Radified Community Forums - Operating System Not Found

depawl

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Operating System Not Found
Oct 19^th, 2007 at 11:17pm

Got a major problem here folks.
Installed Norton Ghost 2003 on brother in law's eMachine running xp home. Tried to backup to second hard drive. Ghost rebooted and I got the "missing operating system" error. I went to Symantec's website and found the instructions on how to use the GhReboot utility, but I am not able to access it from the Norton SystemWorks cd, it just gives me the option to run NAV or boot from hard drive. His computer has no floppy. I tried installing a floppy taken from my computer, but I got a floppy drive error, so apparently there is a problem with his BIOS or motherboard. I went into the recovery console, and ran "fixboot", now on boot up it tells me "NTLDR is missing". I tried to run fixmbr, but it gave me all sorts of warning messages about losing partitions, so I chickened out. I realize it's a partition issue, the boot record is still apparenlty pointing to the Ghost Virtual Partition, but don't know how to fix it without a floppy dirve. I have ptedit on a bootable cd but haven't tried it yet. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
thanks

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NightOwl

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Re: Operating System Not Found
Reply #1 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 2:15am

depawl

Quote:

I realize it's a partition issue, the boot record is still apparenlty pointing to the Ghost Virtual Partition, but don't know how to fix it without a floppy dirve.

Sounds like you are aware of the problem you have--now you just need to deal with it!

You need to be able to boot to DOS, load DOS optical drive drivers so you can access the optical disk, and get a DOS prompt.

I Googled *dos bootable cd* and found this possible resource: Windows 98 bootable cd images

If you want to build a bootable optical disc without a floppy drive--here's a resource: Creating Bootable CD/DVD's Without A:\Floppy Drive

Once booted to a DOS prompt, switch to the optical drive's drive letter, and change to the following directory on the NSW 2005 Premier CD: *X:\SUPPORT\GHOST\* to find *GHREBOOT.EXE*.

If you have NSW 2006 or later, you will not find DOS Ghost files directly available--they are in installation *.exe* RAR files or CAB files--you will not be able to access those in DOS!

Older NSW Premier CD prior to 2005 should have a similar directory structure.

If you can not find GHREBOOT.EXE on the CD, you can download it from here: How to use GhReboot

Burn GHREBOOT.EXE to a CD, boot to DOS from the bootable CD, and then place the CD with GHREBOOT.EXE on it into the CD drive and run it.

Let us know if this works for you--or if you have other problems or questions.

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depawl

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Re: Operating System Not Found
Reply #2 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 7:10am

Thanks NightOwl, that dos cd boot disk link is something I've been looking for for a long time. Seems like all the other ones I've found were rather difficult to follow and had about 18 steps.
Anyways, ghreboot didn't work, so I had to use gdisk to set the windows partition to active. So I'm back up and running. Thanks again. Now I just need to figure out what caused the problem in the first place. I've been using Ghost 2003 on my personal computer for years with never a problem. The only possible difference I can think of is my brother in laws computer has 3 or 4 of those usb flash card drives for camera cards, etc., and I'm wondering if somehow those screwed up the partition order or something?
Any ideas?

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NightOwl

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Re: Operating System Not Found
Reply #3 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 10:31am

depawl

Glad to hear you are *out of the woods* successfully!

Quote:

Now I just need to figure out what caused the problem in the first place.

There have been more than a few folks who have reported this problem--obviously there's a compatibility problem with how Ghost uses the *virtual partition* and it's ability to hide, unhide, switch active partition, and re-boot. There seems to be no problem creating the *virtual partition*--else wise you could not get trapped in it Wink

!

Almost all with this problem are able to use DOS Ghost directly by booting to DOS and avoiding the *virtual partition*.

Quote:

The only possible difference I can think of is my brother in laws computer has 3 or 4 of those usb flash card drives for camera cards, etc., and I'm wondering if somehow those screwed up the partition order or something?

Any ideas?

So, you have *identical* systems except his has a multi-card reader? Ghost 2003 and USB are usually not a problem--unless you are trying to get a USB HDD to work in DOS and you are loading DOS USB drivers--and then it's usually simply a problem of not correctly detecting the external HDD. Were you attempting to save a Ghost image to a USB external HDD?

It should be easy enough to disconnect the connecting communication wire between the motherboard and the multi-card reader to see if it makes a difference.

What *flavor* system do you have? Dell, Gateway, HP, ....? Is there a hidden restore and/or utility partition on the HDD--the presence of those are more likely creating a non-standard Master Boot Record (MBR) that confuses Ghost and *ghreboot* in its attempt to manipulate the MBR.

The other possibility--with the newer BIOS's--you can often place a HDD on the system in positions other than the older classical requirement of the Primary Controller, in the Master position--so for instance you could be hooked up to the Secondary Controller, in the Slave position--and you can set the boot order in the BIOS to boot from that drive--no problems! But, I think Ghost is more often than not, old fashion, and may not be able to correctly manipulate the MBR if the drive is not on the Primary Controller, in the Master position!

If you want to see what HDD is seen first in DOS, as well as the order that the partitions are in the Master Partition Table--this is a handy free MBR tool: MBRWizard - The MBR utility you've been looking for!

(Hmmm...Looks like the old link is now re-directing to a new website--here's the download page: MBRWizard - The MBR Management Utility.

I thought I used to be able to simply click on the *mbrwiz.exe* program for *Windows XP/PE/2003 v1.53*, but I guess you have to open a Command windows first and then run the program!

The *DOS/Win9x v1.52* will also run from within a Windows Command window--but you need this version if you are booting to *real DOS* and want to run the program there!)

Here's a screen shoot of my system--the first HDD seen has my OS on it--and you can see in the first column the physical order of the partitions, and in the second column is the order that's recorded in the Master Partition Table--notice it is out of sequence--the physical order does not match the Master Partition Table order:

MBRWiz2.JPG (Attachment deleted)

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depawl

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Re: Operating System Not Found
Reply #4 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 12:20pm

NightOwl:
A couple questions (and answers):
Almost all with this problem are able to use DOS Ghost directly by booting to DOS and avoiding the *virtual partition*.
So what I need to do then is boot to dos from the dos cd I mad then run ghostpe.exe from a dos prompt?
So, you have *identical* systems except his has a multi-card reader?
Actually our systems are identical only to the extent that we're both running XP Home. His is an eMAchine, P4; mine is a home built Athlon XP.
I am not using an external USB HD. How would I determine if there is hidden utility partition on his HD? I looked in Administrative Tools | Dosk Management but didn;'t see anything.
may not be able to correctly manipulate the MBR if the drive is not on the Primary Controller, in the Master position!
His c: drive is on the Primary Master, I added a second internal HD to his primary slave.
So I guess the first thing I need to try is to boot to DOS and try and run Ghost from there.
Again, thanks so much for your informative responses.

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NightOwl

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Re: Operating System Not Found
Reply #5 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 1:46pm

depawl

Quote:

run ghostpe.exe from a dos prompt?

So, you are using Ghost 2002? I can't recall right now when the *virtual partition* and the Windows Ghost interface became available--I thought it was Ghost 2003!

Quote:

So what I need to do then is boot to dos from the dos cd I mad then run ghostpe.exe from a dos prompt?

That should work!

Quote:

His is an eMAchine

Depending on the age of his machine, eMachines have used hidden restore partitions!

Quote:

How would I determine if there is hidden utility partition on his HD?

Look at my screen shot in the previous post--my two *hidden* partitions are listed by MBRWizard's output. Put the DOS based *mbrwizd.exe* on a disc, boot to DOS with the bootable CD disc, run the *mbrwizd.exe* with this command line, and you should see everything that's on the HDD:

mbrwizd.exe /list

Quote:

So I guess the first thing I need to try is to boot to DOS and try and run Ghost from there.

If there is a *hidden* partition, you might be able to *see* it in Ghost's drop down menu for selecting the *source* or *destination* for the image file--may be greyed out for destination if it's too small to hold the image file size.

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ben_mott

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Re: Operating System Not Found
Reply #6 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 2:01pm

your brother in law has already got ghost.exe version 7 on his recovery cds
and if you choose option no2-dos prompt and type dir you will probably see it readlink below:

How to restore your Windows® XP eMachine™.
Important Information
http://support.thetechguys.com/layout.aspx?ID=ecd09459-9b40-44c1-b5c6-b6119ad5f7...

Warning the recovery process will erase all your files, please ensure that you save your files

to disk before you begin.

Note: The Recovery disc(s) uses the NTFS file system by default, NOT FAT 32.

All eMachines™ are supplied with a bootable CD or DVD recovery system.

1. Insert the bootable recovery disc
2. The following menu will appear :

System Restore Menu / WINDOWS XP

1 RESTORE Windows XP
2 BOOT TO COMMAND PROMPT FROM CD ROM

Please select 1 or 2: [1,2]?_

3. From this menu type 1 and press <Enter>
4. The following message will then appear :

THIS PROCESS WILL RE-INSTALL WINDOWS XP ON YOUR PC
==================================================
!! Warning !!

ALL CONTENTS OF HARD DRIVE (C:) WILL BE LOST!

** BACK UP YOUR FILES BEFORE PROCEEDING AND RESTART **

Press any key to continue...

5. Press any key at this point, this will cause the following message to appear :

CONFIRMATION OF RESTORE PROCEDURE
====================================

ALL DATA ON HARD DRIVE (C:) WILL BE LOST!

** ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROCEED? **

IF YES, PRESS Y. IF NO, PRESS N.

6. Press Y at this point and the recovery process will start.
7. When the procedure completes the computer may ask you to insert media. Insert the second

recovery disk and press <Enter>.

WINDOWS XP RESTORE COMPLETE
=============================

THE HARD DISK CONENTS HAVE BEEN RESTORED.

** STORE THIS CD-ROM IN A SAFE LOCATION **

REMOVE THE CD FROM THE TRAY AND PRESS ANY KEY TO REBOOT THE SYSTEM.
Press any key to reboot your computer.

8. When this disk has completed the Recovery will eject the disc. Remove the disc from the drive

and, as the on-screen prompt states, press any key to restart the PC.

Follow the prompts on the screen to continue setting up Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition.
================================================================================
==========
================================================================================
==========
Summary
It is possible to run a Ghost recovery manually from the recovery CDs.
Problem or Symptom
The Ghost program is either located on the A: drive (In this case the A: drive is not the floppy

disk drive), or the root of the recovery CD. By default, the Ghost application is a hidden

program: searching through the CD in DOS will not find the Ghost file.

If you can not find the Ghost.exe programme try trping in:

DIR GHOST.* /S /A :H

This will search the drive that you are currently on for the ghost file.
In order to run Ghost manually, you need to be in the correct folder on the recovery CD.
Solution(s)
All eMachines™ are supplied with a bootable 2 or 3 CD recovery system.

* Insert the bootable recovery CD 1
* Choosing option 2 (BOOT TO COMMAND PROMPT FROM CD-ROM)

This will display a dos prompt.
A:\>

* Type Ghost and press Enter.

If you get a 'File not found' error, then the ghost executable is located on the recovery CD. To

run this

* Type R: and press Enter.

Note: R is the default drive letter for the recovery program.

* Type ghost and the main program will start.

The very first screen you will see is the 'About Norton Ghost' welcome screen. To continue

selecting 'Ok' by pressing 'Enter'.

This will leave you at the main ghost screen.
Navigation within Ghost can be achieved either using the keyboard ( cursor keys, enter and tab)

or with a mouse if DOS drivers have been loaded.
Mouse support will generally depend on how access to DOS was achieved.
Alternatively keyboard shortcuts can be used. For example on the welcome screen above, pressing

Alt + o will select Ok.

2) At this point select 'Local' from the menu, followed by 'Disk' and then 'From Image'

3) At this point you will need to input the name of your image file.

There are two ways this can be done.

* The first method is to type the full image name and location in the 'File name' box.
This would be along the lines of r:\rec800.img but varies from model to model.
* The second method is to use the Ghost explorer windows to browse for the file.

To access the 'Look in' box press the 'Tab' key eight times. At this stage pressing the down

cursor key will display a drive listing.

Navigate using the cursor keys until the necessary drive is selected and then pressing 'enter.'

This will display the contents of the selected drive.

At this stage you may see the image file listed on the screen. If no image file is displayed

then it may be necessary to change the 'Files of type' option further down the page to *.img or

*.*

Once you can see the required image file then use the cursor keys to scroll through the menu

until it is highlighted and press enter.
Note: If you have changed the 'Files of type' option you will need to press 'Tab' until Open is

selected.

This will then display the following message.

4) Press enter to select OK
You then get partition details for the destination drive. Press TAB until OK is highlighted,

then press Enter.
You will then get a message box asking you if you want to proceed. Tab to Yes and press Enter.

The recovery then starts. If necessary you will be prompted to swop the CDs and continue. This

is done by pressing 'Enter'
Additional Notes

ReF:
http://support.thetechguys.com/layout.aspx?ID=5f8fde2f-aef9-420d-9ec6-06fe57f691...

regards Ben

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depawl

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	Re: Operating System Not Found Reply #7 - Oct 20^th, 2007 at 2:33pm Strange. I definitely have Ghost 2003 (from the System works disc) but on my boot floppy (that I made a few years ago) it has ghostpe.exe.
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