jaclaz

Well, the good news is that we found a replicable way to make the stick bootable. I need to know EXACTLY which steps you took for "starting" the installation, or if you prefer, a link to the tutorial you are using/trying to follow. Since this "peculiar" machine (or couple stick/motherboard) appear to behave weirdly, ANY step that involves re-formatting or re-partitioning the stick should be avoided, if the stick is booting and after the whatever-you-do it is not booting anymore, it means that the procedure changes something. For the record, a blinking cursor is usually connected to a problem with the bootsector, whilst the "Non system disk, replace and press any key" is usually connected to a MBR problem. You should repeat the steps that made the stick bootable, I would try also - before formatting - to experiment in beeblebrox changing the 06 (FAT16 CHS mapped) to 0E (FAT16 LBA mapped). Once you have a booting stick, simply use hdhacker to save both MBR and bootsector, then, once the stick fails to boot, simply restore those two sectors with hdhacker. Please save your current (NOT BOOTING) MBR + bootsector, then repeat the procedure for making the stick bootable and save the (GOOD, BOOTING) MBR + bootsector, post the four of them, maybe I can find by looking at them what is wrong. jaclaz

Migrate.inf is dependant from the MBR hard disk signature, so, it is somehow "hardcoded". Something you may want to experiment with (untested by me) is to write a "conventional" hard disk signature to the first drive MBR - matching the entry in migrate.inf - before installing. Then after system has booted, change it with a "random" one. Would the system "sense" automatically the signature change and "keep" the drive letter? Cannot say, but if you use a batch to call (for example) MBRFIX to change the signature, the same batch could directly modify accordingly the Registry entry in DosDevices..... jaclaz

Quite hard to run since I don't have the DVD, I bought a cheap laptop with preinstalled Vista and I did not get a DVD with it, so I can't run it. Anyways I skipped that step and posting the .dat files here. Strange. I thought bootsect.exe wass installed by default, have you tried opening a command prompt and running it? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529/en-us However the MBR you posted is simply "crazy", cannot say what may cause this behaviour. Get beeblebrox here: http://students.cs.byu.edu/~codyb/ and use it to access your stick, you'll see values: 06-80-0-2-3-248-254-63-128-4013568 "Right" values should be: 06-80-0-1-1-248-254-63-63-4000122 Try correcting them, save changes, extract and reinsert USB stick, re-format it. Still we need to find a way to correct the bootsector to invoke NTLDR if you do not have bootsect.exe, Vistabootpro should have a feature for it: http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77547 http://www.vistabootpro.org/ See if it works... jaclaz

I am not sure to have understood completely your setup or what you want to do. Did you check this site? : http://www.depicus.com/wake-on-lan/ jaclaz

deploymentgeek You may want to read Rules, expecially #4: http://www.msfn.org/board/Forum-Rules-Upda...ead-t18408.html And you might want, anyway, to check the spelling on your site, I would never buy anything from people that write "Avaible" instead of "Available". jaclaz

Are you "another" west117wolf? http://www.msfn.org/board/deleting-t76927.html ...or is it just a kind of memory shortage? jaclaz

Colinr, there is no need to double post: http://www.msfn.org/board/WinINSTALL-LE-t1...html&st=169 You realize hat this post is from 2003? Have you checked that link to the homepage does not work? That: http://www.ondemandsoftware.com/ redirects to: http://sup.scalable.com/ The direct link works because the company, that in the meantime changed hands/name keeps under the same name a Commercial product, which in their simplicity, they sell for more than 1,000 Euros: http://www.scalable.com/ http://store.scalable.com/ You may want to try if you can find an old copy: http://www.filewatcher.com/m/wininstallle....765064.0.0.html jaclaz

I don't see the point since your BIOS cannot boot from USB. However, you may want to try the PLOP bootmanager: http://www.plop.at/ http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html http://www.plop.at/en/bootmngrusblog.html Win95, win 98 and Me DOS, i.e. DOS 7.x and 8.0 are 16 bit, exactly as MS-DOS 6.22 were. There is normally no problem whatsoever in booting/installing these systems, including MS-DOS 6.22 from USB, since ALL DOSes rely on BIOS, they work allright if the BIOS support booting from USB. Of course you cannot install (no matter from what media) install MS-DOS on a non FAT12 or FAT16 partition, (the latter filesystem has a limit of 2 Gb), but you can pretty well use an .img and boot it through grub4dos. jaclaz

The files you sent are invalid. WHY did you save them as .txt? They are filled with 2E's What did you use to 00 fill the drive? You didn't open them in NOTEPAD (or other non-binary-enabled application) and saved them, didn't you? Since you are working with Vista , try using it's DISKPART utility as follows: list disk (to make sure that the USB stick is disk 1 below, if not change accordingly) Remove the USB stick. Reinsert USB stick. Right click on it in Explorer and choose to format it. Run bootsect.exe /nt52 Remove the USB stick. Reinsert USB stick. Use HDhacker to save MBR and bootsector, give to the files the extension .dat, do not open them with any program, just zip or rar them and attach them. jaclaz

Well, NO, you need also to change lots of registry entries..... ...though feasible, it is probable that you will have problems: http://www.msfn.org/board/Change-Boot-Driv...art-t90495.html The "right" way is to create a migrate.inf file: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19663 The drawback is that the migrat.inf will be "tailored" for a certain hard disk signature, thus the SETUP disk will only work the intended way on that particular machine and if you do not change the HD signature. jaclaz

Since you managed to create a 16Gb FAT volume (being the limit of FAT 2 Gb) you are a magician! mkbt works allright on hard disk type of media as well, ONCE it has already been properly fdisked/formatted. You NEED to use either FAT32 or NTFS. Can we assume that what you want to do is just to make a 32 Gb USB stick bootable, and that this has NOTHING to do with Hiren's or more generally with WAREZ? @geek for the record, the named WAREZ release, ALREADY uses the HP formatting utility. jaclaz

As said, making a USB stick bootable can be tricky business in some instances. Something that has proved to be working is to "wipe" the first, say 100 sectors by writing 00's to them, see here: http://www.msfn.org/board/USB-MultiBoot-8-...4.html&st=8 before re-running the HP utility. Alternatively or additionally try using the batch by fuwi referenced before. Alternatively or additionally, you can try my "indirect" way through batch: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=5000 Alternatively or additionally, do try once again formatting it with the HP utility as FAT (yes it is FAT16), then use hdhacker: http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/ make a copy of BOTH MBR (physicaldrive) AND bootsector (logicaldrive) of your USB stick, compress them in a .zip archive and post the .zip file as attachment, and I'll have a look at them. jaclaz

@mikesw Don't take this the wrong way but what you posted does not make much sense. The "1 meg" limit for MS-DOS has NOTHING to do with USB booting, I assure you. Why don't you start a new thread, this here is about ANOTHER topic ( XP install from USB), detailing what your problem is, and what you actually would like to do? Maybe there are solutions for it. jaclaz

As a rule of thumb, NTFS is NOT advised on flash based memory, if some precautions are not implemented, and unless it is really needed for any reason, as it is a semi-journaled filesystem and the excessive number of reads (irrelevant) and writes (VERY relevant) on the stick may cause a premature failure of the device. FAT32 poses not the above problems, but as said might be trickier to be made bootable. Since your stick is 2 Gb, i.e. within the limits of FAT16, I suggest you to use FAT16, as it proved to be the "most compatible" filesystem when it comes to booting. jaclaz

The problem seems to me in the way the USB stick is formatted. You SHOULD NOT let the XP install (nlited or not) format the USB stick. Stick needs to be formatted BEFORE and TESTED for actually booting. The tool that proved to be the "most practical" is the HP USB formatting utility. What size is the stick? Are you trying formatting it as FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS? Read this oldish page: http://home.graffiti.net/jaclaz:graffiti.n...SB/USBfaqs.html with particular reference to FAQ #4 and #10 Then read this thread: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19594 where some checks and howto's are suggested- And check this newish .cmd by fuwi: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=21702&hl= that appears to have found a couple of "missing" steps Set aside for the moment the "XP install" part. Just partition and format the stick properly, add to it's root a NTLDR, a NTDETECT.COM and any BOOT.INI with at least two entries. Once you can see the choices in boot.ini, it means that the initial booting (partitioning/formatting/MBR/bootsector) is OK and then you can try installing to it the XP. jaclaz

There are two different limits. First one is that of the actual no-emulation bootsector. Second one is in NTLDR. Read here: http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20248 http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4503 You seem to be suffering from the second. Checking the .iso with an utility to check the actual LBA position of the files might confirm this. jaclaz

It very much depends on the technology used on the batteries. The procedure is called "reconditioning", but was (is) applicable to Ni-CD and in a very limted way to NiMh batteries, the new Li-Ion appear to be not affected. Read here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Battery-Recalibration-t89924.html http://www.msfn.org/board/Battery-Recalibr....html&st=12 As well, actually repairing a battery of the newish generation is rather complex: http://www.electronics-lab.com/articles/Li...ct/index_1.html as compared to oldish ones: http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_3.htm jaclaz

WHAT CD? Till now you were talking of a USB stick.... Why don't you start again describing in more details what you are up to/trying to do? jaclaz

Try using, AS IN THE GIVEN EXAMPLE, ControlSet001, most probably when migrate.inf is parsed the "reg-link" between ControlSet001 and CurrentControlSet is not yet established. CurrentControlSet is a "mirror" or either ControlSet001, or ControlSet002, .....ControlSetnnn, in other words when you open an offline Registry, there is NO CurrentControlSet, it is created on-the-fly by Windows when booting. When windows is running, using CurrentControlSet is advised, but otherwise you need to use ControlSet001. jaclaz

Rest assured, it is NOT. Abandonware means, from a legal standpoint, NOTHING. To be picky a product whose maker and copyright holder has defaulted and ceased activities AND did not sell the copyright to anyone else, can be considered "safe" as noone will ever sue you. A product from a Company that is still alive (and well alive) like MS is, may present more risks of being sued. Depending on the Laws that apply in your country, you may be prosecuted nonetheless by the Local Authorities, even without any copyright holder suing you. But there are several "alternate" DOSes that are either freeware or free for personal use. jaclaz

A bit of history might be of interest. Dos 6.22 and 7.x/8.0 (read Win9x/ME) had a FORMAT command that did just that, i.e. formatted the filesystem, WITHOUT creating a bootable bootsector. You then ran SYS.COM that did two things, created the bootsector and transferred to the drive the system files. The FORMAT command on NT/2K/XP/2003 (and Vista) does two things, format the filesystem AND create a bootable bootsector invoking the system loader. The bootloader name never changed between NT/2K/XP/2003, but it did on Vista. So, when you use the FORMAT command under Vista (or diskpart) or it's GUI version, you create a bootsector invoking BOOTMGR instead of NTLDR. Vista provides an utility, bootsect.exe which, with the switch /nt52 replaces current (Vista->BOOTMGR) bootsector with an "XP" one, i.e. one invoking NTLDR. Bootsect.exe usage: http://neosmart.net/blog/2007/bootsectexe-...or-not-the-mbr/ http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista...3.mspx?mfr=true jaclaz

Well, BOOTMGR is the loader of VISTA. The loader for NT/2K/XP/2003 is NTLDR. Cannot say how you managed to mix the two, but you have a "WRONG" (Vista) bootsector on the stick. You need to run bootsect.exe /nt52 or a similar utility to create a proper NT/2K/XP/2003 bootsector on that partition. But you are not actually expecting XP to boot from USB stick without modifications, do you? Read here: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4857&st=9 jaclaz

@crahak OK, so are we allowed to say that the bestOSever has Aero Glass that sucks? GOOD. Can we also say that everyone has a right to express his opinion about the bestOSever, or is it considered whining if it touches anything you personally like (or think is superior as compared to ...) in Vista? jaclaz

Yep, I meant that 99% (approximately) of XP users will have it installed on a NTFS partition, and consequently this method won't work for them, just wanted to add this small advice to your guide, in order to avoid possible misunderstandings by some of the less experienced members. jaclaz

Provided that your C:\ drive is FAT16 or FAT32, of course. jaclaz