jaclaz

Sure, it is an excellent tool and it's use is anyway recommended , but it is aimed only to clean "ordinary" files and Registry entries. Like, did you ever store on that hard disk (only examples ): some p0rn? or warez? or a plain Notepad .txt containing in clear text, all your accounts/passwords or credit card number/authentication code? or ever mailed to any of your intimate friend what you REALLY think of another friend's wife, or girlfriend or mother? If you never did any of the above, you don't need any of the wiping I previously suggested. If you did there are chances (that may range from "near zero" to "near certainty" depending on a number of factors, including "volume" of the above, "when" it happened, "normal" use you make of that PC, etc.) that part of these data is still recoverable/readable/viewable. jaclaz

I am afraid that your only way out is then to change the motherboard. Most probably there are ways to fix it, but they would require either parts/tools, like (examples): http://www.arlabs.com/incircht.htm#CHIP CLIP http://www.biosman.com/biosrecovery.html or "knowledge" that will cost you much more than the actual price of a working (possibly used to save a few bucks) similar MB. Maybe you can go back to the "professional" and have him/her use a hardware or POST diagnostics card. These are "strange beasts", compare prices between: http://cgi.ebay.com/UltraX-Ultra-X-PHD-P-H-D-PCI2-Hardware-Diagnostic-Card-/120725337646?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item1c1bca762e http://www.jazdtech.com/techdirect/company/Ultra-X-Inc/PHD-PCI-2.htm?categoryPath=IT-Services%2FIT-Benchmarking-Services&supplierId=60020715&productId=60040855 and: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-ISA-PCI-Analyzer-Diagnostic-PC-Test-Card-Probe-POST-/150327778846?pt=Motherboards&hash=item23003bde1e The fact it doesn't beep should mean that there is no actual POST, but I seem to remember to have seen non-beeping motherboards that however did initiate POST. jaclaz

Just for the record and aimed to anyone fiddling with BOOT.INI in order to create something of "general use", using in the making of it ANSI Escape characters won't be such a bad idea in order to highlight the "comments" (if any) : http://reboot.pro/10122/ Also the "makers" of Wintoflash, do have their own site AND a dedicated Forum: http://wintoflash.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3 Why people comes here asking questions about it, remains a mistery to me. Maybe because on MSFN we are faster in replying? http://wintoflash.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1492 jaclaz

Remove EVERYTHING (yes, including video card and RAM) and try booting. Do you get any "POST beep code"? Maybe (just maybe ) it behaves like the BX-2000 mentioned here: http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/awardbeep.htm# jaclaz

Well, NO. I mean it depends whether you care for your privacy or not, but the amount of info and data a malicious (or just a curious) user of that PC would be able to find on your hard-disk after you carried on the proposed procedure would probably surprise you. The ONLY "safe" procedure is to wipe the disk with an appropriate software (CMRR Secureerase is advised) then either re-install the OSa nd apps or give the Charity Organization the install media and let them re-install. If you don't want to do the above, AT THE VERY LEAST you should thoroughly defragment ( the built-in defrag utility is allright for this) the drive AND the Registry (a tool called NTREGOPT is advised); http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ then use a software capable of wiping/blanking unused (actually unindexed) sectors. This is one, wipe03: http://www.myplanetsoft.com/free/wipehelp.php http://www.myplanetsoft.com/free/wipehelp.php#space or this: http://www.myplanetsoft.com/free/wipespace.php or sdelete: http://technet.microsoft.com/it-it/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx (you want to run it with the -c option, the -z one being pointless/unneeded): http://forum.sysinternals.com/topic7607_post31810.html#31810 jaclaz

@esecallum The general idea when I write something trying to help someone on the board, is that what I write is READ. If I meant that a "restore MBR" procedure was needed/useful, I would have written about that. I tried my best to explain to you the steps involved, WHICH DO NOT INCLUDE "restoring a MBR". I then tried to explain to you WHY this is NOT ONLY NOT NEEDED, but also WRONG. Let's try again : YOU DO NOT NEED/WANT TO "RESTORE" the MBR of the "source hard disk" to the "target hard disk". Doing so would be WRONG and would botch for good the "target". The only DATA from the "source disk" MBR that you may want to "migrate" to the "target disk" is the Disk Signature. If you do so, the \DosDevices\ keys inside the Registries of the various XP installs will need not a modifications and your "target" will be "identical" to the "source", BUT there are some caveats AS SAID, when you connect to a NT system two disks with the SAME signature. The alternate procedure is to NOT COPY the Disk Signature BUT modify the \DosDevices\ keys inside the Registries of the various XP installs. The one proposed (partitioning/formatting under XP the 250 Gb disk) is one of the possible methods to prepare the "target disk" Copying the Me as you proposed would also work, BUT: you will need to change the bootsector of first (active) partition (or use a third party bootloader/bootmanager like grub4dos) to boot the NTLDR you won't be able to create NTFS partitions for the XP installs you will need ANYWAY to provide a solution for the Disk Signature Or, as said, study XXclone features. jaclaz

Of course NOT! You can restore the MBR CODE (if you prefer the IPL code), BUT NOT the PARTITION TABLE (i.e. the DATA exception made for the disk signature). In the MBR there is the partition table that tells: Partition type. Where a partition begins (CHS and LBA) Where it ends (CHS only) How big it is in size. (LBA only) To simplify, in a 500 Gb HD you have: Partition #0 starting at 0 and ending at 99 (100 in size) Partition #1 starting at 100 and ending at 199 (100 in size) Partition #2 starting at 200 and ending at 299 (100 in size) Partition #3 starting at 300 and ending at 499 (200 in size) Let's say that you have a half sized HD, 250 Gb and you decide to reduce each partition by 1/2: Partition #0 starting at 0 and ending at 49 (50 in size) Partition #1 starting at 50 and ending at 99 (50 in size) Partition #2 starting at 100 and ending at 149 (50 in size) Partition #3 starting at 150 and ending at 249 (100 in size) I.e. the only values that will be correct are the partition types and the CHS and LBA start address of FIRST partition, all the rest being WRONG. About Disk Signature do re-read my post, you normally cannot have two disks with the same signature on a NT system (when the system boots NT will change one of the two). There are tools to restore (or create) PARTS of the MBR, among others, MBRFIX: http://www.sysint.no/nedlasting/mbrfix.htm The whole point of my previous post is that INSTEAD of "copying partitions resizing them", you rather CREATE new partitions (of changed size) then copy FILES to them. jaclaz

Maybe useful, maybe not : jaclaz

yet another happy bunny in the basket! : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128727&st=10 From what I read, it seems like ONCE you have the XP drivers installed THEN Windows Update can get the 7 one "automatically". In any case, it doesn't cost you anything to try updating now, and see what happens. jaclaz

Not exactly the same model, it was a ST3500413AS and the failed disk is ST31500341AS. I know that unless I can connect to it, there's nothing I can do. Maybe I'll try a different cable. That is a 7200.12. AFAICR the settings are the same, both as TTL leve and as transmission speed, etc. I seem to remember that some newer seagate models don't like 3.3 V TTL levels, but the 7200.12 should (and the Nokia thingy is actually at 3.3 V. It sounds like you have a problem beyond the scope of the thread , however trying with another cable won't do any harm. jaclaz

Just for the record there are freely available templates for Word, Open Office and similar word processors. Examples: http://www.cdstomper.com/downloads/downloads_blank_word.html http://forums.cdcovers.cc/showthread.php?t=183556 http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/CD_Covers jaclaz

I am afraid that since Compaq==HP, they use the same stoopid recovery partition system. BTW, you initially said it was an HP, now it has become a Compaq? Of course you didn't create the recovery CD's/DVD (you know the ones you have been nagged about a few times when the pc was new and you decided to ignore and then checked the little box "never remind me again"?) . Maybe we can try again with the HP tools. Do as submix8c suggestred, review the "long" thread, you will get an idea of what is needed/involved in the attempt. jaclaz

Yep, defintiely sequential sector copying is FAR less stressful for the disk mechanics than copying filesystem contents, just imagine something that goes: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 .... as compared to something that goes: 228 4356 4357 4358 12789 12790 12791 12792 3145602 3145603 4362 4363 18598748 ... Now, let's get back to work . A NT based system identifies disks by their Disk Signature, volumes by their Volume numbers, actual Drive lettering is given through settings in the Registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\x: ) if drive letters are "assigned" or otherwise automatically along a set of lettering Rules. The "link" between drive letter assignment and disk volumes are Disk Signature AND partition beginning offset. The actual "boot" partition is initially identified by it's arcpath in BOOT.INI (disk signature and drive letter independant) You can allright: Partition the new disk under XP Create four primary partitions on it with suitable size (and set first one Active) Copy to them the contents of the various partitions, personally I would use Ycopy, instead of Unstoppable copier, as it seems to me more suited to the task: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Ycopy.shtml (obviously you should boot "XP#2" or "XP#3" to copy the "XP#1" volume and then use the booted "XP#1" to copy the other ones) You need to be careful when copying files, ALWAYS copy first: IO.SYS MS-DOS.SYS COMMAND.COM NTLDR NTDETECT.COM BOOT.INI (in this order) Then you need to access OFFLINE the Registry of each of the "target" XP installs and simply delete the contents of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\ hive. Then try booting from the "copied" hard disk. Normally the appropriate values for drive letters wiil be re-generated during the boot process. There is theoretically NOT any need to copy (before attempting booting from the "target") on the target the disk signature of the "source" disk, but since it costs next to nothing, it is a good idea to do it, to be on the safe side, you should do this from a DOS or Linux bootCD or USB stick, as to prevent the possibiity that XP detects the duplicate disk signature (when both disks are connected to it) and vanifies the effort, but usually it can be done from within XP allright. There is not really any need to copy over the Volume serials. Mind you that Commercial programs may use some of the data mentioned, including partition beginning offset (that you cannot replicate) as part of their copy protection/authentication schemes. For the record, there is a commercial utility (also available in a limited Freeware version, that should be anyway be good enough): http://www.xxclone.com/ http://www.xxclone.com/itheory.htm http://www.xxclone.com/ixclnfaq.htm that uses the above detailed approach, but that AFAIK "misses" the features of Ycopy or Unstoppable Copier. jaclaz

Should be a SiS900 based card. See here, there are reports of cases where the XP one did work: http://any-tips.blogspot.com/2009/03/sis-900-windows-xp-driver-works-on.html It seems like an updated Windows 7 driver exists in Windows Update.... Of course your mileage may vary. jaclaz

Interesting how a new member at his first post is recommending a Commercial software that you can have for a mere US$ 29.95 per year. Could it be that this post is not really-really "disinterested"? jaclaz P.S.: removed the link in the quote.

And if we are allowed to use WMIC, we have "datepart.cmd": http://www.robvanderwoude.com/wmic.php that should be "language independant" (or at least it works allright in Italian system too ) and that should be easily adapted to show the date info any which way you like. At it's essence it resolves in: @ECHO OFF SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS FOR /F "skip=1 tokens=1-3" %%A IN ('WMIC Path Win32_LocalTime Get Day^,Month^,Year /Format:table 2^>NUL') DO ECHO Today is %%A/%%B/%%C But of course you still need a "local language" array of strings for "months names". (or if you also want them, "day names") jaclaz

Scripts which are required to output localized Strings are often going to have to be altered for each environment. The example you have posted above is basically Bilingual, we could perhaps expand it by adding German, but where would it end? Sure , I know where it starts, not where it ends.... ...till then if you have an Italian system it works (tested) should also on a En-Us one (untested). In other words it wasn't meant as the "ultimate batch solution to all date formatting problems" , but rather as a "quick and dirty batch solution that may work, and YMMV" . I presume that members using another localization can add their own "months" and "country code", since the few lines that need changes/additions are quite clearly laid down. jaclaz

Yes, there are quite a few of these. Clonedrive have been around since a lot of time, and while handy, in a NT based system (2K/XP/2003/Vista /2008/7) besides many other ones, a tool capable of mounting also floppy and hard disk images is even handier. I normally use IMDISK: http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/ http://reboot.pro/forum/59/ jaclaz

Happy problem is solved/culprit has been found. jaclaz

This "pure batch" should work. @ECHO OFF SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION ::Get the current date format FOR /F "tokens=2,3,4 delims=(/)" %%A IN ('VER ^| DATE ^| FIND "("') DO ( Set First=%%A Set Second=%%B Set Third=%%C ) ::Get the Current Date FOR /F "tokens=2,3,4 delims=:/" %%A IN ('VER ^| DATE ^| FIND /V "("') DO ( Set /A First_value=%%A Set /A Second_value=%%B Set /A Third_value=%%C ) ::Add here Local settings ::This is Italian IF "%First%%Second%%Third%"=="ggmmaa" ( SET Day=First SET Month=Second SET Year=Third SET Lang=IT ) ::This is English-US IF "%First%%Second%%Third%"=="mmddyy" ( SET Day=Second SET Month=First SET Year=Third SET Lang=ENUS ) ::SET Variables ::Change string values of variables according to your language IF "%Lang%"=="ENUS" Set Months=January February March April May June July August September October November December IF "%Lang%"=="IT" Set Months=Gennaio Febbraio Marzo Aprile Maggio Giugno Luglio Agosto Settembre Ottobre Novembre Dicembre Set Counter=0 For %%A IN (%Months%) DO ( SET /A Counter+=1 SET Month_!Counter!=%%A ) SET Index=!%Month%_value! ::Example output (change as you wish order of variable output and/or add separators) ECHO !%Day%_value! !Month_%Index%! !%Year%_value! jaclaz

I'll try to clarify the extents of my previous posts. There are mainly three "vital" sets of drivers in a NT system: Mass Storage drivers Video drivers Chipset/processor drivers Once upon a time: there were NO Sata disks and *all* (or most) PC's used "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" driver the drivers for existing video cards were included in the set of "built-in" drivers. a "same family" of motherboards/processors used the same chipset/processor drivers In most cases you could "move" NT systems with a few very simle steps. Nowadays, since: each SATA controller has it's own drivers each video card has it's own dirver each motherboard/chipset has it's own driver the "move" has become much more complex (still possible, but complex in most cases). Anyway, unless we are talking of so-called "volume License" OS, it is likely that you will need reactivation for XP. Here is the "old way": http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html SInce then, some new techniques/approaches have been developed, including that of "injecting" drivers on the offline image/disk (and much more): http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showforum=43 jaclaz

It looks more complex than it is. And of course you can use other methods/paths, including that of restoring Vista bootsector with the "repair" .iso or the EasyBCD and then add to the Vista BCD the entry for the "legacy" NT 5 (XP), and as said it is possible that once you have the Vista BOOTMGR booting again it will automagically find the BOOT.INI and add it's option to the BCD. What I tried to tell you was more WHAT you need to do (represented by the given links and pictures) and one possible way to do it (as opposed to "the only way to do it") . EasyBCD is a tool, you need to know WHAT to do with it, then learn HOW to do it with the tool, in order to be successful, form your initial post you sounded like you hadn't no idea of the WHAT, once you know it, learning HOW is just a matter of reading docs: http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Repairing+the+Windows+Vista+Bootloader which anyway contain quite a bit of deceiving info : The above is - to say the least - inaccurate, in your case there is NO damage whatsoever to the Vista files/structure, and all is needed is to restore the Vista bootsector CODE. Another app capable of doing this is RMBootSect.: http://sites.google.com/site/rmprepusb/documents/release-2-0 What you need to know is that you are not in a condition of "catastrophic failure" and you need NOT to take the whole set of steps listed in the mentioned page, you ONLY need to run bootsect.exe (or similar tool) to restore the Vista bootsector that was overwritten by the XP install, then, if an entry for XP is not automatically added, add it manually. jaclaz

A very simple one: http://reboot.pro/414/ Current link: http://f0dder.dcmembers.com/fsekrit.index.php jaclaz

Let's clear the possible misunderstanding. And no, BCD itself won't probably be of use. When you install an OS; it will boot from FIRST hard disk. (normally and specifically from Active Primary partition of FIRST hard disk). If you added a "new", second hard disk, and did not remove/disconnect the "old" first one, the former will be second disk. When you install XP, it will: overwrite the MBR (containing the VIsta MBR) of the FIRST hard disk with the XP one (this normally is NOT a problem unless you use bitlocker) overwrite the PBR (or bootsector) of the active partition on FIRST hard disk (containing Vista boot code invoking BOOTMGR) with XP one (invoking NTLDR) Quite obviously XP install cannot know nothing about Vista, so it doesn't provide for a way to ADD to it's booting scheme, based on NTLDR+NTDETECT.COM+BOOT.INI, a previous install of a later OS. Now what you need is two-fold: you need to restore the Vista boot then use bcdedit, EasyBCD or any other BCD editor to add to the BCD an entry for booting XP. An alternative is chainloading from NTLDR/BOOT.INI a third party bootmanager capable of directly chainloading the NTLDR and the BOOTMGR, like grub4dos. In the Active, Primary partition of your FIRST disk you should have: BOOTMGR \boot\BCD\ NTLDR NTDETECT.COM BOOT.INI Then get grub4dos from here: http://code.google.com/p/grub4dos-chenall/downloads/detail?name=grub4dos-0.4.5b-2011-05-09.7z&can=2&q= Open it in 7-zip and extract ONLY the file grldr to the active primary partition of first hard disk. Now open the BOOT.INI on first hard disk and add to it a line: C:\grldr="grub4dos" Save and reboot. You should land to a chioice between Windows XP and grub4dos, choose grub4dos. You should land to a grub> prompt. In it type: chainloader /bootm and press [TAB] key. You should be able to see bootmgr listed (and the line should autocomplete to) chainloader /bootmgr if not type the missing characters until it is complete as per above. Then press the [ENTER] key. Now type: boot and press the [ENTER] key. Additional info in the Guide: http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm The Vista should boot normally. It is possible that you will also find added an option to boot XP "automagically". If not it's time to use a BCD editor to add an entry for XP. Reboot and repeat the above, veryfying that the entry in BCD works, ie: choice between XP and grub4dos choose grub4dos repeat given commands at grub4dos prompt choice between Vista and Xp choose XP you should now have looped to #1 above choose XP verify it boots OK Then: reboot choice between XP and grub4dos choose grub4dos repeat given commands at grub4dos prompt choice between Vista and Xp choose Vista verify it boots OK Then, still booted in Vista you need to run bootsect.exe /NT60 C: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749177(WS.10).aspx in order to restore the PBR/bootsector code to the one loading Vista's BOOTMGR Some details of how a "normal" XP+Vista boot are here: http://www.multibooters.co.uk/multiboot.html with pictures. You are currently in this situation: You have to get into this one: Booting Vista: Booting XP: jaclaz

@Mobes The batch should have generated THREE logs: %temp%\source.log %SystemDrive%\source.log %SystemRoot%\source.log Just use this batch: echo Source %Source% set temp set System PAUSE echo Source %Source% > %temp%\source.log echo Source %Source% > %SystemDrive%\source.log echo Source %Source% > %SystemRoot%\source.log And read it's output before hitting "any" key. jaclaz