jb
December 7th 03, 10:28 AM
Actually that article is already published in the
Knowledge Base. I found it was more than a bit daunting,
and didn't seem to fit this situation, but I've printed
out your copy and will study it more carefully after I try
the XP floppy "workaround."
Also I want to re-emphasize that XP didn't crash. It
didn't exhibit any problems at all while the power system
was raising a toxic stink that nearly peeled the varnish
off the table - it closed down sweet as you please. I'm
very careful to avoid electrical discharges, and it's hard
to believe that simply replacing the power system could
cause this software problem. My conclusion is that XP is
simply a very unstable system.
jb
>-----Original Message-----
>Although I understand that your problem may have occured
>following an "electrical charge", I hope that the
>following article from Microsoft which has not been
>pulished yet, would help you. Could you let me know the
>outcome ?
>
>SYMPTOMS
>When you attempt to install Windows XP or to upgrade to
>Windows XP on a computer that runs Microsoft Windows 95,
>Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium
>Edition (Me), you may receive the following error message
>after the first restart during the installation process:
>NTLDR is missing
>Press any key to restart
>This behavior occurs only if Windows 95, Windows 98, or
>Windows Me is installed on a large-capacity drive that
>uses the FAT32 file system.
>CAUSE
>This behavior can occur if your existing Windows 95,
>Windows 98, or Windows Me installation was cloned and
>then applied to a drive that has a different geometry
>from that of the source drive of the cloned copy.
>
>One possible scenario is as follows: You are running
>Windows 98 on a 4-gigabyte (GB) drive. After you upgrade,
>for example to a 30-GB hard disk, you use a third-party
>disk-imaging utility to make a mirror image of your
>Windows 98 installation and apply the image to the new
>drive. At a later time, you then upgrade to Windows XP,
>installing Windows XP over the cloned image of Windows 98.
>
>For this behavior to occur, the following conditions must
>exist:
>The system/boot partition is formatted with the FAT32
>file system.
>The computer boots by using INT-13 extensions (a
>partition larger than 7.8 gigabytes with a System-ID type
>of 0C in the partition table).
>Because of the cloning procedure, the Heads (sides) value
>in the FAT32 BIOS Parameter Block (BPB) does not match
>the geometry of the physical drive.
>The Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code
>ignores the Heads value in the BPB and starts those
>programs even though the value is invalid. However, the
>boot code in Windows 2000 and Windows XP needs this
>value, and the boot process does not succeed if the value
>is invalid.
>RESOLUTION
>To resolve this behavior, correct the invalid Heads
>(sides) value in the FAT32 BPB to enable the Windows XP
>boot process to continue. The easiest way to update the
>field is to rewrite the Windows 95, Windows 98, or
>Windows Me boot code by using the following procedure:
>Restart the computer by using a Windows 95, Windows 98,
>or Windows Me startup disk that contains the Sys.com file
>(this file is included by default).
>Make a backup copy of the msdos.sys file in the root
>directory of your system drive. To do this, type the
>following commands from the command prompt:
>attrib -h -r -s c:\msdos.sys
>rename msdos.sys *.ysy
>
>At a command prompt, type sys c:. This command rewrites
>the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code with
>accurate BPB information. If this command runs
>successfully, skip to step 4.
>
>If you are using a Windows Me startup disk and you
>receive an error message, "Cannot find the system file in
>the standard locations on drive C:", one or more files in
>the Windows Me installation have been removed. Use the
>following steps to place the correct files on the drive
>so that the sys command can locate them:
>Start a command prompt by using the following commands
>(that is, type the commands and press ENTER after each
>command):
>c:
>cd\windows
>
>If Windows is installed in a folder other than the
>Windows folder, adjust the commands accordingly.
>
>
>Try to switch to the Command folder by using the
>following command:
>cd command
>
>If an error message indicates that the path is not found,
>use the following command to create the Command folder,
>and then run cd command again:
>md command
>
>Switch to the EBD folder by using the following command:
>cd ebd
>
>If an error message indicates that the path is not found,
>use the following command to create the EBD folder, and
>then repeat the cd ebd command:
>md ebd
>
>In the EBD folder, use the following commands to copy the
>Io.sys file from the root of the hard drive and to rename
>the Io.sys file as Winboot.sys:
>attrib -s -h -r c:\io.sys
>copy c:\io.sys winboot.sys
>
>Winboot.sys is the file that Sys.com needs.
>
>
>Switch back to drive A, and then run the following
>commands:
>a:
>sys c:
>
>Type the following commands, and press ENTER after each
>command, to restore the original msdos.sys:
>attrib -s -h -r c:\msdos.sys
>copy c:\msdos.ysy c:\msdos.sys
>
>Press Y to overwrite the existing MSDOS.SYS file. You
>should receive a "1 FILE(S) COPIED" verification that the
>file was overwritten.
>
>
>Restart the computer to Windows 95, Windows 98, or
>Windows Me, and then try the Windows XP installation or
>upgrade procedure again.
>
>NOTE: Alternatively, after you run the sys c: command,
>you can boot to the Recovery Console, and then use the
>fixboot command to rewrite the Windows XP boot code. This
>procedure enables the original installation to proceed
>typically.
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>Yes, the original install was an from a W98SE upgrade
>>disk, purchased at retail. See reply to other message.
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>Have you upgraded from Win98SE to XP HE ?
>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>Background: I recently bought XP Home Edition to
>>>>accomodate a CDRW that won't work with 98SE. Installed
>>>OK
>>>>and it's been running fine for a couple of weeks. But
>>>>yesterday there was a strong electrical smell. I shut
>>>down
>>>>properly, turned off the machine completely,
>>>disconnected
>>>>all cables, and checked the power supply (250W), which
>>>was
>>>>a mess - broken glass tubes.
>>>> Got a new 400W power supply and on test, up comes
>>>>the "NTLDR is missing" message. The store expert says
>I
>>>>have to reinstall XP and that I will probably lose all
>>>my
>>>>files on the computer. I don't want to do that. I've
>>>>checked the Knowledge Base - there are many articles
>on
>>>>the NTLDR error message, but most of them seem to
>apply
>>>to
>>>>NT and but none of them seem to apply directly to this
>>>>situation. Of course I want the least invasive fix
>>>>possible.
>
Knowledge Base. I found it was more than a bit daunting,
and didn't seem to fit this situation, but I've printed
out your copy and will study it more carefully after I try
the XP floppy "workaround."
Also I want to re-emphasize that XP didn't crash. It
didn't exhibit any problems at all while the power system
was raising a toxic stink that nearly peeled the varnish
off the table - it closed down sweet as you please. I'm
very careful to avoid electrical discharges, and it's hard
to believe that simply replacing the power system could
cause this software problem. My conclusion is that XP is
simply a very unstable system.
jb
>-----Original Message-----
>Although I understand that your problem may have occured
>following an "electrical charge", I hope that the
>following article from Microsoft which has not been
>pulished yet, would help you. Could you let me know the
>outcome ?
>
>SYMPTOMS
>When you attempt to install Windows XP or to upgrade to
>Windows XP on a computer that runs Microsoft Windows 95,
>Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium
>Edition (Me), you may receive the following error message
>after the first restart during the installation process:
>NTLDR is missing
>Press any key to restart
>This behavior occurs only if Windows 95, Windows 98, or
>Windows Me is installed on a large-capacity drive that
>uses the FAT32 file system.
>CAUSE
>This behavior can occur if your existing Windows 95,
>Windows 98, or Windows Me installation was cloned and
>then applied to a drive that has a different geometry
>from that of the source drive of the cloned copy.
>
>One possible scenario is as follows: You are running
>Windows 98 on a 4-gigabyte (GB) drive. After you upgrade,
>for example to a 30-GB hard disk, you use a third-party
>disk-imaging utility to make a mirror image of your
>Windows 98 installation and apply the image to the new
>drive. At a later time, you then upgrade to Windows XP,
>installing Windows XP over the cloned image of Windows 98.
>
>For this behavior to occur, the following conditions must
>exist:
>The system/boot partition is formatted with the FAT32
>file system.
>The computer boots by using INT-13 extensions (a
>partition larger than 7.8 gigabytes with a System-ID type
>of 0C in the partition table).
>Because of the cloning procedure, the Heads (sides) value
>in the FAT32 BIOS Parameter Block (BPB) does not match
>the geometry of the physical drive.
>The Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code
>ignores the Heads value in the BPB and starts those
>programs even though the value is invalid. However, the
>boot code in Windows 2000 and Windows XP needs this
>value, and the boot process does not succeed if the value
>is invalid.
>RESOLUTION
>To resolve this behavior, correct the invalid Heads
>(sides) value in the FAT32 BPB to enable the Windows XP
>boot process to continue. The easiest way to update the
>field is to rewrite the Windows 95, Windows 98, or
>Windows Me boot code by using the following procedure:
>Restart the computer by using a Windows 95, Windows 98,
>or Windows Me startup disk that contains the Sys.com file
>(this file is included by default).
>Make a backup copy of the msdos.sys file in the root
>directory of your system drive. To do this, type the
>following commands from the command prompt:
>attrib -h -r -s c:\msdos.sys
>rename msdos.sys *.ysy
>
>At a command prompt, type sys c:. This command rewrites
>the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code with
>accurate BPB information. If this command runs
>successfully, skip to step 4.
>
>If you are using a Windows Me startup disk and you
>receive an error message, "Cannot find the system file in
>the standard locations on drive C:", one or more files in
>the Windows Me installation have been removed. Use the
>following steps to place the correct files on the drive
>so that the sys command can locate them:
>Start a command prompt by using the following commands
>(that is, type the commands and press ENTER after each
>command):
>c:
>cd\windows
>
>If Windows is installed in a folder other than the
>Windows folder, adjust the commands accordingly.
>
>
>Try to switch to the Command folder by using the
>following command:
>cd command
>
>If an error message indicates that the path is not found,
>use the following command to create the Command folder,
>and then run cd command again:
>md command
>
>Switch to the EBD folder by using the following command:
>cd ebd
>
>If an error message indicates that the path is not found,
>use the following command to create the EBD folder, and
>then repeat the cd ebd command:
>md ebd
>
>In the EBD folder, use the following commands to copy the
>Io.sys file from the root of the hard drive and to rename
>the Io.sys file as Winboot.sys:
>attrib -s -h -r c:\io.sys
>copy c:\io.sys winboot.sys
>
>Winboot.sys is the file that Sys.com needs.
>
>
>Switch back to drive A, and then run the following
>commands:
>a:
>sys c:
>
>Type the following commands, and press ENTER after each
>command, to restore the original msdos.sys:
>attrib -s -h -r c:\msdos.sys
>copy c:\msdos.ysy c:\msdos.sys
>
>Press Y to overwrite the existing MSDOS.SYS file. You
>should receive a "1 FILE(S) COPIED" verification that the
>file was overwritten.
>
>
>Restart the computer to Windows 95, Windows 98, or
>Windows Me, and then try the Windows XP installation or
>upgrade procedure again.
>
>NOTE: Alternatively, after you run the sys c: command,
>you can boot to the Recovery Console, and then use the
>fixboot command to rewrite the Windows XP boot code. This
>procedure enables the original installation to proceed
>typically.
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>Yes, the original install was an from a W98SE upgrade
>>disk, purchased at retail. See reply to other message.
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>Have you upgraded from Win98SE to XP HE ?
>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>Background: I recently bought XP Home Edition to
>>>>accomodate a CDRW that won't work with 98SE. Installed
>>>OK
>>>>and it's been running fine for a couple of weeks. But
>>>>yesterday there was a strong electrical smell. I shut
>>>down
>>>>properly, turned off the machine completely,
>>>disconnected
>>>>all cables, and checked the power supply (250W), which
>>>was
>>>>a mess - broken glass tubes.
>>>> Got a new 400W power supply and on test, up comes
>>>>the "NTLDR is missing" message. The store expert says
>I
>>>>have to reinstall XP and that I will probably lose all
>>>my
>>>>files on the computer. I don't want to do that. I've
>>>>checked the Knowledge Base - there are many articles
>on
>>>>the NTLDR error message, but most of them seem to
>apply
>>>to
>>>>NT and but none of them seem to apply directly to this
>>>>situation. Of course I want the least invasive fix
>>>>possible.
>