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Unable to boot back to Windows XP (Read 11232 times)
big_dave
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Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Aug 21st, 2006 at 4:26am
 
Hi

I'm new to Norton Ghost and I'm using Ghost 2003.

I'm having a number of problems and I'll go for the biggest problem I'm having at the moment.

Ghost booted to the PC Dos Mode and went into the Ghost start up screen however it could not detect drives or mouse and just hung in the a grey Ghost Screen with no options on it

I tried Ctrl Alt Delete and it restarted the PC which went to the Start Up Menu giving the option to Run Ghost Dos Operation or Return to Window I took this option and the screen just freezes with a blinking cursor

I also tried switching off the power with no effect

Any suggestions on how I get back to Windows XP please

Any suggestions gratefully received
 
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #1 - Aug 21st, 2006 at 10:19am
 
big_dave

Most likely you are *trapped* in Ghost 2003's *virtual partition* that is created when setting up a Ghost procedure from the Windows Ghost GUI--usually this happens when there is some type of software/hardware incompatibility between Ghost and your system and the *virtual partition*--perhaps if you are using SATA HDD's?

Here's some problem solving references--report back with your efforts and results:

How to use GhReboot


Cannot start Windows after starting a Ghost 2003 task from Windows


How to restart the computer into Windows if a problem is encountered after running Ghost 2003


If the above *automated GhReboot* does not work, check this thread on how to use the Symantec Ghost DOS command line partitioning program, *gdisk*, as to how to manually change the active partition back to your original partition:

Ghost 2003 -operating system not found

 

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big_dave
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #2 - Aug 21st, 2006 at 4:34pm
 
Hi Nightowl

Thanks for the feedback on my question I think you are right in that I'm stuck in the Ghost Partion and unable to get out of it.

I have a Dell 8300 I did toy with re-installing the operating system and noticed that there are 3 partitions on the 120GB disk. But it seemed a bit drastic at this point to lose all my existing set up.

The Ghost 2003 was a downloaded from a website so I dont have a disk that I can load it from

I've tried running GHREBOOT from the GHOST partition however the session seems to hang.

Also tried running the GDISK utility I can get this to provide help support i.e. by keying in gdisk / ?

However when I try to get it to do some of the other items to confirm the disk status ie gdisk 1 /status I  get a flashing cursor and no response

I dont have a bootable floppy and my laptop does not have a floppy drive that I can create one from.

I've tried creating a cd with GDISK and GHREBOOT .exe files on them however I'm unable to get the CD command to switch to the CD ROM on the Dell 8300

Can you think of any other steps that I might be able to take to get my Desk Top back and working

 
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #3 - Aug 22nd, 2006 at 12:20am
 
big_dave

Quote:
Can you think of any other steps that I might be able to take to get my Desk Top back and working


You have to come up with a bootable CD that gets you to DOS and has the GHREBOOT program on the CD's data portion of that bootable CD or on another CD that you can swap in--here's my way of doing a bootable CD on a system without a floppy disk drive: 
Creating Bootable CD/DVD's Without A:\Floppy Drive


When you get to the step of setting up the burn of the CD, you should add *ghreboot.exe* to the data portion of the CD--and wouldn't hurt to put the *gdisk.exe* there as well.

Try the *ghreboot* first--then use *gdisk* if that fails.

Do you have any utilities that come on an installation CD that boots to DOS--such as PartitionMagic, Norton SystemWorks, .... ?

?--Beg, borrow, *steal* a floppy drive that can be hooked up to your system!
 

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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #4 - Aug 22nd, 2006 at 9:08am
 
big_dave wrote on Aug 21st, 2006 at 4:34pm:
"... I have a Dell 8300..."
NightOwl wrote on Aug 22nd, 2006 at 12:20am:
"... ?--Beg, borrow, *steal* a floppy drive that can be hooked up to your system!..."



EP
Cry
 

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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #5 - Aug 23rd, 2006 at 4:55pm
 
Hi Guys

I'm away from home for the next day or two so will not be able to progress.

I will update when I've had a chance to review comments

Thanks for you help and input it's much appreciated.

I've arranged to borrow a floppy drive

Ta
Dave
 
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #6 - Aug 23rd, 2006 at 5:42pm
 
El_Pescador wrote on Aug 22nd, 2006 at 9:08am:


Just a quick question about the downloads

You mention downloading WIN98SE OEM Boot disk download

I have an Windows XP top Operating System does this matter?
 
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #7 - Aug 23rd, 2006 at 8:41pm
 
big_dave wrote on Aug 23rd, 2006 at 5:42pm:
"... You mention downloading WIN98SE OEM Boot disk download... I have an Windows XP top Operating System does this matter?..."

You need to make boot diskette(s) for DOS-related Norton Ghost 2003 with WIN98SE as opposed to XP.

EP
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #8 - Aug 24th, 2006 at 3:34am
 
NightOwl wrote on Aug 22nd, 2006 at 12:20am:
big_dave
When you get to the step of setting up the burn of the CD, you should add *ghreboot.exe* to the data portion of the CD--and wouldn't hurt to put the *gdisk.exe* there as well.

Hi nightowl

When you say add these files to the data portion of the cd do you mean the downloads section ?

Once again thanks for the help

Regards
Dave
 
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #9 - Aug 24th, 2006 at 9:08am
 
big_dave

Quote:
When you say add these files to the data portion of the cd do you mean the downloads section ?


Not entirely sure what you mean by *the downloads section*!

In the
Guide
, the *download* sub-directory is a place to hold and organize the various files for use in building the boot image file. 

The boot sector on the CD is a *hidden* area that you will not see with usual file managers such a Windows Explorer.  It's the *data* portion of the CD that can be seen by Windows Explorer, or in DOS when you have loaded the necessary optical drive DOS drivers.

When you boot the bootable optical disc, you will actually *see* the boot files you have placed in the *hidden* boot sector area because those files are loaded into a *virtual A:\ drive*--not a *real* floppy drive--but you can access those files under the A:\ directory.  In the 
Guide
, you are adding *ghost.exe* to the boot files, and you are getting very close to the maximum image size for the boot sector of 1.44 MB.  If you leave *ghost.exe* out, then you have *lots* of room for various other DOS utility files there--so you could add them there as long as you stay below the 1.44 MB limit for the *boot.img* file.

But, in the various burning programs, after you have made the selections for the booting of the disc, and have pointed those routines to the *boot.img* file, you usually have a interface screen with two boxes for file selection--usually the top is the *source* files and the bottom shows files you have selected to be burned to the *data* portion of the CD.  You can select from the source *whole sub-directories* that includes all the files that they contain, or select just individual files--to be added to the lower box--before burning the disc.

Does the above answer your question?
 

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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #10 - Aug 24th, 2006 at 3:12pm
 
Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin

Guys

I would just like to say thank you both very very very much for your help I've created the Ghost Reboot File

... I added the Ghreboot.exe and the Gdisk.exe files to the data area of the disk I burned (I did try to include the exe files as part of the boot ima file but got an error message to advise that I was exceeding the 1.44 MB file limit) hence the previous question.

I changed the boot order for my pc to boot from the CD drive and then after a bit of trial and error got to the Command Prompt and was able to run the Ghreboot utiltity and changed the reboot order when the PC restarted.

I now have access to normal windows session .... yes ..... thank you very very very very much

Regard s
Dave
 
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Re: Unable to boot back to Windows XP
Reply #11 - Aug 24th, 2006 at 4:11pm
 
Big_dave, good to hear that you appreciate the forum!  We are fortunate to have folk like NightOwl, El_Pescador and others visiting here as routine experts.

I encourage you to not only consume resources on the forum, but also to become a regular contributor!  I am confident that you have much to add to the discussions occurring on this site.
 

ple • o • nasm n. “The use of more words than are required to express an idea”
 
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