XP won't boot (since PartitionMagic)

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Hi All,
I resized my desktop's XP Home partition with Partition Magic.
Near the end of the process it turned up an error, demanded reboot and then Windows would not start.

Tried booting into safe mode, LKG config, and all other options but it just returns to the same screen offering Safe Mode etc.

Also tried inserting the XP Home install cd and switching PC on to attempt a repair but it doesn't run the disk. Just returns to same screen as before even though CD-ROM is listed as first boot device in the BIOS.

I have a Ghost backup (~10Gb) of my boot partition stored on another physical drive in my desktop so all is not (hopefully) lost.

I have an external HDD in a caddy which I imagine I could replace with the HDD holding the image but I'm not sure how I could make use of it without first being able to boot/install windows.

Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
B

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

Watch your boot process for a prompt to "hit any key to boot from CD-Rom". If you don't it will skip by your CD-ROM and on to the next boot device. If you are hitting a key when prompted my guess is your XP CD isn't bootable or its scratched or has a smudge on it. To restore your ghost image I believe you need to boot from your ghost media and run ghost from there.

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Thanks alphanumeric,

It seems there is something wrong with my XP disc as u said, because I borrowed a Hiren's disc and was able to boot into that.

Using Hiren's I checked for errors on former boot partition.
None found.
Boot partition was shown as unformatted and empty so I formatted it using Paragon (from Horen's disk).

So now how can I install the Ghost image from my other HDD?
I've had a good look around the Hiren's disk and don't see any option for this.

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

It's a ghost image so I would assume you would use ghost to restore it. I don't use ghost but do use Acronis true Image. I boot from my True Image boot CD, run True Image, restore the image, remove the CD and reboot. Done deal.

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Ok, I've managed to reinstall XP Home and Ghost.
Problem now is that I can't see the drive where I saved the Ghost backup of my previous installation.

It is a SATA drive and was "disk 2".
I can still see Disk 0 (containing boot partition), and Disk 1 in XP but Disk 2 does not show.

Furthermore, I can see Disk2 when I boot to Hiren's disk and use Paragon Partition Manager to view my drives.

What do I need to do in order to see/access my SATA drive in XP?
Install some drivers from somewhere?
Transfer the SATA to an external caddy?
The most important thing is that the drive doesn't get formatted in the process.

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

Does it show up in disk management? If yes it may be as simple as initializing it and giving it a drive letter. If no then you may have to install SATA drivers. Go into device manager and see if there are any devices with yellow ! or ? next to them.

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Thanks alphanumeric,

[Edit]The SATA drive doesn't show up in Disk Managment[/Edit]
Would initialising a drive require formatting it?
Formatting is not an option for me as the Ghost backup I'm trying to get to is on that drive.

In Device Manager, the "Other Devices" item has a yellow question mark,
Under Other Devices there are two entries
-Mass Storage Controller
and
-Network Controller
both of which have both the yellow question and exclamation mark.

Under, Mass Storage Device > Properties > General, it says
"The drivers for this device are not installed (Code 28 )
To install the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver"

Do you reckon it's safe to go ahead and reinstall the driver in this way?

I know some of this seems obvious - I just need to be really careful.

Thanks for all this help.

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

Mass Storage Controller is likely your SATA controller. If it is integrated into your motherboard the driver is on the CD that came with it. The motherboard CD likely has an auto run feature with an automated install menu that can make driver installation easier. Or better still download the newest version from the motherboard makers web site. If your network controller is also integrated into the motherboard its the same deal.

Try that first before you do anything in disk management. You can add drives to your system in disk management without formating them, just pay attention to what you are doing. It may show up on its own once you get the controller driver installed.

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Running HwInfo32 shows the mobo as ECS L4S8A(2)

I couldn't find "SATA drivers" for but I found "RAID driver for L4S8A".

Coluldn't get them from the ECS site so I got them from here:
http://www.nodevice.com/driver/L4S8A/get35807.html

..Are these the drivers I am looking for?

Other info given in HwInfo32 was as follows (if necessary)
........................................................
Motherboard Chipset: SiS 648FX + 962
Motherboard Slots: 4xPCI, 1xAGP v3.5
BIOS MAnufacturer: Phoenix AwardWorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Date: 08/19/03
Super-IO/LPC Chip: ITE8705/Sis950
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Chip: Not Found
........................................................

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

I don't know if that is the right driver or not? It could be an IDE RAID driver. I believe the SATA chip set is made by Silicon Image. If you can figure out which chip set it is you can probably download it from them. It should also be on the installation CD that came with the motherboard, have you looked at that?

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

The driver I DL'd came in a folder called "si3112_10013" with a subfolder called "Silicon Image". Inside that subfolder there are:
TxtSetup.oem
Si3112r.inf
readme.txt
SIISUPP.VXD
Si3112r.mpd
Si3112r.sys

On the MoBo CD there is (amongst others) a folder called "RAID".
One of the subfolders in there is called SiliconImage.
The contents are the same as the SiliconImage folder which I DL'd (listed above) with the exception that it also contains:
DriverLanguageMap.xml
Si3112r.cat
SIWinAcc.sys

So it looks to me that it should be the right driver.
Does that sound right?

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

Odds are good that that is the correct driver. Click update driver and point it to the inf file in that folder and you will know. Wink

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

At the "Select a hardware type" screen I selected disk drives.
It showed "Unable to find and drivers for this device" as expected.
I clicked 'Have Disk', pointed it to the .inf file and OK'd the "Install rom Disk" screen but got this message:
"The specified location does not contain information about your hardware".

...Seems very strange.
Could it be because i am pointing it to a file which is not on a CD but on my desktop?
Or could it be due to the extra files on the mobo CD being absent?

Also there is a choice to select "Storage volumes" or "Storage volume shadow copies".
Should I be choosing one of those instead of disk drives in the "Select a hardware type" screen?

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

In your earlier post you stated:
In Device Manager, the "Other Devices" item has a yellow question mark,
Under Other Devices there are two entries
-Mass Storage Controller
and
-Network Controller
both of which have both the yellow question and exclamation mark.

Under, Mass Storage Device > Properties > General, it says
"The drivers for this device are not installed (Code 28 )
To install the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver"

Try going back there and clicking "reinstall driver" and try pointing to the correct folder. Shouldn't matter where the folder is, I've installed from a folder on my second hard drive and from a folder on a thumbdrive with no problems. You might have to try both options, search and have disk.

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Neither option worked there.
Would it be a good idea to try installing the driver from the mobo cd?

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

Same deal trying to install from CD.
I'm really quite stumped.

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

Me too? Not being able to see what is happening I don't know if I can help you any further. Right click the "Si3112r.inf" file and see if "install" is listed as one of the options. If it is try that. I have some other things that need doing so I won't likely reply to this thread until tomorrow morning some time. Good Luck Smile

bendybones · Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 13

right-click menu did give option for install however clicking it did nothing.
I checked afterwards in Device Manager and situation is the same.
I tried again and also tried with the same file on the mobo CD but also no luck.
Thanks for all you help so far.
If you do get a chance to check the thread tomorrow that would be great.
Hopefully I'll have some progress / new info of some sort by then.

alphanumeric · Joined: Jun 02, 2004 Posts: 647

Normally if you chose "install from a list or specific location" and then use "search for the best driver in these locations" it should find the inf file. Provided you click the browse button and point it to the correct folder. Sounds like you did that and it didn't work? That makes me think it's not the correct driver, but it should be if its on the CD that came with the motherboard. Confused

Does the motherboard CD auto run and give you a GUI or install menu? If it does can you click a button to install that SATA driver? If yes again what happens when you do that? I am sure you have done it but maybe try running the add new hardware wizard in control panel again, with the CD in the drive. Maybe you will get lucky this time, I mean there has to be a way to install this driver. If you get it to work write down the procedure for next time. Wink