[Tulert]

Ok - gory MicroCenter 4GB

I ran
dsfi \\.\d: 0 0 zeroes.000
=> Access is denied
dsfi \\.\Physicaldrive3 0 0 zeroes.000
=> \\.\Physicaldrive3 - Access is denied

Now off to test a couple of other sticks that behaved the same...

... and I am confused
Now when I try to access my "Access denied" USB Vista says I have to format them before using. So did dsfi do its job or not?

This post has been edited by Tulert: 23 June 2009 - 07:54 PM

[Tulert]

Also 1 more question --

if I use RMPREPUSB, lets say, would using C:\WINXPCD under "Choose Folder; Copy files from here after preparing USB drive" do the full job or should I run WinSetupFromUSB_0-2-2 (without formatting) to get to the bootable USB?

Also, I checked "Boot as HDD" option in RMPREPUSB but got a notice that "This device is classed as USB_ZIP <Removable Disk>. Not like I mind but it matters for the BIOS settings probably... ?

Evidence attached.

And what is that 2-nd hidden partition? Why do I have it & am I supposed to have it with so many formattings... [this one is not Micro Center that I am torturing too].

Attached File(s)

•  RMPartUSB_Options_on_MemoRive.jpg (55.88K)
  Number of downloads: 31
•  RMPartUSB_on_MemoRive.jpg (48.92K)
  Number of downloads: 31

This post has been edited by Tulert: 23 June 2009 - 09:53 PM

[wivelden]

I have a problem. I have installed XP to my flash drive and when I boot to it.....it goes straight to the second part of setup??!!
It doesn't go to the grub loader to select which os setup to run the first part of setup. I even tried just installing the boot files only and its still the same.
Any ideas?

[Tulert]

So, after attempting to "null the first 100-200 sectors" on 2 of my sticks I am back to

on Micro Center 4GB;
-(FAT 32; HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool v 2.0.6; BIOS: FDD)-
"grub>"; replace grldr from grub4dos-0.4.4-2009-06-11.zip;
see menu "Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup - First and Second parts";
hit Enter; get a rejection:
Booting Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup- First and Second parts
root (hd0,0)
Error 5: Partition table invalid or corrupt

on MemoRive 2GB;
-(FAT 16; RMPREPUSB Format & WINXPCD under WinSetupFromUSB_0-2-2; BIOS: FDD)-
"grub>"; replace grldr from grub4dos-0.4.4-2009-06-11.zip; "grub>"

on Patriot Micro SD 1GB inside Kingston USB enclosure, not a subj of "null sectors"
-(FAT 16; PEtoUSB; BIOS: FDD)-
"grub>"; replace grldr from grub4dos-0.4.4-2009-06-11.zip;
Starting cmain()...
No PXE stack
Booting find /menu.lst, /boot/grub/menu.lst, /grub/menu.lst
"grub>"

Long ponderings between all shown messages


If I use BIOS:HDD not getting past the Asus M4A78 Pro Motherboard Full-screen logo. So not entitled even for "grub>"


Also WinSetupFrom USB 0.2.2 still reports for all USB sticks I am trying to use:
"Could not install grub4dos bootsector. Will attempt to install in to MBR..."

This post has been edited by Tulert: 24 June 2009 - 10:06 AM

[ilko_t]

@Tulert

When you get to grub4dos command prompt, no whatever of the USB sticks you could get it, type the following:

root (

and press TAB key. Post the output here, it must be something like:

Quote

Possible disks are: hd0 rd cd

Please open up a new topic and post there.

[ilko_t]

wivelden, on Jun 23 2009, 07:52 PM, said:

I have a problem. I have installed XP to my flash drive and when I boot to it.....it goes straight to the second part of setup??!!
It doesn't go to the grub loader to select which os setup to run the first part of setup. I even tried just installing the boot files only and its still the same.
Any ideas?

Look here for a way to fix it:
http://www.msfn.org/...howtopic=135202

[wivelden]

Is it possible to add Vista and 7 both x86 and x64? I added Vista x86 but when I went to add x64 it just copied it to the same location i.e overwriting x86.

[ilko_t]

wivelden, on Jun 24 2009, 09:12 PM, said:

Is it possible to add Vista and 7 both x86 and x64? I added Vista x86 but when I went to add x64 it just copied it to the same location i.e overwriting x86.

Just a page back in the same thread:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...st&p=864845

[wivelden]

Hmm..not the best solution but it will have to do for now...

[wivelden]

Nope that didnt work either. Its loads bootmgr instead of grubldr.

[ilko_t]

What didn't work?
Wrong topic?

[wivelden]

I added Vista to the USB flash drive after already adding 3 versions of XP but when I boot to it....it loads the bootmgr instead of grub so I had to take Vista off so it would load the menu to install the XP versions.

[steve6375]

Tulert, on Jun 23 2009, 10:42 PM, said:

Also 1 more question --

if I use RMPREPUSB, lets say, would using C:\WINXPCD under "Choose Folder; Copy files from here after preparing USB drive" do the full job or should I run WinSetupFromUSB_0-2-2 (without formatting) to get to the bootable USB?

Also, I checked "Boot as HDD" option in RMPREPUSB but got a notice that "This device is classed as USB_ZIP <Removable Disk>. Not like I mind but it matters for the BIOS settings probably... ?

Evidence attached.

And what is that 2-nd hidden partition? Why do I have it & am I supposed to have it with so many formattings... [this one is not Micro Center that I am torturing too].

RMPrepUSB will clean, partition and format a USB stick and then if you have the tick box selected, copy the folder you have specified to the USB stick.
The 'This device is classed as USB-ZIP' means that of the three types of USB writeable mass storage devices (USB-FDD, USB-ZIP and USB-HDD) your USB stick is classed as USB-ZIP / Removable Drive. A USB Hard disk would appear as USB-HDD (Fixed Disk). Most USB sticks appear as Removeable.

If you run a utility like BootIt.exe and use the 'Flip Removable Bit' button - then unplug and re-plug - it may change your USB stick to a USB-HDD device. If it works (and I have only see it work on Netac and Lexar USB sticks so far) then the USB stick will appear as a USB-HDD. If you can get this to work then you will have a much better chance of getting any BIOS to treat the USB stick as a hard disk.

The 2PTN switch is to add an extra tiny hidden ptn which helps some BIOSes to treat the USB stick as a hard disk (USB-HDD) and not a USB-ZIP.

XP, WinPE and Vista need to boot from a hard disk or a CD. These OS's think that any device that has a normal MBR + ptn table is a hard disk (if it is accessed by the BIOS using Int 13h DL=80h which is used for hard disk access). The problem is that some BIOSes map a USB stick as a super-floppy (USB-ZIP) and these don't have an MBR once the BIOS boots to them as the BIOS returned the Volume Boot Record when the MBR (block 0) is requested - ie the BIOS is trying to fool any OS that is on the USB stick into thinking it is a floppy. Also, they are accessed via Int 13h DL=0 which is used to access floppy disk devices, so the OS will not see a hard disk unless you also have a real hard disk attached. Hint: Always have a real hard disk attached when you are testing USB bootable sticks as you can get unpredictable results if the OS sees no hard disk at all in the system even if you can fool it into booting from a USB stick.

A way to test if the BIOS is 'converting' the USB stick to a USB-ZIP super-floppy is prepare using RMPrepUSB to put MS-DOS on the USB stick (no config.sys or autoexec.bat). If the prompt is C:> then the BIOS is booting it as a hard disk. If the prompt is A:> then the BIOS is booting it as a floppy disk. Try different BIOS settings and RMPrepUSB settings until you can get the C:> prompt. Experiment with FAT16 and FAT32 and NTFS.

I have found that some BIOSes completely ignore any USB stick that is over 512MB in size - for this reason I would recommend a Lexar or Netac 512MB USB stick for all trials.

So set BIOS to 'Fixed disk' not Auto or 'Removable' - use RMPrepUSB with 2PTN switch and FAT32 (also try FAT16 and NTFS if that does not work).

Another tip - if it seems to try to boot but fails - try setting the USB speed in the BIOS to low speed - I have seen this work on a few BIOSes (slow but at least it boots).
Once you have a successful but slow boot - change the BIOS setting back to fastest speed (480mbs) and see if it still boots.


HTH
Steve

This post has been edited by steve6375: 27 June 2009 - 11:16 AM

[ilko_t]

liufeng, on Jun 28 2009, 04:18 AM, said:

...Latest- vers. 0.2.2 - 15.June.2009
Download: 0.2.2 mirror...

Welcome to the forum
Please avoid needless quoting, especially of lengthy posts.

And your question is?

[wivelden]

I have read about the different options you can use for the menu like colors etc. It says you can add a different color for each title but I cannot get it to work.
I can set the overall menu colors etc but I wanted to have the highlight text colors different i.e green for Home edition and Blue for Pro.
It says to add it color under title but it doesnt work.

[ilko_t]

I am not sure colors could be changed per menu entry.

In any case you need to post in another topic your menu.lst, otherwise how one could guess what you have tried?!

[wivelden]

Ok...one final question regarding this program.
Do you know what files Windows x64 deletes after setup from the flash drive? Is it too many to list and will require a resync or is it just a few I can replace manually?

[ilko_t]

It is too many to list, basically the most of the compressed files (filename.ex_, filename.dl_ etc.) which are copied during Text mode part.

[lucnex]

Hey,

I have tried reading everything, but it is just too much information and mostly stuff I have no interest in. I have downloaded the WinSetup and succesfully installed XP to my USB Key. However, I am having some trouble installing it on certain computers. I have a Dell Latitude D600 which works fine and installs perfectly. However, I am trying to install XP on an optiplex gx620. I can load Grub4dos and launch the first step fine.
However once the setup loads the drivers and shows "Setup is Starting Windows" it basically shuts down and gives me blue screen

My error reads the classic a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down.

the technical error is

Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF7A57524, 0xC0000034, ox00000000, 0x00000000)

No idea what any of that means since im a noob!

Suggestions?!

[ilko_t]

Dells are known troublemakers, have at look at the FAQs thread, Q3/A3:
http://www.msfn.org/...howtopic=116766