Xcopy okay??

[BLiZZaRD]

I have a sick computer at work here and have been charged with fixing it as the IT guy is gone for a couple weeks.

I bought a new hard drive as the other was giving the fatal error... I was getting the black boot screen and then (I don't recall exactly here) something like NTDLS failure press ctrl+alt+delete to restart...

Anyway, It also said the drive was shut down to preserve data and I should make copies to prevent data loss.

Being a work computer there are several users, several networks, the lan admin permissions etc etc all of which I don't have the access or the passwords for.

I am getting rid of the old drive, but have it connected as the slave right now. I just reinstalled XP on the new drive and was wondering if I can just use xcopy to get the crap off the old on on to the new one.

I KNOW thats what xcopy is meant for, I am meaning is it something I can even attempt with this old drive acting the way it is?

Ideas?

[Twey]

Certainly you can. However, I think you've made an error of judgement here (wish you'd asked before :)). NTLDR is the NT bootLoaDeR, and a problem with it does not necessarily indicate a corrupt disk. The common fix is to insert the installation CD, enter rescue mode (hit R at the prompt), then run the commands "fixmbr" and "fixboot." This will reinstall the boot loader, hopefully repairing the damage. Give it a go and see.

[BLiZZaRD]

Of course I tried all that, bootcfg /? /list fixmbr fixboot yes exit reboot yada yada nothing happened.

It is weird, there is no .ini file on the drive system or otherwise. All the data IS on the drive and connected as slave everything works fine, except all the user accounts have to be remade. I was trying to avoid that.

Guess I will try the Xcopy thing tonight.

[BLiZZaRD]

Well, the old one worked, and I am now a "hero" Laughable at best.

I have already been given my next task.. I feel like I am on a test of trials, a la Hercules, Typhon down, bring on Hydra.. :D

Similar problem, diiferent approach?

Here is what I have... 3 Hard drives. 1- my own, running Win XP - 40 gig free space (I get this "labor" to do at home) 2- a harddrive with 15 Gig of used space, was running XP with multiple users accounts, settings, etc. has a S.M.A.R.T. error saying disk is bad, won't get beyond the warning screen. and 3- a brand spanking new harddrive right from the box, formatted and empty.

So what I want to do is this: Copy EVERY file from disk 2 to disk 3, toss disk 2, install disk 3 in the computer and boot it up running just as disk 2 did.

Idea was to once again Xcopy disk 2 to a new folder on disk 1, then install disk 3 as slave, and xcopy files from said folder to disk 3, then set disk 3 as master...
I need to make sure the files, settings, registry entries, etc etc etc are all copied though, yes?

Ideas?

[Twey]

It might do. That is to say, in theory it should, but it's likely that the infamous Windows bug-cum-anti-piracy-feature will kick in and cause the system to blue-screen when it realises the hard drive has changed. Certainly try it; if it fails, you'll have to do an overlay on the new drive and reinstall the programs (since overlaying a new installation on top of an old one will inevitably wipe the registry).

[BLiZZaRD]

Theorys always look good on paper. I was too tired to complete the exchange last night, back at it now. Everything has been moved over except like 3 files.

I thought using the switches with Xcopy allowed for hidden/read-only/private etc files to be copied, I was still getting "access denied" for those files.

I have to make a win boot disk now and see if I can get that drive up and running. What is this "overlay" you speak of? I've never done this "in depth" of work before. Usually I just get new drives and run all new proggies, never had to "copy" drives before :)

[Twey]

Essentially, you install Windows onto a disk, running roughshod over any installation unfortunate enough to get in your way :) Damn ugly method, but it works. Breaks anything that relied on the registry until you install it again, though.

[BLiZZaRD]

Hmm, I see... well let me get this install disk and see what happens. I will be back in a little bit with a report. :)

[BLiZZaRD]

Well, I got the boot disk made. Installed ONLY the #3 harddrive, ran the boot disk and got the WinXP splash screen...

Then the screen went black and stayed that way... no prompt, no welcome screen no BSOD, just stayed black.

Could it be the memory/chipset/bios? This was formatted (HD #3) and WINXP installed from an HP computer and I am doing all this on my Dell with a different chipset/MB.

I wouldn't think that that would have any cause, but one never knows...

[Twey]

Could also be a display driver problem. Try booting into safe mode.

[BLiZZaRD]

Dunno, tried a few various things, here is what I did and the results:

1) Booted without boot disk, only HD#3 installed
result: Warning screen saying Computer disk hardware problem. Could not read from the boot disk, etc etc.

2)Booted WITH boot disk
Result: same as post above, got splash screen WinXP Home little loading bar moving, gets all loaded, goes black.

3) Booted with boot disk in safe mode
Result: black screen loading all molti(0)disk(0)Partition(1)blah blah things.. goes and gets stalled on \DRIVERS\agp440.sys nothing happens after that.

4, 5, and 6 tried all of the above with another drive ALSO installed, same results each time.

I will put the drives back in the machine they came from tonight and see what happens and go from there.

Any other ideas welcomed though :)

[Twey]

Result: black screen loading all molti(0)disk(0)Partition(1)blah blah things.. goes and gets stalled on \DRIVERS\agp440.sys nothing happens after that.This in conjunction with the black screen is not a good sign. Either a) the graphics drivers are corrupted, or b) the graphics card (or the motherboard) is damaged. Try overwriting the graphics drivers (and agp440.sys) with files from another installation (or extract them directly from the CABs on the install CD). Then, try the graphics card in another machine (and try a different graphics card in that one).

[BLiZZaRD]

Not graphics, the testing computer is my own, very powerful, pretty new and highly updated, when I reinstall my Fedora and WinXP drives everything works fine.

I think it was that overlay :D

Not to matter I have fixed the problem, I just started ALL over again and it worked this time, must have had a problem copying a file or 2 the first time.

Now I sit and wonder what is coming next :D