So, I'm NO LONGER screwed...

So...I got my external USB HD enclosure today, right? This is where it gets good, hold on...

Sooo, I used Seagate DiscWizard to "clone" my stock HD, MBR and all. So I thought...after getting the One buttoned back up, and assuring that it powered up, I stared moist-eyed at the blinking white cursor... :cry:

Long story short, apparently my Windows/grub hybrid mbr didn't like being cloned, cause when I tried to boot my old drive back up. XP wouldn't load.Needless to say, I am not a happy camper.

So, two questions:1-Will the factory Restore discs work without the PQService partition (Fedora live usb wiped it out : )

2: Why won't my alternative machine, running Vista, let me write to any removable media. It says everything is write protected, when I damned well know it is not. I have tried to make all sorts of bootable media, but f-ing Vista won't let me.

I don't want to stick with the Ubuntu I have running right now, because I have to use PowerPoint in school, and the linux version doesn't quite work 100% sometimes. Thanks a bunch, guys....

PS: The third antenna/Wi-fi addition, though, is awesome!!!

 

Re: So, I'm screwed...

Answer to number 2 is usually that you are trying to write a file larger than 4Gb to a FAT32 partitioned disk.

Not possible if you are and you need to reformat the disk to NTFS.

 

Re: So, I'm screwed...

Thanks for reply. Unfortunately, the two USB flash drives in question are only two and four gigs. The external hard drive is my stock one, and it is in NTFS already.

I need to know about the CD thing so I know whether I need to run out and buy an external CD drive, or not. All help much appreciated...thanks a bunch, folks....

 

Re: So, I'm screwed...

Pretty sure the factory restore disks will restore the disk completely without the PQService partition. People have used them when changing HDD's.

Check permissions on the removable media, make sure that you have sufficient rights. I know that I have run into issues deleting from removable drives without havnig proper rights first.

 

Re: So, I'm screwed...

@goofball:

I am about ready to throw that Vista POS out the window. It won't let me apply changed permissions because the media is write protected. In essence, it won't let me unwrite protect it, because it is write protected. Not as admin, or anything. I hate Vista; I hope 7 is better than Vista is. Might give it a shot once I get this sorted.

I've thrown in the towel, and am running Ubuntu (8.04) at the moment. I will say that it loads and runs a lot quicker/smoother with the new hard drive, though. I had tried it on the stock drive, and it was kind of doggy. Seems wasteful, though, to have a Linux install with 230G of free space (noLOL).

I can't wait to get XP back on here. I just like XP, I have it down to a science of sorts. Guess I'll be running to WalMart and buying a CD drive when the old lady gets home. This "cheap and easy" :roll: upgrade is getting expensiver every minute. Not to mention I think my hair is grayer, and farther back on my head.

Side note: I also have to pop my kybd back off, as I did not get the touchpad firmly connected, it seems. I love this damned computer, I really do!!! A learning experience for all involved.

 

Re: So, I'm screwed...

make sure that the drive is not being indexed by Vista.

 

Too flabergasted for emoticons...

Well, now I am not quite sure where to go...

I went out and bought a CD/DVD drive that I couldn't really afford...returned home, and ran the Restore media, eManagement and all that...so far, so good.

Unhook CD drive, reset boot order in BIOS, and let it rip, expecting to see the ******* XP login screen...nope, I get a mutha ******* Grub error, 22 I believe. So, I reinstall Ubuntu, for the eightieth time in two days (I'm a Linux installation professional now). My rationale was that Grub did not like not having a Linux OS to boot up, and that I could reinstall Ubuntu, and Grub would then be nice and polite and see my XP install.

I was right in that aspect, it gave me the option to boot into XP...but it wouldn't boot...got an error 12, incorrect device detected, or some-such. My rationale on this is that for some reason, the retore media doesn't rewrite the MBR? Do I need to physically open my Fing HD and remove Grub with some DDT, or a flame thrower?

Seriously, do I need to take out my Hard drive, and format it completely or something? I cannot figure out how to get any sort of partition program to run from outside of Windows to re-format. How can I easily get rid of Grub? Is that what I need to do? After I did, if I ran the Erecovery discs, shouldn't they write a new MBR? Doesn't a fresh Windows install write a fresh MBR?

I'm getting desperate, cranky, broke, and bald...I need some help...SOS...(nolol)(nohair)

 

Re: So, I'm screwed...

Boot from the Windows XP install disk and chose repair console I believe, (I'm doing this from memory), that will take you to a Dos prompt of sorts, then type help to get a list of commands. The one you are looking for is fixmbr I think. Type that command and it will put a fresh copy of MBR on your drive. I have had to this many times while experimenting with Linux over the years.

 

Fixed with external CD drive, and an OEM Dell XP disk. Which, was actually a cool way to go. It worked with my factory Acer key, and did not include all of the bloat ware that Acer installed. Dell separates their recoveries into an actual Windows install disk (which I copied), and an accessories disc.

Working fine. XP on the new drive is great, still have to finish speed-tweaking it...a backup I made a week ago even prevented me from having to reinstall and reactivate all of my software. I may do that at a later date, though, when I don't have papers due. To allow a true "fresh start"...

A big thanks to every one that helped.

Note: I tried the "fixmbr" repair, but I guess it was just too far gone??? Fresh install did the job...

 

Great to know a Dell disk will work with the Acer key, so you've added to the knowledge base here. I'd been bothered by not having a disk, though haven't had any problems to date. It's a great, snappy little machine.

 

I suppose the recovery discs that acer will send you are good and all, but sometimes when something *cough*playing with linux*cough* destroys your MBR and won't let you into Windows at all, you need an actual Windows installation disk. I had enabled the recovery console in my default installation, but couldn't get to the Safe mode menu...

It has to be a Home version, from what I understand. That was not a problem, as it was what I had available to me. Glad to add to the knowledge base of an already knowledgeable website...