the password is recognised, yet login stops
aa
space on w2k drive might not be sufficient, so I increased this partition
using Partition Magic (which is installed on XP which is instralled as a
double boot OS in another partition on the same computer.
The partition resizing went OK except at the end a message popped up that it
could not to create a key (God knows what key they meant).
Whether this key causes s problem or not, but as a result I still can boot
into XP, but cannot boot into w2k. It starts OK and proceeds to entering the
password. When the PW in entered it plays that characteristic WINDOWS tune
which is usually plaid when PW was accepted, and thinks for sometime and
then offeres to enter the PW again. I am sure it recognises PW, because when
I deliberately enter a wrong PW the reaction is different - no music is
played, no thinking and the request to re-enter PS pops up immediately.
what might be a problem and how to get round it?
![Pegasus [MVP]'s profile photo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/default-user=s40-c)
Pegasus [MVP]
"aa" <a...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:%23eQfiPD...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
This is an old and well-known problem: Windows is unable to locate
userinit.exe because your system drive letter has changed. The cure is
fairly simple if you have a networked machine and know the password for the
Win2000 Admin account, and a little less simple if you need to work from
your WinXP installation. Which one is it?
aa
Please will let me know a less simple solution for my dual-boot XP
Pegasus [MVP]
OK, here we go:
1. Launch WinXP.
2. Make sure your Win2000 partition is visible and accessible. Let's assume
it's on drive X:.
3. Launch Regedit.
4. Open the registry hive X:\WinNT\System32\config\system.
5. Navigate to HKLM\System\MountedDevices\DosDevices\
6. You will see at least one drive letter, e.g. E:. Rename it to C:.
7. Close the System hive on C:.
8. Boot into Win2000.
Steps 4 and 7 are somewhat involved if you're not experienced with regedit.
Post again if you need more detailed instructions.
In Step 6 you may see several drive letters. One of them *must* be drive C:
You may have to find out by trial and error which one it is.
These instructions assume that your Win2000 system drive letter used to be
C:. If it was a different drive letter then you need to adjust the
instructions accordingly.
As I said - having a networked machine would have simplified the matter
considerably.
"aa" <a...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:OTxEoCLS...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
Sid Elbow
and I do have a network, what is the procedure in that case?
aa
> 4. Open the registry hive X:\WinNT\System32\config\system.
There is Import option there which allows me to navigate my X drive - by
OPEN do u mean that I need to import it first?
Also navigating to X:\WinNT\System32\config\system is a problem: folder
X:\WinNT\System32\config\ is empty, no system shows up there.
I assume this might be because WindowsExplorer is set no to show hidden
files - is this a case? Problem is that I cannot reset it otherwise. I go to
the folder options, untick and tick relevant boxes and radiobuttins, apply,
save, it pretends that it saves, but it does not save the settings. (if this
is relevant I am logged in the admin account)
This is preinstalled XP which came with the new computer and the number of
small annoyances like this forced me to install w2k on this machine as the
second OS. Applying for help to the computer maker and to MS help was waste
of time.
How can I get round this?
Pegasus [MVP]
"Sid Elbow" <he...@there.com> wrote in message
news:002d77c7$0$24241$c3e...@news.astraweb.com...
> Pegasus, I'm curious because I ran into a similar problem a while back and
> I do have a network, what is the procedure in that case?
I'm glad you asked! Here we go:
1. Start up the problem machine.
2. Run this command on a networked machine:
psexec \\ProblemPC cmd
You can get psexec.exe from www.sysinternals.com.
3. Make a note of the drive letter you see. This is the incorrect system
drive letter. Let's assume it's X:.
4. Run regedit.exe on the networked machine.
5. Open the registry of the problem machine via the "File" pull-down menu.
6. Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\
7. On the right half of the screen, rename \DosDevices\X: to \DosDevices\C:
with a right-click of your mouse. If C: is taken, rename it to some other
drive letter to free up C:.
8. Run shutdown.exe on the networked machine in order to reboot the problem
machine.
By doing this you have restored the original system drive letter, thus
enabling the logon process to locate userinit.exe and complete the logon
process. If you get the rename wrong then you can try again with the same
method, using a different drive letter.
Sid Elbow
Pegasus [MVP]
> I'm glad I asked, too! Thanks a bunch.
You're welcome.
aa
"Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:e1y9biPS...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
John John - MVP
What happens if you try to list the files at the Command Prompt?
Try:
dir x:\winnt\system32\config
or:
dir x:\winnt\system32\config \ash
See here for easy to follow instructions to load the broken hive:
http://www.rwin.ch/xp-live/regedit.htm
John
Pegasus [MVP]
I gave you a fairly detailed answer some 7 hours ago. If you cannot find it,
consider using Outlook Express as your newsgroup reader, or else check here:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/browse_thread/thread/6071a3e0826d26a9/6ef7e862af6bd4fe?lnk=raot.
aa
it,
> consider using Outlook Express as your newsgroup reader, or else check
here:
>
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/browse_thr
ead/thread/6071a3e0826d26a9/6ef7e862af6bd4fe?lnk=raot.
>
If you mean the 8-step instruction, then I read it - thank you - and replied
that I tried but could not get past step 4 (I repeat my message here):
*************************
My regedit shows only MyComputer and 5 HKEY entries to XP register
There is Import option there which allows me to navigate my X drive - by
OPEN do u mean that I need to import it first?
Also navigating to X:\WinNT\System32\config\system is a problem: folder
X:\WinNT\System32\config\ is empty, no system shows up there.
I assume this might be because WindowsExplorer is set no to show hidden
files - is this a case? Problem is that I cannot reset it otherwise. I go to
the folder options, untick and tick relevant boxes and radiobuttins, apply,
save, it pretends that it saves, but it does not save the settings. (if this
is relevant I am logged in the admin account)
************************************
If you mean that u already answered this problem, then please will you copy
it here once again because neither OE not your URL above shows it
Pegasus [MVP]
"aa" <a...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:uKx7NaQS...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> I gave you a fairly detailed answer some 7 hours ago. If you cannot find
> it,
>> consider using Outlook Express as your newsgroup reader, or else check
> here:
>>
> http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/browse_thr
> ead/thread/6071a3e0826d26a9/6ef7e862af6bd4fe?lnk=raot.
>>
> I am already using OE actually.
> If you mean the 8-step instruction, then I read it - thank you - and
> replied
> that I tried but could not get past step 4 (I repeat my message here):
*** Sorry, your reply must have disappeared into a black hole.
> My regedit shows only MyComputer and 5 HKEY entries to XP register
> There is Import option there which allows me to navigate my X drive - by
> OPEN do u mean that I need to import it first?
*** No, I meant "Load Hive".
> Also navigating to X:\WinNT\System32\config\system is a problem: folder
> X:\WinNT\System32\config\ is empty, no system shows up there.
> I assume this might be because WindowsExplorer is set no to show hidden
> files - is this a case?
*** Sorry, can't tell without seeing it.
> Problem is that I cannot reset it otherwise. I go to
> the folder options, untick and tick relevant boxes and radiobuttins,
> apply,
> save, it pretends that it saves, but it does not save the settings. (if
> this
> is relevant I am logged in the admin account)
*** Sorry, can't tell without seeing it.
> If you mean that u already answered this problem, then please will you
> copy
> it here once again because neither OE not your URL above shows it
*** No, I did not respond to this particular note before.
***
*** Your questions suggest that you have limited experience when it
*** comes to in-depth Windows maintenance. There is no shame in
*** this - your have strong skills in other areas - but it makes it doubtful
*** that we'll succeed with this method. Instead there is a substantial
*** risk that we do irreversible damage to the Win2000 registry.
***
*** I can see these options for you, listed in order of preference:
*** a) You ask a computer-savvy friend to assist you.
*** b) You ask a computer workshop to fix the problem.
*** c) You reload Win2000.
*** e) You open up your machine for me to fix the problem.
*** If you're interested in considering option e), please send a note to
*** pegasus_fnlATyahooDOTcom so that I can explain the process.
Pegasus
visible here:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/browse_thread/thread/6071a3e0826d26a9/6ef7e862af6bd4fe?lnk=raot
but some of your messages and some of mine will not show up in Outlook
Express. Read my latest response under the above link.
Paul Randall
"Pegasus" <Pegas...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:731a6cbf-6e56-45ec...@a7g2000yqo.googlegroups.com...
The link you posted and my OE both show 15 messages in this thread.
Maybe your OE read option for limiting the number of headers being read
accidently got checked.
-Paul Randall
mm
Reading this through Agent 1.9 and the eternal-september news server,
I show 16 messages now, but I presume your post added one to the 15
you saw.
But afaik, no server shows all posts. The ones that amalgamate
several servers may do so, or may almost never fail to get one, but no
simple server does.
>-Paul Randall
>
Pegasus [MVP]
"Paul Randall" <paul...@cableone.net> wrote in message
news:%23faexvU...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
I'm afraid not. The above message from you shows both in my OE and under
Google groups. One of the OE's responses and one of my own is visible in
Google Groups but on on my OE. It is as if my OE intermittently intercepts
and ditches some messages.
Paul Randall
This reminds me of a couple of years ago when I was rude to you, thinking
you had something to do with some of my posts not showing up in OE.
http://groups.google.com/g/cfd7fef5/t/16b89b7be8dc7a46/d/5b4c57fdf645c0a0
-Paul Randall
Sid Elbow
> I'm afraid not. The above message from you shows both in my OE and under
> Google groups. One of the OE's responses and one of my own is visible in
> Google Groups but on on my OE. It is as if my OE intermittently intercepts
> and ditches some messages.
I don't know OE, but in my client, when messages go missing, it's
usually a filter acting in an unanticipated fashion.
Pegasus [MVP]
> This reminds me of a couple of years ago when I was rude to you, thinking
> you had something to do with some of my posts not showing up in OE.
> http://groups.google.com/g/cfd7fef5/t/16b89b7be8dc7a46/d/5b4c57fdf645c0a0
> -Paul Randall
once more, I would not call it "rude". We had a disagreement, that's all.
Getting a peer review is one of the benefits of newsgroups. Sometimes the
discussion gets a little heated, in particular when two experts clash. So
what!
aa
> Maybe your OE read option for limiting the number of headers being read
> accidently got checked.
This options is pre-set to 300.
Does the number of headers mean number of subjects or number of messages?
Anyway this should not be relevant in this particular case for now, without
changing this option, I can see a lot of new messages but still cannot the
that one of Pegasus. Unless OE selects these 300 messages at random, without
taking into account chronology and logic of discussion.
I have beed using OE for years to read NGs, and dissapearing messages or the
whole threads is systematic. I thought it was the result of moderation,
thought could not fihure out what was wrong with those messages.
aa
"Pegasus [MVP]"
> *** Your questions suggest that you have limited experience when it
> *** comes to in-depth Windows maintenance. There is no shame in
> *** this - your have strong skills in other areas - but it makes it
doubtful
> *** that we'll succeed with this method. Instead there is a substantial
> *** risk that we do irreversible damage to the Win2000 registry.
Very limited indeed. Yet so far I see no rocket science in executing the
steps you specified. Also no need not worry about damaging my reg for I was
about to clean re-install w2k anyway just before you replied that it is
repairable.
> My regedit shows only MyComputer and 5 HKEY entries to XP register
> > There is Import option there which allows me to navigate my X drive -
by
> > OPEN do u mean that I need to import it first?
> *** No, I meant "Load Hive".
As I said, I have no "Load Hive" option in my registry. I searched MS site
for "Load a hive into the registry" (
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759303(WS.10).aspx ):
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. In the registry tree (on the left), click either the HKEY_USERS or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE keys.
3. On the File menu, click Load Hive.
Thing is that in my Registry not only "Load Hive" is missing, but File menu
is missing. I have Regisry, Edit, View, Favorites, Help (does not help too).
Neither of these have "Load Hive" inside
please send a note to
> *** pegasus_fnlATyahooDOTcom so that I can explain the process.
Thank you for offering that, I am sending you a message, but I think we
first try to resolve the problem here for it might be inteesting for other
people
Pegasus [MVP]
"aa" <a...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:O$fDpswSK...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
Things are getting from bad to worse. Your initial problem relates to your
inability of logging on to Windows 2000 after resizing your partitions with
PQ Magic. This is usually caused by an unintended change of the System drive
letter. You now report that regedit.exe under Windows XP lacks the "File"
pull-down menu. I suggest you take a screen shot of the regedit screen with
the PrtSc key, paste it into mspaint.exe, save it as a .jpg file, then
attach it to your reply or upload it to one of the many free file storage
services so that respondents can see what you see. If you are correct then I
think you have some serious problems with malware or viruses.
aa
> I suggest you take a screen shot of the regedit screen
Sorry, Pegasus, for misleading you a bit - when replying I was at another
computer and open Regedit there.
On the sick computer we are talking about Regedit has File-->Load hives, but
they are grey.
The screenshot you asked for is here
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg
This is a Russian version and the Load Hive is the third line in File menu
aa
"Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:uMQ15OxS...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Things are getting from bad to worse. Your initial problem relates to your
> inability of logging on to Windows 2000 after resizing your partitions
with
> PQ Magic. This is usually caused by an unintended change of the System
drive
> letter.
Indeed, when I resized the partition, and rebooted the computer, the
partition dissapered and opening Partition Magic again I saw that no letter
was assigned to this partition. So I assigned the letter which PM offered,
and now I see that I should have selected the original letter. Thing was
that if I remember correctly,
the disk letter shown from XP were different from disk letters shown on w2k.
Anyway, seemingly the most natural solution would be to change back the
drive letters using Partition Magic - why this is not possible?
Pegasus [MVP]
I recommend you ask your Windows-savvy friend to do this for you:
1. Launch Windows XP
2. Run regedit.exe.
3. Navigate to HKLM.
4. Click File/Load Hive.
5. Enter the location of the Win2000 "System" file, e.g.
X:\WinNT\System32\config\system
and click Open.
6. Enter a name when prompted, e.g. Win2000 and click OK.
7. Open HKLM in the Win2000 hive, then navigate to
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
8. On the right half of the screen, rename \DosDevices\X: to \DosDevices\C:
with a right-click of your mouse. "X:" can be any drive letter you see. If
the
first rename does not work then you must reverse the rename, then rename
another drive letter to C:.
9. When finished, click the Win2000 key, then File / Unload Hive.
10. Boot into Win2000.
Warning: There is a serious risk of the following happening:
- You might permanently damage your Win2000 registry.
- You might inadvertently modify the WinXP registry, which will prevent it
from booting.
If you lack experience in registry editing then you *must* ask an
experienced person to assist you. I cannot accept any responsibility for he
consequences of your actions.
aa
> I recommend you ask your Windows-savvy friend to do this for you:
Pegasus, of all my friends I am the savviest.
> - You might permanently damage your Win2000 registry.
> - You might inadvertently modify the WinXP registry, which will prevent it
> from booting.
> If you lack experience in registry editing then you *must* ask an
> experienced person to assist you. I cannot accept any responsibility for
he
> consequences of your actions.
As I said I am about to clean reinstall w2k. And to delete XP for good
because this XP cane preinstalled with this computer and did not work
properly from the start. So both OS are of little value for me. Of value are
my data and they are on a separate disk for I never used that Microsoft's
My Documents to store anything, thank God!
I also appreciate that not being at my computer you can only guess? but I
think this is a correct guess of yours and before formatting the disk I will
try to use the chance you offered. On my own risk of course. Even if things
will go wrong, I will be thankful to you for your time.
Thank you for adding more details to the Instruction - I was just about to
ask what should I enter when prompted for a name at step 6
aa
> 1. Launch Windows XP
> 2. Run regedit.exe.
> 3. Navigate to HKLM.
> 4. Click File/Load Hive.
> 5. Enter the location of the Win2000 "System" file, e.g.
X:\WinNT\System32\config\system and click Open.
> 6. Enter a name when prompted, e.g. Win2000 and click OK.
Done except the name was entered as "w2k"
> 7. Open HKLM in the Win2000 hive, then navigate to
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
After Step 6 entry "w2k" was added to XP's HKLM and under this entry there
is no HKLM\SYSTEM\
Instead I have w2k\MountedDevices (see
www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg ) is it OK?
> 8. On the right half of the screen, rename \DosDevices\X: to
\DosDevices\C: with a right-click of your mouse. "X:" can be any drive
letter you see.
Under w2k\MountedDevices I have 7 entries DosDevices from A to H.
XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
A - floppy
C - partition with XP
D - CD drive
E - partition with w2k
F - logical partition with data
I understand one of those seven entries should be renamed to E
Can you guess which one, or the only way is to try and see?
> If the first rename does not work then you must reverse the rename, then
rename another drive letter to C:.
How shal I see if it works or not without attempting to boot into w2k?
Pegasus [MVP]
Since you're about to re-install Win2000, there seems to be little point in
persisting with the registry hack.
aa
> Since you're about to re-install Win2000, there seems to be little point
in persisting with the registry hack.
I said I WAS about to reinstall it to relieve you from worries. Of course,
if there is a chance I can restore w2k, I will use it. Even if I fail, I
will get precious knowledge and experience.
Please will you attend the points raised in my previous message
Pegasus [MVP]
>
> "Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:OORBoB2S...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
>> Since you're about to re-install Win2000, there seems to be little point
> in persisting with the registry hack.
>
> I said I WAS about to reinstall it to relieve you from worries.
*** language implies that you will do it within a very short time.
*** Doing so may relieve *you* from worries. It can't relieve *me*
*** from worries. While I'm happy to assist you, my help does not
*** go as far as worrying about your machine.
> Pegasus, of all my friends I am the savviest.
*** It's time to look for a few new friends . . .
> Of course, if there is a chance I can restore w2k, I will use it.
> Even if I fail, I will get precious knowledge and experience.
> Please will you attend the points raised in my previous message
>
> After Step 6 entry "w2k" was added to XP's HKLM and under this entry there
> is no HKLM\SYSTEM\
> Instead I have w2k\MountedDevices (see
> www.lst.front.ru/regedit_screenshot.jpg ) is it OK?
*** Yes, this is correct.
> Under w2k\MountedDevices I have 7 entries DosDevices from A to H.
> XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
> www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
> A - floppy
> C - partition with XP
> D - CD drive
> E - partition with w2k
> F - logical partition with data
*** The above assignments are your guesses. You don't really know
*** if they are correct. It is possible that all drive letters have moved.
> I understand one of those seven entries should be renamed to E
> Can you guess which one, or the only way is to try and see?
*** You should rename C: to X:, then rename D: to C: and check if
*** this solves your problem. If it does not, rename C: back to D:, then
*** rename E: to C:, then G: to E:. This is what I mean with "trial and
*** error".
> How shal I see if it works or not without attempting to boot into w2k?
*** You can't - you must attempt to boot into Win2000.
*** It would also be a good idea to create a backup copy of the
*** System file, just in case things go worse rather than better.
aa
Thanks, Pegasus, for the most detailed reply.
>*** You said "I am about to clean reinstall w2k" which in the English
language implies that you will do it within a very short time.
Thank you for a bit of English lesson, Pegasus - I'm always happy to learn.
Yet how do you define "very short time" in English?
Depending on context, a year may be a very short time while a second could
be too long
> While I'm happy to assist you, my help does not *** go as far as worrying
about your machine.
This is exactly what I hope to find here - thank you again.
> *** It's time to look for a few new friends . . .
I am old-fashioned and do not replace friends just because I cannot extract
use of them. I would rather replace Windows ;-)
> > XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
> > www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
> > A - floppy
> > C - partition with XP
> > D - CD drive
> > E - partition with w2k
> > F - logical partition with data
> *** The above assignments are your guesses. You don't really know
> *** if they are correct. It is possible that all drive letters have moved.
This is not MY guess, this is how XP's WindowsExplorer guesses them. Do you
mean that w2k might have it differently? If so, then we have another unknown
variable in the equiation - we do not know what X is. From
www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg I thought X=E. Now I see that
this might not be the case. So the operation you describe below may have to
be repeated for different value of X like X=D, X=E and X=F ?
If I boot into w2k from ERD disk - will it show the disks letters the same
way w2k sees them?
> *** You should rename C: to X:, then rename D: to C: and check if
> *** this solves your problem. If it does not, rename C: back to D:, then
> *** rename E: to C:, then G: to E:. This is what I mean with "trial and
> *** error".
So there is no way to determine which entry is relevant to userinit.exe ?
Are there other system files which, like userinit.exe depend on disk letter?
I mean I can sort out userinit.exe by changing D to C but something else
will stop working because of changing C to X.
If I assume X=E, I rename, C to E and D to C then I will have two entries
with the same letter E - is this acceptable, or I have to rename other
entries to avoid duplications?
> *** It would also be a good idea to create a backup copy of the System
file, just in case things go worse rather than better.
As I mentioned, this WinExplorer refuses settings to see hidden and system
files so I cannot copy it from Win Explorer. Can I do it from RegEdit?
Pegasus [MVP]
>
> "Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:u69lLP4...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Thanks, Pegasus, for the most detailed reply.
>
>>*** You said "I am about to clean reinstall w2k" which in the English
> language implies that you will do it within a very short time.
>
> Thank you for a bit of English lesson, Pegasus - I'm always happy to
> learn.
> Yet how do you define "very short time" in English?
> Depending on context, a year may be a very short time while a second could
> be too long
>> While I'm happy to assist you, my help does not *** go as far as
>> worrying
> about your machine.
>
> This is exactly what I hope to find here - thank you again.
>
>> *** It's time to look for a few new friends . . .
>
> I am old-fashioned and do not replace friends just because I cannot
> extract
> use of them. I would rather replace Windows ;-)
>
>> > XP's WindowsExplorer shows the following letters (see
>> > www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg ):
>> > A - floppy
>> > C - partition with XP
>> > D - CD drive
>> > E - partition with w2k
>> > F - logical partition with data
>> *** The above assignments are your guesses. You don't really know
>> *** if they are correct. It is possible that all drive letters have
>> moved.
>
> This is not MY guess, this is how XP's WindowsExplorer guesses them. Do
> you
> mean that w2k might have it differently?
~~~ I am referring to the drive letters as your Win2000 installation sees
~~~ them. They are likely to be different from what WinXP reports.
> If so, then we have another unknown
> variable in the equiation - we do not know what X is. From
> www.lst.front.ru/win_explorer_screenshot.jpg I thought X=E. Now I see
> that
> this might not be the case. So the operation you describe below may have
> to
> be repeated for different value of X like X=D, X=E and X=F ?
> If I boot into w2k from ERD disk - will it show the disks letters the same
> way w2k sees them?
~~~ No, it won't. I know of two ways to show the true Win2000
~~~ drive letters:
~~~ a) By booting into Win2000.
~~~ b) By launching a Command Processor with psexec.exe, using
~~~ a networked machine.
~~~ There is a third way that may or may not work - see below.
>> *** You should rename C: to X:, then rename D: to C: and check if
>> *** this solves your problem. If it does not, rename C: back to D:, then
>> *** rename E: to C:, then G: to E:. This is what I mean with "trial and
>> *** error".
> So there is no way to determine which entry is relevant to userinit.exe ?
> Are there other system files which, like userinit.exe depend on disk
> letter?
~~~ It's actually not just userinit.exe but the whole Win2000 installation
~~~ that is affected.
> I mean I can sort out userinit.exe by changing D to C but something else
> will stop working because of changing C to X.
~~~ Yes, Windows will be unstable. You may be able to log into
~~~ Windows by copying userinit.exe to ?:\WinNT\system32 where
~~~ ?: represents each and every partition you have on your hard disk.
> If I assume X=E, I rename, C to E and D to C then I will have two entries
> with the same letter E - is this acceptable, or I have to rename other
> entries to avoid duplications?
~~~ No, regedit won't tolerate duplicated values.
>> *** It would also be a good idea to create a backup copy of the System
> file, just in case things go worse rather than better.
>
> As I mentioned, this WinExplorer refuses settings to see hidden and
> system
> files so I cannot copy it from Win Explorer. Can I do it from RegEdit?
~~~ It's time to start working at the Command Prompt (which you start
~~~ by clicking Start / Run, then type the letters cmd, then click OK).
~~~ The following command will create a backup copy in less time than
~~~ it takes to read these instructions:
~~~ copy X:\WinNT\System32\config\System c:\System
aa
> ~~~ I know of two ways to show the true Win2000 drive letters:
> ~~~ a) By booting into Win2000.
> ~~~ b) By launching a Command Processor with psexec.exe, using a
networked machine.
Both are not practical in my case
> ~~~ It's actually not just userinit.exe but the whole Win2000 installation
that is affected.
So userinit.exe is just the beginning and if I do not change the letter
correctly, other things would not work.
But I guess that all the Win2000 installation is sitting under a single
drive letter, therefore if I find the right letter for userinit.exe, it
will sort out all other things.
If so, it should not matter how I change the letters for the remaining 6
DosDevices keys as long as there is no duplication in letters - is this
correct?
This should not affect XP-installation, should it?
BTW, on this machine I have floppy, CD, three partitions - why the register
shows 7 DosDevices ?
Pegasus [MVP]
>
> "Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:Oe3f5R9...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> ~~~ I know of two ways to show the true Win2000 drive letters:
>> ~~~ a) By booting into Win2000.
>> ~~~ b) By launching a Command Processor with psexec.exe, using a
> networked machine.
>
> Both are not practical in my case
*** it works then you get two benefits:
*** 1. You will *know* what the incorrect drive letter is.
*** 2. You can use the simple registry hack method that I gave
*** to Sid Elbow earlier in this long thread.
*** If it does not work then there is no damage.
>
>
>> ~~~ It's actually not just userinit.exe but the whole Win2000
>> installation
> that is affected.
>
> So userinit.exe is just the beginning and if I do not change the letter
> correctly, other things would not work.
> But I guess that all the Win2000 installation is sitting under a single
> drive letter, therefore if I find the right letter for userinit.exe, it
> will sort out all other things.
*** Yes.
> If so, it should not matter how I change the letters for the remaining 6
> DosDevices keys as long as there is no duplication in letters - is this
> correct?
*** Yes.
> This should not affect XP-installation, should it?
*** Of course not - as long as you restrict your registry
*** hacks to the Win2000 hive.
> BTW, on this machine I have floppy, CD, three partitions - why the
> register
> shows 7 DosDevices ?
*** It is normal for this registry key to show more drives than
*** you have current devices.
aa
Thanks, Now I am equipped with theory to proceed.
> *** I know - that's why you should explore the third option.
I will explore
> > This should not affect XP-installation, should it?
> *** Of course not - as long as you restrict your registry hacks to the
Win2000 hive.
I understand that disk drive letters on one OS have nothing to do with disk
drive letters on another OS on the same computer.
Yet I wonder how come resizing partitions with Partition Magic on XP
affected w2k so badly.
Bob I
aa wrote:
> "Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:u69lLP4...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Thanks, Pegasus, for the most detailed reply.
>
>
>>*** You said "I am about to clean reinstall w2k" which in the English
>
> language implies that you will do it within a very short time.
>
> Thank you for a bit of English lesson, Pegasus - I'm always happy to learn.
> Yet how do you define "very short time" in English?
> Depending on context, a year may be a very short time while a second could
> be too long
>
I think you are looking for "Soon" or "near future", as in "I will be
reinstalling W2K soon."
aa
"Bob I" <bir...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:OFv1tIAT...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
I like the turn the discussion took. :-)
Actually when I was writing "I was about to reinstall" I was going to do it
immediately and already started preparations by backing up some data.
Waiting for copying to complete I checked this NG and suspended
reinstalling only because the chanse to restore w2k suddenly popped up
here. Is "Soon" or "near future" more appropriae this this situation?
Pegasus [MVP]
I've seen this happen before. It is perhaps the result of the partitioning
software creating a new Volume-ID (the one you see when you run mountvol.exe
at the Command Prompt). When Windows starts the first time, it believes that
this is a new volume and it assigns a free drive letter. If this is correct
then the fault lies with PQ Magic (which is *not* supported by Microsoft,
same as all other partition managers).
Bob I
In this case I think "I am making preparations to reinstall" would
identify the time frame more closely.
Paul Randall
>
> "Paul Randall" <paul...@cableone.net> wrote in message
> news:#faexvUS...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> Maybe your OE read option for limiting the number of headers being read
>> accidently got checked.
>
> This options is pre-set to 300.
This option is really two options. If the checkbox is checked, then the
number you have here is the maximum number that will be read at a time. If
the checkbox is unchecked, then ALL will be read.
> Does the number of headers mean number of subjects or number of messages?
I don't know exactly what it means. I just know that unchecking the
checkbox solved my problem of missing messages in a thread a few years back.
-Paul Randall
aa
I had to be out for rwo days, now am back to proceed with this prob.
But before starting playnig with the register I would like to back all the
data. But before backing up I wanted to run full virus-check with cureit and
this is going to be a several hours task. I therefore wanted to work on
another system block, but for that system block I have only one monitor from
an old win98 comp which does not work properly with that system block - I
have started another thread on it
undisclosed
This has nothing to do with your question but how do you post a thread
on the site. I have a pressing issue that I cannot resolve. Please help.
--
Shaverjm
Bob I
this newsgroup from.
try using this link instead.
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
aa
> You may be able to log into
> ~~~ Windows by copying userinit.exe to ?:\WinNT\system32 where
> ~~~ ?: represents each and every partition you have on your hard disk.
I have WinNT\system32 on one partition only, but I have two more partition,
one with XP and another with no OS, just data. So before I can copy
userinit.exe I need to create an empty folder WinNT; then create empty
folder system32 and tonly then copy userinit.exe into system32 - is that
what u mean? Or I need to copy the whole WinNT including all files and
subfolders?
undisclosed
That wont work do to were I work.
Maybe you can just help me with my question. I and using Windows XP,
Microsoft Office 2003 and I have a user that when trying to open a link
with in an email, "Locate Link Browser" pops up and IE8 opens a web
browser but it is blank. I have tried everything that I am aware of to
fix this issue. Can you please help! Thanks Shaverjm
--
Shaverjm
Pegasus [MVP]
Literally follow my instruction ":by copying userinit.exe to
?:\WinNT\system32".
I said nothing about any other files.
aa
> >> ~~~ Windows by copying userinit.exe to ?:\WinNT\system32 where
> >> ~~~ ?: represents each and every partition you have on your hard disk.
> >
> > I have WinNT\system32 on one partition only, but I have two more
> > partition,
> > one with XP and another with no OS, just data. So before I can copy
> > userinit.exe I need to create an empty folder WinNT; then create empty
> > folder system32 and tonly then copy userinit.exe into system32 - is
that
> > what u mean? Or I need to copy the whole WinNT including all files and
> > subfolders?
>
> Literally follow my instruction ":by copying userinit.exe to
> ?:\WinNT\system32".
> I said nothing about any other files.
Sorry, Pegasus, your instruction cannot be followed literally. The
Instruction instructs to copy userinit.exe to WinNT\system32 on EVERY
partition and I do not have WinNT\system32 on every partition - so before
copying I do have to create empty WinNT\system32 on those partitions, don't
I?
I would better understand if I knew how login goes on. Do u mean that w2k
looks for WinNT\system32\userinit.exe on a wrong partition, so rather then
re-direct him to the right partition, I deliver userinit.exe to that wrong
place for him.
My concern is that earlier you said that it is not just userinit.exe, it a
lot of other OS files are involved in the process. Thereore offering just
userinit.exe might not satisfy him.
Pegasus [MVP]
>
> "Pegasus [MVP]" <ne...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:uA#YjxZTK...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> > >> ~~~ Windows by copying userinit.exe to ?:\WinNT\system32 where
>> >> ~~~ ?: represents each and every partition you have on your hard disk.
>> >
>> > I have WinNT\system32 on one partition only, but I have two more
>> > partition,
>> > one with XP and another with no OS, just data. So before I can copy
>> > userinit.exe I need to create an empty folder WinNT; then create empty
>> > folder system32 and tonly then copy userinit.exe into system32 - is
> that
>> > what u mean? Or I need to copy the whole WinNT including all files and
>> > subfolders?
>>
>> Literally follow my instruction ":by copying userinit.exe to
>> ?:\WinNT\system32".
>> I said nothing about any other files.
>
> Sorry, Pegasus, your instruction cannot be followed literally. The
> Instruction instructs to copy userinit.exe to WinNT\system32 on EVERY
> partition and I do not have WinNT\system32 on every partition - so before
> copying I do have to create empty WinNT\system32 on those partitions,
> don't
> I?
> I would better understand if I knew how login goes on. Do u mean that w2k
> looks for WinNT\system32\userinit.exe on a wrong partition, so rather then
> re-direct him to the right partition, I deliver userinit.exe to that wrong
> place for him.
Yes.
> My concern is that earlier you said that it is not just userinit.exe, it a
> lot of other OS files are involved in the process. Thereore offering just
> userinit.exe might not satisfy him.
This is why I wrote "It may work". However, there is no point in copying
other files. If you still cannot logon then this would be because certain
registry pointers.
I recommend you take a more relaxed attitude about the whole thing.
Creating a folder/subfolder on some partitions and copying a single file
there is far, far less intrusive than resizing partitions. Just stop
worrying
and get on with the job!
Pegasus [MVP]
<undisclosed> wrote in message
news:2cbc1a5c7cc20382...@nntp-gateway.com...
If you need a good reply then you must start your own thread instead of
piggy-backing on someone else's thread that is already excessively long.
Remember to use a descriptive Subject line. Your question has nothing
whatsoever to do with logging on and passwords.
aa
> >> ?:\WinNT\system32"
Just tried to create WinNT\system32 on my logical disk - the one with no
OS, but WINNT/system32 was already there !!!???
The contents was a strange one: no files but one folder WBEM having two
other folders Logs and MOF
MOF contained two folders called bad and good, both empty
Logs contained three text files:
wbemcore.log
WinMgmt.log
wmiadap.log
wbemcore.log has the folloing records:
(Sat Oct 03 13:20:56 2009) : Core physically unloaded! // this seem to
coinside with the time the problem happens
(Tue Oct 06 15:43:19 2009) : Core physically unloaded!
(Wed Oct 14 17:25:06 2009) : Core physically unloaded!
(Thu Oct 15 19:49:24 2009) : Core physically unloaded! //this seems to be
the time of the last attempt to login to w2k
WinMgmt.log has records like this
(Sat Oct 03 13:20:56 2009) : core is being shut down by WinMgmt.exe, it
returned 0x0
with time stamps matching those in wbemcore.log
WinMgmt.log has records like this
(Sat Oct 03 13:13:39 2009) : CWMIBroker::HandleConnectServerFailure connect
to namespace \\.\root\cimv2 returned 8007007E.
(Sat Oct 03 13:13:39 2009) : CAdapRegPerf::EnumPerfDlls() failed: 80041001.
with time stamps matching those in wbemcore.log
When I re-named this WINNT folder and restarted computer, a new WINNT folder
was created on the same logical disk with similar files
What is this?
Pegasus [MVP]
Sorry, don't know. I have now run out of silver bullets. You should now
reconsider one of the options a) to e) that I mentioned in my reply of last
Friday.
aa
> Sorry, don't know. I have now run out of silver bullets. You should now
> reconsider one of the options a) to e) that I mentioned in my reply of
last
> Friday.
Google search against wbemcore.log, WinMgmt.log and wmiadap.log did not
bring any connections with viruses, so this might be a default behavour when
userinit.exe is not found.
I proceeded with your third option and ... your silver bullet worked. I
loged in to w2k !
Windows Explorer shows that w2k is on drive E
Now with regedit I can see HKLM\System\MountedDevices sever DosDevices
marked from A to H (B is ommited)
One of them should be renamed to E
Shall I assume that A is always a floppy, so I need to try to rename to E
devices C,D,F,G and H ?
aa
my logical disk which is now D, but shortcuts point to disk E which is now
w2k - so I guess I need just swap letters D and E ?
aa
This problem has been sorted out due to your silver bullets and patience.
Thanks a lot.
Pegasus [MVP]
"aa" <a...@microsoft.ru> wrote in message
news:%23y6XImc...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Pegasus,
> This problem has been sorted out due to your silver bullets and patience.
> Thanks a lot.
Thanks for the feedback.