XP Repair Installation

Michael Solomon (MS-MVP) wrote:
Actually, you appear to be the one skating on thin ice. I have my image
files saved in a few places. If my hard drive tanks, restoring the image to
a new drive is no big deal, I've done it several times. It appears from all
the problems you've had trying to use an alternate drive for this purpose
that you are the one skating on thin ice. While I'm sure it has happened, I
can't recall ever seeing such an issue from someone simply restoring an
image.

That said, instead of the methodology you are using, have you considered
going to some sort of RAID setup? RAID 1 was designed to achieve precisely
what you are trying to do though through much different means.

Check the link below for an explanation of RAID1 array:
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardw...eviews/1611/3/

Say, that's a clever idea, Michael. I just gave it a quick glance,
but I have no objection to having two 40 GB drives spinning always,
with everything identical on the two drives. Then when one fails,
the other is there, up-to-date. I'll assume, until I read further,
that there is a way to wipe the failed drive clean and reformat
it, and have it put back in service as an operating clone. Or put
a new one in and have it automatically start up as a clone. Thank
you, I'll look into it.

William B. Lurie

William B. Lurie wrote:
Michael Solomon (MS-MVP) wrote:

Actually, you appear to be the one skating on thin ice. I have my
image files saved in a few places. If my hard drive tanks, restoring
the image to a new drive is no big deal, I've done it several times.
It appears from all the problems you've had trying to use an alternate
drive for this purpose that you are the one skating on thin ice.
While I'm sure it has happened, I can't recall ever seeing such an
issue from someone simply restoring an image.

That said, instead of the methodology you are using, have you
considered going to some sort of RAID setup? RAID 1 was designed to
achieve precisely what you are trying to do though through much
different means.

Check the link below for an explanation of RAID1 array:
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardw...eviews/1611/3/

Say, that's a clever idea, Michael. I just gave it a quick glance,
but I have no objection to having two 40 GB drives spinning always,
with everything identical on the two drives. Then when one fails,
the other is there, up-to-date. I'll assume, until I read further,
that there is a way to wipe the failed drive clean and reformat
it, and have it put back in service as an operating clone. Or put
a new one in and have it automatically start up as a clone. Thank
you, I'll look into it.

William B. Lurie
As a sort of 'final' word on the subject, vis-a-vis cloning
hard drives, which was what got me/us into this question of
what it takes to boot the cloned drive:

About 4 months ago, Richard Urban wrote here, what steps he
used, to do it reliably, and I thought I was following in his
footsteps. Well, I was, in almost all respects, but that one
may be the one I didn't think at the time to be important. He
didn't stress it.

My problem has gone away, and my new drives boot every time,
now that I "Restore" to a truly empty hard drive. Not into a
partition that's empty; notwriting over a partition that has
anything in it, but to empty, unallocated space, and I make
sure that that space is at the beginning of the drive. And it
can be a different drive that where the Image is located, and
different fromthe place the Image was made from.

Thank you, Richard!

Bill Lurie

On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 17:06:59 -0500, William B. Lurie wrote:

As a sort of 'final' word on the subject, vis-a-vis cloning
hard drives, which was what got me/us into this question of
what it takes to boot the cloned drive:

About 4 months ago, Richard Urban wrote here, what steps he
used, to do it reliably, and I thought I was following in his
footsteps. Well, I was, in almost all respects, but that one
may be the one I didn't think at the time to be important. He
didn't stress it.

My problem has gone away, and my new drives boot every time,
now that I "Restore" to a truly empty hard drive. Not into a
partition that's empty; notwriting over a partition that has
anything in it, but to empty, unallocated space, and I make
sure that that space is at the beginning of the drive. And it
can be a different drive that where the Image is located, and
different fromthe place the Image was made from.

Thank you, Richard!

Bill Lurie

Very cool, Bill! Am glad to hear this and very happy for you.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User

I'm trying to get some clarification, from all the posts I have been reading
on this common problem.

I get the missing system file error. I DO NOT have a disc, because it was
bought with it already installed a few years ago. I can't boot into safe mode
nor do last good configuration.

Is my understanding correct that as a worst case scenario I would have to
buy a New CD of XP & do a clean install? If so do I have to format the hard
drive or will the install do that?

Also can I do a repair from a borrowed copy of XP or is that where the
product key get's involved?

Thanks
james

"Ken Blake" wrote:

In ,
ggull typed:

"Ken Blake" wrote ...
ggull typed:

I have a stupid question. Is the product key written on the
CD
itself, or are all the CDs the same and the key is just a
unique
alphanumeric string used for activation/control/etc?

The product key is not on the CD. If they were, each CD would
have to be made individually, and the cost would be *much*
higher.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected, based on that very
consideration. (I assume the key is somehow
encrypted/hashed/whatever
so that just any random string won't work :-)


You're welcome. There's clearly some sort of algorithm applied to
the string, and only keys that work with that algorithm will be
accepted.



To get back to the post from Michael Solomon I responded to,
where he
says "William, you cannot borrow someone else's CD for this
purpose
as the repair install requires the input of the CD key. Doing
so
would either result in a rejection or causing problems for the
original owner if and when he tries to activate his setup again
if
necessary."

then it seems that perhaps one *could* borrow another CD, but
use
one's own legitimate product key to activate the install.


As long as it's the same type (Retail vs OEM and Full vs
Upgrade), yes you could. I made this point in an earlier message
a day or two ago, but I don't recall whether it was in this
thread or not. The point is that you have to use your own product
key; the CD itself doesn't matter. To put it another way, it's
really the Product Key you buy; the CD itself is worth only
pennies.


Or is the
algorithm smart enough to know I have (say) an OEM key that
should
not work with a Retail Full CD


Yes it is. As I said, the type of CD (Retail vs OEM and Full vs
Upgrade) has to match the key you use.


(the case this thread has been
considering)? At least if the key does not reside in the
installed
software, it seems I wouldn't cause problems for the original
owner
if I only use my own key.


Correct.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



All CDs are not quite the same, but all Retail Full versions
are
the same, all Upgrade versions the same, and all generic OEM
versions the same.

I see you finally have things worked out, William and that's great. In case
your still interested, here's a site that not only explains RAID but how to
set it up. I've never done it myself though I'm considering it for my next
desktop. In any event, this site may answer any questions that you might
have:
http://members.shaw.ca/xtremecomputing/RAID.htm

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

"William B. Lurie" wrote in message
...
William B. Lurie wrote:
Michael Solomon (MS-MVP) wrote:

Actually, you appear to be the one skating on thin ice. I have my image
files saved in a few places. If my hard drive tanks, restoring the
image to a new drive is no big deal, I've done it several times. It
appears from all the problems you've had trying to use an alternate
drive for this purpose that you are the one skating on thin ice. While
I'm sure it has happened, I can't recall ever seeing such an issue from
someone simply restoring an image.

That said, instead of the methodology you are using, have you considered
going to some sort of RAID setup? RAID 1 was designed to achieve
precisely what you are trying to do though through much different means.

Check the link below for an explanation of RAID1 array:
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardw...eviews/1611/3/

Say, that's a clever idea, Michael. I just gave it a quick glance,
but I have no objection to having two 40 GB drives spinning always,
with everything identical on the two drives. Then when one fails,
the other is there, up-to-date. I'll assume, until I read further,
that there is a way to wipe the failed drive clean and reformat
it, and have it put back in service as an operating clone. Or put
a new one in and have it automatically start up as a clone. Thank
you, I'll look into it.

William B. Lurie
As a sort of 'final' word on the subject, vis-a-vis cloning
hard drives, which was what got me/us into this question of
what it takes to boot the cloned drive:

About 4 months ago, Richard Urban wrote here, what steps he
used, to do it reliably, and I thought I was following in his
footsteps. Well, I was, in almost all respects, but that one
may be the one I didn't think at the time to be important. He
didn't stress it.

My problem has gone away, and my new drives boot every time,
now that I "Restore" to a truly empty hard drive. Not into a
partition that's empty; notwriting over a partition that has
anything in it, but to empty, unallocated space, and I make
sure that that space is at the beginning of the drive. And it
can be a different drive that where the Image is located, and
different fromthe place the Image was made from.

Thank you, Richard!

Bill Lurie

Michael Solomon (MS-MVP) wrote:
I see you finally have things worked out, William and that's great. In case
your still interested, here's a site that not only explains RAID but how to
set it up. I've never done it myself though I'm considering it for my next
desktop. In any event, this site may answer any questions that you might
have:
http://members.shaw.ca/xtremecomputing/RAID.htm

Yes, Michael, thanks largely to you and Sharon. The path
was not without pitfalls, for example in the form of
people whose pleasure comes from being an annoyance just
for the sake of being one, with no contribution to make
other than the smell.

It has been educational for me, and very likely for a
multitude of people who have learned, if they had the
persistence, that what seems straightforward can be
sidetracked by something simple.

I also learned about the multitude of aids which Microsoft
built in, that the casual e-mail-only user of XP would
never suspect existed. That's why it's a pleasure to have
patient MVPs and others to bring them out into the open.
To list a few: Recovery Console. Repair Installation. FIXBOOT.
FIXMBR. And a most valuable tool, CHKDSK.

--
William B. Lurie

You are welcome, William and thank you for the compliments.

Good luck.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

"William B. Lurie" wrote in message
...
Michael Solomon (MS-MVP) wrote:
I see you finally have things worked out, William and that's great. In
case your still interested, here's a site that not only explains RAID but
how to set it up. I've never done it myself though I'm considering it
for my next desktop. In any event, this site may answer any questions
that you might have:
http://members.shaw.ca/xtremecomputing/RAID.htm

Yes, Michael, thanks largely to you and Sharon. The path
was not without pitfalls, for example in the form of
people whose pleasure comes from being an annoyance just
for the sake of being one, with no contribution to make
other than the smell.

It has been educational for me, and very likely for a
multitude of people who have learned, if they had the
persistence, that what seems straightforward can be
sidetracked by something simple.

I also learned about the multitude of aids which Microsoft
built in, that the casual e-mail-only user of XP would
never suspect existed. That's why it's a pleasure to have
patient MVPs and others to bring them out into the open.
To list a few: Recovery Console. Repair Installation. FIXBOOT.
FIXMBR. And a most valuable tool, CHKDSK.

--
William B. Lurie

JGreen wrote:
I'm trying to get some clarification, from all the posts I have been
reading on this common problem.

I get the missing system file error. I DO NOT have a disc, because it
was bought with it already installed a few years ago. I can't boot
into safe mode nor do last good configuration.

Is my understanding correct that as a worst case scenario I would
have to buy a New CD of XP & do a clean install? If so do I have to
format the hard drive or will the install do that?

Also can I do a repair from a borrowed copy of XP or is that where the
product key get's involved?

Thanks
james


You can use a OEM XP version, preferably the generic OEM version using your
key.
If you clean install the partitioning and format are done during the setup.
All this is covered in the links below.
You boot from the CD and do a clean install.
Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address bar.
How to clean install XP.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP

http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outloo...snewreader.htm



"Ken Blake" wrote:

In ,
ggull typed:

"Ken Blake" wrote ...
ggull typed:

I have a stupid question. Is the product key written on the
CD
itself, or are all the CDs the same and the key is just a
unique
alphanumeric string used for activation/control/etc?

The product key is not on the CD. If they were, each CD would
have to be made individually, and the cost would be *much*
higher.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected, based on that very
consideration. (I assume the key is somehow
encrypted/hashed/whatever
so that just any random string won't work :-)


You're welcome. There's clearly some sort of algorithm applied to
the string, and only keys that work with that algorithm will be
accepted.



To get back to the post from Michael Solomon I responded to,
where he
says "William, you cannot borrow someone else's CD for this
purpose
as the repair install requires the input of the CD key. Doing
so
would either result in a rejection or causing problems for the
original owner if and when he tries to activate his setup again
if
necessary."

then it seems that perhaps one *could* borrow another CD, but
use
one's own legitimate product key to activate the install.


As long as it's the same type (Retail vs OEM and Full vs
Upgrade), yes you could. I made this point in an earlier message
a day or two ago, but I don't recall whether it was in this
thread or not. The point is that you have to use your own product
key; the CD itself doesn't matter. To put it another way, it's
really the Product Key you buy; the CD itself is worth only
pennies.


Or is the
algorithm smart enough to know I have (say) an OEM key that
should
not work with a Retail Full CD


Yes it is. As I said, the type of CD (Retail vs OEM and Full vs
Upgrade) has to match the key you use.


(the case this thread has been
considering)? At least if the key does not reside in the
installed
software, it seems I wouldn't cause problems for the original
owner
if I only use my own key.


Correct.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



All CDs are not quite the same, but all Retail Full versions
are
the same, all Upgrade versions the same, and all generic OEM
versions the same.