jaclaz

I just tested 1.6.1 beta on one of these "pesky" new inno-setup installers: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=11345&hl= to get a few DOS files from it, (1.6 didn't work on it) but the Beta worked flawlessly. jaclaz

Ways for what? I mean if you have "inaccessible" memory it makes sense to use that part as a ramdisk, but otherwise what would be the use of it? I.e. in what scenario, for what use are you going to use such a ramdisk, also, how much memory do you have? jaclaz

Post the actual links you are interested in (and that give you a 404) and I'll try to post updated/corrected ones. jaclaz

AFAIK PE 2.x had the 72 limits too: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7646 No more progresses that I know of. The good ol' methods that work with 1.x's 24h limit has been "passing by" reported as not working, but there are no definitive reports .... And I doubt we are allowed discussing much on this topic. jaclaz

Rule of the thumb: if you can open the DATA in the application intended to open it, it is fully recovered. if you cannot, it is corrupted, which may not necessarily mean it's useless, but a further (or several more) step(s) may be needed, possibly using specific file format recovery applications. No way to predict what has gone wrong, how much (if any is recoverable) without more data. On the desktop, with the "failing" hard disk connected directly, try going into BIOS and try "autodetecting" the drive, what happens? Once (even if slowly) booted to Windows 7, how is the "failing" hard disk seen in device manager? jaclaz

Check FAQ #3 first thing: jaclaz

No, if you had one of those you wouldn't be able to access it at all with TESTDISK. Yes, this is normal. Let's see what testdisk says at the end of the analysis. From what you post it seems like that hard disk has developed "bad areas", but htat shouldn't prevent from booting with it attached (NOT booting from it). You need in any case ANOTHER hard disk with same or bigger size, if you want to attempt recovering data. jaclaz

a.) What is the path to which you installed Windows? NT defaults to \WINNT\, as well as 2K, whilst XP defaults to \WINDOWS\. Is it possible that you installed to \WINDOWS\ but something has remained lingering (I presume in the Registry) either pointing to \WINNT\ or - by omission - having the system look in the "wrong" path? b.) No, afaik, but I remember quirks with permissions (on NTFS drives) see here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=966&st=11 (you are not the only one "fighting" with stoopid .msi's) c.)No, you are perfectly sane (coming from one that has used since 2003 the same install of Win2K as test machine without EVER re-installing) . jaclaz

The "easiest" would be NOT to use a "USB stick", but rather a USB SD or mini SD or micro SD converter. Example: http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Memory-Card-Reader-Writer/dp/B000FNDWLQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273482605&sr=1-1 This way you can use the "normal" SD card switch. The above is NOT completely "secure" and it greatly depends on the OS and on the actual SD card reader. Another possibility is this kind of "combo's" (I have a couple of them and they are very handy): http://www.masebo.eu/auctiondetails.php?id=510997 http://www.amazon.com/1GB-80X-USB-Combo-CD/dp/B000KA5SN4 but they are as well not as easy to find as the USB sticks with the RO/RW switch. Brand PQI is reknown to have RO switch on most if not all it's production (example): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141488 Google for "USB write protect switch" for the latter. If you had, you would have find this nice list : http://www.fencepost.net/2010/03/usb-flash-drives-with-hardware-write-protection/ Please keep in mind that most (please read as "ALL") controllers inside USB sticks can be through the repective "Manufacturer utilities" or "Mass Production Tool" be set as R0 or have two partitions, one RO and one RW, obviously the updatre process is a bit more complex and involves a complete "pseudo-low-level" formatting of the stick. Finally there are a number of sticks/controllers that allow for a CD-like (thus read only) device and a "normal" RW partition, and there are utilities to replace the contents of the CD-like part. jaclaz

You didn't , I did: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&view=findpost&p=922045 Since I am EXACTLY the kind of person that says "I told you so", that's allright, however. jaclaz

While DEFINITELY not the answer to the ultimate question about DOS batches , I played a bit with a 98 in a VM. A lot of things can be done even without using DEBUG or the "updated command processor": @ECHO OFF REM sh2long.bat REM Intended for usage in a WIN98 Command Window REM Usage: REM sh2long.bat <shortfilename without path but with extension> REM WILL NOT work with spaces in the long file name CD|CHOICE /N /C:ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ SET CURDRIVE=>ENTER.BAT FOR %%A IN (CALL DEL) DO %%A ENTER.BAT CD > TEMP.TMP ECHO.>> TEMP.TMP TYPE TEMP.TMP | DATE >TEMP.BAT >>ENTER.BAT ECHO SET CURDIR=%%4 CALL TEMP.BAT %CURDRIVE%: CD %CURDRIVE%:\ CLS DEL ENTER.BAT DIR /S /B /Z %1 > TEMP.TMP ECHO.>> TEMP.TMP TYPE TEMP.TMP | DATE >TEMP.BAT >>ENTER.BAT ECHO IF NOT "%%4"=="" SET FULLSHORT=%%4 CALL TEMP.BAT CLS DEL ENTER.BAT ECHO. DIR /S /B %1 > TEMP.TMP ECHO.>> TEMP.TMP TYPE TEMP.TMP | DATE >TEMP.BAT >>ENTER.BAT ECHO IF NOT "%%4"=="" SET FULLLONG=%%4 CALL TEMP.BAT CLS DEL ENTER.BAT ECHO. DIR %FULLLONG% | FIND "." > TEMP.TMP ECHO.>> TEMP.TMP TYPE TEMP.TMP | DATE >TEMP.BAT >>ENTER.BAT ECHO IF NOT "%%4"=="" SET SHORT=%%4.%%5 >>ENTER.BAT ECHO IF NOT "%%4"=="" SET SHORTNAME=%%4 >>ENTER.BAT ECHO IF NOT "%%4"=="" SET EXTENSION=%%5 >>ENTER.BAT ECHO IF NOT "%%4"=="" SET LONG=%%9 >>ENTER.BAT ECHO %%8 CALL TEMP.BAT CLS CD %CURDIR% ECHO Full Short is %FULLSHORT% ECHO Short is %SHORT% ECHO. ECHO ShortName is %SHORTNAME% ECHO Extension is %EXTENSION% ECHO. ECHO Full Long is %FULLLONG% ECHO Long is %LONG% FOR %%F IN (TEMP.BAT TEMP.TMP ENTER.BAT) DO IF EXIST %%F DEL %%F SET FULLSHORT= SET SHORT= SET SHORTNAME= SET EXTENSION= SET FULLLONG= SET LONG= SET CURDRIVE= SET CURDIR= This should work, as long as the batch is on the SAME drive as the target file. jaclaz

Sounds like EITHER: connections (internal from converter to HD inside the external case) have become loose <- this is more common than you may think with SATA connectors the USB/IDE or USB/SATA converter is going bad the hard disk is going bad the filesystem(s) on the hard disk got corrupted Suggested course of action: try reseating connectors try connecting the hard disk DIRECTLY (bypassing the USB converter inside the external case) once you have done the above #2, check the hard disk with it's manufacturer's utilities once you have done the above #3, try using TESTDISK to recover partitions/filesystems jaclaz

This post is divided in points, numbered for convenience as follows: FOREWORDBASICSKNOWN TUTORIALSPRINCIPLESDISCLAIMER and WARNINGSERIAL Voltage and TTL levelsGROUNDINGLOOPBACK TESTSSPEED/DATA BITS/PARITY/STOP BITS/FLOW CONTROLCONVERTERS (or Data Cables)POWERING the converter (or data cable)Thanks and greetings go toERRATA CORRIGE/additionsFinal wordsIMPORTANTEACH of them (with the only possible exceptions of points #12. and #13.) contains IMPORTANT information that may make the difference between success and failure. Please READ ALL of them, without skipping ANY of them, BEFORE posting on the mega-thread and BEFORE doing something that you may later regret with the actual hard disk. ALSO, check this topic by BlouBul: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=147532 that lists the FGA's (Frequently Given Answers) to recurring questions (mostly posted by people that FAILED to read this read-me-first ) FOREWORD: The scope of this post is to hopefully clear the nth SAME question about topics already asked and replied to on the massive "main" thread: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807 If you have been pointed to this, it means that you failed to read here before posting there yet another time one of those SAME questions/problems. The intended Target: The scope of a thread about problems of Seagate 7200.11 drives is to try and solve two specific problems: BSY - or "busy" stateLBA0 - or drive detected by BIOS with size 0that are caused on a specific model (the 7200.11) by a specific firmware bug:bricking when drive is booted AND Event Log counter is at entry 320, or a multiple of it (i.e. satisfies the expression: ELaddress=320 + x*256 ).More details here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128092&view=findpost&p=830530 (read about 40 posts starting from the above) Please note how the 7200.11 is also marketed as Maxtor (Seagate and Maxtor are the "same" company nowadays), and also "branded" as HP, IBM and probably a number of other OEM brands. The non-targets: ANY other problem regarding this specific hard disk model (Seagate 7200.11)ANY problem regarding ANY hard disk BUT this specific one (Seagate 7200.11)ANYTHING NOT listed as "target"Notwithstanding the above, this info may be useful to solve a number of similar problems on a whole range of similar hard disks, but in this case information here needs to be checked and verified if applies to your different HD. In other words your mileage may (and WILL) vary. BASICS: Recent hard disks have on board a processor (actually a micro-controller), and an Operating System that allows to issue commands to it. When the hard disk is powered up, to all practical effects it "boots" the internal OS and reads DATA and SETTINGS from a reserved storage area. A number of problems, including the BSY and LBA0 problem on Seagate 7200.11 hard disks are ultimately due to wrong or corrupted data or settings. The above does NOT mean that ANY and ALL problems can be solved by correcting these data, and EXPECIALLY does NOT mean that ANY problem on ANY hard disk can be solved this way. ONLY people with a fairly good knowledge of the innards of a hard disk can use some of the info on the given thread to attempt solving other problems (but those who have the needed knowledge won't need the info in there - CATCH 22). KNOWN TUTORIALS: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807 (first post by gradius2 AND later posts by Aviko - slightly different methods) http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=133387 (tutorial by CarterinCanada - actually RECOMMENDED) PRINCIPLES: The OS on the hard disk can be accessed by means of a serial connection at TTL levels and a communication program (Hyperterminal or similar). A normal PC does NOT have an interface capable of talking directly to the TTL serial BUS on the hard disk, hence an external converter or "data cable" is needed. Typically a desktop PC (not very recent) or a farly old laptop/notebook has a SERIAL or RS-232 port. Most more recent desktops and ANY recent laptop/notebook will only have a USB port. A SERIAL or RS-232 port is preferred as - by default - has ALREADY suitable drivers installed (mapping it to a COM port device) under any Windows OS. The flow of information is the following: Communication program (hyperterminal)->RS232 COM port->RS-232 to TTL Converter->HD TTL BUS->HD OS (and back)If you only have USB ports, the flow of information is the following:Communication program (hyperterminal)->USB port->Installed "virtual" COM port->USB to TTL Converter->HD TTL BUS->HD OS (and back)The RS-232 Standard, AND the TTL levels are usually VERY BADLY implemented by different hardware manufacturers, either at actual hardware level or at driver level, thus it is not in some cases straightforward to establish a communication between the PC and the bricked hard disk.DISCLAIMER and WARNING: Remember that the ONLY value a bricked hard disk has is the DATA on it (yes, those files that you FAILED to backup before). It's up to you to choose (and it depends ONLY on your familiarity with the matters, your current knowledge about electronics and using command line, etc. and on the VALUE you attribute to these DATA) whether: leave this place NOW and ask to a Professional Data Recovery serviceask for assistance to a friend or relative with more experience than you haverisk the DATA by attempting yourself an unbrickingIn ANY case, DON'T EVEN THINK about trying this unbricking UNLESS you do have:ready some suitable VERIFIED as WORKING media to copy the DATA over (like a same size or bigger hard disk)completely and fully read AND understood the present post AND the tutorial you are going to useIn case of success, DON'T EVEN THINK to consider the unbricked hard disk as "FULLY WORKING" and avoid backing up the DATA (the drive has failed, and like all HD's will fail - again - sooner or later). DO perform BOTH the "Short DST" AND "Long DST" tests using Seagate's Seatools. It is strongly recommended to RMA the drive to Seagate (RMA stands for Return Merchandise Authorization) and obtain a replacement drive. A suitable procedure to do so is detailed here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&view=findpost&p=911877 (read from the above for around 40 posts) There are as many chances the unbricking was fully successful and the drive is in perfectly "normal" working conditions as there are that the unbricking was only a partial success and some other problems remain on the drive. DO NOT be obsessed by "firmware updating", the condition that can cause the problem is an extremely rare event and statistically will happen again, without any firmware update, no sooner than three to six months of intensive use, you have ALL the time in the world to perform the firmware update after the unbricking, and even if it bricks again, you now have the tools and knowledge needed to unbrick it in a few minutes. Upgrading the firmware is a risky operation, DO NOT DO IT unless really necessary, and ONLY do it AFTER you have your DATA back and backed up on another media. If the above wasn't explicit enough, DON'T EVEN THINK of attempting a firmware upgrade on a drive that shows 0LBA or BSY symptoms, in the best case, it will do NOTHING, in the worst case it may put the drive in an "undefined" state from which it may be EXTREMELY difficult to get it in a "fixable" state again. Just DON'T do it! Though already said elsewhere I want to stress the fact that the only actual value you have is the DATA on the drive, the "sane" thing to do, if you are able to unbrick it and recover the data, is to RMA it and have a certified drive back (if under warranty), the next "sane" thing to do is to use the unbricked drive as SECONDARY backup media ONLY (it means that you can use it to store the SECOND copy of your files ONLY). In case you wonder, no matter what you have done all these years, at any given interval, that may vary between daily (mission critical), weekly (common business practice), monthly (hobbyist) you MUST have THREE copies of ANY data you value, an original plus TWO copies, possibly on different kind of media, like: Original on internal hard disk1st copy on CD/DVD or online storage or external hard disk2nd copy on external hard disk (possibly physically located/stored somewhere else, NOT in the same room - better if not in the same building - as the original)SERIAL Voltage and TTL levels: Serial communication basically works by sending bits as voltage peaks separated by a time interval. RS-232 sends a "0" by means of a "high level" from +5v to +15v and a "1" by sending a "low level" -5v to -15v. The above is called "negative logic" (0=high;1=low) TTL/CMOS sends a "0" "low" when between 0.2 V and 0.8 V and a 1 "high" when between 2.0 V and 5 V TTL sends a "0" "low" when between 0.35 V and 0.8 V and a 1 "high" when between 2.0 V and 3.3 V The above is called "positive logic" (0=low;1=high) Each circuit/board may use a narrower (or wider) interval for the "high" level, but the "low" level is so narrow by design that having the SAME 0 V level on ALL equipment connected is VITAL. (see below "GROUNDING") You can skip the following links if you trust my word for the above: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-232 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor–transistor_logic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_level http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/aug97/cable.html Levels of TTL/CMOS and TTL are illustrated here: http://www.interfacebus.com/voltage_threshold.html GROUNDING: Since, as seen above the actual 0's and 1's are obtained by a difference of voltage relative to 0V, it is VITAL, to ensure that TTL level communication works as expected, to have the same 0 V level on ALL equipment involved. This is obtained by connecting ALL the 0 V or "Ground" or "GRN" or "GND" of ALL devices involved together (normally and by convention a black wire is used). Repetita juvant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases:_R ANYTHING marked "GND", "GRN", "GROUND" or "-" (minus), or having a black wire, should be connected together. (it would be a smart thing to make sure that you DO NOT use a black wire for Tx or RX AND that using a CA-42 or similar adapter the BLACK wire is actually a ground) I will repeat myself, you NEED a (black) wire connecting: the Hard Disk Drive "Ground" pinthe converter "Ground" or 0V pin or connector or wirethe (standard PC) Power Supply black wire OR if a battery is used, the - (minus) side/pin of it OR if a separate Power Supply is used, it's black wire or 0V pin or 0v/-(minus) connector or anyway wire marked 0v/-(minus) or connected to anything marked 0v/-(minus)/GRN/GND/GROUNDLOOPBACK TESTS: Though it is rare, the actual converter/data cable may be DOA (Dead On Arrival). It is ALWAYS a good idea, before attempting to communicate with the drive, to perform a simple loopback test: Connect the TX and RX of the converter together and see if what you type in the communication program is ECHOed back. More details: http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3450 http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3450#toc2 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&view=findpost&p=851176 SPEED/DATA BITS/PARITY/STOP BITS/FLOW CONTROL: The 7200.11 works with THESE parameters: 38400/8/N/1/N i.e.: Bits per second: 38400Data bits: 8Parity: NoneStop bits: 1Flow control: NoneCHECK them before posting that the PC cannot communicate with the HD.CONVERTERS (or Data Cables): Generic TTL considerations: The hard disk "likes" "real TTL" (the one that has a "high" at max 3.3 V). Nonetheless a TTL/CMOS (that can have a "high" at as much as 5 V) may work. It is unknown whether the HD has a "peaks flattening" circuit of some kind and there are mixed reports. Rule of the thumb: there are NO reports of failures at 3.3Vthere are a few, not fully confirmed, reports of 5V workingPlease note that two different converters "labeled" as "5V" may behave differently due to the not fully standard behaviour of some of these circuits. RS-232 to TTL: This is the preferred way. USB to TTL: This is the second preferred way. Data cable (typically Nokia CA-42): This is deprecated. Not because it won't work, but due to the fact that there are so many different versions of these cables, both "original" and "cheap/fakes" that it may be difficult to find the "right" connections, expecially for a newbie. To hopefully clear this point, they do work, most probably ALL of them, original and "fake", do work, IF: the cable is NOT damaged when opening the connectorthe CORRECT connections are foundthe cable is NOT damaged in attempts to find the right connectionsthe PROPER driver is foundthe PROPER driver is PROPERLY installedWe have reports of people trying as many as 4 or 5 "CA-42" cables from different sources before finding one that worked for them. As I see it, if you ALREADY have a CA-42 cable lying around in the "things that may be of use some day" drawer, you have nothing to lose in trying it , but if you have to buy one you'd better invest some more money in a "proper" TTL converter, known to be always working. POWERING the converter (or data cable): The converter (or data cable) is an active component and needs to be POWERed. Some converters draw power from the "PC side" (RS-232 or USB bus side). <- in this case you need NO external Power Supply.Some converters draw power from the "other side" (TTL side). <- this means, that since on the TTL side you will connect to the HD, you will fall in condition below.Some converters need an external Power supply (a FULLY CHARGED battery will do).Generally speaking supplying 0V and +5V will work. Most adapters will work with as low as 0V and +3V. A single 3V battery or two common 1.5V may do in the latter, but ONLY if they are FULLY CHARGED/NEW, if they fall below 2.9 or 2.8 V it simply won't work. A good idea is to use 3 or 4 rechargeable 1.2V batteries (again FULLY operational/charged): 3x1.2=3.6V 4x1.2=4.8V Another good idea if you have a Desktop PC is to get the power from it's cables: Black=0V Orange= 3.3V Red= 5V A known exception is this specific board: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=449 that switches output levels autosensing the voltage you power it with, thus you need for this a voltage around 3 V for this to work properly. The "main" thread: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807 is choking full of links and photos and help given for a number of different data cables (mostly "NOKIA") ad converters, both USB and RS-232. TAKE YOUR TIME on it if you have doubts, most probably the solution is ALREADY there, BEFORE posting a request for help. Thanks and greetings go to: Besides gradius2 and Aviko, and CarterinCanada, you should be grateful to a number of other members that helped in gathering the info and in supporting other members in the megathread, most notably: mundy5Videoripperand a particular mention for:BlouBulthat has, besides helping a lot of people, compiled the excellent FGA's: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=147532 (should have I forgotten mentioning anyone, please PM me and I'll add your name to the above list) ERRATA CORRIGE/additions: Should you feel something in this post is incorrect, missing or both , please PM me with your suggestions/integrations and I'll edit the post accordingly. Final words: DON'T PANIC! (assume the above to be written in large, friendly letters) There are very good chances that your precious DATA (yes, still the same that you failed to backup properly before) is still there and can be recovered. Rest assured that DATA does not: evaporaterotwaste awayby itself. If you start fiddling in semi-random ways with the HD, it is on the other hand very possible that YOU will make the DATA unrecoverable , so, once again: DON'T PANICDON'T FRETDON'T FREAK OUT but: TAKE YOUR TIME in understanding the info presented here and in the linked to topics, and AFTER having done your best, if you still have doubts, do ask for help or assistance in the given "monstrous thread": http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807 IMPORTANT It is VERY likely that you cheated and skipped some (if not most) of the above, if you - by any chance - skipped over the second part of point #5, here are the REALLY IMPORTANT bits of it: However it would be appreciated if you would go up to point #5 and read in it's entirety. jaclaz P.S.: post edited to stress the fact that: you DO NOT want to attempt updating the firmware on drives that show 0LBA or BSY symptoms.you DO NOT want to use normally a CA-42 or similar "mobile data cables" as it is likely you will encounter problems with them.(thanks to mkcheznous for pointing out how the above points were not clear enough) P.P.S.: Point #7 slightly modified (thanks to SnakeByte2 for pointing out possible problems in the wording) inorder to better convey the suggestion to GROUND each and all pieces of equipment involved in the procedure.

Yep. But the point is still about the portability. I.e., USBoot.org is one (automated) method to have 2K/XP/2003 booting from USB on any GIVEN PC (or "set" of PC's with similar enough hardware). Making the install on the USB device "portable" on several completely different hardwares has been the "next" step. Within limits, using UNIVBE and UNIATA has helped a lot, the newish approach by wimb (in the posted links) provides hopefully a further step in the direction of "universal" (please read as "portable") XP on USB. jaclaz

Well, I presume that the general idea is to have a "Portable 2K", which not necessarily is a PE. Just like we have fairly portable versions of "Portable XP" (which has nothing to do with a PE based on XP). So, it is more like "backporting" to 2K the solutions found for this: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9227 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9830 It should be possible, though due to the very limited "intended target" (unfortunately the 2K user base has always been comparatively small and it is now reaching an historical minimum with next "forced retirement" of 2K from MS), it is unlikely that anyone is going to dedicate much time to it. For the record, the usual definition of XP by 2K users (like yours truly ) is: jaclaz

Well, under 2K/XP there is variable expansion already: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=143572&st=1 You don't need anything "fancy", a simple "%~n1" or "%~n2" would do. To get short and long filenames in 2k/Xp you can parse the output of a DIR /X in a FOR loop. jaclaz P.S.: Since noone took the hint, I just quickly checked Win95cmd.exe: and it DOES have the DIR /X option.

Maybe looking (or asking) for it in the appropriate place may help: http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php There is a tutorial for MOA: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21825 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=22466 but no plugin that I know of. jaclaz

Yep, but you see, this is not a "recipe" or "tutorial", in which you have to follow a given number of steps in a given order, you need to read an understand the "whole" before attempting re-creating it. I thought that the will pinpoint the problem but couldn't remember the correct name for first argument... So i have problem doing this Well, that is not doing it "manually", if you read attentively the link on flyakite's site: http://flyakite.msfn.org/xpprosp1.htm It is just a handy way to: create two folders copy to them a number of files from the source \I386\ If you check the "previous" version of flyakite's guide (on msfnhosting.com instead of msfn.org, but you couldn't have this info ) still available here: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://flyakite.msfnhosting.com/xpprosp1.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20040209050256/http://flyakite.msfnhosting.com/xpprosp1.htm and you read here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2362 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2254 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q310994 you will see how the "circle is closing itself". As said, the rabbit hole may be deeper than you may think. It is strongly recommended that you use an install of XP in a VM in order to do experiments, if you don't have an actual machine running XP. Well, the link you posted: step 3 is an example of grub4dos directly chainloading SETUPLDR.BIN (which is the SETUP LoaDeR for NT 4/5.x, also used in any PE 1.x, like Bart's PE or for the Recovery Console). In NT 6/7 BOOTMGR is used BOTH for booting the actual installed system AND the SETUP. So, yes, grub4dos can directly chainload SETUPLDR.BIN and BOOTMGR, thus it can initiate an install allright. jaclaz

Another happy bunny in the basket : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128727&st=10 jaclaz

@GrofLuigi Well, NO. Both NTLDR and BOOTMGR represent BOTH a bootmanager (with limited features) AND an OS loader, since both can load "something" else than their own OS, like, as an example, a bootsector or a previous OS loader. @andwan0 You may find useful to study and understand fully the concept of "boot" and "system" partition (the one that MS has got viceversa), which is nicely illustrated here: http://www.multibooters.co.uk/ http://www.multibooters.co.uk/multiboot.html http://www.multibooters.co.uk/system.html Since grub4dos can be added BOTH to NTLDR's BOOT.INI (as grldr) and to BOOTMGR's BCD (as grldr.mbr) and can directly chainload BOTH NTLDR and BOOTMGR it could be the workaround you are seeking to avoid bootsector code during re-install or need to use MBRFIX/bootsect.exe. http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/install_windows.htm http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/boot.htm @uid0 JFYI, an even more sophisticated approach : http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7138&hl= jaclaz

No, you haven't , at the most you have quickly skimmed through them. Unless you are (choose one) Flash Gordon or Superman , it's simply not possible that you have actually read and understood the given links in a few hours. WHICH files? Yes/No. Last time I counted them (very approximately) there were at least 12^15^2=2,37376E+32 ways to nlite/integrate an XP source, and this without counting OEM sources. This has nothing to do with XP install and a lot to do with grub4dos: http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/install_windows.htm http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/boot.htm jaclaz

More methods/apps: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23848&hl= Actually DreampackPL uses the Recovery Console .... http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=18556 ... but obviously not the "standard" XP one. http://web.archive.org/web/20071208095803/http://www.d--b.webpark.pl/index2_en.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20080212075310/http://www.d--b.webpark.pl/dreampackpl_en.htm jaclaz

Another one : http://dskcenter.free.fr/ jaclaz

happy that someone is still choosing the RED pill : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=133309 jaclaz

@zeusabj the "special" :EOF tag has been introduced in NT batch (i.e. is NOT available in "pure-DOS" or Windows 9x/Me) it is short for End Of File http://www.robvanderwoude.com/exit.php as a complement to the ability to CALL and internal label/subroutine, as well added to NT: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/call.php In the context of CALLing a subroutine it is equivalent to the RETURN command used in many languages. jaclaz