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Convert Fujitsu XP SP2 Recovery DVD to Normal DVD

romulopinho

By romulopinho
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romulopinho

romulopinho

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Hi everyone,

I've just subscribed and couldn't find anything related to this in this forum, but sorry if it's a double post.

I have a fujitsu notebook (Amilo Si1520) with XP Home SP2 pre-installed, on which I later installed Ubuntu Linux (dual boot). I had severe virus problems on XP recently and eventually deleted all its files from Linux. Now I have a partition with Linux and an empty NTFS partition in my HD. I would like to reinstall XP from my original fujitsu recovery DVD but the only option it gives is to reset the HD, i.e., format the entire HD and I'll have to lose my Linux installation, which I don't want.

Is it possible to convert the recovery XP DVD to a normal DVD with nLite, removing this restrictive option? That is, can I make a normal XP installation in which I chose the partition to install it?

I tried it with xp-iso-builder but it didn't work (or I did sth wrong).

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,

Romulo.

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johnhc

johnhc

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romulopinho, I don't think nLite will do this for you directly. I have seen threads of posters using recovery CDs, some with success and some not. Yours is the first time I have heard of the format entire HDD problem. Please do some searching here and on the Internet against "recovery CD" and such. Good luck, John.

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gamehead200

gamehead200

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Is it possible to convert the recovery XP DVD to a normal DVD with nLite, removing this restrictive option? That is, can I make a normal XP installation in which I chose the partition to install it?
No. If the only option is to reset the HDD, then what you have on the DVD is an image of your HDD for your specific laptop. It doesn't contain any installation files.
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jaclaz

jaclaz

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No. If the only option is to reset the HDD, then what you have on the DVD is an image of your HDD for your specific laptop. It doesn't contain any installation files.

Not necessarily.

I have seen Recovery DVD's that have anyway, INSIDE the HDD image, a \I386 structure.

Accessing the image to extract it (IF it's there) might be tricky.

Often a special tool or same Commercial software manufacturer used is needed.

Some references of past cases:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=127624

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=120423

http://www.msfn.org/board/Cannot-access-CD...P-i-t91907.html

jaclaz

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gamehead200

gamehead200

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Not necessarily.

I have seen Recovery DVD's that have anyway, INSIDE the HDD image, a \I386 structure.

Accessing the image to extract it (IF it's there) might be tricky.

Often a special tool or same Commercial software manufacturer used is needed.

Some references of past cases:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=127624

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=120423

http://www.msfn.org/board/Cannot-access-CD...P-i-t91907.html

jaclaz

I stand corrected. :angel
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romulopinho

romulopinho

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Hi, guys, thanks a lot for the quick replies and for the links! I still have to look through them carefully, but it seems each manufacturer has its own problem/solution (which is expected...)

As for my case, though, I guess the dvd is actually a tweaked version of a normal installation (should have said that before). Here are the contents (from a Linux ls command):

total 2592

2944 2 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1446 2006-07-26 14:57 .

3588097 4 drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 2009-07-31 18:23 ..

2946 53 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 54272 2006-07-26 11:06 autorun.exe

2947 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 119 2006-07-19 16:48 autorun.inf

3008 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 618 2006-07-26 14:57 bin

3072 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 712 2006-07-26 14:57 i386

2951 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 541 2006-07-26 16:27 lang.txt

3136 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 622 2006-07-26 14:57 lib

2953 340 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 348160 2005-05-10 16:04 msvcr71.dll

2955 47 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 47772 2005-03-25 13:00 ntdetect.com

2956 292 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 298096 2005-03-25 13:00 ntldr

3200 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 536 2006-07-26 14:57 os

2958 1828 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1871872 2006-03-29 17:35 python24.dll

2961 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 746 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_cze.txt

2963 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 786 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_dan.txt

2964 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 850 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_dut.txt

2966 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 700 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_eng.txt

2967 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 814 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_fin.txt

2969 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 962 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_frn.txt

2970 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 878 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_ger.txt

2972 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 952 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_grk.txt

2973 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 784 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_hun.txt

2975 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 894 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_itn.txt

2976 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 756 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_nor.txt

2978 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 766 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_pol.txt

2979 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 936 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_spa.txt

2981 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 758 2005-02-23 11:46 readme_swe.txt

2960 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 700 2006-07-19 16:48 readme.txt

2982 5 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 4608 2006-03-29 17:35 w9xpopen.exe

2984 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 10 2005-03-25 13:00 win51

2985 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 10 2005-03-25 13:00 win51is

2986 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 10 2005-03-25 13:00 win51is.sp1

2987 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 167 2005-03-25 13:00 winbom.ini

As you can see, there is an i386 folder and inside it:

total 1343

3072 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 712 2006-07-26 14:57 .

2944 2 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1446 2006-07-26 14:57 ..

3074 43 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 43336 2005-03-25 13:00 biosinfo.inf

3075 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1024 2005-03-25 13:00 bootfix.bin

3328 7 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 6980 2006-07-26 14:57 fonts

3584 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 552 2006-07-26 14:57 help

3648 6 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 5796 2006-07-26 14:57 inf

3840 1 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 106 2006-07-26 14:57 msagent

3081 47 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 47772 2005-03-25 13:00 ntdetect.com

3083 292 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 298096 2005-03-25 13:00 setupldr.bin

3084 272 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 278016 2005-03-25 13:00 setupldr.exe

3086 161 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 164864 2005-03-25 13:00 spcmdcon.sys

3087 24 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 24482 2005-03-25 13:00 startrom.com

3904 21 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 20618 2006-07-26 14:57 system32

3090 465 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 475836 2006-07-26 13:11 txtsetup.sif

3091 1 -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 167 2005-03-25 13:00 winbom.ini

4608 2 dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1436 2006-07-26 14:57 winsxs

After booting with the DVD, a Fujitsu application takes control and asks me to select the languague. The installation goes on, but I didn't dare to check any further...

Any other thoughts would be very welcome. Thanks again!

Cheers,

Romulo.

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johnhc

johnhc

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romulopinho, if you are considering spending money (as has been suggested), I would suggest you consider buying an OEM copy of XP. Then you have complete freedom for installation. The last time I looked on Newegg.com, XP Home was about 90 USD and Pro was about 130 USD. If you are willing to do some heavy looking and possibly heavy work, start by opening the Support folder (I see none on your DVD), extract the DEPLOY.CAB file and look at the deploy.chm and ref.chm files. They contain instructions on using the install files. You can begin by looking in the winnt.sif and the txtsetup.sif files. You will be looking for the hooks Fujitsu put in to gain control. There are more files and possibly others will be able to supply some names. The Unattended Guide at the top of the forum page is a good place to start. It looks like you have a trade off of money vs work to consider. Also, please do the searching I suggested before. Enjoy, John.

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Ponch

Ponch

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I would like to reinstall XP from my original fujitsu recovery DVD but the only option it gives is to reset the HD, i.e., format the entire HD and I'll have to lose my Linux installation, which I don't want.

Some recevery say "attention, you will loose all your data" but in fact just format the C: drive which depending on your configuration might be OK. ... If you can take a backup (I'm not responsible for eventual loss :angel ). Few years ago Fujitsu was still giving "standard" WinXP discs. They were DVDs because they were multi-language (... Belgium). Or if you have a spare 2.5 HDD, it's worth a try.

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romulopinho

romulopinho

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Dear all,

Thank you so much for your time and help!

As johnhc suggested, I decided to browse the DVD on my own and see what I could find. Eventually, I discovered everything was VERY simple! In fact, so simple that I'm almost ashamed of having bothered you... ;-)

Fujitsu apparently made me the favour of putting untouched, per-lanaguage, default XP installations inside the OS folder, in the root dir of the DVD (no surprise it's a 6GB DVD!). So, I copied the English folder to the HD of another computer I have, ran xp-iso-builder, which I had installed already, and created a new iso file with SATA drivers embedded (I have the drivers DVD from fujitsu as well). Then I burned the image to a bootable DVD and guess what? IT WORKED! :-)

The installation ran smoothly, just as if I had bought a new XP CD; and with SATA drivers in it, I didn't even bother with the F6 stuff. Now I just have to install the drivers from the DVD, which I think will be a piece of cake too. Of course, my Linux cannot be started for the moment, but I'll soon get Grub running and everything will hopefully be back in place.

Well, thank you very much once again for your quick reactions and advice!

Cheers,

Romulo.

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jaclaz

jaclaz

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Of course, my Linux cannot be started for the moment, but I'll soon get Grub running and everything will hopefully be back in place.

Try getting grub4dos running, instead. ;)

http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm

http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/

Easier to chainload from XP:

http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/...all_windows.htm

Happy it was easier than expected, after all this is the best of all possible worlds. :)

jaclaz

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