jaclaz

Well, NO Not NO to everything, but almost so . If you google for: you will find tens of downloads for the actual Service Pack 2, tens of "debatable" downloads and maybe 1 (one) link to the "legitimate" Digitalriver files. In case they are listed here: http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/57-windows-vista-direct-download-links I doubt that such a thing as Vista with integrated SP2 files exist on DigitalRiver. But of course one can always update "normally" to the SP2. I would never (personally) advice a "common user" to install a "standard" Vista on a large OEM laptop (like the Gateway) as it is very likely that it will become a drivers quest more than anything else. Cannot say if the Gateway's have the same provision as HP's (one time creation of recovery media only), it is possible that there is not such a limitation. In the case of the HP's the once only can be easily re-armed. The "restore without making CD/DVD's first can of course be done, but it is IMNSHO "pure nonsense", in some cases, if something goes wrong, the PC may not boot again to the recovered system and not to the WinRE and you would be stuck. jaclaz

Well, in theory there are none, but of course with *any* windows and *any* hard disk everything (and the contrary of it) is possible in practice. It ( everything or the contrary of it) may be more probable, less probable or improbable, but still possible. I would rate the possibility that re-formatting or defragmenting it under WIndows XP would cause issue highly improbable, though - as said - I use the same kind of sticks I use for Vista : http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/125258-nlite-and-microxp/#entry807225 to NOT touch any hard disk bigger than 500 Gb, so I may be not the best person to ask for advice, my personal advice is to use smaller disks (though for a number of other reasons). jaclaz

I presume it is to be intended as a "high priority" fix , l can imagine the tens, hundreds, thousands of people that vainly attempt to view the profiles of members that use a Katakana nick . I do feel for their huge delusion , and can understand how this needs to be fixed ASAP , before the few trifling issues like links not working, CODE parser that parses "whatever it sees fit when it sees it fit" (and behaves differently if you are in "quick reply" or in "More reply options"), with line feeds inserted (or removed) on a totally random basis, external urls often parsed incorrectly, PM notifications "casual", etc. jaclaz

Good, but still you didn't answer my questions. Is there a specific reason why you want/need to install the windows on "D:"? Anyway, when you have this kind of strange issues, try to separate things as much as possible (there will be time enough later to re-assemple them together) and insert in the middle some checks. Example: diskpart /s clean.txtECHO clean.txt ranmountvol | FIND ":\"PAUSEdiskpart /s part11.txtECHO part11.txt ranmountvol | FIND ":\"PAUSEdiskpart /s part01.txtECHO part01.txt ranmountvol | FIND ":\"PAUSEdiskpart /s part02.txtECHO part02.txt ranmountvol | FIND ":\"PAUSEcopy u:\test.wim d:x:\imagex.exe /apply d:\test.wim 1 d:d:\windows\system32\bcdboot d:\windowsexitclean.txt: select disk 0cleanexitpart11.txt select disk 1select partition 1assign letter=Uexitpart01.txt: select disk 0create partition primary size=80select partition 1format fs=ntfs label="system" quickassign letter=Cactiveexitpart02.txt: select disk 0create partition primaryselect partition 2format fs=ntfs label="windows" quickassign letter=DexitAnd see what happens. Notwithstanding your successful experiments, if not downright criminal I find EXTREMELY dangerous to select a disk and "clean" it with diskpart in an automated setup without first checking if it is the "right" disk . jaclaz

No, as said a "complete restore" (i.e. a "factory restore") will set the PC exactly as it was in factory, no user data, no added after programs, nothing. There is not - AFAIK - a simple way to backup "selectively" the Microsoft Office install (BTW which version?) and later restore it. That kind of programs need to be (re-) installed, but you (or your son) should have the actual media from which the Office was installed originally. There are tools that allow to recover/save the install "key" (which is needed at install time (if you have lost it) but you need the install media. If the MS Office is not one of the latest versions (2007, 2010 or 2013) it can be usually found used for a small amount of money. On the other hand, if it is a 2007, 2010 or 2013 you can download for free a copy of the install: http://office.about.com/od/Instructions/ss/Download-And-Order-Office-2010-Backup-Copy.htm http://www.office.com/backup http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/download-back-up-restore-microsoft-office-products-FX103427465.aspx You will need the actual product key. BTW, one should always have (or create) the install media for anything that is actually on the PC, and BTW, you should also create (like *NOW*) the recovery CD/DVD from the recovery partition, so that if something like this (but more serious) happens again, you have a way out: http://support.gateway.com/s/software/MICROSOF/vista/7515418/7515418su527.shtml jaclaz

Good. Try running again the "plain": This run should end (like the previous one on D: ) with: If this happen, EXIT the command prompt and shutdown the PC, then try rebooting it normally. jaclaz

Phenomic, can you post some reference about the "Known behaviour"? jaclaz

Good. The situation seems not too bad. As seen the D: drive has no issues. The drive that is mounted a E: is most probably the recovery partition (normally not mounted/not visible in the normal system or possibly - if you have connected it - the external hard disk) whilst the X: should be the virtual "system" volume of the WinRE. The way chdsk proceeded on disk C: is mostly normal (i.e. it shows not any kind of "catastrophic" issue). Now I would try directly a CHKDSK C: /F[ENTER] and see if it can fix the (seemingly minor) errors. jaclaz

@submix8c It's not confusing (if you approach it the right way). A "normal" motherboard with a "single" SATA controller has normally a setting in BIOS to choose "SATA" (or "AHCI") and "Legacy IDE" mode. The effect of this is that the controller (usually) changes it's ID. I.E. the same controller has an "IDE ID" and a "SATA ID". When you install windows it will install the driver for the ID that it senses at the time of install. But it is possible to "switch later", as long as you know what to change in the Registry and install the driver for the "other ID". See here: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/120444-how-to-install-windows-from-usb-winsetupfromusb-with-gui/page-24#entry884409 http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?444831-HOWTO-enable-AHCI-mode-after-installing-Windows http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=11729 jaclaz

I don't know. Evidently you are doing various experiments but what you need to post is a "sinchronized" set of two files (the autounattend.xml and the .cmd) and express your perplexities/doubts/resulting issues/whatever referred to that exact set (and not to the ones you have on your machine and that you have in the meantime changed n times). Remember that every time someone trying to help you has to guess something (besides the unfair additional effort he has to bear) it is more likely that you will be sent on a wild goose chase instead of the direction where the solution is. jaclaz

It has been reported as resolved, yes: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/163621-120-gig-slave-harddrive-isnt-reconized-by-98se/#entry1046715 then a request for more info on the "technical part" was issued, and I provided tentatively some resources to read. For all it relates to the original issue I see it as a "closed case". jaclaz

Type: CHKDSK C:[ENTER] Since you are running CHKDSK without parameters it won't actually repair the filesystem (if not for things that bear no relevance). It will provide some feedback that may be useful. It may also say that it cannot repair the filesystem because the /F switch was not given. Then re-do the same for drive D:: CHKDSK D:[ENTER] Then try: MOUNTVOLYou will need to post the feedback you get from executing these commands. Have you managed to procure the external hard disk ? jaclaz

How can you doubt that? He posted the size of the hard disk, he affirmed that the BIOS recognized the full size of it, the size is below the 28 LBA limit, WHAT doubts do you have? jaclaz

Yes and no. Meaning that *anything* (within very loose limits) is possible. But transferring an installed (Commercial/mindboggingly complex/activated/needing registration) set of programs is something VERY, VERY difficult (even on normally working disks/filesystems) As long as you are talking about Microsoft Office FILES, then it is "easy".(on normally working disks/filesystems) BUT you seem like not having appreciated fully the situation in which you are (actually the one in your laptop is). The symptoms you posted are those of a corrupted filesystem. This means that any of the files residing inside that filesystem (while being still there) may be: accessible "normally" inaccessible accessible but either incomplete or however damagedThe general procedure in these cases is normally that of: attempt a more accurate diagnosis (using the command line OS in the Recovery partition or an external tool) evaluate if the damage is so trifling to allow risking a repair without making an image first (STRONGLY discouraged by me, but still a possibility/decision to take) image the disk "as is" (i.e. BEFORE attempting to repair the filesystem(s) on it) <- this is the actual "way back" attempt repairing the flilesystem(s) if successful, analyze the extents of the success and decide if it is needed to recover more files from the image or the repair was "good" or "good enough" if failed, use another PC to make another copy of the image and attempt repairing the filesystem if successful, analyze the extents of the success and decide if it is "good enough" to be redeployed to the original laptopIf you prefer, right now there is no "easy" way to even find (and copy) a given file, the only "items" that we can access and copy "safely" are: the whole disk (\\.\Physicaldrive) each whole Partition/Volume in it (\\.\LogicalDrive(s))As said it is very possible that the filesystem corruption is of so trifling entity that only a handful of files are correupted/unindexed/inaccessible, but in order to try and understand if this is the case, you still need to make a few checks form the WInRE or form an externally booted OS. Did you manage to get to the mentioned step #8 and from it open a command prompt? From that environment it is possible to do a few checks and copy (if accessible) the files (or the whole disk or the whole volumes) to an external hard disk. jaclaz

Good. Another happy bunny : http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/128727-cant-access-repair-my-pc-option-via-f8-startup/?p=828512 jaclaz

Actually the replies are already in the posts and in the linked "original" thread and resources: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/157117-running-3tb-drive-on-xp-over-usb-issue/ http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/8fd33944-0202-4dff-a432-356e2b231f2e/windows-xp-hard-drive-size-limit http://community.wd.com/t5/External-Drives-for-PC/Exceeding-2Tb-limit-questions/td-p/234694 Basically there is a limit around 2 Tb in Windows XP, but the WD works around it doing a sort of "translation". As a matter of fact there is not a limit in "size", there is a limit in "number of sectors". http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2010/02/18/understanding-the-2-tb-limit-in-windows-storage.aspx A "normal" hard disk has 512 bytes sized sectors, those family of WD drives either have or fake to have 4,096(4 Kb) bytes sectors, consequently the limit is "shifted" towards 4,096/512=8*2=16 Tb. No, you shouldn't have problems of *any* kind with an XP 32 bit, no you don't need any special driver, and no you can re-partition/reformat/defrag the disk alright, of course you don't need to re-format if you switch to a 64 bit OS. The only possibles issues (but "general" i.e. not related to the HUGE size of the disk) could be with particular partitioning schemes/alignments, see: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/154633-partition-boundary-alignment-in-4096-byte-physical-sector-drives/ The utter foolishness of having a single (NTFS or any other filesystem) volume 4 Tb in size will not be particularly highlighted as I hold it to be a self-evident truth while that of having a single 4 Tb sized disk is more subtle, and while still self evident does need a few words of warning. Do you really think that *now* you *need* 4 Tb of storage? Or maybe what you actually need *now* is 1 or 2 Tb or less? How long does it take to produce 2 Tb along the *whatever* intended usage you plan? If anything more than a few weeks, buy a coupe smaller disk drive today, and buy another couple smaller ones when you will need them. Remember that the bigger a disk drive is, the more probable is that it is "new" (in the sense of largely UNtested) the more "compressed" (please read as written in tinier spaces) are the data on it, the more precise it's mechanical part needs to be, the more sophisticated it's ECC needs to be, it can fail and it will fail (sooner or later). At the very least, you should always buy storage disks in couples, a "main" one and a "backup" one. Disaster strikes rarely, but when it does the damage can be much bigger. And bigger is sometimes not "better". jaclaz

I downloaded the setupcomplete.cmd. (and the autounattend.xml) Please consider how one should NEVER post a .exe, .com, .bat or .cmd "directly", but ALWAYS put them into an archive (.zip or .7z) as someone may inadvertently double click/execute them. In a nutshell it is this snippet, right? <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add"> <CommandLine>cmd /c start /wait rd c:\apps /q /s</CommandLine> <Description>Cleaning Up Directories</Description> <Order>98</Order> <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput> </SynchronousCommand>The syntax for RD is: http://ss64.com/nt/rd.html RD [switches] <pathname>i.e.: RD /S /Q <pathname>and not RD <pathname> /Q /Ssee if that is the issue. jaclaz

Well, no matter WHY and HOW that happened, I would try first thing to configure the first image in the .wim with flag 9 . See here: http://theoven.org/index.php?topic=509.0 jaclaz

It is not at all clear to me your setup and the actual disk order. And it seems to me like you are installing the Windows to the D: drive (while normally this is done to the C: one). Can you try to explain/detail the general idea and setup? If you boot from the USB, normally that device would be disk 0 (first disk) and the internal disk would be "shifted" to disk 1 but disk order in PE's is somewhat not "reliable", disk order (and consequently drive lettering) may change. It is very possible that this happens, as a rule of thumb it would be "better" to check the environment (and disk order and drive letters already assigned) at the time you run diskpart.exe. Something *like* this: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/10905-change-drive-letters-to-your-liking/ http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/123929-updated-batch-file-for-ordering-drive-letter-shifting/ is normally useful. As a side note (and only marginal) there is no need to have a separate diskpart script, it is possible to embed it in the same batch file, see (JFYI): http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/126069-updated-on-feb-27-2011-ordering-messed-drive-letter-batch-file/?p=817142 http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/126069-updated-on-feb-27-2011-ordering-messed-drive-letter-batch-file/?p=817388 jaclaz

In the case of Linux, it can be even worse than "modern" style, in some cases (Ubuntu) , see: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/155290-windows-8-deeper-impressions/page-133#entry1043129 http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/155290-windows-8-deeper-impressions/?p=1043219 jaclaz

No, until you go forward and proceed (as in the tutorial) with a system restore (steps #9 #10 #11). That will erase everything by overwriting with what was on the PC in factory. DO NOT do it, for the moment. Till #8 you are simply in what is called "WinRE" Windows Recovery Environment, a sort of minimal OS on which you can perform a number of activities, like as an example from command line check the consistency of the filesystem or copy to external media files, etc. Your laptop, from what you posted and from the mentioned Gateway page should be setup (roughly) like this: First partition <- no drive letter <- WinRE and "factory image" Second partition (active) <- drive letter C: boot and system volume containing the Vista OS Third partition <- drive letter D: a partition to contain Data Right now the C: partition has issues. Since it also contains the files actually executed to check the filesystem integrity (CHKDSK, etc.) it is possible that the Drive D: is OK, but that since something in wrong in C:, the checking of the disk cannot be performed successfully. By checking the disk from the WinRE environment we can see if the D: is OK (very possible) and hopefully even diagnose and fix the C: volume. You should consider the WinRE environment the same as booting from another media (install CD). jaclaz

Yep, follow the linked tutorial on Gateway support page: http://support.gateway.com/s/software/microsof/vista/7515418/7515418su531.shtml until step 8, i.e. until you get to this: but UNLIKE in the mentioned tutorial, choose "Command Prompt". Post if you can get to there. jaclaz

Those are symptoms of a corrupted filesystem. You do need to boot to an "alternate" OS (such as an install CD/DVD) and check the filesystem. It is possible that the issue is just with the filesystem, but it could be a (more serious) hardware issue (failing hard disk). The issue here is that if the "built in" CHKDSK is not working properly to diagnose (and hopefully fix) the filesystem problem, it may mean that one or more of the needed Vista system files is corrupted/unindexed (and not recoverable/lost). This more or less is the meaning of the error about the MFT, depending on a number of factors it may be possible to recover "everything as before" or not. Do you remember if that thingy had/has a "recovery partition"? Or post the exact model of the laptop, it may be possible to find out this. Gateways shipped with Vista normally have a "recoery systems", that you get through pressing F8 when booting, see: http://support.gateway.com/s/software/microsof/vista/7515418/7515418su531.shtml You will need anyway and FIRST THING some bootable device (a USB stick would be perfect, a CD - of course burned on another PC would do as well), AND an external disk (USB) same size (or better if bigger) as the one inside the laptop. Your FIRST PRIORITY (presuming that you have data that you haven't saved elsewhere and that you need) is to make an image of the disk "as is", BEFORE any other attempt. To be as clear as possible, even if a repair of the MFT is possible, it is also possible the steps to perform the recovery will corrupt data that currently is still accessible. Of course, if you have no data on that disk or you don't care about those, it's perfectly OK to attempt directly a repair. I don't want to scare you in any way , but consider that it might be a complex procedure, and you will need a lot of time (and patience) to carry it on. jaclaz

Shouldn't order be relevant? I.e.: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff716384.aspx <InstallFrom> <MetaData wcm:action="add"> <Value>1</Value> <Key>/IMAGE/INDEX</Key> </MetaData></InstallFrom>Shouldn't actually be: <InstallFrom> <MetaData wcm:action="add"> <Key>/IMAGE/INDEX</Key> <Value>1</Value> </MetaData></InstallFrom> jaclaz

It would have been a good question if lolnousernameforyou had not already posted ALL details on the hard disk (including it's size) : http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/163621-120-gig-slave-harddrive-isnt-reconized-by-98se/#entry1046685 A good question might be whether the motherboard's BIOS recognizes the whole size of the hard disk. jaclaz