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[Zxian]

Knoppix is probably easier.

1) Download the CD (http://www.knoppix.org/ - Click on the US/British Flag for English)

2) Burn the ISO file using a program like Nero (burn image, not data)

3) Restart. Set your computer to boot from CD in BIOS. At startup, you might see something like "Press F2 to enter Setup". Press that key. If not, check your computer's manual.

4) Press enter at the first screen. Let Knoppix load. (get a cup of coffee...)

5) Plug in your USB hard drive. It should show on the desktop after a few moments. Double-click on it to mount it. Right-click on the desktop and select Actions->Change Read/Write mode. Click Yes when prompted for confirmation.

6) Create a new folder called ZelenVR's Backup on the USB drive.

7) On the desktop, your hard drive should appear as Hard Disk Partition. Click on it to mount and open it.

8) Select everything except System Volume Information and any .sys files that are in the drive and then right-click and Copy. Paste into the ZelenVR Backup folder that you created earlier.

9) Drink your coffee... come back a while later.

10) Right-click on the desktop and select Log out Knoppix. Select Turn Off Computer.

That should be it. You should have all the data on the USB drive now. You'll want to double check that you can access everything on another computer before going ahead and formatting your hard drive, just to be sure.

[ZelenVR]

Knoppix is probably easier.

1) Download the CD (http://www.knoppix.org/ - Click on the US/British Flag for English)

2) Burn the ISO file using a program like Nero (burn image, not data)

3) Restart. Set your computer to boot from CD in BIOS. At startup, you might see something like "Press F2 to enter Setup". Press that key. If not, check your computer's manual.

4) Press enter at the first screen. Let Knoppix load. (get a cup of coffee...)

5) Plug in your USB hard drive. It should show on the desktop after a few moments. Double-click on it to mount it. Right-click on the desktop and select Actions->Change Read/Write mode. Click Yes when prompted for confirmation.

6) Create a new folder called ZelenVR's Backup on the USB drive.

7) On the desktop, your hard drive should appear as Hard Disk Partition. Click on it to mount and open it.

8) Select everything except System Volume Information and any .sys files that are in the drive and then right-click and Copy. Paste into the ZelenVR Backup folder that you created earlier.

9) Drink your coffee... come back a while later.

10) Right-click on the desktop and select Log out Knoppix. Select Turn Off Computer.

That should be it. You should have all the data on the USB drive now. You'll want to double check that you can access everything on another computer before going ahead and formatting your hard drive, just to be sure.

Man that sounds great! The only thing I'm not sure about is burning an IMAGE and not DATA. Is that an option using Nero? What programs can I get and where can I get them that will let me burn an image?? I'm just not real familiar with that.

EDIT: OK, time to display my complete ignorance. I went to download Knoppix and there is a ton of files. Do I just download them all individually into a folder then put them all on the CD???? Like I said, new to .iso stuff.

Thanks again, Zelen

Edited November 30, 2005 by ZelenVR

[Zxian]

CDBurnerXP Pro

File->Write Disc from ISO file

In Nero, go to Recorder->Burn Image....

Hope this helps.

[ZelenVR]

CDBurnerXP Pro

File->Write Disc from ISO file

In Nero, go to Recorder->Burn Image....

Hope this helps.

Great! Got it.

Now as far as the knoppix itself...

Do I just download all those files into a folder to then place in the drag and drop for the program? Not sure what to do with all of them. I just dont want to screw this up b/c I wont be able to figure out WHERE I screwed up.

[Zxian]

All those files? You should just be downloading one .ISO file. That's the image file that you then want to burn to CD.

[ZelenVR]

OK, more progress and more hurdles. I am succesfully using Knoppix now (neat program BTW) however I am having some difficulties with the copying of the files. When I goto ACTIONS-> CHANGE READ/WRITE it keeps telling me that it cant because THE REMOUNT COMMAND FAILED. MAYBE THERE IS ANOTHER PROCESS ACCESSING THE FILESYSTEM CURRENTLY. I'm not sure how to fix this. The other hurdle is that I can only see the USB harddrive or use my mouse using Knoppiz 3.6 which I accidentallly downloaded first, before seeing 4.0.2 near the bottom of the download list. Using 4.0.2 my mouse isnt recognized (its a MS wireless mouse and the green light doenst even turn on for 4.0.2, it does and works fine for 3.6) nor is the USB HD. I'm currently using Mozilla from 3.6 just to access the web, but I dont want to stick around on here w/o my AV stuff.

Any advice on these problems??

BTW, thanks for being so helpful, I really appreciate the assistance with all of this.

Thanks again, Zelen

PS- I was just supposed to download and burn an image of the one .iso file on the Knoppix sites right? Or was I supposed to include the .iso.md5, .iso.md5.asc, .iso.shal, and the .iso.shal.asc files in the image too?

[Krakatu]

ZelenVR,

Don't Know if This will Help Your Problem,

But Might Prove Useful!!!

h**p://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[ZelenVR]

Ok, finally got things figured out!! Thanks all for the help.

Turns out that Knoppix has some USB bugs (the newer versions) and the older one wouldnt allow me to change read/write modes. BartPE on the other hand worked like a charm. After a few seconds of head scratching trying to figure out its GUI I was able to get in and copy all my files from the hard drive to my USB HD. Even got my Favorites folder!!

Then just went back and used my system restore disks that came with the computer. Its been a PITA setting the computer back up but its also nice having a clean slate to start from.

I never figured out what originally caused the computer to FUBAR like that but it is running ok now. No major problems detected, no viruses found, just a little glitchy so far.

By that I mean that my Common folder (C:/Program Files/Common) opens everytime I start Windows and its still running a tad slow. It also keeps telling me that the volume needs to be defragged, even though I've run it 3 times already. And it kept telling me I had a chkdsk scheduled and wouldnt run the defrag till I went into the recovery module and manually ran it from a prompt. But, its working.

In conclusion, buy a external HD for just in case and set up a copy of BartPE to keep on hand in case of emergency.

Thanks again all.

[Zxian]

Glad to hear you got all your files back. BartPE is indeed a lifesaver.

As for the Common Files folder, check under msconfig to see if anything is listed there. (Start->Run->msconfig). If you're not sure what an entry is, Google it. Disable anything that isn't critical or you don't find useful.

As for defragging, check out DIRMS and buzzsaw. They're both freeware tools that do a better job at defragmenting your hard drive than the default defragmenter.

Hope that helps!!!