Brad don't read this post, lol.
Why can't he just set his backup partition to active and reboot? It would automatically restore the HDD to factory box settings.
Win7 has the best recovery options of all of the OS's but reading this thread gave me a headache, lol.
Derek, or anyone, know where to download a clean ISO of Windows XP?
Specifically XP Pro 2002 Service Pack 3 32 bit. I have a valid key, just lost the CD.
I have an older machine that has worse issues.
So is the ASUS all sorted?
Sorry, just going to throw in my thoughts really quick.
#1 - Address the electrical short-out issue: Unplug the PC and hold down the power button for 30-60 seconds. Then plug-in and restart.
#2 - Right click your C-drive and under properties > tools choose scan and check the box to fix errors. Reboot to the start the scan. Do this a total of 3 times (you've already done it at least once).
#3 - Repeat #2 with D-drive (probably won't be prompted to reboot though).
#4 - Control Panel > Folder Options > View > Check the box to show hidden files and folders
#5 - Now access your D-drive to see if your factory recovery files are still in place; if so get a clean copy onto an external hard drive (copy/paste).
** IF recovery files are still in place (not sure since you've been using D drive for personal files) **
#6 - Computer Management > Disc Management > Right click D-drive and select active > Reboot > Follow On Screen Factory Reset Instructions
#7 - Done
Oh, and the ASUS Bios updates are important updates, but should wait until everything is in fact stable.
You can also run the ASUS PC diagnostics tool > Select 'motherboard' from the options list
http://support.asus.com/diagnosis/SelfDiagnostic.aspx?SLanguage=en
If you do get to the point of flashing your BIOS, I recommend this link in place of the link provided earlier in this thread.
Sorry, just going to throw in my thoughts really quick.
#1 - Address the electrical short-out issue: Unplug the PC and hold down the power button for 30-60 seconds. Then plug-in and restart.
#2 - Right click your C-drive and under tools choose scan and check the box to fix errors. Reboot to the start the scan. Do this a total of 3 times (you've already done it at least once).
#3 - Repeat #2 with D-drive (probably won't be prompted to reboot though).
#4 - Control Panel > Folder Options > View > Check the box to show hidden files and folders
#5 - Now access your D-drive to see if your factory recovery files are still in place; if so get a clean copy onto an external hard drive (copy/paste).
** IF recovery files are still in place (not sure since you've been using D drive for personal files) **
#6 - Computer Management > Disc Management > Right click D-drive and select active > Reboot > Follow On Screen Factory Reset Instructions
#7 - Done
#1 will do
#2 One ASUS hard drive running win 7, two partitions, no "tools" option under right click.
#4 done
#5 I deleted backup files. no one mentioned they had any value in this situation. Want me to backup again? uncertain as to difference between the manual backup I did(and deleted) and factory recovery files? also ignorant of the difference between backup and recovery files.
Hello Brad - I read your post last night, and started searching for the WinXP ISO file, then spent some more time tonight. You may be out of luck with XP. All I could find was the ISO for the Service Pack 3 update, not the complete operating system. I spent some time on several forums and they all have the same information: you need an original installation disk. I did find a couple of sites claiming to have it, but due to the fact they are located in Russia and India, I would be very wary of using them.
I'm sorry to hear the installation to the Toshiba didn't work. It must be something Microsoft has designed into the installer, and I can't understand the reason for it. I belong to the Linux Mint forum and people install Mint onto external USB drives and even 32GB USB sticks with no problem. At this point, I'd really like to see if the USB stick works, and the reason is this: Sometime in March, and I'm not sure exactly when, the downloads from Digital River will no longer be available. If the image you have is no good, you will have to try another download. I've tried to find the md5checksum for the ISO you have, so you can verify it's integrity, but so far I haven't had any luck. I'll keep searching for it, maybe you should keep trying to get it to work.
Edit: Got it. Windows 7 x64 Home Prem SP1 (Filename: X17-24209.iso - Correct?)
MD5SUM: 971843a457b6e0db0af61258cbe7256a
SHA1: b4821f46a171708f5f8f8a0ef48fc16529437961
CRC32: d236fd70</p>
http://www.winmd5.com/ Now go here to download the md5checksum utility and verify the image you have.
Hi Derek. Thanks for your continuing help. ISO filename is correct. I checked it with winmd5 and the MD5SUM matched. The program made no mention of SHA1 or CRC32.
I've never burned to a DVD before but found a DVD-RAM 4.7 GB rewriteable cheap and bought it. I dragged the ISO onto it, not using a program to burn it. Is that okay? I verified the ISO with winmd5 program. One thing I don't understand about installing from a DVD ISO: Is the ISO all you need to install windows? I ask this because Plan B on the memory stick had a program, I think it was called Rufus, that worked with the ISO. I understand how to change boot order to a DVD, but does windows just start installing directly from the ISO and only the ISO or do I need another program like Rufus for a DVD ISO install?
Thanks for looking for XP for me.
O.K. Brad - I'm glad to hear the md5checksum matches, that means the ISO file was not corrupted during the download process. You should have no problems using it. And since the USB stick you created using Rufus boots, it should give you a clean install. As far as burning a DVD, you need a program to burn the image, just copying it will not work. I understand Imgburn has a good reputation, the link is here: http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=Download I suggest using Mirror #7 since it is a direct link to their website. If Imgburn gives you a choice of burning speeds, use the lowest speed possible, it takes longer but is the least likely to produce any errors.
The difference between using Rufus to create a bootable image and burning an image to DVD is this: Rufus adds other files along with the ISO image when installing it to the USB stick to make it a bootable device. When you burn an image to DVD, these files are not needed, the image will boot on it's own.
That's a major hurdle that's been cleared. You have a good image and the means to do a clean install of Windows 7. At this point you have all your files backed as well, so you can relax a little and use the internal drive until it dies. If you want to continue experimenting with either cloning or imaging using the second Toshiba as the target drive, that's up to you. I'm glad you made it this far, it's been a long road to get to this point.
Thanks Derek, I'll do a proper burn with that program. I'm uncertain about this rewriteable DVD anyway and may find a non-rewriteable DVD just as an extra copy since it looks like the ISO may be scarce. One question, tho, I have made a copy of the ISO on my D drive, that questionable DVD, and on my Toshiba backup for safe keeping. I checked all of them and those copies all verified. But I made a copy of the same ISO file on a different USB stick, and it did not match when I tried to verify. Any ideas as to why this is so? The stick is NTFS too, so that isn't it....
Hello Brad - Glad to see you made multiple copies and stored them in different places. As far as the one copy that you can't verify, just delete it and try copying it again. Sometimes if you are doing other things on your machine while a copy is in progress, it can get corrupted. I usually walk away from my computer when downloading or copying ISO files for this reason.
But I made a copy of the same ISO file on a different USB stick, and it did not match when I tried to verify. Any ideas as to why this is so? The stick is NTFS too, so that isn't it....
1.
I use a USB2 external HDD to backup 6 GB Macrium image files.
One day I found that 4 out of 6 created the previous day were invalid.
I had never had any problem before nor since.
I conclude that USB2 plugs and sockets do NOT have the integrity of permanent IDE or SATA connections.
I then switched to using TeraCopy Freeware which computes a hash checksum as it copies a file,
and then reads back and computes the hash of the "duplicate" and if there is a mismatch it is ready to try again.
2.
That MAY also work on Flash Drives but I have yet to test.
My concern with Flash drives is that immediately after a non-Teracopy drag-drop of an audio MP3 file between an internal HDD and a Flash Drive,
I used HashMyFiles from Nirsoft to compute the hash checksum of the Flash Drive and the HDD,
and was staggered to find that My Flash was compute AT THE SAME SPEED (or even faster) than the HDD.
I safely removed the Flash and reconnected, which flushed data from the Windows cache(s),
and then the Flash Hash took the rest of the day to compute.
Windows cache(s) make the system work faster - but can cause surprises.
3.
So far as Imageburn is concerned, I have not updated nor used it for some time.
Perhaps it has a higher integrity slow burn mode - neither noticed nor used.
BUT I have used and depended upon the option to read back after the burn and validate the hash.
What I do not depend upon is the life of the DVD or CD after burning.
I believe that when long life is quoted it normally refers to Pressed rather than burned discs
More info here :-
#1 will do
#2 One ASUS hard drive running win 7, two partitions, no "tools" option under right click.
#4 done
#5 I deleted backup files. no one mentioned they had any value in this situation. Want me to backup again? uncertain as to difference between the manual backup I did(and deleted) and factory recovery files? also ignorant of the difference between backup and recovery files.
sorry #2 = properties > tools
@Alan_B - Several months ago I had a problem with a Linux ISO. I had verified the file after downloading it and all was well. Then I copied it from my hard drive to a USB stick. A couple of weeks later I transferred it back to my hard drive and used Linux Live USB Creator to make a bootable USB stick. After repeated attempts to boot ended in failure, I ran a md5checksum on the ISO on the hard drive, and found it did not match. Then I ran a md5checksum on the ISO that was stored on the USB stick and found that it was also a mismatch. So during the initial copy process, it was somehow corrupted. Now I check every ISO after download, before and after transferring it to any external medium, and always before burning to DVD. Thanks for mentioning Teracopy, I will have to try it out.
Thanks for mentioning Teracopy, I will have to try it out.
Apologies to brad for the slight wander off topic, but @ Derek ... I've been using TeraCopy (free version) for years as my default copy handler, also in Explorers context menu, and for all those years I've never copied a file without that verification after the copy process. The extra time the verify takes is something I've become accustomed to, as it's priceless.
I've also become accustomed to doing absolutely nothing on the computer until the copying of anything is complete.
Derek,
Unstoppable Copier is another one to consider especially if you suspect a damaged disc. Have a read of the program description.
Apologies to brad for the slight wander off topic, but @ Derek ... I've been using TeraCopy (free version) for years as my default copy handler, also in Explorers context menu, and for all those years I've never copied a file without that verification after the copy process. The extra time the verify takes is something I've become accustomed to, as it's priceless.
I've also become accustomed to doing absolutely nothing on the computer until the copying of anything is complete.
Me too. TeraCopy ROCKS! Couldn't manage without it.