jaclaz

7-zip can open (read only) .wim files. Besides imageX there is the newish DISM that comes with Windows 7. And the GUI Dism tool by MrJinje: http://www.msfn.org/board/mr-jinje-dism-tool-t138804.html psc over at boot-land has created also a small program to use some files you can find in the Windows 7 DVD (without needing the WAIK): http://www.msfn.org/board/mr-jinje-dism-to...04-page-35.html and I put together a couple of batches to have access to wims from XP, but these latters are ONLY Command Line. Once th eWIM i smounted you can of course use any normal tool. jaclaz

Well, I would check what the problem is, so that in the future you either: don't mess up know how to fix IF you mess up This: should mean that you either have not a proper MBR or you have no active partition. Get Beeblebrox: (via Wayback Machine): http://www.msfn.org/board/removing-grub4do...e-5.html&s= A screenshot of it's view of a MBR is here: The above has NO active partition, whilst the following has one: Your view will be much simpler as you have only one partition (entry #0) on each disk. All you have to do is to select PhysicalDrive1 (which should be your C: partition) and verify it has NOT an 80 in the "Boot" field, then try changing the 00 in it to 80. Then, try selecting the PhuysicalDrive0 (which should be your D: partition) and veify that it HAS an 80 in the "Boot" field, then try changing it from 80 to 00. Don't worry if you mess up (again), you can always boot through the grub4dos on the USB stick. BTW you can do the same from your Windows Disk Management checking if the C: partition is active. jaclaz

No. It means that your PC (cannot say if "by design" or due to a BIOS setting) sees the 4 Gb thingy as second disk and the 16 Gb as first disk. Thus when YOU re-formatted the 16Gb thingy, you probably created a Primary Active partition. The BIOS looks for the MBR on first disk, and the latter looks for first Active Primary partition on it's partition table, and thus boots from the 16 Gb thingy "D:". I am not familiar with the BIOS settings of the EEEPC, so cannot say if you can alter the booting order (it is usually possible) and/or if it's enough to set the partition on the 16 Gb as NOT Active to make it scan subsequent drive. http://www.eeeuser.com/2007/10/27/lets-tal...he-eee-pc-bios/ Check in the BIOS the drive booting order/settings. jaclaz

Well, definitely it did affect something, since it doesn't work :whistling:. Try copying to the "D:" from "C:" the files: and report what happens. jaclaz

I don't get it. From what you report: hd0 is the USB stick (and effectively shifts all internal disks by one) hd1 is "DATA" hd2 is "System" If you remove the USB stick, the situation should become : hd0 "DATA" hd1 "System" So the "right rdisk is rdisk(1) when the USB is NOT connected. It seems like the boot drive (C:) is not first hard disk. (when not booted from USB). Is it possible that somehow this "tricked" WinsetupfromUSB? However, do the following: Add an entry: C:\grldr="grub4dos" to the BOOT.INI on your INTERNAL disk partition (the "System" one, where also NTLDR and BOOT.INI are). Copy grldr from the USB stick to the same partition. Remove the stick and try booting. What happens? Does it boot to BOOT.INI choices? You should see these choices: Can you see these? If yes, choose the "grub4dos" entry, then in grub4dos command mode issue: find --set-root /grldr [ENTER] root [ENTER] It should give as a result EITHER (hd0,0) or (hd1,0). Now: chainloader /ntldr [ENTER] boot [ENTER] It should get you back to the BOOT.INI choices. Then choose the same number as the feedback you had, i.e. if you got (hd0,0) choose "Microsoft Windows XP Professional 0", if you got (hd1,0) choose "Microsoft Windows XP Professional 1". The above is the "right" partition/disk, see if it works, if it doesn't there is some other problem. jaclaz

Just for the record: http://blogs.technet.com/srd/archive/2010/...nerability.aspx Some older suggestions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276369/en-us http://securitytracker.com/alerts/2006/Jan/1015453.html And the question, : By NOT following MS advice and by NOT upgrading at the time my 2K boxes to IE6 did I do a smart thing? jaclaz

Good point. Nonetheless it seems to me as well an unlikely to be put in practice kind of attack, it seems like an attacker needs local access (rather than remote) and in these cases, all you need, besides some knowledge, is a boot CD or a USB stick, proportionally I have often seen many more "loose" BIOS/access restrictions to the physical machine than Network protection. Also, if the hard disk is not encrypted, an user with local access could always access it physically and be done with it (besides the fact that on most workstations, if you look hard enough you can find in first drawer or under the keyboard the login/password..... jaclaz

Maybe the problem derives by using the win98 tool to create a win95 file? Possibly the info here: http://support.novell.com/techcenter/artic...nc1998_03f.html http://www.hermit.cc/teach/ho/win/hoBatSet.htm helps. I would try using the netsetup program that comes with Win95. Direct from the mouth of the wolf: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...ion124121120120 jaclaz

Add to your boot.ini on the hard disk: these lines: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 0" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 1" /fastdetect And see which one works, but the error you are getting seems NOT like coming from an incorrect disk in BOOT.INI, such a thing should result in a HAL.DLL or NTOSKRNL.EXE not found kind of error. See FAQ #4: http://www.msfn.org/board/faqs-t116766.html The one you report seems more likely to have another source, compare with this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314477/en-us But, wait a minute, are you using rdisk(2) without the USB stick or with it? If I recall correctly, the EEEPC has an internal SSD and a socket for a removable SD card, those would count for rdisk(0) and (possibly) for rdisk(1), i.e. without the USB stick inserted there is no way you can have a rdisk(2), so pointing to rdisk(2) should mean pointing to a non-existing drive and then it could really give you that error. However on grub4dos command line: root (hd0,0) [ENTER] ls [ENTER] can you see the WINDOWS directory? Repeat for (hd1,0) and for (hd2,0) jaclaz

Risking to go slightly OT: This is something I always wondered about. You can get IE for Free (actually paying for a MS OS). You can get Firefox for Free. You can forget about both and get Opera for Free. What real world consequences would have a difference in diffusion of one or the other browser in economical terms? I mean, apart the "Firefox Rules, IE sucks" or, personally "Opera is better ANYWAY", motto's and indirect "prestige" of the makers, who cares? Of course if it was for me, I would crucify: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/quotes ANY web developer that makes html or whatever that is only correctly displayed on IE and EXPECIALLY those that rely on IE only for financial transactions, but this has nothing to do with the actual market share, as I see it the Internet is a communication media and just like your choice between (say) a Nokia or a Motorola handy does not depend on how well you can hear the voice of the other part, I don't see a single reason why should I be "forced" to use a given browser instead of another one. jaclaz

I am failing to see how this vulnerability can make an OS that substantially allows anyone Admin or System privileges from the start to laugh at the NT family. I would understand if some of the good Linux guys would take advantage of it for some mocking, but on access privileges, the otherwise good 9x guys have nothing to put on the other plate of the scale. Also remember that the NT people can always take from their sleeves the "Me" argument card, a win all wildcard! It's a nuisance, and a rather severe one, but on really "protected machines", any savvy Corporate IT would have disabled the 16 bit sub-system anyway. jaclaz

Just to express my at rloew's summary. Well said. (though of course it fails to address the merits of NT and 2K over XP and later) jaclaz

( I can't do it with a switch, it's unsafe. What happens if someone touches the switch while the PC is running.... I wouldn't risk it. A key lock switch is as unsafe as the key that opens it: http://www.directindustry.com/prod/saia-sw...837-282580.html For security (meaning that the hidden partition cannot be read), a combination of encryption and bootmanager, Truecrypt and OTFE caome to mind, but there are a numebr of products in this field. For safety (meaning that the hidden partition cannot be accessed/modified/deleted), nothing. It is discontinued AFAIK, last known version is, if I am not mistaken, version v9: http://www.amazon.com/Avanquest-System-Com...9/dp/B000Q1MYIO Latest "real" VCOM one should be 7.05: http://www.avanquest.com/USA/aq-you/suppor...e_releases.html AFIAK it is now part of Partition Commander: http://www.avanquest.com/USA/software/part...d-disk-software No software can really protect the MBR, a number of BIOS have a setting to deny access to sector 0 (bootsector virus, or something like that). Point is not if such software exists, the point is whether the "hidden" or "protected" "other zone" will be accessible in any way, mainly a "destructive" one as you fear, no software will ever be able to protect 100% this. jaclaz

Have you tried grub4dos+firadisk approach?: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=94 I think that recently speed problems were solved, though of course I have no way to compare. jaclaz

Here: http://www.msfn.org/board/can-recover-part...st-t138162.html You should image the drive, and then start a new thread if you need help in attempting recovery of that parttition or of the data in it. This app is suitable: http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/v3/drdd.htm jaclaz

The ONLY possibly "secure" way, as I see it, is having two disks, and use a hardware switch to turn the "good" one off. All the rest are subject to possible corruption/access. Something like this: http://www.dvhardware.net/articles4.html with a lockable switch. This bootmanager goes into the same direction: http://www.msfn.org/board/wwbmu-need-some-...ber-t23622.html http://lab1.de/Central/Software/System-Tools/WWBMU/ But if the actual disk drive is powered, it can be accessed, and it is "unsecure". jaclaz

Figured out WHAT? jaclaz

Over the time a few apps have been developed to allow better chances of "universal" booting from USB. RPM is allright, of course, guess what I was using at the time?: http://home.graffiti.net/jaclaz:graffiti.n...B/USBstick.html but why not tring the newer apps: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9460 RMPREPUSB or BOOTICE allow, besides "plain" (and "balanced" CHS/LBA partitioning) some more "tricks" that may come as useful, including the "ZIP-like" formatting. jaclaz

NOWHERE. You DO NOT need grub4dos in your intended setup. Mind you not that it is not good, but would a good bicycle be more useful to a fish than a normal one? If you are so preoccupied about the security of your setup, you should completely change your approach, and use a cloned image in a crypted container or any of the alternatives DigeratiPrime listed. If you want to use grub4dos nonetheless, you will probably want to install grldr.mbr to the MBR (and few subsequent hidden sectors) AND copy grldr to any of the partitions. As always there are trade-offs, with grub4dos you can have more choices, but you give a more powerful tool theoretically accessible on the machine. jaclaz

ilko_t Just a few days ago there was a thread on boot-land for a seemingly completely unrelated topic, (boot-land is offline right now). EDIT: it is very, very slow right now, but working, here is the thread: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=10169&hl= There exist two other tools, mountstorPE: http://www.kare-net.de/plugins.html (yes it works on a "full XP" also) and a Chinese little tool, showdrive.exe: http://cafe.naver.com/ArticleRead.nhn?arti...clubid=17324811 Both automatically map any unmapped HD partition to a dos letter, with a slight difference (examples): MountStorPE.exe J: = \Device\HarddiskVolume14 [Fixed] showdrive.exe: J: = \Device\Harddisk3\Partition1 [Fixed] Maybe it's useful. jaclaz @cdob, sorry, cross-posting

@qwerty ...and check GROUNDing of the drive and interface. jaclaz

Good to know it works. I would have thought that the minisetup would have found a trace of the given key (I am not at all familiar with sysprep). jaclaz

Yes, in Opera it looks fine. Even using the +/- "zoom" keys. I would vote for the Codebox being "right" and IE and Firefox being not..... Very quick possible workaround : @echo off IF EXIST "%~dp0BIN\REG\*.reg" ( FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN ('DIR /B "%~dp0BIN\REG"') DO ( start /wait regedit /S "%~dp0BIN\REG\%%A" ) ) IF EXIST "%~dp0BIN\VBS\*.vbs" ( FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN ('DIR /B "%~dp0BIN\VBS"') DO ( start /wait %SystemRoot%\system32\cscript //nologo "%~dp0BIN\VBS\%%A" ) ) IF EXIST "%~dp0BIN\MSI\*.msi" ( FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN ('DIR /B "%~dp0BIN\MSI"') DO ( start /wait %~dp0BIN\MSI\%%A /QN ) ) Does the above look allright on the "other" browsers? ....ducking, very, VERY quickly... jaclaz

Generally speaking, the RAM is there so that the OS can use it. Windows 7 is (or thinks it is ) a "smart" OS and will use as much RAM as it thinks fit, proportionally to the total amount available. If you take one or two sticks of RAM off the board, it will idle at less, if you add some, it will idle at more, very roughly at 30% of available RAM: http://www.msfn.org/board/windows-7-all-hy...79-page-25.html As MS would put it , it is "by design". jaclaz

SP3 should have a "feature" that allows to install without a key: http://www.tipandtrick.net/2008/install-wi...with-retail-cd/ but is it "skippable" from unattended? Unfortunately, some bad news : http://www.msfn.org/board/thought-xp-sp3-a...ll-t117204.html And a few further questions (hints for a workaround). Why don't you give it a "real", "good" key, and later change it? The MS method: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328874/en-us seemingly only works with multilicense versions, but there are other key-changers, what I don't know is if there is any scriptable one. Here it is said that the MS script works for any version: http://www.intrepid.com.au/how-to-change-y...t-reinstalling/ Or is it obsolete? jaclaz