Emergency repair disk....

**Mayhem** · June 4th, 2002, 03:22 PM

I have a macine here that has a corrupt system file and won't start up correctly. the customer does not want to lose any data on formatting. I remembered a "REPAIR" option on the boot disk set but it asks for an "Emergency Repair" disk. It won't let me repair from the CD and I have never heard of a repair disk. Anyone have any Ideas??

**imaeditedbysowulo** · June 4th, 2002, 03:35 PM

I think that the repair disk that you refer to is specific to the machine, so if you don't make one before it crashes you're out of luck.

When you boot to a boot disk, can you see the directory structure of the hard drive? Have you tried putting the hard drive in another machine to read from it?

**freddy** · June 4th, 2002, 03:46 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by *MAYHEM*:
I have a macine here that has a corrupt system file and won't start up correctly. the customer does not want to lose any data on formatting. I remembered a "REPAIR" option on the boot disk set but it asks for an "Emergency Repair" disk. It won't let me repair from the CD and I have never heard of a repair disk. Anyone have any Ideas??<hr /></blockquote>yes , boot from owners cd , then let it run , bypass automated repair section and the repair section and go on to do a reload OVER the origional setup IT WILL DELETE SOME WINNT FILES,, it will reboot , let it boot from the h/drive BUT PUT YOUR 2K disk IN the CD , when it fires up ,

it will carry on loading ,and getting files from the cd, then ask for the serial no.

at the very end it will ask if u want to set internet up - say NO ,(as they are already there)

about 30 mins from start you will end up with a repaired settup (with all orig progs etc intact).

good luck freddy

**techleet** · June 4th, 2002, 03:53 PM

Unfortunately the ERD can only be created using MS Backup and is machine specific. In most cases you won't need the ERD, however. Try doing the automated repair by pressing "L" when prompted. Setup will try to find the Windows installation and in most cases find it.

If you boot from the Win2K cd, it will give you three choices: Repair, Setup Win2K or Quit.

If you repair through the Recovery Console, (Repair option, then choose Recovery Console) you will need the local admin password. Get in, type HELP and do what you can

If you know the exact corrupted file that's causing it to fail to boot, replace it (you can copy from a floppy to the hard drive in the recovery console)

If you don't know what corrupted file is causing it to not boot, reboot, hit F8 when prompted, select ENABLE BOOT LOGGING. Reboot from CD, enter the Recovery Console and check the log. (ntbtlog.txt)

It also might be a registry issue. Boot using LKGC to test.

What is the actual error message you're getting? (if any)

Good luck

**Mayhem** · June 4th, 2002, 04:20 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by freddy:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by *MAYHEM*:
I have a macine here that has a corrupt system file and won't start up correctly. the customer does not want to lose any data on formatting. I remembered a "REPAIR" option on the boot disk set but it asks for an "Emergency Repair" disk. It won't let me repair from the CD and I have never heard of a repair disk. Anyone have any Ideas??<hr /></blockquote>yes , boot from owners cd , then let it run , bypass automated repair section and the repair section and go on to do a reload OVER the origional setup IT WILL DELETE SOME WINNT FILES,, it will reboot , let it boot from the h/drive BUT PUT YOUR 2K disk IN the CD , when it fires up ,

it will carry on loading ,and getting files from the cd, then ask for the serial no.

at the very end it will ask if u want to set internet up - say NO ,(as they are already there)

about 30 mins from start you will end up with a repaired settup (with all orig progs etc intact).

good luck freddy<hr /></blockquote>This is correct except for one thing. Reinstalling like that also deletes ALL the files and folders in the WINNT directory. Including "My Documents" and the registry. When the registry goes most of his progs won't work.

**jc033** · June 5th, 2002, 01:09 PM

A lot of good suggestions for fixing the disk, but I'd suggest you slave that disk first and transfer all important data off. Then, if need be, reburn.

**freddy** · June 5th, 2002, 02:20 PM

as for progs not working , personally i have not had that problem.apart from losing the "pegasus" file system used by nero for cd-r ,,,,,,simple reload.

RE: files kept in "my docuaments" ,,,then u need to learn a trick from 1995.

if u need to acces files in dos , u are going to have probs with a directory called "my docuaments" ,,,so when you set your machine up name it "doccys" ,,,,,then u can copy from a boot up disk (fat)

freddy

**techleet** · June 5th, 2002, 03:08 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by jc033:
A lot of good suggestions for fixing the disk, but I'd suggest you slave that disk first and transfer all important data off. Then, if need be, reburn.<hr /></blockquote>You'd rather take the time to take out the hdd, throw it in another machine, transfer all data, reinstall Win2K and all programs, reconfigure all settings, transfer data back, etc... instead of simply troubleshooting and/or replacing the corrupted file??

Good advice. Perhaps when I accidentally lock my keys in my car I should just go out buy a new SUV.

*duck*

**Darkstar** · June 6th, 2002, 08:21 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />You'd rather take the time to take out the hdd, throw it in another machine, transfer all data, reinstall Win2K and all programs, reconfigure all settings, transfer data back, etc... instead of simply troubleshooting and/or replacing the corrupted file?? <hr /></blockquote>If the data was important I would, at least just to get it somewhere you know is safe and then just try to repair Windows. I don't think it would take too much time to pop out the drive and stick it in another machine.

It's possible the disk is bad or a mistake in the repair process might screw things up further.

**techleet** · June 6th, 2002, 11:47 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Darkstar:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />You'd rather take the time to take out the hdd, throw it in another machine, transfer all data, reinstall Win2K and all programs, reconfigure all settings, transfer data back, etc... instead of simply troubleshooting and/or replacing the corrupted file?? <hr /></blockquote>If the data was important I would, at least just to get it somewhere you know is safe and then just try to repair Windows. I don't think it would take too much time to pop out the drive and stick it in another machine.

It's possible the disk is bad or a mistake in the repair process might screw things up further.<hr /></blockquote>Yeah, I totally see your point; better to be safe than sorry. IMHO though, the chances of losing data while in the process of troubleshooting a startup issue is pretty much nill. I also think it'd be overkill to give up on the current windows install just because of something as simple as a corrupted file.

I have seen drives go bad and give the same error in Win2K, but that is usually acompanied by very bad noises

Furthermore, if the drive is physically bad, throwing it in another machine will most likely do you no good. I would tend to think this is simply a corrupted file and/or low level driver...

Thanks!

BTW... THE BIG LEBOWSKI!!

**jc033** · June 6th, 2002, 12:26 PM

You'd rather take the time to take out the hdd, throw it in another machine, transfer all data, reinstall Win2K and all programs, reconfigure all settings, transfer data back, etc... instead of simply troubleshooting and/or replacing the corrupted file??

Gosh,I guess I'm just used to working in an multi million dollar defense contract enviroment where losing data can cost many thousands of dollars and a good deal of an engineers time. And while I was mainly suggesting making the drive a slave for precautinary purposes, theres this great new app named Ghost, you may have heard of it. It takes mere minutes to pop a slave on a boot drive, move data, reburn original and return data.

**techleet** · June 6th, 2002, 12:57 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by jc033:
Gosh,I guess I'm just used to working in an multi million dollar defense contract enviroment where losing data can cost many thousands of dollars and a good deal of an engineers time. And while I was mainly suggesting making the drive a slave for precautinary purposes, theres this great new app named Ghost, you may have heard of it. It takes mere minutes to pop a slave on a boot drive, move data, reburn original and return data.<hr /></blockquote>Whoa there cowboy, lower your guns!

I was trying to be comical but get my point across... didn't mean to insult your obviously superior technical skills!!

When I read your post, it sounded to me like you wanted to backup all data and reinstall the OS, not just for precautionary purposes. I stand corrected!

Anyway, like I said earlier, IMHO the possibility of losing data while trying to troubleshoot a startup issue is really very small. If you have the extra time to devote to covering every possible angle, by all means! I, however, do not, because I happen to work in a multi-million dollar defense contract environment where time is money. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

But seriously, ghosting the drive is a good idea, but for something as routine as a machine not booting up...well...hmm to each his own I suppose.

Where do you work, btw? Lockheed Martin?

**Darkstar** · June 6th, 2002, 02:09 PM

It's really just a matter of sanity vs. effort vs. time vs. safety. There are times for all of us, I'm sure, where each of theses weighs differently. My sanity is fairly lightweight.

Hell yes, Big Lebowski!!

A Masterpiece. The Dude abides!

**jc033** · June 6th, 2002, 02:44 PM

lol ... no prob leet ... I just got the impression that Mayhem and/or his client was a little nervous about the data ... and yeah, I'm down here at Lockheed ... but as far as superior tech skills go, I'm just a desktop lacky

**techleet** · June 6th, 2002, 03:58 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by jc033:
lol ... no prob leet ... I just got the impression that Mayhem and/or his client was a little nervous about the data ... and yeah, I'm down here at Lockheed ... but as far as superior tech skills go, I'm just a desktop lacky

<hr /></blockquote>Werd

I was a desktop lacky at Lockheed in Sunnyvale (headquaters) a few years back. I left because we had 3 meetings a day about NOTHING. LOL

I'm a sysadmin SGI now... a little less beuacracy, a little more beer

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