jaclaz

Ok, but I need some more details. How was XP installed? Was it installed while the partition where WinPE now is was hidden/not yet existant? Did it boot normally before? The code by Wrex is just a way to add the entries to the BCD needed to chainload from bootmanager NTLDR (and from it BOOT.INI) The "stall" you are reporting is usually somehow connected to changed drive letters. jaclaz

Original thread here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=130706&hl= Have you checked FAQ #9? have you checked that you kept the USb stick in until GUI part of setup? jaclaz

Well, no. Half the trick is that grub4dos virtually re-maps hard disks in order to have the "right" disk/partition, it is possible that your HP on-the-fly boot device change confuses the HD. However, your problems is also strangely similar to FAQ #9: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=116766 jaclaz

Confirmed. The approach here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=7138&hl= works, thanks to the new features tinybit added to latest grub4dos. @wimb Check the idea from cdob, it seems like a very suitable way to install XP from USB. jaclaz

@Lecco Are you running Windows 98 SE or Windows ME? They are NOT exactly the same, though similar. Moreover, unless you actually start it, Virtual PC can be set to "eat as much RAM as you like" . @starcraftmaster From what you report, it doesn't seem to me like the portrait of a stable OS..... Just for the record, I keep a log of the times I had to restart by pressing the power button on the two machines I usually run, till today: NT 4.00 (installed in 2000, October) 4 (four) times (each time due to bad behaviour of the UPS software/communication in occasion of blackouts/power surges) Win2K (installed in March 2003) 0 (zero) times jaclaz

The recommended approach is to create an actual install CD from the files you have, adding/integrating them with the ones in SP's or however freely downloadable from MS. FYI: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=91907 Your actual mileage may vary. You might want to consider the fact that nlite is a (nice ) program, but it cannot create missing files out of thin air, nor can it possibly support "any" crappy recovery CD or partition the OEM builders come up with in their apparent perversion. jaclaz

usbprep_8 is an old release, made obsolete by better and fixed ones. Here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=157 jaclaz

I XP is in: why are you chainloading: Add a line to BOOT.INI as follows: Also, generally "blue screen" means nothing, you must provide the STOP error number or however the text that is displayed when the error happens in order for anyone to help. jaclaz

Yes, BUT you should NOT wipe the G-list, at least on first attempt. (thanks to Aviko for clearing that this part is usually unneeded) You do not need to "Open" the disk DO NOT DO IT! WHICH "power" cables? You need to attach the TX and RX from the interface (and in some cases the GND) and the "normal" SATA power connector. Check photos here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...8807&st=100 and sketch here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...8807&st=819 jaclaz

These may be of interest too. http://www.chickensys.com/support/software.../misc/aspi.html http://www.infocellar.com/CD/aspi.htm http://web.ncf.ca/aa571/aspi.htm jaclaz

READ the thread I gave a link to AND links in there: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=126348 jaclaz

FYI, installing XP from USB stick is normally working very well, as long, obviously, as the appropriate SATA driver is properly integrated in the source: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=157 jaclaz

Thanks for the info. Am I allowed to say that it seems a crazy thing to me? I mean, I cannot leave my PC shutted off for 6 months, come back and switch it on as it was before? Do I have to call a friend or relative to go to my house and switch it on before the deadline if I am out of town for a long period? jaclaz

Sorry for the OT, but does this mean that if a PC stays disconnected for, say, 181 days, Vista activation needs to be redone? jaclaz

My crystall ball being again to the shop for tuning , I cannot say. I used: exactly to avoid meaning "use ONLY Wise Registry Cleaner" (or any other single app). Each app, besides a few simply not up-to-the-standard, has different ways to "look" at the Registry, and even a "very good" one may overlook, for any reason, what another finds and fixes in no time. jaclaz

The idea is that you should read the entire thread, get the hang of it, then search on the board for appropriate keywords, .... Try reading this: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...71016&st=42 and looking into the batch files.... jaclaz

See here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=126348 jaclaz

READ this first: http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html if needed, use this: http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html More generally, open your Registry and edit directly DosDevices: http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/...ive-letter.html Are you talking about drive lettering of drive names? Have you tried restarting Explorer? jaclaz

@helpdsk FYI: the booting process is completely different, basically: NT/2K/XP/2003 | Vista/2008 NTLDR --------->BOOTMGR BOOT.INI ------->BCD More details and graphical explanation: http://www.multibooters.co.uk/multiboot.html jaclaz

You mean this : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=71016 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=82638 jaclaz

Well, this is not "question time". Empty lines in txtsetup.sif can be removed allright. i8042 is the "right " name for PS/2 keyboard and mouse bus: http://www.file.net/process/i8042prt.sys.html More generally, try searching in Google for the driver name alone or together with TXTSETUP.SIF and you'll probably find all the info you need. Don't assume that anything is "properly" named. IDE and ATA/SATA devices use disk.sys or cdrom.sys as well serial.sys/serenum.sys are about the serial PORT(s) not mouse. 1394 (read "firewire") is NOT i8042. You must read a lot of things besides this thread in order to be able to identify properly system files, their use, the need or lack of need for them. The SMALLEST possible TXTSETUP.SIF you will ever find (used in a MicroPE project) is here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=17807 your mileage may vary. jaclaz

You seem to miss a point. Unless you have a "special" license or agreement with Microsoft to do so, you are not Legally entitled to distribute a "unattended CD", no matter if "crippled" or not. You can create an unattended Cd with your Licensed Windows Setup files, for your own exclusive use on the machines you have a license for, but you cannot share, sell or lend it to anyone else. Helping you on this particular topic may be against Rules of this Board, particularly Rule #1.a: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=18408 We have a form of CATCH 22 here: People who are licensed to redistribute MS files may ask how to tweak them. If you need to ask how to tweak them you cannot redistribute MS software. This said, I don't think that there is ANY way to use txtsetup.sif as a "date indexed" protection mechanism. jaclaz

Dave-H Don't take it the wrong way, but more than 6 Mb of system Registry means to me that it's still bloated (NTREGOPT only defrags Registry, does not clean it). If you have a safe, tested way to dual booting, you should run (like ANYONE should do) ERUNT to make a safe backup of the Registry. Then run against it any known Registry utility known to human kind. I would start (for Free) with this one: http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm never let me down in many years. More here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Registry-Cleaner...son-t68677.html jaclaz

What you describe appears to be NOT connected to the "bricking" or de-bricking". You just seem have a problem with your partition table/filesystem. What I would do: Check the drive partitioning with TESTDISK: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk if needed, fix it Check disk with CHKDSK from a Vista OS: http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget....1276029,00.html and WITHOUT parameters. if needed re-run it with /F and/or /R parameter jaclaz

Just to add to the links by Mdgx, a couple of GUI tools from DX21 mentioned in the past but that can still be found through the Wayback Machine: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=210&st=1 (first one is the same BOOT.INI Configuration Utility v1.5.0) jaclaz