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Error message when booting to WinXP Home:

Quote:


Recently, I set up an *automated* backup using Ghost 2003 for a non-tech friend.  In the process, I ran into the above error that stopped me for a day while I had to trouble shoot the problem.

The setup involved installing a second HDD to the system.  I had not used the system, and it had not been hooked up since the last HDD had failed, had been taken into the computer shop, and a new replacement HDD installed and a fresh WinXP Home installed.

So, I installed the second HDD, hooked the system up, powered up--but booted with a *bootable CD with Ghost 2003* and DOS PartitionMagic.  

First step, partitioned the new second HDD with an extended partition and placed three logical partitions inside that extended partition using PartitionMagic.

Then created a baseline image of the first HDD to the third partition on the new HDD that is for Ghost images, and ran an integrity check--passed--no problems.

Third step, now resized the single partition on the original first HDD, then created an extended partition leaving about 300 MB unallocated at the end, and created one logical partition within that extended partition--again using PartitionMagic.  Then created a FAT32 primary partition (hidden) using the 300 MB unallocated space.

I was now ready to start completing my setup and attempted to boot to WinXP and got the error message quoted at the beginning!

Ok, so booted from the Windows Setup CD-ROM--saw the following screens:

Quote:


Just to rule out that PartitionMagic had not failed me --restored my baseline image of the first HDD reverting it back to its original single partition--same errors!

Tried the WinXP Home CD-ROM in another system--Windows Setup loaded fine--so CD is okay.

Tried one of my WinXP Pro Installation CD's on the baulking system--same errors.

Put another good optical drive in from one of my systems--same errors.

Win98se Boot Floppy disk boot fine!

My Ghost bootable CD boots fine!

Do other Bootable CD's work okay--put in Ghost 10's Recovery Disk CD which loads Windows PE (Pre-installation Environment):

Quote:

Say What!  

I had not paid much attention to the initial memory test during the initial post--now I did--it showed only 8 MB of RAM!

Pulled the RAM module out--it said 256 MB!

Plugged the RAM module back in--re-seating it firmly--now 256 MB shows in the initial RAM test during post--and WinXP boots fine!

From that initial error message from Windows--that's not the problem I was initially looking for!

And the fact that my DOS bootable CD worked fine and Ghost and PartitionMagic worked flawlessly!  But, then I thought--that's right, I originally used PartitionMagic in DOS back when my system had a single 4 MB RAM chip as the standard RAM size--the system could handle 3 more 4 MB RAM chips for a total of 16 MB's!

I never knew before that a 256 MB RAM chip that was not making good contact could still show 8 MB of RAM and function successfully--learn something new everyday about these machines   !

And the initial error message is an example of how the error message may be misleading--and have nothing to do with the actual problem!  Obviously Microsoft has not included an *adequate amount of memory* check sub-routine in its boot sequence or Setup CD-ROM boot.

Well I was able to follow this and get it to work:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/convert.html

NightOwl,
  OK, thanks. No hurry anyway, was just curious.

ckcc

I used my

Guide

, but modified the boot files as noted below.  

If you have a floppy drive, you can simply create a boot floppy with the listed files below and the appropriate *autoexec.bat* and *config.sys* on the floppy and let the CD burning program read the files from the floppy--as opposed to using the

Guide

--this would avoid having to use WinImage to create the boot image file which is needed if you do not have a floppy drive.

I did not place the *ghost.exe* in the boot sector with the other boot files, but instead placed it in the sub-directory *Ghost* in the data portion of the CD that I burned.

I created a second sub-directory for the PartitionMagic DOS files that I labeled *Pqmagic*.  When I installed PartitionMagic in WinXP, the program created a sub-directory with this path:  * F:\Program Files\PowerQuest\PartitionMagic 8.0\

DOS

.  Before burning the bootable CD, I placed all the files in that *DOS* sub-directory of the PartitionMagic program sub-directory into the *Pqmagic* sub-directory to be burned to the data portion of the CD.  The DOS *exe* program for PartitionMagic is *pqmagic.exe*.  (Brian's post above lists the files needed to run the DOS PartitionMagic program--I'm not sure what all the other files are for--but I just included all of them!)

I have PartitionMagic v8.x--but I suspect that version 7.x creates the same *DOS* sub-directory in its program file directory.

Because the *path* statement in *autoexec.bat* includes both the *Ghost* and *Pqmagic* sub-directories, I simply type *ghost* or *pqmagic* at the DOS A:\ prompt to load whichever program.

List of boot files:

AUTOEXEC.BAT
COMMAND.COM
CONFIG.SYS
DI1000DD.SYS
EDIT.COM
HIMEM.SYS
IO.SYS
MOUSE.COM
MOUSE.INI
MSCDEX.EXE
MSDOS.SYS
OAKCDROM.SYS
Usbaspi.sys

[config.sys]

device=himem.sys
device=usbaspi.sys /e /v
device=di1000dd.sys
device=oakcdrom.sys /d:nightowl
dos=high
lastdrive=z

[autoexe.bat]

path=a:\;x:\;x:\ghost;x:\pqmagic
mouse.com
mscdex.exe /d:nightowl /l:x /m:16 /v

[mouse.ini]

[mouse]
MouseType=PS2

You can find the Panasonic DOS USB drivers (Usbaspi.sys) here:

v2.06

, size=37,903, dated 11/26/2002

v2.15

, size=39,093, dated 10/26/2003

v2.20

, size=39,179, dated 11/07/2004

After clicking on the downloaded *.exe* file which extracts the enclosed files, you will find the *Usbaspi.sys* file in the *F2h* subdirectory.

The *di1000dd.sys* file is also referred to at the *Motto Hairu USB Driver*, and can be found in this download from

Rad's download page

:  

usb-dos.zip

.

After you un-zip the above file, there will be another zipped file--*MHAIRUDO.ZIP*--after un-zipping this file--you will find the *di1000dd.sys* there.  (Warning--there is another *USBASPI.SYS* file in the same zipped file as the *di1000dd.sys*--but, that is not the one you want to use!--it's the version 1.xx and not the version 2.xx.)


If you have USB 2.0 HDD's attached, the Panasonic USB DOS drivers will mount and assign them drive letters--if you do not have any attached--then it simply says *no devices found*, or something to that effect--and the boot process moves on to the next step.

(Note:  the *mouse.com* used in the

Guide

does not need the *mouse.ini* file--I used the *mouse.com* that comes with the Ghost 2003 program on the above bootable CD, and it does require the *mouse.ini* to be included!  You just open Notepad, paste the two lines listed above for [mouse.ini], and simply save it as *mouse.ini* and add it to the other boot files.)

ckcc,

This is one way to do it.

Download this file.

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/sp27001-27500/SP27213.exe

In Win XP, create a MS-DOS startup disk and then follow these instructions.

Quote:

NightOwl wrote on Oct 16^th, 2006 at 8:31am:


NightOwl,

That's certainly correct. Also, I gather not all USB thumb drives can be made bootable but I haven't worked out why this is so.