[TechAssist] Re: CLONING Windows 2000 Pro
- From: Bil Green <tv.vcrrepair@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Gary McCartney <techassist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 01:05:41 -0700
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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