jaclaz

The MBR is first sector in a disk. (sector 0) It is BEFORE any partition, it actually contains the partition table.. The MBR contains in NT based systems a DISK SIGNATURE. This "unique" ID may be used during booting (it is too long to list when it is actually used and when not, it is actually "always" used, but sometimes you can change it, and sometimes if you need to change it you need to change several different settings, depending on the NT OS involved). The procedure you described should have produced a DIFFERENT disk signature. It is possible that this is the cause or part of the cause. Still, I am not sure WHY you have a WINLOAD.EXE (which belongs to a Vista or 7 recovery partition) and have XP installed. Did the PC originally come with WHICH OS installed? DO you have a CD/DVD of the OS install (if Vista or 7) We need to check: current disk signature (and if still possible old MBR and disk signature) current settings in \Dosdevices\ keys in the XP Registry (should be the same as current signature in the MBR) current settings in the \boot\BCD in the Recovery partition (it may have a reference to the "old" signature) From what you post you are not too familiar with these aspects. You can use MBRFIX: http://www.sysint.no/nedlasting/mbrfix.htm to check current signature (and if you still have the old disk also the "old" one) Any of the apps here: http://reboot.pro/7476/ (you need one that does not use BCDEDIT if you don't have it) to check contents of the BCD Regedit to check contents of all keys in the form " \DosDevices\n:" you can find here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices Post asking questions if anything in the above is not clear... jaclaz

Are you serious? Until the mentioned library came out it was the ONLY available method to change contents of an offline Registry. And yes, nothing has changed from XP. You load the Registry file hive (usually to HKLM) giving a name to it. Then you do the whatever you want to do to it (of course all the REG commands need to be targeted to the loaded hive). Then you unload the hive. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732643(WS.10).aspx You can get *any* tutorial that uses regedit, the procedure is exactly the same, only reg.exe is command line, regedit is GUI (2K - see below - used REGEDT32)., example: http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-offline-registry-edit.html http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759303(WS.10).aspx The advantage of using the Offline Registry library seems to me evident, as you don't need to re-target the REG editing commands to the mounted hive. jaclaz

Well, it's not that difficult. The given page has also a downloadable example, which contains a single Module, which contains the code, I would experiemnt with it, all you have to do is replace Sub names where appropriate and replace the "main" Sub "CopyPriceOver" with your "sort" thingy. BEFORE intoducing any variation.... Your Sub, unless I am mistaken is called "sort" so the reference to "Run_Macro" seems like meaning "A suffusion of yellow" (or a self-referencing infinite loop ) jaclaz

Hmm, obviously you can use the REG command, if you LOAD the corresponding hives. However : http://reboot.pro/11212/ http://reboot.pro/11312/ there is a library to do that and erwan.l wrote a small app to make use of it. jaclaz

If it is VBA, maybe it is better suited here: http://www.msfn.org/board/forum/116-microsoft-office-97-2010/ (this forum is VB or VBS) However you can use the Application.OnTime allright: http://excelexperts.com/VBA-Tips-Run-Code-Every-Hour-Minute-or-Second jaclaz

WHAT archive? Whenever you have a problem with something post a reference or a link to it. jaclaz

Please post some DETAILS, like: size of old hard disk size of new hard disk size of respective partitions HOW EXACTLY did you clone the partitions. Is the Disk Signature in the MBR the same? Post contents of the BCD of the recovery partition (I am assuming that since it is about WINLOAD.EXE it is a WINPE 2.x or 3.x or WINRE thingy, which should mean that that PC originally shipped with Vista or 7 and you changed the OS to XP?). See also this thread, as it may contain related info: jaclaz jaclaz

If you are going to a "professional" (remember to choose wisely : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/quotes?qt=qt0357926 trying the F712 thingy won't make much of a difference, the pro's have many, many more tricks up their sleeves than we "amateurs" can imagine (or actually afford ) The PCB swap is perfectly doable by an "advanced amateur", but due to it's complexity (de-soldering and re-soldering a tiny SMT component is not really easy-peasy), and to the number of things that could go wrong (wrong "new" PCB, overheating, and what not) it is not really "advised". That, IF it goes wrong may add a considerable amount of $$ to the money the "pro" will ask you for the (hopefully succesful) recovery attempt. jaclaz

Yes, most probably you are right, my memory is not as good as it was , I'll check and fix. But the main issue I was trying to point out is that no "modern" floppy sizes use anything different from 240 and all hard disk partition/volumes use 248, so I was wondering if in the drop-down list any of the older values was to be included (as it is in current/latest) or if those "other values" should ONLY be coupled to the corresponding "oldish/smallish" floppy formats (and disappear from the drop down list used when "FREE" is selected). The quote from: http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/fs/fat/fat-1.html Was only to highlight (as it has been done :whisting:) TWO things: still within my "obsession" to try calling things with their names AND agree on a common terminology. For the record, the J De Boyne Pollard's page you mentioned: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/volume-boot-block-oem-name-field.html (guess why the suggested OEM string in the .xls is "IBM 2.0" ) are complemented by these other onee: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/bios-parameter-block.html http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/determining-filesystem-type.html http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/determining-fat-widths.html These also contain some bits of info that may come of use. The existence of 0x28 as an "alternative" to 0x29 is something I never suspected And this is aso fun/interesting: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/Proposals/version-7-bpb.html jaclaz P.S.: Re: Disk number (or "Drive Number" (usual confusion on names. You are of course right , it's there that the 255 gets a meaning in FreeDOS. The thingy should be the same as the FreeDOS SYS parameter: http://www.freedos.org/kernel/sys.txt So, we do know (from here and there ) that 0 (0x00) means "A:" (or first floppy drive) and that 128 (0x80) means "C:" (or first hard disk). But I cannot find - if not on makebootfat related things - any reference to the 255 as autodetect in FreeDOS. There is this thread here: http://osdir.com/ml/emulators.freedos.kernel/2004-09/msg00057.html that seems to suggest that the 0xFF is a bad idea anyway, but cannot understand if the good guys resolved to leave it or remove it alltogether... Attachment removed, see a few posts below for version 06.

Are you sure? The referenced page says the opposite. http://ss64.com/nt/copy.html Maybe it changed between 2K and XP? http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/copy.mspx?mfr=true jaclaz

The WHOLE idea about batch files is that you DO NOT change hundreds of lines manually! That's ALSO exactly the ide of having a "configuration file". You have same command line (which you change just once) and a LIST of files (source/destination) that it's much easier to create or change. Meet REDIRECTION of standard output and standard error : http://www.robvanderwoude.com/redirection.php Also, please, ALWAYS use COPY /B when copying files, you never know: http://ss64.com/nt/copy.html This: @ECHO OFF SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS SET DESTINATION=C:\somewhere\ ECHO.>newfile.cmd FOR /F "tokens=* delims=" %%A IN (list_of_dlls.txt) DO ( ECHO IF EXIST %%A COPY /B %%A %DESTINATION%>>newfile.cmd ) Will create a new file "newfile.cmd" with all the entries in your list of dll's "list_of_dlls.txt" automatically (as opposed to manually) jaclaz

grub4dos can be added to BOOTMGR choices (actually to the BCD) adding an entry for grldr.mbr. It's in the Guide allright: http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/install_windows.htm#windows3 LATEST grub4dos has grub.exe directly chainloadable from NTLDR, but cannot say if it works from BOOTMGR also. jaclaz

That's not "being curious" is "using a tool improperly". You should NOT re-start the process. You should do it as it was suggesterd to you, in "chunks". BTW, for the "copy" you may want to try YCOPY: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Ycopy.shtml at least you will have a list of the failed files. jaclaz

Is the <destination> always the same? Or can you use a "configuration file" (like a CSV)? LIke: 1.dll ,"C:\Windows\Whatever\" 2.dll,"C:\Somewhere Else\" .... <source file>,<target destnation> You do a FOR loop: @ECHO OFF SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS FOR /F "tokens=1,2 delims=," %%A IN (Files_to_copy.csv) DO ( ECHO IF EXIST %%A COPY /B %%A %%B ) jaclaz

Yes, and if it behaves like it did before (i.e. spinning and is still BSY, use Victoria to check) it means that the PCB is still good (or at least as bad as it was before). No other way of testing it without a TTL converter that I know of . jaclaz

You have to lookl at it "historically": The original procedure was to completely detach PCB and re-mount it "live/hot" Then someone thought about the piece of paper/cardboard/plastic on the Head contacts Then someone verified that (for UNKNOWN reasons) the trick worked with the motor contacts instead. If you prefer the #2 and #3 are two (more practical) sub-sets of the original #1. So, if #2 didn't work for you, and #3 worked only partially, go for #1. But remember that this is not the "fix all problems" trick, it is well possible that your drive suffers from "something else". jaclaz

NICE work! . As said it's a good thing that the Filesystem selector doesn't work, since it will (when it will be finished ) seemingly select BOOT CODE, instead. No need to pose ourselves this kind of questions , I am only trying to come to an agreement of some sort to make sure that SAME elements are called with tthe SAME name (or that a Rosetta's Stone of some sort is provided ), or, if you prefer, that other MSFN members that will read this thread or use the little apps/tools will have a less confusing experienced. You know how I do like people taking the Red pill, but it should be their own choice, not be forced upon them by the lack of clearness in the tools/posts/instructions. To add to the list of references: http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/fs/fat/fat-1.html On that page, the "Media descriptor byte" is interesting. It seems like most of the values are/were checked by old versions of DOS, and I remember from here: http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/doc-makebootfat.html that the FF or 255 in FreeDOS means "auto-detect" AND that the actual "Drive Type" or "Media Type" needs to be correct. What shall we do? jaclaz P.s.: Attached verion 04 with the above "Media descriptor byte" added tentatively and a couple more fixes. REMOVED: se a couple posts below for new version

That's good news. Yes, as said anything that is somehow replaceable is usually NOT worth the time to recover/fix. Sure, that's what you see, how it actually works is through a sensor, a kind of accelerometer. Point is how long does it takes before intervention and, IF it works in time, IF it effectively places heads in a "safe" parking zone (anyway, and expecially with modern hard disks, spin down will take much more time that it takes to hit the ground) Well, Victoria is NOT a recovery application. BEFORE using it, I would see what DMDE can find/recover (single file at the time in the free version): http://softdm.com/ and, still before Victoria, and after DMDE, a pass with PHOTOREC may be able to recover a few more things (like .doc or .xls files, since it can be targeted to a number of filetypes). Naah, you got it wrong, unfortunately here in Europe we don't have little green men at all, we have gnomes instead , and they become pretty much hostile when it comes to work for file recovery overnight, so we need to do everything by ourselves .... jaclaz

Short answer: NO. Long answer: NO, meaning NOT in a way that will allow the kind of filesystem fixing/data recovery that will probably be needed. BUT, you can (and again this would be easier if you have a set of many relatively little files) create a sparse file the size of the original disk and process (as an example by using dsfo/dsfi through a batch) these files, ONLY copying to the sparse image non-zeroed sectors. This may work on a pristine disk, but I doubt it will give any sensible saving on an used disk (with data deleted form filesystem but actually still on the actual sectors, that make them non-00's). IF the disk was defragmented, you can try using a partial image (let's say the intiial 499 Gb) but of course YMMV. jaclaz

Unfortunately , as expected. Well, no, this can be a temporary storage while recovering, but at the end you need to re-compose a "monolithic image". BTW, the idea of using smartly datarescuedd (as suggestd in the gicen link) is to minimize the time wasted reading unreadable sectors, if you tell it to "just image" it will try again and again each and every sector and it is NOT a good idea to "insist" when a bad zone is found. Sure , by sheer magic during the night some little green men will come to your house and instead of stealing your socks will: install an adequate software associate the .dd extension to it and if you are nice they will also rebuild the filesystem and recover each and every file in it.... ... come on, get real: once you will have (hopefully) a complete image you will need to fix it's filesystem and/or recover the files in it (at least those that you cannot replace) jaclaz

One word of advice, both "/I" and "neq" need command extensions enabled: http://www.computerhope.com/if.htm the: call :%COMPUTERNAME% goto :eof is case insensitive and needs not command extensions enabled. jaclaz

Yes. My 36 MiB image has 1 boot sector and 7 sectors-per-fat, so 1 + 7 + 7 = 15 sectors. As I decided to have a full cluster outside the filesystem, to contain the filesystem's structures, 32 - 15 = 17 sectors. Now, (17 sectors * 512 bytes-per-sector) / 32 bytes-per-entry = 272 entries. Nice logic. Basically it "fills up to the brim" the space between the end of FAT table(s) and next "cluster boundary". I like it. We are going to misunderstand each other if we use different terminology . To me the filesystem is the WHOLE thing. You seem like calling "filesystem" what I call "filesystem structures". I.e. in my view a filesystems spans over the whole volume, and contains: filesystems structures (including the ROOT entries) actual directories and files You will agree that something that resides outside of itself doesn't sound really "right" jaclaz P.S.: Version 3 attached: Tentative support for "Root entries optimization" added Set cluster limits to <4079 and <65519 EDIT: Attachment removed see a few posts below for version 04

Sure , but "normally" ( "normally" means *normally*, still well in the YMMV range ) they are, as said, 224 on floppy and 512 on hard disk. Any reason why you used 272? I think 4078 is the right max value. With all due respect for Wikipedia , I like to have more "specialized" sources for info : http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/FAT (though even there it seems to me there is quite a bit of misinformation) FAT12 1 0x000 (Free Cluster) 1 0x001 (Reserved Cluster) 4078 0x002 - 0xFEF (Used cluster; value points to next cluster) (as in FEF-2=4079-2=4077+1=4078 7 0xFF0 - 0xFF6 (Reserved values) 1 0xFF7 (Bad cluster) 8 0xFF8 - 0xFFF (Last cluster in file) --------- 4096 FAT16 1 0x0000 (Free Cluster) 1 0x0001 (Reserved Cluster) 65518 0x0002 - 0xFFEF (Used cluster; value points to next cluster)(as in FFEF-2=65519-2=65517+1=65518 7 0xFFF0 - 0xFFF6 (Reserved values) 1 0xFFF7 (Bad cluster) 8 0xFFF8 - 0xFFFF (Last cluster in file) --------- 65536 So, FAT16 should be 65518. About this: I am not so sure, the "old" (but as we have seen for the El-Torito thingy it might be a "perceived" rule, rather than a "real" one ) it had to be a a power of 2, like: 512 = 512*2^0 1024=512*2^1 2048=512*2^2 4096=512*2^3 .... 32768=512*2^6 And we also have the non-standard 64 Kb clusters possible on NT/XP (at least for FAT16) ...... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/140365 jaclaz

Surely NOT, additionally you may ALREADY have fried the PCB for good. Please READ the read-me-first: ALL of it, with PARTICULAR attention to points #6 and #10. Basically you are SHOUTING (probably at a 12 V RS232 level ) in Hindi to a hard disk that only understands English and (due to a rare condition ) only understands whispered English (3.3 V TTL level), no real suurprise it doesn't want to talk to you.... jaclaz