mind you not that it isn't good, but it attempts (right or wrong) to have so many features that it comes out as way too complex and - AFAICR it won't normally (unless you use manually dd) produce what you actually want (a RAW, not compressed, not encrypted, no nothing) RAW image. Even if it is called Clonezilla, one of the few thing that it cannot do (unless used manually or configurinng it in a complex way) is AFAICT/AFAICR, a "clone" or a RAW image[0]. When you have a RAW (or 1:1, or dd-like or "forensic sound") image you can convert it to almost *any* VM format, if you use any of the "fancy", non-standard, proprietary formats (which in themselves may be good as they save used space for the image) you introduce an added level of complication. G4L: https://sourceforge.net/projects/g4l/ or Rescuezilla: https://rescuezilla.com/ (though the Author - WHY the heck? - continues calling Clonezilla "an industry-standard" [1]) jaclaz [0] here are some more detailed comments: https://msfn.org/board/topic/170157-wrote-img-image-file-to-wrong-drive-how-to-recover-it-now/ and some older related rants: https://msfn.org/board/topic/157634-hard-disk-cloningimaging-from-inside-windows/ [1] for the record, Clonezilla is NOT a standard and certainly not an industry one, it is just a re-known tool that many (a large part clueless or not familiar with the complexities of disk cloning/imaging/backing up) people use or have used

On 9x it is actually a "dos box". On XP it is NOT DOS, it is a command prompt which uses the cmd.exe command processor of a NT system (which is NOT DOS) which is largely (but not entirely) capable of running DOS programs. That is the whole point. If you prefer, there is NO DOS (or MS-DOS) on a NT system. jaclaz

PCI passthrough is (usually) another problem. Maybe if you detail the exact hardware (both the old and new motherboard specs) and VM involved there could be some more specific suggestions. Again - loosely - I personally would try first to source an old (used or old stock) motherboard similar to the original one and avoid the VM completely. jaclaz

Xnview has a dedicated forum, with many posts related to this (and the program itself has lots of customization possibility on the behaviour of the mouse), look there, and if you cannot find exactly what you are looking for, ask there: https://newsgroup.xnview.com/index.php surely members there will be familiar with all the available options. jaclaz

It is not easy-peasy. You will (may) have issues with HAL and hardware drivers. There are tools (called in jargon P2V or Physical to Virtual) that may help, but it depends on a number of factors, and given how many years have passed since Windows 2000 was largely used, you will need to hunt for them (in a version that supports 2000). . More generally you want to look to tutorials/instructions on how to move a 2000 install, search for "move windows 2000 to new hardware", there is no definite procedure, as many things depend on the specific "source" machine and the specific (virtual in this case) "destination" one, loosely the general idea is to make the existing install as generic as possible before copying it, then move the disk (or image) to the VM, and (IMPORTANT) start in SAFE MODE and let Windows 2000 re-detect the hardware (providing suitable drivers if needed). A good idea would be to first make a clone (or image) of the running system "as is", so you have a way back in case of problems with the conversion. Also check if the destination Virtual Machine is actually compatible with Windows 2000 and has drivers for it for the virtual hardware. jaclaz

MS-DOS is a completely different system from what a cmd.exe (running inside a NT based OS) is, I posted earlier how a minimal XP-based system with cmd.exe as shell has been developed : (and the command processor in DOS is command.com, that is different from cmd.exe), the fact that in cmd.exe you can run (some) DOS programs doesn't mean that it is in any way a MS-DOS. @awkduck In the contest of Win3.x/9x, it is actually a "dos box", in XP it is NOT. JFYI, there are a couple "improved" command processors for 9x that bring to it some features of the cmd.exe: https://msfn.org/board/topic/100861-winxp-cmdexe-renamed-to-commandcom/ http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=2392 jaclaz

By whom? DOSBox is an emulator for dos. https://www.dosbox.com/ In XP it is called "Command Prompt". jaclaz

Only for the record (and only as pure anecdata), in the (good ol') times I used extensively BBlean/BB4Win for a minimal XP project ideated by Dietmar[1] and it was very stable (though possibly it was due to the overall minimization of the install). jaclaz [1] http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=3717 that later evolved - thanks to Misty - into the MiniXP http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=16765 http://mistyprojects.co.uk/minixp/docs/files/index.html

Which is good as I cannot understand the contents either (I like symmetry ). @DrunkenTanker Maybe you could post a couple of examples of the tool use, I cannot understand if it is related to broken links, deleted files with still references *somewhere* or what exactly (the PATH environment variable? ). jaclaz

As said, only very old hard disks used a parking zone on the platter, now (and since many years) they use parking ramps instead: https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/stiction https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/loadunload-ramp As an example on this page you can see the parking ramp that modern hard disks use, and an old disk with CSS (a Quantum Fireballl 12 GB in capacity): https://aesonlabs.ca/blogs/what-is-inside-a-hard-drive-complete-stripdown/ jaclaz

Maybe very old hard disks. Nowadays (that means since 15 or 20 years) Heads are "parked" and (hopefully) NEVER actually touch anything, the "stiction" you refer to: https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/stiction could happen only on some models of drives (where the heads, instead of an external ramp, were parked on an outer area of the platter. Of course when operating it is possible by accident that the heads touch the platter and get stuck, but that is a "seriously damaged" disk. The issue with some disks may be (but it is a rare case and actually a symptom of a failing drive) that the bearing, usually in disks that have not been used for a long time, but not always, gets stuck. In those cases the drive needs to be opened and there is the need of some serious force to turn the platter/motor manually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAHJGiKj8s0 The actual HD motor simply has so little torque that it cannot start spinning the platter, but if stuck should not overdraw current, the PCB's of the disk should take care of that (built-in overcurrent protection). The real issue with these "power bricks" (no matter if 1, 2 or 5A) is that usually they are not protected against short circuit. Modern hard disks have a protection by means of a TVS diode, in some cases the TVS (Transient Voltage Suppressor) diode can be "shot", there are usually two of these diodes, one on the 5V and one on the 12 V rail, the idea is that if something happens, the diode blows and short circuits to ground the + rail in order to prevent possible worst damages to the disk PCB, desktops and laptops power supplies sense the short circuit and shut off immediately, those "power bricks" may well be fried. jaclaz

5A? The hungriest disk I had around, an old IDE 3.5" is rated for 960 mA@12V, all "power bricks" for external 3.5" disks I have seen (and also power adapters for "loose" interfaces) tend to be 2A@5V+2A@12V. I do not exclude that in some cases 2A@12V may be not enough, but it should be a very rare exception. jaclaz

I had a look, and can confirm that nircmd has a provision to act when a process is closed (waitprocess). Of course it needs to be tested specifically if it causes too much CPU usage and if it works in this case. nircmd also has a "start hidden" command (exec or exec2 /hide) so it could be used instead of cmdow. jaclaz

Only if it is a 3.5" disk. Most 2.5" can be powered by the USB port, though, it depends, some disks may need an Y-USB cable to get the power from two USB ports, example: https://www.kmsoltec.com/53132-large_default/cavo-y-2-x-usb-20-tipo-a-maschio-1x-usb-20-tipo-a-femmina-20-cm.jpg and some motherboards may provide less (or more) than the standard 500mA@5V on the USB port. jaclaz

Well, I had a quick look at the files posted together with the video, from those it seems like the install for which they were made (at least the boot.ini) was a single partition, if you are using separate boot and system partitions you may need to correct it (if using it) and/or the BCD (the "device" and/or "osdevice" element). https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/bcd-system-store-settings-for-uefi?view=windows-11 jaclaz