jaclaz

Also, IF I am correct in my guess that the booted XP is NOT on the problematic drive, something that you can try (from a DOS bootdisk or CD) is to wipe the Disk Signature in the MBR, or, if it works in your "peculiar" situation under the booted XP, use MBRFIX: http://www.sysint.no/nedlasting/mbrfix.htm to actually change it. Letters are assigned in \MountedDevices\ subkey in the Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices "linked" to Disk Signature AND partition start/length, by changing disk signature you will render all "previous" drive lettering invalid and maybe will alow you to have drive lettering become "sticky". Be VERY AWARE that if you change the Disk Signature of the BOOT drive, XP won't be able to boot from it. Before EVEN THINKING of doing what above hinted, make sure to have read and FULLY understood these, even if some of the links seem not relevant, they are relevant : http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mbr/Win2kmbr.htm http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19663 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21242 I see (no offence intended ) that you like to play with matches, be very aware that a fire can start from these activities. Even if you managed to get (almost) your data back, you should really consider buying, borrowing, stealing an additional hard drive and backup the data BEFORE going on, it is possible, and I'm afraid probable that by continuing to fiddle with partitions and data (and with Registry, which in your case should be the "culprit"), you may find yourself in a no-way-out condition. jaclaz

AFAIK there is NOT an "easy" solution (read maybe a VERY, VERY difficult, NOT recommended one) to fix drive letters AFTER install. On the other hand it is relatively easy if you plan adequately the install (in the case of a new install) Some related threads, to get you more insight in the problem: http://www.msfn.org/board/Change-Boot-Driv...art-t90495.html http://www.msfn.org/board/Drive-Letter-a**...ent-t90946.html http://www.msfn.org/board/Drive-letter-pro...ll-t118149.html I "don't do" Vista , but if any new, relevant info has come out, it is likely that it can be found here: http://www.multibooters.co.uk/ jaclaz

Remember that I am much more on the "electromechanical" side than on the "electronics" one when it comes to technical knowledge, but most probably what I am suggesting is also the simplest workaround, possibly an smallish electronic circuit based on the same idea could be easily made. Get two wires out of the PC connected parallel to the on/off switch button, let's call them "switch" wires. Get two wires out of the PC connected to 0 and +12V (as an example from a floppy or HD connector), let's call them "power" wires. Have TWO relays, first with 240 V AC coil and second with 12 V DC coil. Connect the two "switch" wires out of the PC to the normally open contact of first relay. Connect the coil of first relay to mains (outside of the UPS) through a normally closed contact of second relay. Connect the coil of second relay to the "power" wires. I hope the above is clear enough, if you need I can draw a small schematics for it. The principle is the following: 1. mains go out 2. mains returns, the coil of first relay is attracted, "virtually" pressing the power button 3.the ATX power gives +12 V, thus attracting the coil of second relay, which makes first relay go back to "open" 4. when mains goes out again (loop to 1. above) the 12V go out, closing the circuit to the coil of first relay, thus making it ready to send a "pulse" to the power switch when mains will come back You will have the (very little) power consumption at the +12 V level when the PC is switched off as a side effect. A capacitor may be needed to allow for some "wait" and avoid possible "bumps" due to mains going out and back in a very short time. jaclaz

I have NO experience with "saving" as XML. But, I know a bit about Excel way to handle numbers. It seems to me, that you are in a case when it is easy to fall in errors due to - let's call them confusion - between "precision" as opposed to "rounding" and "display" as opposed to "value". If the 2.8524999999999998 value is coming from a formula like a division or a Square Root, say, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE: =0.33/13 change it to: =round(0.33/13,6) or, alternatively, check in options, somewhere there should be a setting like "set precision as displayed" or something to that effect, before saving the spreadsheet as .xml. jaclaz

A question: How do you get the PC "out of sleep" or "turn it again on" manually? I mean, by pressing "any key", by "left or right clicking" the mouse, by pressing the "on/off" button of the case (I am assuming the PC has an ATX supply), or how? jaclaz

Happy to hear a report of success. Now that we know the reason, it is possible that the problem can be resolved by editing the TXTSETUP.SIF, check this seemingly completely unrelated post: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=5316&st=55 Of course your mileage may vary. jaclaz

If I may go off a little off topic : Why the heck do you remove and insert mice (in different USB ports) instead of working? Seriously, I mean I have inserted the mouse on my desktops some two or three years ago and never felt the urge to disconnect and reconnect them, and however, not on a different port. On Laptops, I never had this problem, but anyway I always use the same port. jaclaz

xtremee, sorry, I had misunderstood your original question. You have ONLY two choices available (apart a new motherboard): 1) Edit your BIOS, VERY, VERY, and I mean VERY risky, NOT recommended 2) Try using PLoP boot manager: http://www.plop.at/ http://www.plop.at/en/bootmngrusblog.html Try #2) above, if it does not work we can try to find an app for "flipping the bit" of the stick, though before this you should be sure that your BIOS actually boots from "fixed" USB device (another already "flipped" stick or USB Hard Disk). jaclaz

Sure , I am not pretending to be the one and only truth around , you asked something, and I gave you my personal opinion on the matter, as clearly stated. Since you asked for it, besides corrupting by hexediting, I proposed a "corrupting complex formulas" approach, that may (or may not) suit your needs. jaclaz

As I see it, we need to take another factor out of the equation. Cannot you borrow a GOOD, standard XP install CD to test it in the kvm? It is equally possible that the problem is due to either: 1) ANOTHER corrupted file or more generally a .iso problem 2) the install process on the VM 3) ANOTHER until now not pointed out reason The "new" error you are getting could be due to the "original" WIN51 file. Another test you can make is to remove/change the tag files: http://www.msfn.org/board/Edit-txtsetupsif...o-M-t65541.html http://www.msfn.org/board/multiboot-and-nlite-t99385.html Also, some semi-random questions: Which app did you use to create the .iso? With which syntax/command line? How big is the .iso? jaclaz

Yep, it was a DOS reminiscence when jolting down it. Though in this case the "spaces in the name" appear to be not a problem. OT, but not much, have you had any experience with the "nul.ext" ? http://www.msfn.org/board/Batch-Scripts-fo...ure-t98853.html http://www.msfn.org/board/batch-programming-t105969.html I mean, it seems like your "direct" approach is allright if you are sure that there is NO file with the same name as the searched folder, but would probably fail (later) if this rare case applies. The \nul approach does not work with spaces in names (read quoted path). What about the \nul.ext ? jaclaz

AFAIK: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=16381 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...16381&st=18 ALL WIN51IP.SPx files have to be empty. It is possible that ANOTHER file was copied incorrectly, though. Re-read the previously given links and expecially fdv's advice, in your case of a "doubtful" source, this comment is particularly valid. jaclaz

Resource Hacker: http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/ Freeware Resouce Tunner => Resource Tuner, OK: http://www.restuner.com/ $39.95 Restortorar=>Restorator, OK: http://www.bome.com/Restorator/ Price: 60 Euros (approx. US$ 85) Other Freeware ones: http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/d10resourceeditor.htm http://www.resedit.net/ jaclaz

Since there are a number of repetitive tasks, all of them "name" oriented, wouldn't something like this (just an example, NOT tested, DO NOT take it as "final" code ) be simpler/handier? set scriptpath=U:\NewApps\ConfigurationManagement\ set viewpath=U:\NewApps\Quiz36\TCC\Code\ set /p thumb_dr= What is the thumb drive letter ? if not exist %thumb_dr%:\nearfield\nul md %thumb_dr%:\nearfield cd /d %thumb_dr%:\nearfield set logfile=%thumb_dr%:\nearfield\log.txt echo .>%logfile% copy %scriptpath%Scripts\*& CALL :mytee "copying cm scripts" FOR %%A in (src fpgaInclude include mfaInclude msgInclude nsiInclude control_files c_code) DO ( mkdir %%A& CALL :mytee "making %%A directory" copy %viewpath%%%A\* %thumb_dr%:\nearfield\%%A& CALL :mytee "copying %%A directory files" ) CALL :mytee "End of program" GOTO :EOF :mytee echo %~1 echo . echo %~1>>%logfile% echo .>>%logfile% GOTO :EOF jaclaz

Check The status of the device. It may have a status 19 or 24. Often it is due to some "lower" or "upper" filters installed in the Registry, some "virtual" drive drivers have been reported as being the cause, as well as "proprietary" USB drivers: http://www.msfn.org/board/USB-storage-devi...er-t121254.html http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html (I am assuming that we are talking about devices that are seen as "Mass Storage Devices") It could as well be a hardware problem, but since I presume that your devices work on other PC's, I doubt it: http://www.msfn.org/board/Win-XP-Drive-t122391.html There are possibly limits in the number of devices (entries in the Registry) that you can connect on a given PC, but they should not apply on "normal" use (as an example where this may happen, "public" PC's like that on Universities to which thousands of USB sticks may be connected). jaclaz

My personal opinion, is that UNLESS the job is for a technical consultant in a data recovery or forensics company, the question and the way it is posed would not be appropriate: it would, if answered correctly only discriminate about the candidate "geekness" . To the question: Q. Here is a corrupted excel file, what can you do to recover it's contents? The correct answer is NOT: A1. Nothing, you should have a backup of it before corruption. (which noone in his right mind would give in a job interview , as it hints that the Company has bad backup practices or that the interviewer is a jerk) And is NOT even: A2. Sure, no problem, let me have a look at it in my hex editor, give me a couples of hours and I'll get the data. (which is reserved to the very few people that can actually fix a corrupted Excel datasheet with a hex editor, otherwise is either presumptuous or a bluff) The "right" answer is actually a question: A3. Sure, how much I am allowed to spend in consulting fees to recover this valuable data? I will start researching a suitable solution as soon as I have a budget. If you wish to "insist" in the question, meaning it is aimed to test actual knowledge in the use of Excel, I would rather use "address" corruption in formulas, something that an advanced Excel user should be able to fix. By fiddling with VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, ADDRESS, INDIRECT functions, and inserting or removing a column within the lookup range, you can easily make an otherwise "perfect" spreadsheet become a mess. jaclaz

At the time, Windows 95 was fast with 32 Mb, and Windows 98 was fast with 96 Mbytes, so the 128 Mbyte should not be a problem. The microdrive, being a CF card type, is pin-compatible with IDE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompactFlash So, I guess that the "complication" would be using the "added layer" of USB interface, is there a reason for it? However, you need a very reduced Windows 9x, rather than a "full" system. Did you try the Winimize project? http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showforum=53 http://www.winimize.com/ An hypothetical size for the needs you have should be below 35÷40 Mb in size, thus it would be possible to load it and run it in RAMDISK or using grub4dos mapping. jaclaz

Exactly my point. jaclaz

I have some perplexities on the "extent" of the "free" related to imagex used as an imaging tool/backup: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...9355&st=134 jaclaz

@earlytv There are several ways to boot a Windows 98. (there is more than one way to skin a cat) Can you post what is your final goal, setting for a moment what you heard aside, and giving some more details on the PC you want to run 98 on? Amount of RAM, BIOS used, whether it supports booting at USB 1.1 or 2.0 spped, whether it uses EHCI, OHCI or UHCI USB controller, etc.? And what use you will put this install PC at? If you have enough RAM, most probably using a RAMdisk would be the easiest. Just to give you a hint, and something to read, not necessarily the solution you are looking for: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=2267 @cannie You are a candidate for testing PLoP: http://www.plop.at/en/bootmngrusblog.html jaclaz

Yes, if the infection is "smart" enough, it won't let you install a scanning engine without attempting to modify it, and if the Anti-virus is "smart" enough won't let anything modify it's own files and will fail the install. A good CATCH 22 situation. Scanning the system off-line using a dos, linux or PE based bootdick/CD/DVD is the way to go. jaclaz

Just for the record: 1) it is possible, though NOT recommended, NOT easy, possible at the moment manually only, taking a lot of time and prone to errors, to change a drive letter for the "boot" partition http://www.msfn.org/board/Change-Boot-Driv...art-t90495.html Kids, don't do this at home 2) the problem of "mixing" drive letters on new installs can be resolved by using the migrate.inf file: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc758337.aspx http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19663 As in everything in this field, accurate planning before partitioning/installing/adding drives is essential. jaclaz

If I may, wheel (and hot water) have already been invented. Here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=334 http://mbldr.sourceforge.net/ http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=162108 Now, making the wheel rounder (and hot water hotter) may be a great accomplishment , though 512 bytes, actually: 512-2-(4*16)-4= 458 bytes (whole size-magic number-4*partition entries-2K/XP/2003/Vista disk signature) are a rather smallish environment for adding featires. Cheers, jaclaz

Thanks for the invitation, but unfortunately Chinese is very difficult for western eyes (at least mine). May I invite you , since you appear to know English, here? : http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4661 jaclaz

Of course the .wim needs to be mounted, how would you access it's contents otherwise? Maybe you should use one of the GUIS available: http://www.autoitscript.com/gimagex/ http://www.msfn.org/board/GImageX-and-WIMM...ls-t107920.html http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20706 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=3001 But, no offence whatever intended , you appear to have not yet fully grasped the theory behind the use of .wim images. If I may give you some advice: You should re-study the available documentation and online one, start here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc721929.aspx Initially do try building normal, simple deploying images, to get the hang of the procedure, and only later introduce variations, unattended install, partitioning and the like. I suspect that at the moment you are attempting to have "everything an now" without being sufficiently familiar with the basics. jaclaz