jaclaz

Well, no. Most of what you wrote is ALREADY written (and the possible betterings been linked to - for people that needs an alternative), and we ALREADY have a nice, automated app to do that (actually more than one - for those too lazy to attempt manual methods). AGAIN, if you want to boot a Microsoft system or install, the choice is grub4dos, NOT GRUB, NOT GRUB2. (as grub4dos, besides supporting NTFS allows for DIRECT CHAINLOADING - i.e. bypassing the bootsector - of most MS system files/bootloaders and is MUCH more "flexible" than the other two). You did an excellent job with your tutorial , and people can have it "as is" or - if they are curious/not lazy - experiment with the alternatives. And JFYI, I am also in the construction field, as a free-lance consultant, project coordinator and project manager. jaclaz

It sounds like a DEAD interface , see also the homepage of the specific adapter: http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/126 BUT, try first making a loopback on just the USB to RS232 adapter, in order to make sure that THAT part is working. AND/OR try the Pololu adapter on a PC WITH an actual RS232 port (I mean, don't you have a friend from which you can borrow one for a few minutes in order to test the adapter?) jaclaz

Very good! JFYI, grub4dos can access NTFS partitions allright, since a few years: http://reboot.pro/forum/66/ Your post is however very interesting (apart the nice info about Windos 7 ) as you are basically saying that GRUB 2 can use menu.lst (which is the typical configuration file of GRUB legacy and grub4dos) besides it's "proper" grub.cfg file (which uses a different syntax): http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Shell_002dlike-scripting Again JFYI, there is a more "generic" way to install the Filter Driver, see here: I am confused about the reasons why you use cfadisk.sys on XP and dummydisk.sys on 7, BOTH drivers should work on BOTH OSes, see here: Another thing you may be interested in is the newish project, grub24dos: http://reboot.pro/13282/ (which would avoid the need of Ubuntu) I presume that with the above info you may be able to simplify a bit your nice tutorial, avoiding the need of three different OS to prepare the stick. Finally, you may want to explore this app (and optionally my batches for it): http://nativeex.boot-land.net/Programs/WimCaptEx/WimCaptEx.htm http://reboot.pro/9765/ that allow access to a .wim from XP wiothout need of the WAIK. I am editing the topic title to specify that you are using GRUB2 (and not GRUB, intended as GRUB legacy, to reduce disambiguation needs) jaclaz

Oww, comeon ..... 2.5 was a multiplier used in times RAM was really low. With 4 Gb a multiplier of 0.50 to 1.05 is more realistic. I would personally set it as 512 Mb fixed size, but you know how cheap I am. BTW, absolutely not wanting to start yet another pagefile size flame war. jaclaz

...or simply edit the boot.ini removing the entry you don't need and leaving only one (the default). I seem to remember that this is documented in the files coming with USBmultiboot.cmd. jaclaz

Not really-really: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=147618&st=6 jaclaz

And Reatogo still is a PE (and NOT a nlited XP), BTW the project has been abandoned since some time, and PEtoUSB has been superseded by "better" apps. Currently advised tools to make USB sticks bootable: http://reboot.pro/9460/ reasons why (JFYI): http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23696 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23696&st=3 jaclaz

Sure, but of course it won't work on the new hard drive, as it will probably have different size of partition or whatever, you need to change suitably the "dynamic" part, READ the post by natan on the given links, (and all the rest), the idea is to change the CODE (or "static" part) leaving UNTOUCHED the DATA (or "dynamic" part), or at least this is what you asked and what the bootsect utility actually does. jaclaz.

You can use dd allright., See here: http://www.winimage.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=163 http://www.winimage.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=276 jaclaz

I fixed the link to Wimb's approach (glitch in the matrix on the "new" board): http://reboot.pro/9830/ you can find it also here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23553 jaclaz

Also, maybe, something worth trying: http://johnson.tmfc.net/dos/usbdrv.html at least to "borrow" the driver loading scheme. jaclaz

Disambiguation: you can have a MUCH lited "full XP" on a USB stick anything that is called "Live XP" or something simialr is actually a PE 1.x You need to make a choice. Are you wanting to make a "Full XP" on USB OR a PE on USB stick? If #1 there is now a mostly automated way, that is also almost "universal": http://reboot.pro/9830/ For #2, the "standard" project is either UBCD4WIN: http://www.ubcd4win.com/ or the LiveXP Amalux's "frozen builds": http://reboot.pro/index.php?showforum=112 http://reboot.pro/4111/ jaclaz

Also, you could contribute, see here: /page__st__25 In a nutshell UNLIKE all other AV vendors, McAfee appears to ONLY take action if one of their customers reports a false positive. Since VERY FEW (AFAIK) expert computer users and programmers use McAfee as an antivirus solution, this creates a nice loophole. (about the smartness of such a policy I won't spend any time on commenting such astonishingly stoopid behaviour - surely it doesn't help the already lousy reputation McAfee has) Out of the blue, a nice image of a cat: jaclaz

Happy that your data was recovered. About Seagate, your decision - with all due respect - is pure nonsense. Seagate managed in the worst possible way the problems created by this "series" or "model" of hard disk drive. But every and all HD manufacturer has had one (or more) series or model that sucked big and they will probably have one or more in the future. Remember the Maxtors a few years ago: http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/hard-drive-support/59502-maxtor-failure-symptoms.html and the DeskStar DeathStar some time before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitachi_Deskstar The issue is not with the brand it is with the series, the good guys that design these things are forced by the laws of the market to create senselessly BIG drives inside a "standardized" size/volume. This leads to higher density. To this you add the competiition for always greater speeds (at a needed higher precision level) and you complete the recipe for disaster. The same 7200.11 series but 250 or 320 Gb in size have NOT shown similar trend as the 500 and 750 Gb ones, AFAIK. It may be a coincidence, but I believe not very much to coincidences. jaclaz

Read this very similar successful experience: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8758 You need to INTEGRATE the Mass Storage drivers to your source BEFORE preparing the stick. jaclaz

Additionally, if instead of "an old laptop" you post EXACT make and model, it is likely that someone may be able to tell you whether it is Sata or Pata/IDE. jaclaz

Yep , the interface may be a little deceiving. What the program is trying to tell you is that you can access: OR OR Since your hard disk contains three partitions D:, E: and F: totaling 100 GB whichever of the three you choose you will always choose the SAME hard disk, in it's entirety. jaclaz

@TonyC Read attentively THIS : http://www.robvanderwoude.com/variableexpansion.php jaclaz

You are clearly having a hard disk that is DYING. This has NOTHING to do with this thread which is titled: You DO NOT have a LBA0. You DO NOT have a BSY. If you need help in (hopefully) recover some data from your drive, START A NEW thread, suitably titled. I will repeat myself: your drive is dying this has NOTHING to do with this thread (which is about two very specific errors that you don't have) there is NOTHING you can do to "fix" the drive, the most you can do is to attempt recovering some data from it each and every further access you do to the drive each and every hour, minute or second you try accessing it may lessen chances to recover data from it my advice is to stop fiddling with that drive and start imaging it, if you need help with the latter, start a new thread. jaclaz

Try CD /D <fullpath>: http://ss64.com/nt/cd.html cd /d C:\ Z0AA7~1 jaclaz

Is there ANY difficult part in: jaclaz

More or less yes. Use a PROPER (dd like or forensic sound) utility, advised under Windows is DataRescue dd: http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/v3/drdd.htm You need a bigger (temporary) disk, standard procedure is: dd the failing drive assemble (if needed) the "target image" on the "bigger" disk from the various bits make a copy of the image recover and check the filesystem of the image (if possible) dd the image to the new drive jaclaz

Hi Carter, nice to see you. The general idea when talking about such "picky" signals/setups, maybe we should add it to the ReadMe and/or FGA, is the KISS philosophy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle Cheers, jaclaz

I guess you were looking for these : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=146478 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=145812 jaclaz

May I remind everyone of the existence of both WINNT.EXE (DOS) and WINNT32.EXE (Windows) tools? (of course if you did not remove them). Additionally: WinNTSetup : http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7721 jaclaz