jaclaz

Short answer: Yes. Long Answer: Yes, but you need to follow several different guides/tutorials and possibly add something of your own. Start here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=157 Then go here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=5187 The above is the "easy" part, that will cover XP Setup and ANY linux + Acronis. Now read the tutorials by Dietmar (in his signature): http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14181 Then read this: http://www.ngine.de/article/id/8 And try using this: http://www.usboot.org/tiki-index.php jaclaz

To re-cap: BCDW does perfectly a limited number of things, on CD/DVD only. Syslinux/Memdisk/Isolinux do perfectly a greater number of things, both on CD/DVD and HD-like devices, but is more "Linux oriented", a derivative project, Siblo: http://simplux.org/siblo/ might give some additional features more "NT oriented" grub4dos has almost total "Linux compatibility", being derived from "legacy grub 0.97", it is also DOS and NT oriented, to which you can add several advanced features unavailable with the other programs, since a large number of Linux distro already use grub legacy, the menu.lst entries are compatible (or need on ly slight mods). What I find "superior" in grub4dos is the fact that the SAME files (provided that the menu.lst is written appropriately) can normally be used with no modifications on CD/DVD, HD-like devices and floppy-like devices, and the .iso mapping feature, very very handy (for those OS with which it is compatible) in a multiboot environment. But each program has it's own pluses and minuses, so, as cdob advised, there is not a "better" choice, they are tools, simply use the one that does the needed work better or faster. jaclaz

Pyrox try the atttached: 1) 00 out first 100 sectors 2) use hdhacker to restore the modified MBR to the stick 3) remove stick 4) re-insert stick 5) use the built-in Windows FORMAT to format the partition 6) copy to the newly made partition just: NTLDR NTDETECT.COM BOOT.INI (the boot.ini should have at least two different entries) 7) try booting, if you get to the BOOT.INI choices, everything is fine 8) report jaclaz MBR_mod.zip

Pyrox, I've seen the file, but right now I'm out of town and don't have my usual tools available, I'll check them in a couple of days. jaclaz

The article you referenced is how MS-DOS assigns letters, NT based system behave differently: http://www.msfn.org/board/wondered-xp-setu...9.html&st=7 Read these thread: http://www.msfn.org/board/Drive-letters-sh...d-a-t85729.html http://www.msfn.org/board/Question-Partiti...rob-t67395.html Why not using migrate.inf and be done with it? Looky here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19663 jaclaz

Well, in the end that's not entirely true. While to avoid potential conflicts with third party software it is strongly recommended to use a fresh install when using USBoot this in no strict requirement. In fact I myself do use it on my productive install with the full BTS driverpack proivided as source for step V of phase II. However the possibility of (unwanted) complex driver interaction grows as the number of factors involved increases. So for a first try I would certainly give the advice to use a 'virgin' install of NT 5.x but once one has successfully proven that the system in question is capable of booting from USB it may be worth a try to reevaluate things with a full blown installation. Tim Which is exactly the kind of advice I was trying to give. jaclaz

You already have grub4dos installed. Read how to use it: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=5187 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3963 jaclaz

Your ONLY chance is trying using TESTDISK to recover the partition tables. But most probably the amount of damage already caused is too much. So maybe you can try using PHOTOREC to try and recover some files. Read here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Recovering-Win2K...io-t115439.html and particularly here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Recovering-Win2K....html&st=16 jaclaz

@Kazuya17 Please when posting longish snippets, put them in [ codebox ] [ /codebox ] tags as it keeps the thread more readable. Maybe stupid idea , but can you try with the grub4dos "fake" F6 floppy trick? http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20543 jaclaz

You are welcome to use/copy/modify, if useful, my small batches here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...=21965&st=6 I am attaching a copy here also, should you have troubles in getting them from 911CD. jaclaz Freedrv.zip

If I may, the approach of Bold Fortune and of nuhi is completely different. Bold Fortune published each of his findings and asks for money for a set of batches that will replicate automatically each of them. nuhi gives for free the application but won't tell you (or not completely tell) what is inside it. I personally do not like either approach, I like to share my (very little and NOT comparable to the great work done by nuhi and Bold Fortune) findings and, when I make it, the batch file to automate it, but this is my idea of sharing, not necessarily the "right" and "only" one. As well, it is my personal idea that using .Net is a waste of resources/disk space, but again this may be just because batch is the only scripting language I can write into. For the record there is (or maybe was) a mostly unknown third guy: http://manoa.flnet.org/ (the site is offline, but a few pages can be found with google cache) that took some of Bold Fortune's (and info from other sources) posts and "translated" them into batches that you can (could) download for free. All three, as I see it, want to have control on what they do, one way or the other, nuhi is exceptionally fast to resolve problems and bugs and he is admirable in the way he kept nlite (and now keeps nlite and vlite also) constantly updated, and I hope that he will go on forever, but what would happen once he loses interest in the matter, or for any reason he stops developing nlite and vlite? I personally think that "collaborative" projects, though of course much more difficult to manage, offer more probabilities to survive for a longer stretch of time and often can solve problems otherwise unresolved by using the contribution of new and different points of view. jaclaz

If I may , it would be advisable to directly use the output of the commands, as to avoid the unneeded creation of some temporary files. As an example this: diskpart /s listdisk.txt >listresult.txt for /f "skip=8 tokens=2 delims= " %%a in (listresult.txt) do ( can be "simplified" to: for /f "skip=8 tokens=2 delims= " %%a in ('diskpart /s listdisk.txt') do ( And diskpart can be "fed" with commands, this: echo list disk >listdisk.txt diskpart /s listdisk.txt can be obtained by: echo list disk|diskpart.exe Thus, overall, the whole: echo list disk >listdisk.txt diskpart /s listdisk.txt >listresult.txt for /f "skip=8 tokens=2 delims= " %%a in (listresult.txt) do ( can become: for /f "skip=8 tokens=2 delims= " %%a in ('echo list disk^|diskpart.exe') do ( with two temporary files less. jaclaz

You can use reg.exe from batch, then parse it's output, here are a couple examples: http://www.msfn.org/board/pulling-registry-ba-t97010.html Read these also: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/ntregistry.html http://www.robvanderwoude.com/ntfor.html http://www.robvanderwoude.com/ntfortokens.html Open a command prompt and run in it: reg query "HKCU\Identities" jaclaz

Hmmm, maybe the USB controller goes in some kind of "loop". Try using good ol' diskprobe (dskprobe.exe): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...61-ba8011fabf38 To see which last sector it detects on physicaldrive. jaclaz

@DigeratiPrime Not to contradict you , but ANY NT based system on ANY (ATA/ATAPI/IDE/SATA) hd connected through a USB adapter will BSOD with STOP 0x0000007b because of the missing/wrong USB Registry entries (and thus drivers), unless of course it has been properly installed on that USB hd. jaclaz

Sure it can be done in batch. A basic batch to backup the folders is here: http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/qt/et110703.htm (but it needs you to supply the source) But with some info from here: http://www.insideoe.com/files/regkeys.htm it should just be a matter of querying the Registry to get the path, i.e. doing from batch what is suggested to be done manually here: http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/qt/et010603.htm Or maybe freebies like these are what you want: http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx http://www.genie-soft.com/products/oeb/features.html jaclaz

Well, actually yes. Basically, though not yet fully established/verified, the "HP" utility may produce in some cases an "unbalanced" partition table, where CHS and LBA address data are not corresponding to each other, and/or making a partition that may not end on Cylinder "boundary". This is not usually a problem with the FAT16 bootsector, but it can be one with the FAT32 one, and the problem may also be caused by a combination of this "mispartitioning" with the peculiar BIOS of your motherboard. The MBRBATCH and MKIMG method are designed to have (as it should always be ) CHS and LBA data corresponding and partition ending on Cylinder boundary, thus they should solve the problem. There also two other workarounds, see here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21864 (using DOS to load grub4dos grub.exe or installing grub4dos grldr.mbr) And a third one, installing (on Xp, NOT Vista) either the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver or the dummydisk.sys by Anton Bassov (google for them) in order to make the USB stick seen as "fixed" and thus enabling you to use the "usual" Disk Manager. And a fourth one (untested by me) by using SwissKnife: http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm that should be able as well to "hd-like format" a device seen as "removable". If you cannot make it with any of the above methods, use HDhacker: http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/ to save BOTH MBR and bootsector of the stick, then compress them in a .zip file and post it here, I'll have a look at them. jaclaz

To be more accurate, a USB hard disk generally behaves EXACTLY as a "normal" hard disk. A pendrive should work the same but it doesn't, thus another utility is needed. External hard disk are generally seen by windows as "fixed", pendrives usually are set as "removable" and thus they need either an utility like PetoUSB or the "HP" one to allow partitioning or, alternatively, a "filter driver" which is capable of making windows "see" a removable device as fixed and thus allowing the use of the normal disk manager. jaclaz

Sure, should it be able to also make some coffee of this is irrelevant? Seriously, it's very difficult to know which make/model/brand is better than another, the only way is comparison tests, but the ones you can find around are oldish, and sometimes the product is out of production, for example some of the sticks tested here: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/di...sh-roundup.html This one is recent: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1589/meg...ndup/index.html jaclaz

Hey peeps, not to gatecrash the party , but you do realize that after posting the initial question azelza never took part on the thread, do you? ...and I guess there are a few tens similar threads on the board..... Why don't we turn this into something REALLY new, like a good ol' NTFS vs. FAT32 or Mickey Mouse vs. Dracula thread? jaclaz

NO. The problem is exactly that. The first sector is affected by partitioning (NOT formatting) Sectors 2÷63 should not be affected by partitioning, nor by formatting. A number of sectors after sector 63 are the bootsector and some other filesystem structures (depending if FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS) and are affected by the formatting The problem is that in some cases info already written in these places is "kept" or however used in the partitioning and formatting procedure, which makes the result incorrect. By wiping first 200 sectors (but I personally recommend just first 100, as they are usually enough) you make sure that the drive is "blank". Read here: http://www.msfn.org/board/USB-Booting-issu....html&st=13 (AND links within) jaclaz

This should be enough: a hard disk or USB stick usually has sectors sized 512 bytes a hard disk or USB stick MBR (Master Boot Record) is on first sector of the device a CD-ROM has sectors sized 2048 bytes a CD-ROM has it's boot record (equivalent to the MBR) at sector 17 It is possible to write a MBR and some other piece of code capable, once BIOS has accessed 1st sector (MBR) of the HD-like device, to load the actual bootrecord of the CDROM, but such approach won't work for second part of install. Grub4dos has such capabilities (.iso mapping), but they do not (and cannot) work when the "real mode" part ends and the protected mode "kicks in", see here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5041 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66 An alternative is using RAMDISK booting, but of course you need files from Server 2003 SP1 - which are however limited to 512 Mb size of the .iso - and of course LOTS of RAM. Maybe it is possible to "extend" the use of the "XP Kansas City Shuffle" trick (or a similar on-the-fly-swap) on CD-like devices, but the method is still VERY, VERY experimental with hd-like devices, and noone has yet tried applying it to a CD-like image: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21242 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21939 jaclaz

Yep, the point is whether you want to install on your eeepc or not. You can do that while still believing that there must be another way. To keep your mind peaceful , it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to "stuff an iso into a usb flash", AS LONG AS the USB stick is "compatible": http://www.msfn.org/board/Install-XP-from-...th-t121502.html jaclaz

The best option is usually doing a REPAIR install. You will need a slipstreamed CD to the same (or later) "level" of SP. See here: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm jaclaz

Just read here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Install-XP-from-USB-f157.html http://www.msfn.org/board/How-to-install-X...SB-t111406.html The method has been used by eeepc users and is all around the eeepc forums, see here as an example: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=17294 The procedure is fully automated, you only have to make some (right ) choices, both when nliting and when running the batch, read FAQ's first thing: http://www.msfn.org/board/FAQs-t116766.html jaclaz