How to clone Windows XP back to your HD?

Long, sad story made short.

I have a Samsung Netbook running Windows XP Home, SP3.

I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu, just so I could play around with
Ubuntu.

Well, Ubuntu started giving me trouble: my internet connection went
south,
I was unable to adjust the brightness of the Netbook screen, etc., and
when
I looked for troubleshooting help on the internet, it was all Greek to
me as
it involved working with Terminal.

I did a search for removing a partition in Windows XP and found "How
to use
Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" on the
Microsoft and
followed the instructions there.

Now, when I try to boot the Netbook, I get this:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

When I research what this means, the solutions, all on Linux sites are
baffling.

So...

I cloned my Netbook HD about a month ago to an external HD.

How would I go about erasing the HD of the Netbook and cloning back to
the Netbook HD the
operating system from the external HD? Is this possible?

Remember, Netbooks do not come with an optical drive.

Many thanks.

How you recover / restore your clone would depend on the program you used to
create that clone.
If you haven't purchased an external cd/dvd then copying an application to
usb stick generally enables you to run that application.

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Long, sad story made short.

I have a Samsung Netbook running Windows XP Home, SP3.

I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu, just so I could play around with
Ubuntu.

Well, Ubuntu started giving me trouble: my internet connection went
south,
I was unable to adjust the brightness of the Netbook screen, etc., and
when
I looked for troubleshooting help on the internet, it was all Greek to
me as
it involved working with Terminal.

I did a search for removing a partition in Windows XP and found "How
to use
Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" on the
Microsoft and
followed the instructions there.

Now, when I try to boot the Netbook, I get this:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

When I research what this means, the solutions, all on Linux sites are
baffling.

So...

I cloned my Netbook HD about a month ago to an external HD.

How would I go about erasing the HD of the Netbook and cloning back to
the Netbook HD the
operating system from the external HD? Is this possible?

Remember, Netbooks do not come with an optical drive.

Many thanks.

Bob,

You may be able to fix your computer without reinstalling Windows. Check out
this article on fixing your Master Boot Record:
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/44/ma...br_fix_repair/

Milt

"Bob" wrote:

Long, sad story made short.

I have a Samsung Netbook running Windows XP Home, SP3.

I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu, just so I could play around with
Ubuntu.

Well, Ubuntu started giving me trouble: my internet connection went
south,
I was unable to adjust the brightness of the Netbook screen, etc., and
when
I looked for troubleshooting help on the internet, it was all Greek to
me as
it involved working with Terminal.

I did a search for removing a partition in Windows XP and found "How
to use
Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" on the
Microsoft and
followed the instructions there.

Now, when I try to boot the Netbook, I get this:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

When I research what this means, the solutions, all on Linux sites are
baffling.

So...

I cloned my Netbook HD about a month ago to an external HD.

How would I go about erasing the HD of the Netbook and cloning back to
the Netbook HD the
operating system from the external HD? Is this possible?

Remember, Netbooks do not come with an optical drive.

Many thanks.
.

This really sounds like a simple enough problem caused by Ubuntu having re-written
the Master Boot Record (MBR). Windows will most likely still exist as it was on it's
own partition.

To try to rectify this, start your PC with the appropriate XP Installation cd-rom in
the drive, and when prompted to do so, press [R] to "Repair using Recovery Console"

When the recovery console starts, choose the Windows installation (usually by typing
"1") and press [ENTER]

It will then ask you for the Administrator password. Unless you have set this
differently yourself, it will not normally be set and you can just press [ENTER] to
proceed.

Once "in" Recovery Console, type the command : FIXMBR then [ENTER]

Then type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot.

This should fix it.

If there is still a problem, repeat the above procedure to start Recovery Console
again, then type in the command : FIXBOOT C: then press [ENTER]

then again type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot.

If the XP partition is still intact, then usually just following the first part of
this procedure should recover the MBR so that XP can be booted to again.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Bob" wrote in message
...
Long, sad story made short.

I have a Samsung Netbook running Windows XP Home, SP3.

I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu, just so I could play around with
Ubuntu.

Well, Ubuntu started giving me trouble: my internet connection went
south,
I was unable to adjust the brightness of the Netbook screen, etc., and
when
I looked for troubleshooting help on the internet, it was all Greek to
me as
it involved working with Terminal.

I did a search for removing a partition in Windows XP and found "How
to use
Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" on the
Microsoft and
followed the instructions there.

Now, when I try to boot the Netbook, I get this:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

When I research what this means, the solutions, all on Linux sites are
baffling.

So...

I cloned my Netbook HD about a month ago to an external HD.

How would I go about erasing the HD of the Netbook and cloning back to
the Netbook HD the
operating system from the external HD? Is this possible?

Remember, Netbooks do not come with an optical drive.

Many thanks.

On Apr 16, 4:03*am, "DL" wrote:
How you recover / restore your clone would depend on the program you used to
create that clone.
If you haven't purchased an external cd/dvd then copying an application to
usb stick generally enables you to run that application.


The program I used is Seagate's DiscWizard for Windows which came free
from Seagate. It is an external Seagate HD to which I made the clone.

On Apr 16, 11:07*am, Milt wrote:
Bob,

You may be able to fix your computer without reinstalling Windows. Check out
this article on fixing your Master Boot Record:http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/44/ma...br_fix_repair/

Milt -

Thanks. I checkout the link, but the instructions a Click Start,
Click Run.

I cannot get past the:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

I can, however, by holding down f2, access the boot BIOS (hope that's
the right term).

On Apr 16, 2:09*pm, "Tim Meddick" wrote:
This really sounds like a simple enough problem caused by Ubuntu having re-written
the Master Boot Record (MBR). *Windows will most likely still exist as it was on it's
own partition.

To try to rectify this, start your PC with the appropriate XP Installation cd-rom in
the drive, and when prompted to do so, press [R] to "Repair using Recovery Console"

When the recovery console starts, choose the Windows installation (usually by typing
"1") and press [ENTER]

It will then ask you for the Administrator password. *Unless you have set this
differently yourself, it will not normally be set and you can just press [ENTER] to
proceed.

Once "in" Recovery Console, type the command : *FIXMBR then [ENTER]

Then type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot.

This should fix it.

If there is still a problem, repeat the above procedure to start Recovery Console
again, then type in the command : FIXBOOT C: then press [ENTER]

then again type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot.

If the XP partition is still intact, then usually just following the first part of
this procedure should recover the MBR so that XP can be booted to again.

==

Thank you, Tim.

Unfortunately, the Netbooks do not have an optical drive and I do not
have an external disk drive into which I can put the Windows
Installation Disk.

I do have a Mac running Windows XP using VMWare. Is there any way to
boot up in Windows on that Mac and share its optical drive with the
Netbook? Put the Windows CD in the Mac's drive and use it to boot the
Netbook???

In message
, Bob
writes:
Long, sad story made short.

I have a Samsung Netbook running Windows XP Home, SP3.

Snap (LC-20 here).

I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu, just so I could play around with
Ubuntu.

I've set up a dual boot with BartPE.
[snip]
Now, when I try to boot the Netbook, I get this:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

I'm pretty sure that's still something Linux-y.

When I research what this means, the solutions, all on Linux sites are
baffling.

So...

I cloned my Netbook HD about a month ago to an external HD.

How would I go about erasing the HD of the Netbook and cloning back to
the Netbook HD the
operating system from the external HD? Is this possible?

As others have said, it may be possible to rescue the situation without
having to get to the point of a reinstall, but it could be awkward
getting to the point where you can.

I _always_,when people are enthusing about how wonderful any
backup/clone/whatever utility is, ask them "yes, but just _how_ do you
restore from it if Windows won't start?". The usual way is something
bootable: these days that's either a CD or a USB, *with the PC being
configurable to boot from USB*. Often the cloning prog. will offer to
make a CD (or something similar to put on a USB stick) when doing its
cloning. (Often the CD or whatever is actually some Linux version,
though they often don't tell you that!)

Whether your backup to external HD also included the "restore"
functionality in what it put on the external HD, I don't know - though I
suspect not. (I'm sure booting from a USB HD is possible, but I think it
involves more than booting from a USB stick or CD drive.)

As for erasing the drive, the restore-from-clone software _might_ do
that anyway (or rather just overwrite, rather than specifically
erasing).

Remember, Netbooks do not come with an optical drive.

I'd say get one - they're cheap enough, and handy to have occasionally:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-External...qid=1271498436
Slimline USB CD reader £ 11.29
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DVD556S-H02-...qid=1271499288
slimline DVD writer with lightscribe £ 43.95
(Prices are pounds - probably cheaper in USA) - and all variants in
between (not slimline is cheaper, not lightscribe is cheaper, not DVD
write is a _little_ cheaper). They usually run off the USB port
(sometimes needing two), though to do lightscribe may need the PSU
supplied.

Many thanks.

YW.

As others have said, you may well be able to get to a point you can
rescue things without having to do a complete restore.

Oh, I almost forgot: you say in another post that you've managed to get
into the BIOS setup. That's where you will have to change the boot
sequence, to (try to) boot from USB first, if that's the way you have to
go. I'm pretty certain most netbooks - including ours - can be set to
boot from a USB optical drive.

I use ERUNT to save (and BartPE dual boot to restore -and yes, I _have_
checked that I know how to do it!); ERUNT doesn't do a complete
clone/backup by any means, it just saves the registry and lots of other
important files, so it's far from as safe as a complete backup. However,
I was rescued from unstartable Windows many times using ERU/ERD under
Windows 9x, so it was nice to find someone (just Google for ERUNT) had
written an equivalent for NT-based OSs (XP, Vista, ...). It's a darn
sight quicker than a full clone of course.
--
J. P. Gilliver. 27 years experience in the electronics industry - seeking
employment (also computer, tester, trainer ...); email for details: CV at
http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/CV2010-4.pdf !

There are two kinds of fool. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And
one says, "This is new, and therefore better."
-John Brunner, science fiction writer (1934-1995)

Bob,

Sorry about my earlier reply. I wasn't thinking!

I assume you have a USB port on the netbook, right? If so, might you be able
to make an emergency boot disk on it, using your Mac, in order to start the
netbook and restore/repair your boot file?

MIlt

"Bob" wrote:

Long, sad story made short.

I have a Samsung Netbook running Windows XP Home, SP3.

I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu, just so I could play around with
Ubuntu.

Well, Ubuntu started giving me trouble: my internet connection went
south,
I was unable to adjust the brightness of the Netbook screen, etc., and
when
I looked for troubleshooting help on the internet, it was all Greek to
me as
it involved working with Terminal.

I did a search for removing a partition in Windows XP and found "How
to use
Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" on the
Microsoft and
followed the instructions there.

Now, when I try to boot the Netbook, I get this:
GRUB loading.
error: no such partition
grub rescue

When I research what this means, the solutions, all on Linux sites are
baffling.

So...

I cloned my Netbook HD about a month ago to an external HD.

How would I go about erasing the HD of the Netbook and cloning back to
the Netbook HD the
operating system from the external HD? Is this possible?

Remember, Netbooks do not come with an optical drive.

Many thanks.
.

On Apr 17, 9:03*am, Milt wrote:
Bob,

Sorry about my earlier reply. I wasn't thinking!

I assume you have a USB port on the netbook, right? If so, might you be able
to make an emergency boot disk on it, using your Mac, in order to start the
netbook and restore/repair your boot file?

MIlt
Hi Milt -

That is exactly what I am trying to do.

I have booted up my MacBook in Windows XP and am researching how to do
that.

I have found instructions on how to use UNetbootin to copy a version
of Ubuntu that will work on a flash drive to a flash drive.

It's a bit more complicated than I thought.

Should anyone else be interested and follow this thread, I'll post my
results here.

Thanks to all for your suggestions and input. Most welcome.

On Apr 17, 9:03*am, Milt wrote:
Bob,

Sorry about my earlier reply. I wasn't thinking!

I assume you have a USB port on the netbook, right? If so, might you be able
to make an emergency boot disk on it, using your Mac, in order to start the
netbook and restore/repair your boot file?

MIlt

OK! Serious progress, at last.

I found and successfully followed instructions for making a bootable
flash drive, installed Ubuntu 9.10 on it, and my Netbook is now booted
from that flash drive.

I'd be profoundly grateful for advice on what should be my next step,
as I am in a bit over my head.

Thanks.

BTW, my ultimate objective here is to safely remove from the Netbook
the partition containing the dual bootable Ubuntu partition and to
return it to just running Windows XP.

If you go to your local Internet Café you will be able to download a copy of
"Recovery Console" for use with a USB drive...

Most modern laptops / netbooks has an option to boot from a USB source.

This download allows a USB pen-drive to boot the first part of the Windows XP
installation disk - up to the part where it asks you "Press R to repair using
Recovery Console".

Download: "XP_Recovery_Console_on_USB.zip" (6.62 MB )
http://www.4shared.com/file/t3MX2P8z...le_on_USB.html

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)



"Bob" wrote in message
...
On Apr 16, 2:09 pm, "Tim Meddick" wrote:
This really sounds like a simple enough problem caused by Ubuntu having re-written
the Master Boot Record (MBR). Windows will most likely still exist as it was on
it's
own partition.

To try to rectify this, start your PC with the appropriate XP Installation cd-rom
in
the drive, and when prompted to do so, press [R] to "Repair using Recovery Console"

When the recovery console starts, choose the Windows installation (usually by
typing
"1") and press [ENTER]

It will then ask you for the Administrator password. Unless you have set this
differently yourself, it will not normally be set and you can just press [ENTER] to
proceed.

Once "in" Recovery Console, type the command : FIXMBR then [ENTER]

Then type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot.

This should fix it.

If there is still a problem, repeat the above procedure to start Recovery Console
again, then type in the command : FIXBOOT C: then press [ENTER]

then again type EXIT then [ENTER] to reboot.

If the XP partition is still intact, then usually just following the first part of
this procedure should recover the MBR so that XP can be booted to again.

==

Thank you, Tim.

Unfortunately, the Netbooks do not have an optical drive and I do not
have an external disk drive into which I can put the Windows
Installation Disk.

I do have a Mac running Windows XP using VMWare. Is there any way to
boot up in Windows on that Mac and share its optical drive with the
Netbook? Put the Windows CD in the Mac's drive and use it to boot the
Netbook???

Very sorry I said "...go to the Internet Café" in my last post, was still thinking
in terms of needing a cd-rom!! (which you wouldn't do with this download and a fresh
USB pen-drive)

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)





clipped

Tim -

Thank you ever so much for those detailed instructions.

I followed them to the letter, inserted the USB flash drive and booted
the Netbook.

I saw the _starting windows recovery console_, and now sit at the
prompt:
1: C:\Windows

Which Windoes installation would you like to log onto
To cancel, press ENTER?

Googled what to do next and discovered I should enter the numeral 1,
then my admin password.

I do not understand: it will not accept my admin password. I have
entered it repeatedly, I am sure it is the right one, but no go.

It returns _the password is not valid_.

Any other options open to me???

Again, many thanks.



On Apr 19, 3:44 pm, "Tim Meddick" wrote:
The ZIP file contains paths within it.

If you were to open the ZIP file in explorer (with XP's in-built ZIPfile shell
extension) then you would see the folder structure and "UDF" within!

However, your would NOT see the folder structure within if you opened the ZIPfile
with WinZip or a similar program, as the folder structure is not displayed but
internal paths are just listed in their own column (if chosen to be shown).

TO re-create the folder structure contained within a ZIP file when "unpacking"
(WinZip), you will have to checkmark the box called "Use folder names" in the
"Extract to..." dialogue.

Or something similar in other archiver programs.

And with the command-line utility : PKUNZIP.EXE it's the [/r] switch (r=recursive):

pkunzip /r "MyZipFile.zip"

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)

P.S. Here is a folder / directory "tree" of the correctly un-packed archive :

Root:
|
--------UFD
|
--------cmdcons
|
--------system32

I did say in my initial reply - the Admin password is *usually* NOT set to anything -
therefo just press [ENTER] when asked for the Administrator password - instead of
trying to enter one.

You are nearly there!

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Carl" wrote in message
...
Tim -

Thank you ever so much for those detailed instructions.

I followed them to the letter, inserted the USB flash drive and booted
the Netbook.

I saw the _starting windows recovery console_, and now sit at the
prompt:
1: C:\Windows

Which Windoes installation would you like to log onto
To cancel, press ENTER?

Googled what to do next and discovered I should enter the numeral 1,
then my admin password.

I do not understand: it will not accept my admin password. I have
entered it repeatedly, I am sure it is the right one, but no go.

It returns _the password is not valid_.

Any other options open to me???

Again, many thanks.



On Apr 19, 3:44 pm, "Tim Meddick" wrote:
The ZIP file contains paths within it.

If you were to open the ZIP file in explorer (with XP's in-built ZIPfile shell
extension) then you would see the folder structure and "UDF" within!

However, your would NOT see the folder structure within if you opened the ZIPfile
with WinZip or a similar program, as the folder structure is not displayed but
internal paths are just listed in their own column (if chosen to be shown).

TO re-create the folder structure contained within a ZIP file when "unpacking"
(WinZip), you will have to checkmark the box called "Use folder names" in the
"Extract to..." dialogue.

Or something similar in other archiver programs.

And with the command-line utility : PKUNZIP.EXE it's the [/r] switch
(r=recursive):

pkunzip /r "MyZipFile.zip"

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)

P.S. Here is a folder / directory "tree" of the correctly un-packed archive :

Root:
|
--------UFD
|
--------cmdcons
|
--------system32