[TechAssist] Re: CLONING Windows 2000 Pro
- From: "Elmer L. Tibbetts Jr." <eltibbe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 06:56:37 +0000
Gary,
The difference between FDISK and the two levels of format are basically as
follows:
1) low level format lays out the physical tracks & locks out any bad tracks
2) FDISK sets up the partition table which tells the computer where the
logical drives are on the physical media
3) high level format sets up the root directory structure and initializes
the sectors/clusters so that the logical drive can be used by the operating
system.
the three steps have to be done in this order, but the low level format on
many drives is done by the factory so the user "shouldn't" have to woory
about it (unless you REALLY need to wipe the data on the drive, i.e. a
major virus problem that can't be handled any other way or a very old drive
where the tracks have started to "drift" due to the wear on the servo).
The reason that Drive Backup is so quick is that I suspect that it assumes
that the sectors/clusters are OK and it just initializes the root directory
structure. This is a quick & dirty fix and perfectly OK - AS LONG AS the
sectors/clusters structure has not been damaged ... if it has been then you
may have to go back to the low level format.
Also, be careful of what type of backup you use, the quickest is an image
backup but that save a "snapshot" of the drive, bad sectors & all. With a
modern drive this shouldn't be a problem but you should always be aware of
the limitations of any tool that you use (and a file based backup program,
while slower doesn't have this problem).
Hope this helps,
Elmer Tibbetts
Systems Engineer
At 08:05 AM 10/24/2002, Bil Green wrote:
>Gary,
>
>I don't really know the difference between low level formatting and
>FDISK. I was wondering why the formatting took only a few seconds
>using Drive Backup. All the problems were present before I formatted.
>
>The new drive is almost exactly the same. Both are 40GB, ATA100,
>7200RPM. One is WD and the other Seagate. I use "BootIt NG" to backup
>and restore MBR and Partition Tables. Can I use this to backup the
>new drive and restore the bad one - and then should I clone this
>drive again?
>
>You said:
>One thing you might be able to do would be to do an fdisk /mbr to
>restore the boot sector.
>
>I already tried a MBR/PT restore using a backup I had saved. Tried
>FIXBOOT also (Recovery Console command).
>
>As I mentioned Windows does boot up - just crashes the first try or
>two and then runs too slow and takes far too long to shutdown. Does
>this seem like it could be a drive problem? I thought chkdsk or the
>automatic Windows 2000 repair (on CD) would have fixed this (tried
>both). Or at least the MBR/PT restore (I'm not an expert yet, just
>trying...).
>
>I will try your last suggestion if you think it still applies (after
>what I just told you). Another fine mess I got myself into!
>
>Thanks again Gary,
>
>--
>Best regards,
> Bil mailto:tv.vcrrepair@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>Wednesday, October 23, 2002, 11:31:16 PM, you wote:
>
>
>GM> Bil, just wondering why you low level formatted the drive in the first
>GM> place? Wouldn't the regular FDISK and high level format have worked?
>GM> Maybe you altered the characteristics of the drive by low level
>GM> formatting it? If you have another drive exactly the same, you can use
>GM> Norton Disk Edit or similar hex editor to edit the FAT table and boot
>GM> sector to be exactly like your good drive. I have done this in the past
>GM> to rescue an otherwise junk hard drive. I just happened to have another
>GM> good one the same model which I read the FAT table and boot sector data
>GM> from and then copied it to the defective drive. One thing you might be
>GM> able to do would be to do an fdisk /mbr to restore the boot sector. Not
>GM> sure how having NTFS would affect it though. That command is likely just
>GM> for FAT 16/32. Maybe you could low level format the drive again, then
>GM> FDISK and format with FAT 32, then go ahead and Ghost the new drive back
>GM> onto the old one. This might "kick" the drive back into it's original
>GM> state.
>
>
>
>GM> Gary McCartney
>
>GM> McCartney Electronics
>GM> 7134 Fife Rd, RR 7
>GM> Guelph Ontario Canada N1H 6J4
>GM> Fax: (519)821-1530
>GM> email: number63 (at) inetsonic.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>GM> Bil Green wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Gary,
> >>
> >> I have restored the registry and the most critical system files
> >> (using WinRescue) already so the last known good config would be one
> >> that didn't work any better than the current one. I use WinRescue
> >> because Last Known Good Config (as well as scanreg /) are known to
> >> be unreliable. This program should be on every computer - really
> >> easy and quick to use, and works.
> >>
> >> The Drive Backup tech that examined my System32\config\system file
> >> didn't find anything wrong with it. He referred to this file as the
> >> registry (I know the registry file as SOFTWARE, not SYSTEM). I wonder
> >> if he knows his stuff.
> >>
> >> Since the cloned drive works perfectly, even though the OS came from
> >> the "bad" drive, I am wondering if maybe the original drive is
> >> physically defective or has an error that is hard to eliminate and
> >> does not get transferred when cloned.
> >>
> >> Unless someone has a better idea I am planning on totally "erasing"
> >> the "bad" partition with Eraser (writes a special pattern to the
> >> drive, up to 35 times, to make it nearly impossible to retrieve files).
> >>
> >> --
> >> Best regards,
> >> Bil mailto:tv.vcrrepair@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >>
> >> Wednesday, October 23, 2002, 9:11:01 PM, you wote:
> >>
> >> GM> I just checked my hard drive (win 2000) and there was no scanreg.exe
> >> GM> file found. You can however restore to last known good
> configuration by
> >> GM> booting up and pressing F8 and choosing it from the menu.
> >>
> >> GM> Gary McCartney
> >>
> >> GM> McCartney Electronics
> >> GM> 7134 Fife Rd, RR 7
> >> GM> Guelph Ontario Canada N1H 6J4
> >> GM> Fax: (519)821-1530
> >> GM> email: number63 (at) inetsonic.com
> >>
> >> GM> wolfe-mcse@xxxxxxx wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> Howdy...
> >> >>
> >> >> Rather than trying to sort all of this out, and fix something that
> may not
> >> >> be worth the effort to fix to start with, as it could take days to
> fix the
> >> >> problem you created, here is a suggestion.
> >> >>
> >> >> 1. Low level format the drive
> >> >> 2. Install Windows 2000 Pro from the CD
> >> >> 3. Image the drive using Windows 2000 utilities,
> >> >> prior to any addition software installation,
> >> >> once it is operational again
> >> >>
> >> >> I think Microsoft dropped the ERD functionality when it released
> Windows
> >> >> 2000, aka Windows NT 5.0, so there really is not way to "protect"
> yourself
> >> >> with a quick fix on this. I am curious in regards to whether they
> released
> >> >> SCANREG with Windows 2000, which was first released with Windows
> 98. It may
> >> >> be worth checking into :).
> >> >>
> >> >> Wolfe Strickland, MCSE, MCP+I, MCP, CompTIA A+
> >> >>
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> >> GM> --
> >>
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>GM> --
>
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