jaclaz

Are you removing "Manual Install and Upgrade for removal"? See FAQ #2 here: http://www.msfn.org/board/FAQs-t116766.html jaclaz

Can you get to DOS command line? If yes, try running win.com with the various "debug" switches: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/142544/en-us Check this page: http://www.mdgx.com/newtip10.htm that has more tips. I see you have a 160 Gb hard disk, you sure that the FAT32 partition is BELOW the LBA48 barrier (137 Gb)? See here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Enable48BitLBA-B...ier-t78592.html http://www.msfn.org/board/137GB-limit-ESDI...lim-t46752.html jaclaz

Looky here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Rename-File-With...-Fi-t47812.html jaclaz

Happy to hear a story of success! jaclaz

Just for the record, and should anyone have the same type of problems, the "magic numbers" in partition table I gave before can be easily calculated with the spreadsheet you can find here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=2959 Yep, but besides testing booting from the stick, it is a good idea to have anything removed also when "fiddling" with it, as you appear to have learned the "hard" way : jaclaz

Sure, but a few simply do not have enough current to drive a 2.5" hard disk, Specs are not below +4.75V and up to 500 mA, but there are reported cases where the actual current you can draw from the port is less than that. However, this appears not to be the case, I suspect more that, though being perfactly compatible with Windows XP "internal" drivers, the USB Vid/Pid is not "recognized" properly, a chack with DEVCON would be useful: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/en-us http://www.robvanderwoude.com/devcon.html Renew USB: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/files/renewusb_2k.txt jaclaz

AFAIK if you do not reboot, changes are NOT "sensed". jaclaz

You can use testdisk: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk to recover your partition table. SP3 is YET ANOTHER variable that you added. WHY? ...and possibly slipstreamed with nlite under Vista, which adds YET ANOTHER variable. Try with XP SP1 or SP2, NOT SP3. To make the stick bootable, since for unknown reasons the programs that work for everyone do not work on your hardware/software, you can as you already did, re-use the MBR manually made, then re-format the stick and apply bootsect /nt52, make sure it boots with NTLDR+NTDETECT.COM+BOOT.INI before copying the files to stick. REMOVE ANY OTHER USB DEVICE (excluded Mouse and Keyboard if USB) when working with bootable USB sticks. As expected, the error is IRQ/Driver related. Search for "0x000000c2" with google. jaclaz

Actually, no. I don't have any spare / extra harddrive laying around here. I have a external drive, but I don't want to "challenge destiny". That's why I want to install to my usb drive, so I don't have to use a extra harddrive. Yes, but the result is that you cannot boot from it, and we have several "layers" of possible causes: 1) the "quality" of the source (meaning the number of integrated SP's and KB fixes/security updates) 2) the "entity" of your nliting (did you remove too much? ) 3) hardware drivers 4) "my" .sif and .inf's You should AT LEAST try installing your source (WITHOUT and WITH) the USB mods, in a Virtual Machine, VirtualBox should be allright: http://www.virtualbox.org/ Tricky part, the bsod flashses by one second and then my computer restarts. Should I disable "reboot on system errors" when I press F8 before windows tries to boot? YES, it is VITAL to know which exact error is, it may help in finding what the problem is. You can change the Registry Entry: http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/229/ autoreboot to 0 (Offline you will need to access ControlSet001 instead of CurrentControlSet) No, it does not change system files, only cannot say if it would run under Vista. As expected, (since you get to the logon screen) the initial loading appers to be OK, the error happens later, do check the Event Logs. jaclaz

OK, the -o switch is present, but 4.2 Gb seems to me too much, as from what you list a lot of files should be "in common" You may want to try -oc or -oci or -ocis: If you can have the image smaller than 4 Gbytes, it could eliminate part of the possible causes. I guessed it was a bootable .iso , but what it should boot? I mean DOS, Linux, a PE of some kind.... As an example, BCDW is said to be non-compatible with XPSP2 SETUPLDR.BIN (and probably newer releases too): http://www.collewijn.info/xpe/boot-cd/Make...zard%202.01.php Whatever the .iso is called, try changing it's name to something that goes BEFORE anything else, like AAA.ISO. WHAT error does it give? jaclaz

Care to share what you did here? Or maybe contact Steven Saunderson and tell him, so he can add the info to the page? jaclaz

You may have "fallen" in this: http://www.msfn.org/board/Weird-NTLDR-Error-t119971.html How big are the files already on DVD? Which tool did you use to create the .iso? Did you use the -duplicate-once (or similar setting) when building? jaclaz

I cannot say what is meant by "premier", but yes, it should work allright, of course it is highly advised to burn the downloaded file to a DVD as to re-create a "standard" install DVD and store it safely. Without knowing which kind of file you are going to download I cannot say if file extraction or any other modification needs to be done. jaclaz

Well, it does look like a queer "reference" to the original problem. I read the above much like: Definitely my English (or logic ) needs lots of improvements. jaclaz

Check, re-check, and triple check EVERYTHING. Set the BIOS to use as less "advanced" options as possible, disable in it any device that is not vital, like audio, parallel ports, network card, etc. Boot with /BASEVIDEO and /BOOTLOG http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...s/bb963892.aspx Check the the file %SystemRoot%\Ntbtlog.txt POOL_BAD_DRIVER says nothing to me, post the CODE of the BSOD, and any other reference. http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Windows-XP-...des-t43519.html http://northtechs.com/blscreen.htm http://www.updatexp.com/stop-messages.html Check the Event Viewer files on a working machine: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/165959/en-us i.e. *.evt under %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\ This app has a FREE personal license: http://www.eventlogxp.com/ A good idea could be that of starting again from scratch. I assume you ALREADY tested the nliting by installing from the modified source on a "normal" HD, didn't you? Use the files I posted, after having re-chacked them. jaclaz

Naah, ...actually attempting to avoid it is too much work.... jaclaz

Your post made me wonder about these two threads: http://www.msfn.org/board/Is-there-any-too...me-t120126.html http://www.msfn.org/board/Can-anyone-help-...ut-t120127.html Are BernardPerry and Steven_Law, ronal and paull playing a similar game? jaclaz

deda, why don't you actually read the previous posts? The problem is about "root system" as you call it, and it si possible to change it, though tricky and not recommended. jaclaz

Just for the record, though I agree that the "storage" where the .iso is built is most probably NTFS, it could well be another partition formatted as FAT32, and however Vista CAN be installed on FAT32. http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...181&st=1712 (of course it does not make much sense if not in very peculiar setups, but still it is possible) Back to topic, there are "size barriers" in the actual initial stages of booting, see here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Weird-NTLDR-Error-t119971.html Though the above applies to XP, same thing is most probably true for VISTA. jaclaz

You do not get "a" BSOD, you get a BSOD with an error number. If it is 0x0000007b "Inaccessible boot device", first thing to try is the modified NTDETECT.COM: http://www.msfn.org/board/0x0000007B-Blue-...xt-t112630.html However, besides tutorial 5, you may want to look here: http://forums.ngine.de/viewforum.php?f=4 http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176 And here, a "less known" page that may clear some points: http://www.nedprod.com/Niall_stuff/BootWinUSB/ And even try the "fully automated" way: http://www.usboot.org/tiki-index.php Just in case I am attaching an archive containing the (supposedly working, UNTESTED by me) .sif and .in_/.inf files. jaclaz USBBOOT_files.zip

A good start point is this bootdisk: http://johnson.tmfc.net/dos/usbdrv.html There is a "better"/"newer" Iomega driver floating around, see here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4260&st=10 Read this too: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4462 jaclaz

Hmmm, still something is strange... The three bootsectors are IDENTICAL (exception made for volume serial that is irrelevant). The three MBR's are ALMOST identical: Bad_MBR_HardDisk1.dat and MBR_HardDisk1.dat are identical. Win_XP_MBR_HardDisk1.dat, instead has partition type set as 0E instead of 06. The non-booting of the couple Win_XP_MBR_HardDisk1.dat+Win_XP_BootSector_DriveH.dat can be attributed to the partition type change (it should mean that your motherboard BIOS does not like LBA addressing on USB stick). But there is NO reason why the couple Bad_MBR_HardDisk1.dat+Bad_BootSector_DriveH.dat does not boot while the couple MBR_HardDisk1.dat+BootSector_DriveH.dat works, as they are IDENTICAL. Maybe in the haste of testing you "mixed" versions? Or a "cold" or "warm" reboot was needed? Just in case I am attaching a "fixed" MBR that implements the same "hack" the HP USB formatting utility uses, see here for reference: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=2246&st=15 It should be "more" compatible and hopefully let you boot with both 06 and 0E as partition type. jaclaz MBR_HardDisk1_fixed.zip

@PROBLEMCHYLD Sorry, I do not get it, is it a "declaration" or a request for assistance? If the latter, which are the specific problems you need help with? jaclaz

If I may, it seems to me that this thread is taking a "strange" turn. Volatus asked something, i.e. if anyone knows a way to have Windows XP on HD to get drive letter C: even if some other devices are connected. So far there were TWO valid replies: 1) install the XP on whatever drive letter it gets and later change it. (tricky) 2) install the XP "pre-mapping" the hard disk (tricky as well) Then a number of replies, saying more or less that he should dis-connect all other devices before installing, which I am sure was a "trick" Volatus already thinked of, and that probably caused in first instance the question. What is the point to post that kind of info? The original question does not appear to be a poll of the type: So, taking as granted that disconnecting all devices is the most popular and possibly simpler way, are there alternatives? jaclaz

Uniextract should help: http://legroom.net/software/uniextract to get you the files inside the installers/exes. jaclaz