Resolved Bootup does not finish anymore

Sounds good to me too. I have some data questions.

Not having Windows to lean on, can anyone tell me how to save my son's iTunes stuff and my Internet Explorer emails?

Uh oh, I have a thought or two. Once I get XP installed on the 2nd HDD (soon to be crowned the #1 HDD), can I somehow access my old IE and iTunes from the new primary drive? Maybe install a new IE and/or iTunes and import from the other drive? The "bad" HDD is not DOA. After all, I was able to copy the ntbtlog.txt file from c to d. Or, as is often the case, am I w-a-a-a-a-a-y off base?

Thanks to all.

 

Hi Larry, well I am glad that Rock is back on his feet and has taken over the reins here.
I think you should be quite capable using the old drive as a slave, and copy and paste.
I still love my faithful old Send-To Toys for transferring files,
you can name any old folder.

 

Back on my feet, yes ......... but taking over the reins, no. Just throwing out a few ideas or as anyone can decipher from my last couple of posts, thinking out loud and not making a whole lot of sense. (ample dosage of narcotics)

Actually, Hawk and Lukeno1 - you guys have been right on the money and we're all lucky that LarryB is the guy on the other end providing feedback. Nothing is worse than trying to read between the lines trying to figure out what's really going on.

I would be disappointed if anyone slows down on the thinking and posting - one thing is for sure - no one has a monopoly on brains. Let's just hope that collectively, we can get Lar back up and running.

 

Right now I am running chkdsk again. It is on its second go around as one or more errors were found and fixed (again) on the first go around. Notwithstanding the above miracle cure, when I asked for clues on IE and emails, I meant Outlook Express (you probably knew that, though).

Glad that Rock is again part of the vertical world. The 3 of you have been helpful to the extreme and I for one am really grateful. I just feel bad that we did not get the satisfaction of the fix. It is what it is.

Next, I am going to go to my old thread on the original construction of the beast, and refamiliarize myself with the XP install process. Those were some heady days (for me)

Lar

 

Lar,

I figured I'd wait until you were in a position to start copying things and then ask the question re: your mail client. Outlook Express stores mail as .dbx files. Using Windows Explorer the path is C: > Documents and Settings > your user name > Local Settings > Application Data > Identities > {a string of numbers} > Microsoft > Outlook Express. If you then highlight Outlook Express in the left pane of Windows Explorer, you will see all of your DBX files in the right hand pane.

These can be exported but I usually just make a folder on the target drive, copy all of the individual DBX files and then paste the copies in the folder I just made. After I've reformatted the original drive, installed my software and setup Outlook Express from scratch, then I'll navigate to the folder I made on the second drive or on a CD or DVD, and copy all of those DBX files and then reverse the process and navigate back to the Outlook Express folder on the path listed above. Then its a simple right click and paste and all of my mail is restored. Note - you will get prompted because (for example) - setting up OE on the reformatted or New Drive is going to produce InBox.dbx, Outbox.dbx, etc. and you will be pasting your original dbx files with the same name on top of these. Just allow your pasted files to overwrite the existing ones and you won't miss a lick.

The only hook to this is if you waited a couple of days before copying an dpasting your .dbx files to the new drive and you had used the new for email retrieval during that lag period, this approach isn't going to merge files it is going to overwrite them so you'd lose whatever you had on your new drive i terms of mail.

I use this approach because its the fastest way to do it. Same goes for copying over .pst files associated with Outlook so holler if your are unfamiliar with the path to these. We can get into this when you are ready to copy off stuff.

In the meantime, good move on running chkdsk again. One might argue that any bad blocks which can't be copied to another part of the disc could be lost but there are ways around that if it becomes necessary to save the only remaining map to that secret Diamond Mine in South Africa and chkdsk has marked the block.

 

Thanks for the OE info, Rock. Is the addy book still a WAB file?? Copy and paste that, too?.. and no Outlook!!!

Well, the second chkdsk round came up clean (as usual) and the net result was ziltch (as usual). I have two files to move off of d drive. I will see if I can get Knoppix to do that for me.

Are there any repair utilities on the soon-to-arrive disk that would make proceeding an unwise choice?

 

I can't see why the PCIe ports should be dead on the new motherboard as well, or have I misunderstood you?

 

Yes, that is the original sin part of this thread. I still don't know what is going to happen after I install xp, etc. That part of this quagmire could not even be addressed as I did not post until things had long gone astray.

 

Lar,

More utilities than you will ever be able to use are included. We're talking in the hundreds. If it were me, I'd wait.

I'm also with Lukeno1 re: the PCIe video. Am suspicious of the card itself and power to the motherboard (molex male next to PCIe #1) for video and power to the card if applicable. That's why I wanted to unload resident drivers and see whats what after we can get into Windows. Bear in mind that several rootkits load at the driver level. Too early to tell but if we can get essential data copied off to another drive then we can see what gives (hopefully).

 

Yeah, that graphics card smells to me as well...

 

oops again

 

As far as all of these applets, I will certainlly wait, as I am sure that they are bound to help. In the words of a famous songsmith "and with you there to help me, then it probably will ".

As far as the graphics card goes, I do not know what to say. I sent it in to MSI, they tested it and found nothing there, exc for my credit card imprint. I was sure that the card was the issue when this crisis started, but then I found the nick in the mobo, followed by the 2nd mobo purchase. The downhill slalom was fully primed at that point. I did check the Molex 4-pin by the PCIe slot with my hot new PSU tester!

And being the patient dolt that I am, I starting doing the copying of the c drive data to my external HDD. Took a good while to get used to the old Windows Commander contained in Knoppix. It was revolutionary in its time. I guess that the old prog has become public domain. Oh, it's now called Midnight Commander. Kind of Marvel Comic sounding. Are you having this much fun??

 

Hey Rock, I am doing my copying and I was wondering how I can copy of my OE accts and my Newsgroup list (not messages). Would you or anyone else have a bead on this?

I started a separate thread in Other Software on how to move itunes music from a non-working computer. Thanks, Lar

 

looks like things are finally starting to roll in the right direction for you.
Larry you say you are glad that Rock is again part of the vertical world, do you think we should advise him to keep off the horizontal tangos to stay that way.

 

Hawk, I don't know..... I have heard a lot of good things about multi-directional personalized treatment methodologies! Let me check with the Midnight Commander.

 

Next 2 weekends are party filled but I will try to squeeze in some "work ". The external HDD is almost full and I am just about ready.... and I DID find that Diamond Mine map file (how did you know?)!!

Oh, I am rethinking my backup regimin. Like, maybe I should have one! What free prog is good for making brainless backups that I can specify files in root drives, as well as folders, etc. I don't usually keep my external HDD plugged in so that makes it a bit problematic. I guess that that will have to change.

 

Karen's Replicator is available at www.karenware.com - I know of nothing better regardless of price. All of her applications are very well written and all are free.

 

Ah, Karen. She was a tour d'force at PC Mag before they fired the brains of the operation (when Znet bought them, I think). I used a lot great apps from PC in the W95-98 days. Thanks Rock,

I had been using a program called SE Backup. Some Italian guys had written a backup program and I was the guinea pig (the beta type). After numerous versions, they finally got it down right and it was great. Gave you a compressed zip file. Right after that, they decided to move on to something else so they gave me a key and fond farewell. I am going to give that another try too. It is basically freeware at this point.

Lar

 

That's her. She and Langa and Finney and the guy who setup PCPitstop - it was a Tour d' Force. You won't go wrong with Replicator.

Needless to say, add some imaging software to your routine too.

 

I was wondering. Since I made the repair install attempt with XP, will I have any problems with authentication when I do the reformat/install?