Hello all,
I was directed here by another forum and google searches. I have used search a little but did not find what i am looking for probably not useing the correct key words.
I am a mechanic and use a laptop to help with troubleshooting by using it to run interfaces that communicate with the networks in the vehicles.
I've started to look into partioning because my new laptop/tablet has Vista ult and most of my hardware only runs with XP, also there are often conflicts when 2 or more interface software are on one machine.
I've read many of the guides and lots of threads but feel I need more of the basics to get started. My goal is to vista on 2 partitions for invoicing and service info database(120gb) then 4-6 additional w/ XP-pro for operating the interface hardware and a final one with a alt open source browser to do internet searches.
I need to learn where to go to learn more of the basics and get recommendations of the order I should do things in and what software to purchase and use. I am interested in open source options but wonder if retail products would have better support for an amateur.
comment & suggetions please.
tablet is a hp tx2z w/ 500gb hd, all will be backed up on a 500gb ext.hd.

Thank you

J

Probably easiest to make 1 primary partition for Vista and 1 primary partition for you database and any other files you'd like all the OS's to share, then have an extended partition with as many logical partitions as you need for additional OS's. 

Rad has a partitioning guide that should get you going on getting that far.

http://partition.radified.com/

I'd suggest Ubuntu for your open source partition.  It's the easiest open source OS to learn and use.  A few of us use it here, so we should be able to answer most of your initial questions.  There's also some good community support for Ubuntu.

jpw wrote on Aug 18^th, 2009 at 2:04pm:

4-6 additional w/ XP-pro for operating the interface hardware and a final one with a alt open source browser

does this mean you want 4-to-6 separate installations of win xp?

some links you might find helpful:

http://windows.radified.com/

http://mt4.radified.com/2009/04/learn-linux-ubuntu-virtual-machine-vmware-jaunty.html

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1241201325

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1240336627

Thank you for the suggestions, lots of reading to do but it looks like i will be starting with Bootit-NG.

Spanky 4-6 XP is correct, it seems that when more than one interface app is installed there are conflicts and usually only the last one installed will work properly.

J

@ jpw

With BootIt NG, you can have dozens of WinXP. Each will work as if it was the only OS on the HD. Completely independent of the others. Have a look at this tutorial page.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/index.htm

MrMagoo wrote on Aug 18^th, 2009 at 2:41pm:

Rad has a partitioning guide that should get you going on getting that far. http://partition.radified.com/

An open-source tool that prolly should be added IMO, onto page 3 & page 4 of the Radified Partitioning Guide is the FLOSS gparted (GNOME Partition Editor), which supports a whole lot of file systems as can be seen from the chart at the Wikipedia link. Presently, the guide only mentions the non-free Partition Magic (now Norton Partition Magic) and System Commander.

I personally prefer using gparted through the versatile Parted Magic (currently at version 4) Live CD. A key advantage of this live CD is that it includes ntfsprogs & ntfs-3g so that NTFS partitions are mounted automatically when the Live CD is booted.

I Purchsaed BootitNG, installed it, set up my 1st partition, made the XP slipstrem disc with nlite. Shortly after  rebooting and hit any key to install via CD I got a blank screen HD light off and CD drive lightflashing, any suggestions?
thank you
j

@ jpw

Did you see "Installing Windows XP to its Own Primary Partition (video)"?

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/index.htm

Brian, I watched that video till I cans ee it in my sleep, I also followed the tutorial on slpimstreaming the drivers to make the install disc. I must be missing some thing as I've not even gotten to the XP setup screen. I've also e-mailed brian at terabyte and he has tried to help but I don"t allways understand him, most likly because I am bew to the suject matter.
thank you

David F. at Terabyte not Brian, my apologies

This is the new laptop I am working on.

AMD Turion(TM) X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-75 (2.2GHz, 1MB L2 Cache)
HP TouchSmart tx2z series
Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3200 Graphics with 64MB Display Cache Memory
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support

@ jpw

OK. Let's take it step by step. Ignoring BING, does the nLite WinXP CD boot to the setup screen with F8 for "I agree"? If not, does it boot to that screen in a computer with an IDE HD?


Edit.... Does the CD boot to the setup screen in another computer with a SATA HD?

jpw wrote on Aug 31^st, 2009 at 10:54am:

David F. at Terabyte

His knowledge is amazing. But I agree, at times difficult to keep up with.

Brian,

I installed the nlite disc, on my back up note book. W/in a few minute it was at Welcome to Setup screen w/ choices set up win XP press enter, to repair press R, to quit press F3.

Thank you J

But it doesn't boot in your new notebook? Is that correct?

That is correct,tried 5-6 times.

J

Does the full WinXP CD boot in the notebook? Any other CDs that don't boot? BING CD must boot as you have it installed.

Full WinXp Boots fine. Don't have any other bootable CDs.

J

Is the full WinXP suitable for your purposes?

Not sure I was just following the tutorial. I have some equipment that will run on the 64bit vista and others that are XP only. I like the idea of faster boot times. Got to get some sleep talk to you tomorrow.,
Thanks for the help I feel like I am making progress now.
J

I don't understand why your nLite CD boots on one computer and not another. Maybe make another CD using a different CD brand?

You only need to do one basic WinXP install (when you get a CD that works) and you can then make 6 clones in BING. That's the fast way to do it.

I will try another brand tonight.

J

If you can't get the nLite one working, at least you know that you can install the full version.

Read up on unlimited primaries in BING. That will make your life much easier when you start using multiple WinXP OS. Basically you just remove the tick from Limit Primaries in Settings. The Boot Menus will then be easier to setup as you only need 1 or 2 items in each MBR. Are you planning to have a common data partition? It is a good idea as it can be seen from all OS.

This is how Tom Pfeifer from TeraByte sets up his boot items.


Quote:

The generalized disk layout I use for n operating systems on a mixed Windows/Linux system looks something like this (it's probably similar to what quite a few BING users do): Primary-1  Windows or Linux Primary-2  Windows or Linux Primary-3  Windows or Linux Primary-n  Windows or Linux Free Space for additional primaries if/when needed Extended -- Volume-1 Linux swap -- Volume-2 data/storage -- Volume-n data/storage Free Space to expand extended partition if/when needed Primary for BING (can also be at beginning of drive) - Each OS is installed to a Primary, 1 thru n. Because the OS partition   is always put in the first MBR slot in Boot Edit, it is *always*   partition 1 to Linux and Windows, and (hd0,0) to Grub - Each boot item is set up like this (example uses Primary-1):    MBR Slot 0 = Primary-1    MBR Slot 1 = Extended    MBR Slot 2 = None (optionally can contain another primary)    MBR Slot 3 = None (optionally can contain another primary) - The Linux swap is the first volume in the extended partition. The   remaining volumes in the extended partition can contain items needed   to be available from any/all OSes. On mine, they are a mix of FAT32   and Linux volumes. When installing an OS, the key thing is that you need to first set up the boot item for it, and then boot it from the BING menu. The boot will fail since there's no OS there yet. But doing that will load the MBR with the partitions as set up in Boot Edit, so that the installer will see them that same way. Right after the boot attempt (without booting anything else), just reboot from the install CD and start the installation. -- Tom Pfeifer TeraByte Consultant

My Mistake, full XP instal attempt resulted in...

" a problem has been detected and windows shut down to protect your computer remove new s-ware, check for viruses, check HD config, run CHKDSK ect then restart"

Tech info:
*** STOP: 0X0000007b (0Xf78D663C, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I have the factory back up discs for the HP, do you think it would be a good idea to use
copy wipe then install BING and the nilte XP disc? Or do I sound like a amateur
grasping at straws? ( I am definitely a amateur)

I did try to look for the correct AMD drivers on there site but could not make heads or
tales of their terminology. David at t-byte said the ones on the XP disc should work, if I understood him properly.

What do you think?

J

A 7B Stop error is usually due to missing storage controller drivers. SATA.
I'm not familiar with AMD drivers. Sorry.

I wouldn't bother with wiping the HD etc. Your problem is getting a WinXP CD that works.

Do you have a BIOS mode (? ATA) that lets you install WinXP without controller drivers? But that mode may stop your Vista from booting. Are you using AHCI/SATA?

@ Brian


Quote:

A 7B Stop error is usually due to missing storage controller drivers. SATA

If that's the case--shouldn't we go back to the beginning and make sure the correct HDD controller drivers are being downloaded and slipstreamed to the new installation CD?

@ jpw

Can you show us the link to the download for the HDD controller drivers for your system that are to be used for the *F6* (add additional drivers missing from the Windows installation CD for a newer system) during initial installation booting.  (Or, were those drivers available on your system's driver disc that may have come with the system?) 

I presume you do not have a floppy drive (? external USB floppy?) that would allow using the original WinXP installation disc and adding those drivers using the F6 routine during booting.

@ Brian

Do you have experience with using that nLite program?  I tried it once several years ago when it was in its early version--at the time it was being touted for doing *custom* installations where you not only added drivers, but remove various components to control the size of the data so it actually would still fit on a single CD if you added too much new data to the installation files.

Also, it was all the *rage* to create a *unattended* installation CD--but, I discovered that at least the default settings for nLite resulted in an installation CD that was altered regardless of whether you were attempting to use the *unattended* install or not--it removed the ability to reach the *Recovery Console* using that new installation CD--at the time my main reason for using the nLite program was to create a new CD with the missing HDD controller drivers so I could access the Recovery Console without needing the F6 floppy disk routine.

When I discovered I couldn't access the Recovery Console--I went onto other things--didn't spend any time trouble shooting to see if that issue could be worked around!

So, my question--do you know if the current version of nLite reproduces an accurate installation CD with just the new drivers and/or the slipstreamed service pack--so the installation CD acts like the *original* (the option to access the Recovery Console is still available) except for the added drivers and service pack files?

@ NightOwl

You jogged my memory. I've used nLite a few times to add SATA drivers. Not for anything else. About 2 months ago I bought an Asus netbook which of course doesn't have an optical drive or a floppy drive. I had read about installing OS from USB flash drives but just to set up the flash drives is so time consuming that I used optical media. I could have installed three Win7 OS in the time it takes to prepare a flash drive.

Back on topic. I tried to install another WinXP. The CD couldn't see the HD. I slipstreamed a driver pack and that didn't work. I found the following method which did add correct drivers but at the expense of not having a Recovery Console.

@ jpw

I forgot about this as my brain was in Intel mode but this pack contains AMD drivers. It is easiest if you just install everything.

BTS mass storage drivers pack

http://driverpacks.net/driverpacks/windows/xp/x86/mass-storage/9.01
http://driverpacks.net/applications/driverpacks-base/8.12.5
http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?id=1449

Do this on a XP source with no other custom drivers integrated and after using nLite for customizing the installation.
Make sure Text mode option is selected in DP Base.

Thank you for all the help.

Nightowl, I used the link provided in the BING XP tutorial.

Brian, I will attempt the AMD drivers once I get the laptop back from HP. David F. at terabyte has also been helping me, he suggested and I ran memtest86, it went to 46% and stopped. Apparently the memory is bad.

I will up date as soon as I can.

J

jpw wrote on Sep 5^th, 2009 at 10:16pm:

David F. at terabyte has also been helping me,

He has helped me on many occasions.

I am trying to practice on my back up netbook untill I grt the HP fixed.

Brian,
Does this "Do this on a XP source with no other custom drivers integrated and after using nLite for customizing the installation."
               mean to make a disc with nlite and my XPpro disc w/out slipstream as per terabyte then install the drivers you linked above during the install of the new disc by pressing f6?

What is....  " Text mode option is selected in DP Base."?

Thank you

J

Use nLite to remove services or to integrate SP3 if you need it but don't integrate any other mass storage packs, only the one mentioned in the links.


jpw wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 3:23am:

Text mode option

It's in one of the graphics in the third link I posted. Don't ask me to explain what it means but I gather it is important.

@ jpw


Quote:

tablet is a hp tx2z w/ 500gb hd

My previous question:


Quote:

Can you show us the link to the download for the HDD controller drivers for your system

And your answer:


Quote:

Nightowl, I used the link provided in the BING XP tutorial.

I'm confused.  When it comes to drivers for a system's HDD controller, I expected a link to the manufacturer's website drivers download section specific to your system's model #!!! 

But, you say the link is available in the *BING XP tutorial*!?  Can you copy and paste that link here--I'm  not sure we're talking apples/apples--oranges/oranges!

@ Brian

Sorry to jpw--but off topic....


Quote:

You jogged my memory. I've used nLite a few times to add SATA drivers. Not for anything else.

So, if I'm reading this right, you never had reason to try booting to the Recovery Console--so you don't know if that was disabled or not when you used nLite in the recent past--correct?


Quote:

Back on topic. I tried to install another WinXP. The CD couldn't see the HD. I slipstreamed a driver pack and that didn't work. I found the following method which did add correct drivers but at the expense of not having a Recovery Console.

I checked those links and skimmed the tutorial.  So, the three links you listed below that comment--those procedures work without using nLite--or, is nLite still required?

And, regardless of whether nLite was used or not--you lost the Recovery Console option--correct?

Well, in a spare moment--I did some Google searching and found this thread:

can't repair xp

Looks like there are several possibilities for retaining the Recovery Console function when using nLite:

1.  Reply # 4--there is apparently an *undocumented* function of pressing F10 when the WinXP installation program first begins to setup and you get the notice at the bottom line saying to press *F6* to install additional drivers.  Pressing F10 at this point (instead of F6), apparently takes you to the Recovery Console!

I found a couple more comments elsewhere about this, but never anything *official*--I will have to try this next time I have time to work with this!

2.  Reply #2 talks about a *Manual Install and Upgrade component*--so maybe there is an option to select, as part of setting up nLite, to bypass the *unattended* option--but, no one ever really confirms that later in the thread.

3.  And reply #11--apparently if you delete the [UNANTENDED] section of the WINNT.SIF text file that nLite creates as part of its functions--you will then get the *normal* options using the installation disc of being able to select going to the Recovery Console.

Seems like the F10 option is the easiest solution, if that works!!!!

@ Brian

Again--off topic:


Quote:

I had read about installing OS from USB flash drives but just to set up the flash drives is so time consuming that I used optical media. I could have installed three Win7 OS in the time it takes to prepare a flash drive.

I'm curious--what's the big time issue--do you have to modify the setup files--or is it the time it takes to make the flash drive bootable--or......???

Link to that procedure?

@ NightOwl

http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345

It was the prolonged time to copy the files from the DVD to the flash drive. Over 90 minutes. The flash drive was a 4 GB SanDisk Titanium. A good drive.

I made the Win7 flash drive but didn't use it.

@ NightOwl

I found a couple of WinXP CDs.

A nLite CD I made a year ago with SP3 and SATA drivers for my desktop computer. The Recovery Console works.

Another CD that I made 2 months ago for my netbook. It was based on a SP3 CD (not the above CD) but I don't know whether nLite or AutoStreamer was used for the slipstream. The above driver pack was added to this CD. The Recovery Console is not accessible from this CD. As you mentioned, I'd not tried to access the Recovery Console in the past so I can't be certain but on the basis of these two CDs, it is probably the BTS mass storage drivers pack that breaks the Recovery Console, not nLite.

I lost interest in this topic after I borrowed a USB floppy drive and could use a F6 floppy disc and an old CD without having to use the BTS mass storage drivers pack. I used the driver pack because I didn't know which drivers were needed but I later found that Asus had supplied the correct drivers on a CD. Then I tried the floppy option.

Nightowl,

I am sure there are many times I misunderstand you guys and other times I give you the wrong info or use the wrong lingo. Thank you for your patience, PC and software lingo is new to me. I can troubleshoot/ repair hardware with schematics,meters, and scopes especially automotive and other sraight up DC applications even CAN bus and other networks but this stuff is greek to me.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/howto-xp-sata.htm ;     is what I use to make the XPlite disc that worked ok on my netbook.

Off topic or not I am learning thank to you guys responing, I wish I had time to ansewr quicker / oftener.

HP has not let met send back the tablet back yet. They have had me reseat the HD and memory. I swaped the memory with one I had from my toshiba laptop. None of this got me any different results. HP tech had me run the start up diagnostics and it passed both memory and HD tests even though it Failed the memtest86 which the tech had never heard of, is that a bad sign?

Do you think the fact that the HP vista machine was ordered with 64bit could be part of the problem?

@ jpw

I'm getting lost in detail too.

Just how, when, where, is your computer failing? Is it doing some things normally?

works fine in vista. If I try to boot to new partition created with BING I get "boot sector does not support its location on HD", full XP install goes to settinr up windows screens then says..." windows shut down no mods to system" and "stop error 7b"or something see above post pg2, XPlite only has dull gray back lit sceen w/no text after press any key to install from cd.

  Memory has passed start up tests as well as HD, but mem fails memtest86 at 46% of 1st test.
   I tried other memory and reseat HD with no improvements.

jpw wrote on Sep 7^th, 2009 at 8:29pm:

but mem fails memtest86 at 46% of 1st test.

Is that about 1 second after Memtest starts? Does the app stop running? With the failures I've seen, the app keeps running and generating errors.

Are you using Memtest86+ v2.11? Does the CD work OK in other computers?

More than 1 second but not long, it does seem to stop running. using origianal memteat86 ver 3.5, works well in other computers.

@ jpw

Humour me. Could you try Memtest86+ v2.11? Just the standard settings. I've had false positives with Advanced settings.

Will do, unlikely to be tonight though.

Thanks. It's just that your computer is doing such weird things.