# More Pc Woes



## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

He installed a new drive today, as per instructions.

However can only get message 'Operating system not found'.

I thought that would be restored once he booted off his XP disc to reinstall it?

Or am I just very naive?


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

is the new drive setup as master or slave ? does it have another device on the ide? most new drives you have to change the jumper on the back to to the correct master/slave setting also make sure that in the bios the boot sequence is set cd rom only for the install.

*is this another drive ,i.e for backup or the only drive in the system?


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Only drive - mentioned a cable at back.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

is it connected to anything else on the ide cable ,ie a cd rom drive? ,as i said make sure the jumpers on the back are set to master and its set to boot cdrom only.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pugster said:


> is it connected to anything else on the ide cable ,ie a cd rom drive? ,as i said make sure the jumpers on the back are set to master and its set to boot cdrom only.


He sorted it Pugster - thanks.

Now me again - PCs seem to screw up at once.

Just reinstalled XP, but old version still there at startup. Can I get rid of it without a total wipe again?

Also got black screen border, despite resolution being set full.

I could have sworn I posted this yesterday, but can't find it. Mind you - have chest infection at mo, & most of weekend if a blurr.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

right click my computer ,select properties>advanced>startup and recovery and select the edit button ,this should open up the boot.ini file ,there should only be one entry in there, if there are 2 delete the second entry.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pugster said:


> right click my computer ,select properties>advanced>startup and recovery and select the edit button ,this should open up the boot.ini file ,there should only be one entry in there, if there are 2 delete the second entry.


Done it - sorted.

Many thanks


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Right. Despite countless suggestions from Pugster, who has been a great help, I still have a screen I cannot alter at all. My monitor is 17", yet 2" at either side are blank. I cannot get full screen no more.

As Pug suggested, it could be my graphics driver. I have nVIDIA G-FORCE FX card. It seems to be only one I couldn't find on their site. Anyone know where I may be able to get it?

Once this is sorted, i'm taking a disk image of my drive, regardless how much space it takes. This is driving me nuts


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Have you tried adjusting the horizontal width setting on the monitor itself, assuming it has one?

Your driver is HERE I think.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

> Have you tried adjusting the horizontal width setting on the monitor itself, assuming it has one?


i suggested that aswell rhay ,beside that and the driver it cant really be anything else

*if the above fails what model moniter is it and i'll see if it has a driver


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> Have you tried adjusting the horizontal width setting on the monitor itself, assuming it has one?
> 
> Your driver is HERE I think.


Never found any settings on the monitor Rich, believe it or not.

I have a Vaio where its all in one-pc in back of monitor. All we've ever found is USB sockets underneath.

Tried the link. Said couldn't find any drivers compatible with hard ware.

Beginning to get worried now.



pugster said:


> > Have you tried adjusting the horizontal width setting on the monitor itself, assuming it has one?
> 
> 
> i suggested that aswell rhay ,beside that and the driver it cant really be anything else
> ...


Hi P

It's a Sony Vaio VGC-V2M

http://vaio.sony-europe.com/view/ShowProdu...ory=PM+V+Series


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

*missed the above

the monitor really should have horizontal and vertical positioning available,take a good look ,mine is quite hard to see.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Ahh yes, I'd forgotten you had a Vaio. I just had a look on the Sony Vaio site but I can't access the Driver Downloads section section without a valid serial number. They obviously like to make things difficult









Try entering your PC's info there (if you haven't already) and see if your driver is listed.

It's "Beer O'clock" now so I'll check back later to see how you chaps are getting on


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

looks like using rhays link







,finding the vaio drivers is like looking for rocking horse **** ,you should be able to install them separatley but would prob be easier for you to download them from there.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pugster said:


> looks like using rhays link
> 
> 
> 
> ...


DONE !!!

Thanks P, & Rich - I owe you big style.

Even from Sony site its confusing. You download a pack that was preinstalled. However it mentions a couple of graphic drivers. So if you dunno what one you want.................

Thank you both very much. Just one more thing(ducks & runs for cover)

How do I make a drive image on my backup drive so I don't have to endure this again?


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

i use powerquest drive image ,it easy to use tho you have to pay for the program ,there are other avalable such as norton ghost but ive never used them tbh ,not sure about any freeware that does the same job.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Well done MrC.

And yep, agree with Pug re. drive imaging. I've used the PartitionMagic and Norton Ghost utilities in the past (which now both seem to be part of Symantec's offering). There are lots of freeware utilities that claim to do the same thing but I've not used them.


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## limey (Aug 24, 2006)

Take a look at Boot-It Next Generation, or BING.

This can be a little geeky, but it is pretty powerful, actually REALLY powerful.

For info on this from a neutral source, should you be interested, try Fred Langa's newsletter. This issue was devoted to drive imaging.

Hope this helps.

Martin


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> Well done MrC.
> 
> And yep, agree with Pug re. drive imaging. I've used the PartitionMagic and Norton Ghost utilities in the past (which now both seem to be part of Symantec's offering). There are lots of freeware utilities that claim to do the same thing but I've not used them.


I have partition Magic.

Is it just a case of copying & pasting my C: drive, or more involved?


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

limey said:



> For info on this from a neutral source, should you be interested, try Fred Langa's newsletter. This issue was devoted to drive imaging.


...and there's even a wristwatch joke at the end of the newsletter


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> limey said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Read that. A lot went in one ear & out the other.

My main drive is partitioned. I just want to have an image of my main Windows system, in case it goest**ts up again.

I noted one Pugster uses. Any more suggestions?


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## limey (Aug 24, 2006)

I totally missed seeing that joke there, although I did post that exact one in the Jokes section. I guess I know where I got it...

Mr C, doing the image might be more involved, depends which version you have. For best results most imagers run outside of the OS, as this way there are no files in use. So, it could be a bootable CD or a bootable floppy or a bootable partition, from which point the image runs and usually you have a GUI to select what you want and how you want it.

Martin


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Just remembered, one of my many boot CD's is called Ultimate Boot CD. That has some freebie disk cloning software included:

HDCLone (Free Edition)

g4u

PC Inspector clone maxx

XXCopy

I've not used any of them myself, but they may be worth investigating.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> Just remembered, one of my many boot CD's is called Ultimate Boot CD. That has some freebie disk cloning software included:
> 
> HDCLone (Free Edition)
> 
> ...


Thanks for those Rich.

However most of them mention floppy/boot disk. I just assumed they would make a copy of my C drive straight onto the ext drive?


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

As limey mentioned earlier, for best results you need to run the imaging software outside of the native OS on the hard disk that you're imaging.

If you run the software from within the native OS, lots of files can't be imaged because they'll be in use and lots of changes will be going on. It's like a constantly moving target. However, if you run the software from a boot disk, the OS on the hard disk wont be running at all and therefore a complete image can succesfully be taken.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> As limey mentioned earlier, for best results you need to run the imaging software outside of the native OS on the hard disk that you're imaging.
> 
> If you run the software from within the native OS, lots of files can't be imaged because they'll be in use and lots of changes will be going on. It's like a constantly moving target. However, if you run the software from a boot disk, the OS on the hard disk wont be running at all and therefore a complete image can succesfully be taken.


Gotcha

Got all these strange folders in my Windows file - can they be deleted?


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

> Got all these strange folders in my Windows file - can they be deleted


no, they are uninstall pointers for the programs you have installed ,they tell windows where the files are located and registry entries for an uninstall.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pugster said:


> i use powerquest drive image ,it easy to use tho you have to pay for the program ,there are other avalable such as norton ghost but ive never used them tbh ,not sure about any freeware that does the same job.


Nowhere available to get a copy of Powerquest at mo it seems.

I got one called Rdrive Image on 30 day trial. Seems to have made the images with no problem. But I won't know till I come to restore them will I











pugster said:


> > Got all these strange folders in my Windows file - can they be deleted
> 
> 
> no, they are uninstall pointers for the programs you have installed ,they tell windows where the files are located and registry entries for an uninstall.


Ta


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

rhaythorne said:


> As limey mentioned earlier, for best results you need to run the imaging software outside of the native OS on the hard disk that you're imaging.
> 
> If you run the software from within the native OS, lots of files can't be imaged because they'll be in use and lots of changes will be going on. It's like a constantly moving target. However, if you run the software from a boot disk, the OS on the hard disk wont be running at all and therefore a complete image can succesfully be taken.


Well..........

Idiot me has appeared to have installed it on one of the drives I wanted to image. So I expect they wont have worked right


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## foztex (Nov 6, 2005)

Mrcrowley said:


> rhaythorne said:
> 
> 
> > As limey mentioned earlier, for best results you need to run the imaging software outside of the native OS on the hard disk that you're imaging.
> ...


can you not tell it to create you a boot floppy? if so you are sorted.

Andy


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## limey (Aug 24, 2006)

Pugster is half-right. Those folders contain uninstall information for Windows Updates. I usually delete them, there are no ill effects other than you can not uninstall the updates. So, if you do Windows Updates and have no problems 1 or 2 weeks later, you could probably delete these folders. They can free up some room, but not usually that important with todays large hard drives. But it does remove a bunch of files that then don't have to be backed up or imaged.

You also hit the nail on the head, unless you test your backups you won't know it's not working until you really need it. If you are making a drive image you can try restoring the image to a spare HD and then booting from that.

I would try the boot CD option if there is one available. I know this is an option with BING.

Martin


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

foztex said:


> Mrcrowley said:
> 
> 
> > rhaythorne said:
> ...


Not done boot floppy 4 years-cos not had foppy drive. Get your drift though


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## limey (Aug 24, 2006)

Mr C,

The boot CD that any of the imaging progs makes should work in any PC, similar to an antivirus boot CD or Linux live CD. You may have to install the prog and then use it to make a boot CD, or an ISO file that then needs to burned to CD, using something like Easy CD Creator.

Martin


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

Use Acronis True Image to clone on reboot or do backups, use Partition Magic to work with partitions etc and Folder Clone to do simple copies of folders etc with non windows or program files. I clone my main drive (bootable) weekly never had an issue, set to do on auto. I have 6 HD's and 1 USB. For maintenance use Executive Diskeeper. I have tried them all, have them all, IMO these are the best.

Sent you a message!

Regards,

James


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## foztex (Nov 6, 2005)

Mrcrowley said:


> Not done boot floppy 4 years-cos not had foppy drive. Get your drift though


LOL, me too!

Andy


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Stupid head on again maybe.

I have image software on a partition of main drive. Tried to install it on my backup drive & it wouldn't have it.


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

Acronis gave the message there are sector errors on you. I think there are perhaps some still unsolved issues or perhaps some maintenance that needs looking at.

Did it say on which drive the sector error was?


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