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Win 2K partial recovery, need some input...

M

Matt L

Senior member
I downloaded the latest "crucial update" the other day and after I rebooted I started getting all kinds of application errors on start-up. The system froze so I hit reset. Then the system hung at the Win 2k boot screen, clicked off two or three segments and froze. Tried to recover by booting from the CD, but the app. couldn't find the Win 2k partition. Pulled the drive and took it to the office and plugged it into another Win 2k machine, the damaged Win 2k drive showed up as unrecognized, but healthy (yeah, sure...). Back home I took a spare HD and made a new Win 2k drive, and then plugged the damaged HD into that system, it found the damaged disk and repaired it! All the files are available, no problems. Pulled the new drive and tried to boot off the original, error message NTDLR missing. This was a dual boot system, now that is not available either. I can still plug it into a system and see all the files, but I can't boot.

Any ideas? I have an old version of Partition Magic, but it doesn't support Win 2k, would an update help me out? I'm thinking I could make the repaired partition bootable and solve the problem. I had the system set up and running great, way too many app's to do a reinstall unless as a last resort. I know, I should have backed up but the install was only 4 or 5 month's old and I was still tweaking it..... (I did do a backup of the files as they are now.)
 
Since the drive and files are intact, the problem may be that the boot.ini menu got altered. Check it and make sure that w2k's line points to the correct disk for your hardware configuration.
 
Did a search for boot.ini, none found. Where should it be located? My Win 2k drive is K, wasn't there or on C. One thing I was thinking of is reformating that drive and restoring the files, seems kind of drastic, would I loose my Regestry? Any other ideas?
I'm not in too much of a rush to get the files back, but need them in a week or so, so would the Patrition Magic idea work?
 
boot.ini, ntldr, and other w2k boot files would be in the root directory of the C: (or boot) drive. They wouldn't show up in win explorer unless it was set to show system and hidden files.
 
System is set to show all files, nothing shows after search. I tried the ERD with no luck. Is the ERD specific to the system, I have one from another system, I thought they were like Win 98 boot disks, one covers all.
Sorry if I'm not up to speed on Win 2k, I've been using it for a while w/o problems and I'm not up on all the crash/recovery problems. I guess I will be after this.....
 
ERD's are specific, but for some things you can swap them around, like boot files if the disk configurations are the same.
If you copy the boot.ini from the working server , you could then edit it. Get a copy of ntldr while you're there and put that on the root C: too.

You say you 2k install is on K:, what drive is that? IDE 0,1,2,3? SCSI??? and which partition number? You need to know that to edit the boot.ini
 
The org. drive was on IDE 0, I split the drive up C - L, so in the lineup it's #9, if that's what you mean. Interestingly, I did the search for boot.ini on the active Win2k system I'm using, C is the boot disk and it did not show up even with show hidden file selected.....

I looked at the text doc. on my ERD and I see where it states what boot sector is selected, but where do I edit this? The autoexec and config files on the disk don't make any reference to this. I also see a reference to NTDLR with a number by it, would this need to be changed?

Thanks for the help!
 
Unclear to me what your setup is or what you did. However, the boot disk (the one the computer boots from, set in BIOS, that would ordinarily come up as C🙂 must contain the NT boot files (ntldr, boot.ini, etc.), and its disk ID must also be NT (so that its boot sector turns boot control over to ntldr) and not DOS (which would turn control over to io.sys). Ntldr would then boot w2k on the disk that was selected by you in the boot.ini boot menu.
 
Ok, if the system that will run 2k is running 2k at the time and you search for boot.ini and ntldr and they arent there, you are doing the search wrong. Look again...
Last resort I guess I could email the files...
 
Correct me if I am wrong but an ERD is a copy of the registry right? If you get another ERD then hardware will be missing (most likely) or in different slots but you would still repair the MBR right? It would have to reinstall hardware and that would be a pain, as well as software but it would run right? Does the registry contain passwords and users and such?

Might be easier to format and re-install at this point.
 
You've got the right idea.
Before 2k, the erd had the registry on it. 2k doesnt, it is stored in winnt\system32\repair\regback, after you run the erd. I know... and if you go for certification, you'll be asked that in some form. IMHO, they should have left option the to put it on a floppy, because ls-120's would be big enough to handle the files. When MS buys Superdisk I bet you see this option in a service pack 🙂
You've got the reason why you generally wouldnt use an erd from a different system, but if all you want to do is repair the boot files, as long as the boot configurations are the same, you can do it. Or in this case, get the files on there so we can edit the boot.ini to go to the right drive/partition to boot it up.
 
Ok, the weirdness continues. I found a copy of WinRescue on my C: drive, thought it might work. No luck, but after I put my primary HD back on IDE 0 to boot from, no NTDLR error, and the dual boot option comes up! If I go to Win 2k option, system hangs at 2 or 3 bars into the load. No problems booting to Win 98. Did a search of C: and now I find Boot.INI. It is as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows"

So now I'm totally confused. I'm going to look on this as a learning experience.....

 
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows"


ok, so if your 2k partition is the k drive, or 9th partition, you need to
change: partition(1) to partition(9)
 
Well, I tried that too, got a new error, &quot;File missing or corrupt <windows 200 root>\system 32\ntoskrnl.exe Reinstall a copy of the above file&quot;. Put the info back to the original, booted again this time went to Safe Mode. Got 4 lines before locking -

Multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt\system 32\ntoskernl.exe
&quot; &quot; \hal.dll
&quot; &quot; \bootvid.dll
&quot; &quot; \config\system

I was also able to boot from the Cd, and go to Repair Console, and it found my Win 2K on the K: drive and listed all my files looked at some of the options there regarding repair but I didn't know too much about any of them.

Does any of this help? I really appreciate all your efforts so far.....

Matt




 
Yes,and I have. That is what generated the file missing or corrupt message I mentioned earlier. When I undid the changes, the system started to boot but halted after the 4th line, so I think the boot sector info is good. When Win 2K boots in a step by step mode what follows the \config\system? Or is the system hanging at this point due to an error in the \config\system?

I do tech support for a local ISP and I hate to come off as one of the people I deal with almost daily , but at this point I don't have a clue.....😕
 
Here you go, from my lab pc:

Microsoft (R) Windows 2000 (R) Version 5.0 (Build 2195)
2 25 2001 01:25:04.500
Loaded driver \WINNT\System32\ntoskrnl.exe
Loaded driver \WINNT\System32\hal.dll
Loaded driver \WINNT\System32\BOOTVID.DLL
Loaded driver pci.sys
Loaded driver isapnp.sys
Loaded driver intelide.sys
Loaded driver \WINNT\System32\DRIVERS\PCIIDEX.SYS
Loaded driver MountMgr.sys
Loaded driver ftdisk.sys
Loaded driver Diskperf.sys
Loaded driver \WINNT\System32\Drivers\WMILIB.SYS
Loaded driver dmload.sys
Loaded driver dmio.sys
Loaded driver PartMgr.sys
Loaded driver atapi.sys
Loaded driver disk.sys
Loaded driver \WINNT\System32\DRIVERS\CLASSPNP.SYS
Loaded driver Dfs.sys
Loaded driver Fastfat.sys
Loaded driver KSecDD.sys
Loaded driver NDIS.sys
Loaded driver Mup.sys
Loaded driver agp440.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ctlsb16.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\gameenum.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\audstub.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\rasl2tp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\ndistapi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\ndiswan.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\raspptp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\ptilink.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\raspti.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\parallel.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\ne2000.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\uhcd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\s3legacy.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\swenum.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\update.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\i8042prt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\kbdclass.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\parport.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\serial.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\serenum.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\fdc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\mouclass.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\usbhub.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\flpydisk.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\lbrtfdc.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Sfloppy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Changer.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Cdaudio.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Fs_Rec.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Null.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Beep.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\sglfb.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\tga.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\vga.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\mnmdd.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Msfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Npfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\rasacd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\msgpc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\netbt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\netbios.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\PCIDump.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\wanarp.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\redbook.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\rdbss.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\afd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\wdmaud.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\sysaudio.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\swmidi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\DMusic.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ParVdm.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\kmixer.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\rdbss.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Cdfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\spud.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\ipsec.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\kmixer.sys
 
There are a couple of options in the recovery to fix the boot sector, check the help on them and see if they offer any hope.
 
Hey, thanks for all the help! Got it up and running today. So far the only app that isn't working is Outlook Express.

Got it fixed by &quot;rolling&quot; my own ERD. I made an ERD from the working Win 2K system and over-wrote the files with the files from my recovery folder in the non-working Win 2K. I booted from the CD and choose emergency recovery and used the disk I made. Ran through it twice and it booted very slowly the first time, but the system came up! I did get an error telling me to increase the size of my Registry, which I did, from 19M to 30M. I did a shut down and restart and it went quickly after that. Now I will do a backup of my WORKING system.....

Thanks again,

Matt
 
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