Disk Recovery ( Computer Failure )

dadiOH wrote:
| PCR wrote:
| dadiOH wrote:
| BAP wrote:
|
| snip all
|
| You are making what you want to do just WAAAYY harder than it is.
| All you need do is remove a drive from the old computer, put it in
| the new computer, boot and then copy the files you want.
|
|
| Jeez, guy...the OP just wants to take an old drive and get the data
| off it using another machine.
| 1. Put old drive - properly jumpered - in new machine (not as the
| boot drive)
| 2. Boot new machine
| 3. Copy data
| _____________
|
| (1) There could be "geometry" considerations. For instance, the
| transferred drive may have a drive overlay that is not needed on the
| target machine, or visa versa. Or, BIOS may need to be informed of
| geometry settings.
|
| What difference would a drive overlay make? He isn't trying to boot
| from the old drive, just copy from it.

I'm no expert in that, but... whether or not a drive is the boot drive,
it could be too large to access w/o an overlay or similar mechanism, I
think. Also, I'd want to know the BIOS of the destination machine is set
to auto-detect the added hard drive. I hope that would recognize any
special doings of the donor machine, (but I'm no expert in that,
either).

_____________
|
| (2) Depending on the number & type of partitions on the existing
| hard drive(s) of the target machine & on the hard drive(s) to be
| added to it, drive letters may change when it is added...
|
| True. So he browses until he finds it.

Yea. But it might be confusing at first!

______________
|
| If all is well, C: will remain C:-- BUT the added partition(s) may
| end up inserted between other existing partitions. If so,
| consideration must be given to Registry, shortcut & .ini ties (if
| any) to the displaced drive number(s).
| Therefore, I wouldn't click to run much of anything, but just hurry
| up & copy the data.
|
| Well, that's what he *wants* to do - copy, not run programs. I think
| by "data" he *means* data. Registry, shortcuts, etc. have zero effect
| on that.

It's a legitimate worry, though, if he tries to do more than that. It
might not be horribly bad, depending on what is run & where it expects
things to be.

| ________________
|
| Then, remove the added drive to get back to
| normal. Or, try something like...
| http://www.pcmag.com/ 's COA2 will help with this. After you move a
| file, folder or drive letter, you may use COA2 to change system
| references to the new address. It will change references in the
| current Registry and all .ini's & shortcuts on all drives.
|
| Not needed for what he wants.

Right, I wouldn't do it, except for a permanent change.

| ________________
|
| The CD/DVD gets its letter after all partitions. Replacing it with a
| hard drive, could cause displacement to existing drive letters.
|
| Yes, but what does it matter? After he copies his data, removes the
| HD and hooks up the optical drive(s) again, all will be well.
| Besides, IMO, it is a good idea to have the optical drive letters set
| near the end of the alphabet. YMMV

I agree with that, & I have long ago moved my CD-ROM to be "W\".

| Really, folks...what the OP wants to do is a pretty simple thing.
| Thoroughness is nice and all that but at some point it leads to
| obfuscation

Well... some mention of BIOS parameters, partition letters, & drive
overlays is warranted.

|
| --
|
| dadiOH
| ____________________________
|
| dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
| ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
| LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
| Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR

"MEB" wrote:



"BAP" wrote in message
...
|
|
| "MEB" wrote:
|
|
|
| "BAP" wrote in message
| ...
| | The start of this new Post regarding the 'Computer Failure' Post was
| | suggested by "MEB", and rightly so, as the that earlier Post was
creating
| | some confusion.
| |
| | As was discussed in the 'Computer Failure' Post, the Microtime
Computer,
| | that I have been using for several years, has failed and I find it
rather
| | difficult to get it operational, again. There is a Primary Master and
a
| | Secondary Master HD's installed in it. There are folders in both that
have
| | Data that I would like to recover. A more recent Computer, a Sony
VAIO,
| | that I am currently using, appears to have all that I would need to
| connect
| | those HD's and recover the desired Data and back up the same, if
desired,
| | on CD's or Iomega Zip 250 MB Disks. The only obstacle is of possible
| | compatibility issues.

{DELETED MATERIALS CONTAIN VAIO IFORMATION-
(refer to the post containing it for reference

| | Hopefully, this will mean something to you, "MEB" or anyone else able
to
| help.
| | Thank you in advance for any reply!
|
| One issue you failed to mention, which may or will be an issue, is that
the
| other target drive [OS disk} had to be started in the other system by
using
| a boot disk or other work around.
| ****
| ?"MEB", that was not the case. Early on, there was nothing wrong with the
| booting cycle, unless I
| needed or wanted to start with a Boot Disk. If I did that and inserted the
| Boot Disk before
| starting the booting cycle, at the Dos Prompt I would find myself in the
| Primary Slave HD. The
| Master HD would not be available. This surfaced when I replaced the
original
| HD, 10 GB in size,
| with a Maxtor with 40 GB. The MAX-BLAST software, that came with the
Maxtor
| HD, created
| an overlay. As mentioned, in a rather old post, few years back, in order
| to boot from a Boot
| Disk properly, I had to break the progress of booting with a CTRL Key and
| opt to boot from the
| Boot Disk that had to be inserted at that time.
| ***

AAAAAh, thanks for clarifying, the MAXTOR drive contains a drive overlay -
that is the Microtime OS disk which you mentioned in the other postings,
which is not recognized when placed into other computers.

DRIVE OVERLAY programs use the computer's BIOS translation and access
routines when the algorythms are used to create and then use the overlay
with the manufacturer's tools.
This can even affect whether the hidden partition for the overlay
translation is addressed properly. Overlays are not Plug and Play, changing
to meet differring BIOS needs and translations, PARTICULARLY as the drive
adapter chip may interact with the BIOS in a different fashion, such as when
the drive IS supported within the BIOS verses when the overlay was need to
use the drive in an unsupportive BIOS and/or OS.
REMEMBER THIS: A different BIOS on another computer, OR *change within the
original BIOS* related to that hard drive, will likely change how that
overlay addresses the drive.

|
| But we can work from this {BTW, good
| information to work from, thanks}. I had also created a new posting for
your
| VAIO attempt, which outlines what had been found to that point * Sony
| VAIO - WinME - hard drive usage and data recovery *. But we can work
from
| here with this new information, as long as everyone reviews the other
| postings as well so redundant suggestions aren't provided.
|
|
|
| I also created two new posts for your other computers:
| Risys running Win31 - 98SE disk recovery
| Microtime - Win98SE - computer diagnostics and repair
|
| There is a small program which might provide some useful information
| provided by MiTeC:
| http://www.mitec.cz/Downloads/msi.zip - 782K - system information - goto
| Storage Physical Devices for drive identification
| http://www.mitec.cz/ - main page with tools

The above provides lots of information, without the necessity of an
installation of another bloated Windows program.

|
| You can likely go ahead and try to connect the DATA drive to the VAIO
as it
| may already configured as SLAVE *IF* it was on the same cable as the
| other/OS drive in the Microtime. Some info he
|
http://support.gateway.com/support/m...5896/05896.htm
|
| If the drive works, pull the data off.
|
| ****
| ?"MEB", I did that and it worked, although the there was some confusion
| about the ID of the Disks shown by 'My Computer'. Normally, Disk C: is
the
| Partition 0 of the Primary Master - D: Partition 1 - E: DVD - F: CD_ROM -
G:
| Zip Drive.

Did you forget that I had advised of that in the prior post/thread? Let me
repost so its in this discussion:
- - - PRIOR POST - - - -
| MEB:
| Here are potential issues when connecting a drive to the secondary
| connector on IDE0/channel1 - IRQ 14 [use SYSTEM Device Manager Hard
Disk
| Controllers Primary IDE Controller settings and resources to view].:
| *****
| BAP
| Sorry, I can't seem to find my way around to get to that pane.
|
| MEB - you are running ME which will have that in a different area.
|
| ***
|
| MEB:
| 1. The present drive [apparently 60 gig] is partitioned with C {the
primary
| boot partition} as a
| 15.5 gig drive, adding another drive would move the second partition
| presently being seen as the
| 41.6 gig drive D to drive E. The new hard drive would have to be
configured
| as a slave and the
| first hard drive as master with their jumpers or errors and potential disk
| corruption could occur.
| There could also be a hidden partition involved for SONY specific recovery
| or other, so it may be
| larger [an 80 gig drive perhaps, though that won't presently affect what
we
| are discussing], what
| is the actual model and make of that drive?
| There MAY potentially be a hard drive conflict if the drives are not
| compatible. What are the two drive's makes and models?
|
| 2. The two drives on the second channel [CD and DVD] will be moved to
drive
| F and G, but only IF the OS has not had its drives limited to only see
| drives up to drive F: limited by either the driver settings, system
| settings, or something like TweakUI which modified the registry or an
| inclusion in the system.ini or config.sys [lastdrive=*]. If this is the
| case, the lost/un-recognized drive will still cause errors even though it
is
| not listed in Windows, it is still holding memory and CMOS/BIOS addressing
| which Windows may try to assign to other needs, or may cause conflicting
| system device issues..
|
| 3. The Iomega drive adds potential issues to the mix if it has been set to
| always use some specific drive letter or IRQ, and/or if [as sometimes
| happens] it is incompatible with this older drive you are attempting to
| access.
|
| 4. A drive overlay may be part of the issue, but beyond that, we may also
be
| running across a disk or disks which have had Drive Space or Double Space
| [or another drive compressor] used.
|
------ END POST FROM OTHER DISCUSSIONS ^^^

| With the Microtime Primary Slave in place, C: was still Sony's HD Primary
| Master Partition 0 - D: the Microtime's Disk - E: Partition 1 of Sony -
G:
| was showing as the ZIP disk. However, if I inserted a CD in the CD_ROM
drive,
| G became the CD_ROM Disk - F:, showing as removable Disk, was, in effect,
| the ZIP Drive.

This is exactly as I had advised.
This also indicates that the ZIP disk has been *assigned* a drive letter.

| No matter, 'though, as I was able to copy the contents of the Microtime's
| Primary Slave HD.

*STEP 1 - SUCCESS* accomplished: now that AUTO had been set in the BIOS,
the Microtime DATA/storage disk has been recovered.

| All my steps taken, to configure the Microtime's Primary Master and make
it
| a Slave, did not succeed. The configuration shown on the HD about the
jumper
| positions did not work. However, the system detected that HD as a Primary
| Slave.
| This was shown: (besides other info)
| Primary Master Disk: 61492 MB UDMA 5
| Orimary Slave Disk: 30750 MB UDMA 5
| Secondary Master Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| Secondary Slave Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2

OKAY, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

The disk is a MAXTOR - WHAT {model/number}?

|
| Without the Microtime's HD connected, this was shown:
| Primary Master Disk: 61492 MB UDMA 5
| Orimary Slave Disk: None
| Secondary Master Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| Secondary Slave Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
|
| It was bothersome to see that the size of the Microtime's HD did not
appear
| to have the size that I thought it should have. I will check further into
| that.

PLEASE wait until we can determine how to address the MAXTOR disk in this
new BIOS. Obviously the BIOS has built-in support, so to fudge the disk and
attempt to access properly, we MAY need to attempt to manually set the BIOS
to mimic what the Microtime would have used AND that drive will need some
adjustments to its jumpers {configure as SLAVE} and its MBR/partition table
{its presently configured with a hidden overlay partition AND as a BOOT
disk}.
HOWEVER, finish reading this post before responding.

*IF* there's nothing you need from that drive, then use MAXTOR's [now
SEAGATE] disk tool to remove the overlay and the disk will be usable in ALL
BIOSes which support it natively. DO NOT attempt to use fdisk and format to
remove the overlay and its partition.

*IF* you want to recover that dsk:

1. REMOVE the present SONY VAIO master disk or unhook the ribbon AND power
cabling. Connect the ribbon and power to the Microtime MAXTOR mater/OS disk,
leaving it as MASTER; have the DATA Microtime hard drive configured as
SLAVE, connected to the same ribbon. It would be best to disconnect the ZIP
drive, and the CD and DVD for this part of the recovery attempt, as well, as
they were not part of the prior setup on the Microtime. To disable the CD
and DVD, disconnect their power, and the ribbon from the motherboard {noting
where the color indicator/stripe was in relation to the MB connector}

****
I should have concentrated on the options you presented, 2, 3, 4 and 5
that follow. Instead I got excited about the first option and what it was
saying.
Although sort of apprehensive about what I was doing, the suggested scheme
of removing Sony’s Primary Master HD and put in its place the Microtime’s
Primary. Master HD, brought good results. I had the ZIP, CD_ROM and the DVD
disconnected. There were several instances, during the booting cycle, where
warnings popped out that new hardware had been found and the system wanted to
find the best ways to deal with them and/or asked for the W98 installation
Disk. I allowed some events to
happen, then, rather fearful, I started canceling the suggested steps or
closing the dialog boxes. Eventually, it did complete the booting process and
the HD became available, along with the same layout of the Desktop as the
Microtime.
All the folders and data were available.
I powered it down reconnected all the disconnected Drives and re-connected
the
companion Primary Slave. I re-booted (this time without warnings) and
copied the desired Data from the Master to the Slave.
Once done, I replaced the Primary Master with the Sony’s Master and copied
the Data from the Microtime's Slave to the Sony’s second Partition. All came
out well.
Later, I removed the Microtime’s Primary Slave and closed up the tower of
the Sony,
All is back to normal. Hopefully, the warning boxes and the allowed steps
did not create problems that may pop up in time.
I will plan on backing up all that I want on CD's.
Thank you, “MEB�, for all your help!
Thank you to all those who contributed to this issue!
***


2. Attempt to boot the computer into SAFE MODE. Do NOT use NORMAL Startup as
that will attempt to reconfigure the Windows system which may not be
successful.
In Safe Mode, the disks will be using DOS compatibility mode, and the MASTER
should have used the Drive Overlay upon initial boot.

3. IF there is a successful SAFE MODE boot, pull any files or data off the
MASTER and put it on the SLAVE. IF the slave has insuficient space, as you
now have that data saved, DELETE the SLAVE drive files, and transfer what
ever files you need to it. Make sure those deleted files aren't taking up
space by being stored in the Recycle Bin.

4. IF you successfully retreive that data or files, you will need to
determine what you intend to use that former Microtime OS disk for in the
future.

5. IF SAFE MODE fails, attempt to start in pure DOS with either a boot
EBD/recovery floppy [preferred] or from the Windows Menu [Command Prompt
Only]. Type - fdisk /status - and post what it found.


| At any rate, 'My Computer' did not show this HD in the list of Disk
Drives.
| I wish there would be a way, but, I am glad that most of my data has been
| recovered.
| Thank you for all the suggestions.
| ***

Look above, and try that to see if that works, if not, we can attempt to
make some modifications to the VAIO BIOS HD settings OR we can use some
other recovery techniques. For that we will need the model number of the
Microtime computer and/or the motherboard make and model/number so we can
see what the BIOS was.

| Checking for that drive shows it is actually a Hitachi drive DeskStar
16GP:
| http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techl.../Deskstar_16GP
| Check those Hitachi jumpers!
|
| You can also try the drive fitness test, but do use no destructive
tests
| until you recover the data:
| http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
| http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/down...2_v412_b01.EXE Windows

****
dadiOH, ?to the end connector, where the DVD is normally placed, I
connected the Microtime’s Primary Master, with the jumper in place, and in
any combination ....other drives in or disconnected (CD- ROM, or ZIP
250)..... the System, while booting, would detect it as the Secondary Master,
but it would not be available. I also connected it to the other connector on
the cable, normally for the CD_ROM. Same results. Although detected while
booting, MS Explorer/My Computer, would not show it the list of available
Drives, in spite of its presence in the list of Storage/Physical Devices
created by the MSI.EXE Software.

See my reply to “MEB�suggestions to disconnect the Sony’s Master Disk and
connect the Microtime’s Master in its place. Surprisingly, it did work and I
was able to recover the desired Data. Thanks all for your replies and
valuable suggestions. My feeling is that I have learned a lot during this
process.
***


"dadiOH" wrote:

dadiOH wrote:
BAP wrote:

Any possibility that things might work out better if I were
to remove the DVD Disk Drive from the Sony and hook that Master HD
to the vacant cable connection?
Thank you!
***

I would think so, try it. But determine which drive -CD or DVD -
is master and replace whichever is. If you are in doubt about
which is master/slave, SIW will tell you...
http://www.gtopala.com/

If you don't want to add still another program (it's a good one)
then assume the optical drive at the end of the ribbon cable is
Master and replace it.

BTW, you need not physically remove the optical drive(s) from the
computer, merely disconnect the ribbon and power cables when the
machine is off. By the same tolen, you do not need to physically
place the hard drive into a drive tray, just connect the power and
ribbon cables after placing the drive wherever the cables can reach.

If you do what I suggest, I have no idea what the drive letter will be
in your setup so use explorer to browse your drives. If for some
reason it does NOT show up in explorer, power down the computer and
attach the drive you want to read to the other terminal on the ribbon
cable.

****




--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

TOP POSTED: Final results: read below for outcome of Microtime OS disk
recovery.

I must say I am somewhat surprised, but I admit I did have crossed fingers,
glad you now have both disks recovered.


"BAP" wrote in message
...
|
|
| "MEB" wrote:
|
|
|
| "BAP" wrote in message
| ...
| |
| |
| | "MEB" wrote:
| |
| |
| |
| | "BAP" wrote in message
| | ...
| | | The start of this new Post regarding the 'Computer Failure' Post
was
| | | suggested by "MEB", and rightly so, as the that earlier Post was
| creating
| | | some confusion.
| | |
| | | As was discussed in the 'Computer Failure' Post, the Microtime
| Computer,
| | | that I have been using for several years, has failed and I find it
| rather
| | | difficult to get it operational, again. There is a Primary Master
and
| a
| | | Secondary Master HD's installed in it. There are folders in both
that
| have
| | | Data that I would like to recover. A more recent Computer, a Sony
| VAIO,
| | | that I am currently using, appears to have all that I would need
to
| | connect
| | | those HD's and recover the desired Data and back up the same, if
| desired,
| | | on CD's or Iomega Zip 250 MB Disks. The only obstacle is of
possible
| | | compatibility issues.
|
| {DELETED MATERIALS CONTAIN VAIO IFORMATION-
| (refer to the post containing it for reference
|
| | | Hopefully, this will mean something to you, "MEB" or anyone else
able
| to
| | help.
| | | Thank you in advance for any reply!
| |
| | One issue you failed to mention, which may or will be an issue, is
that
| the
| | other target drive [OS disk} had to be started in the other system
by
| using
| | a boot disk or other work around.
| | ****
| | ?"MEB", that was not the case. Early on, there was nothing wrong with
the
| | booting cycle, unless I
| | needed or wanted to start with a Boot Disk. If I did that and inserted
the
| | Boot Disk before
| | starting the booting cycle, at the Dos Prompt I would find myself in
the
| | Primary Slave HD. The
| | Master HD would not be available. This surfaced when I replaced the
| original
| | HD, 10 GB in size,
| | with a Maxtor with 40 GB. The MAX-BLAST software, that came with the
| Maxtor
| | HD, created
| | an overlay. As mentioned, in a rather old post, few years back, in
order
| | to boot from a Boot
| | Disk properly, I had to break the progress of booting with a CTRL Key
and
| | opt to boot from the
| | Boot Disk that had to be inserted at that time.
| | ***
|
| AAAAAh, thanks for clarifying, the MAXTOR drive contains a drive
overlay -
| that is the Microtime OS disk which you mentioned in the other
postings,
| which is not recognized when placed into other computers.
|
| DRIVE OVERLAY programs use the computer's BIOS translation and access
| routines when the algorythms are used to create and then use the overlay
| with the manufacturer's tools.
| This can even affect whether the hidden partition for the overlay
| translation is addressed properly. Overlays are not Plug and Play,
changing
| to meet differring BIOS needs and translations, PARTICULARLY as the
drive
| adapter chip may interact with the BIOS in a different fashion, such as
when
| the drive IS supported within the BIOS verses when the overlay was need
to
| use the drive in an unsupportive BIOS and/or OS.
| REMEMBER THIS: A different BIOS on another computer, OR *change within
the
| original BIOS* related to that hard drive, will likely change how that
| overlay addresses the drive.
|
| |
| | But we can work from this {BTW, good
| | information to work from, thanks}. I had also created a new posting
for
| your
| | VAIO attempt, which outlines what had been found to that point *
Sony
| | VAIO - WinME - hard drive usage and data recovery *. But we can work
| from
| | here with this new information, as long as everyone reviews the
other
| | postings as well so redundant suggestions aren't provided.
| |
| |
| |
| | I also created two new posts for your other computers:
| | Risys running Win31 - 98SE disk recovery
| | Microtime - Win98SE - computer diagnostics and repair
| |
| | There is a small program which might provide some useful
information
| | provided by MiTeC:
| | http://www.mitec.cz/Downloads/msi.zip - 782K - system information -
goto
| | Storage Physical Devices for drive identification
| | http://www.mitec.cz/ - main page with tools
|
| The above provides lots of information, without the necessity of an
| installation of another bloated Windows program.
|
| |
| | You can likely go ahead and try to connect the DATA drive to the
VAIO
| as it
| | may already configured as SLAVE *IF* it was on the same cable as the
| | other/OS drive in the Microtime. Some info he
| |
|
http://support.gateway.com/support/m...5896/05896.htm
| |
| | If the drive works, pull the data off.
| |
| | ****
| | ?"MEB", I did that and it worked, although the there was some
confusion
| | about the ID of the Disks shown by 'My Computer'. Normally, Disk C:
is
| the
| | Partition 0 of the Primary Master - D: Partition 1 - E: DVD - F:
CD_ROM -
| G:
| | Zip Drive.
|
| Did you forget that I had advised of that in the prior post/thread? Let
me
| repost so its in this discussion:
| - - - PRIOR POST - - - -
| | MEB:
| | Here are potential issues when connecting a drive to the secondary
| | connector on IDE0/channel1 - IRQ 14 [use SYSTEM Device Manager
Hard
| Disk
| | Controllers Primary IDE Controller settings and resources to
view].:
| | *****
| | BAP
| | Sorry, I can't seem to find my way around to get to that pane.
| |
| | MEB - you are running ME which will have that in a different area.
| |
| | ***
| |
| | MEB:
| | 1. The present drive [apparently 60 gig] is partitioned with C {the
| primary
| | boot partition} as a
| | 15.5 gig drive, adding another drive would move the second partition
| | presently being seen as the
| | 41.6 gig drive D to drive E. The new hard drive would have to be
| configured
| | as a slave and the
| | first hard drive as master with their jumpers or errors and potential
disk
| | corruption could occur.
| | There could also be a hidden partition involved for SONY specific
recovery
| | or other, so it may be
| | larger [an 80 gig drive perhaps, though that won't presently affect
what
| we
| | are discussing], what
| | is the actual model and make of that drive?
| | There MAY potentially be a hard drive conflict if the drives are not
| | compatible. What are the two drive's makes and models?
| |
| | 2. The two drives on the second channel [CD and DVD] will be moved to
| drive
| | F and G, but only IF the OS has not had its drives limited to only see
| | drives up to drive F: limited by either the driver settings, system
| | settings, or something like TweakUI which modified the registry or an
| | inclusion in the system.ini or config.sys [lastdrive=*]. If this is
the
| | case, the lost/un-recognized drive will still cause errors even though
it
| is
| | not listed in Windows, it is still holding memory and CMOS/BIOS
addressing
| | which Windows may try to assign to other needs, or may cause
conflicting
| | system device issues..
| |
| | 3. The Iomega drive adds potential issues to the mix if it has been
set to
| | always use some specific drive letter or IRQ, and/or if [as sometimes
| | happens] it is incompatible with this older drive you are attempting
to
| | access.
| |
| | 4. A drive overlay may be part of the issue, but beyond that, we may
also
| be
| | running across a disk or disks which have had Drive Space or Double
Space
| | [or another drive compressor] used.
| |
| ------ END POST FROM OTHER DISCUSSIONS ^^^
|
| | With the Microtime Primary Slave in place, C: was still Sony's HD
Primary
| | Master Partition 0 - D: the Microtime's Disk - E: Partition 1 of
Sony -
| G:
| | was showing as the ZIP disk. However, if I inserted a CD in the CD_ROM
| drive,
| | G became the CD_ROM Disk - F:, showing as removable Disk, was, in
effect,
| | the ZIP Drive.
|
| This is exactly as I had advised.
| This also indicates that the ZIP disk has been *assigned* a drive
letter.
|
| | No matter, 'though, as I was able to copy the contents of the
Microtime's
| | Primary Slave HD.
|
| *STEP 1 - SUCCESS* accomplished: now that AUTO had been set in the
BIOS,
| the Microtime DATA/storage disk has been recovered.
|
| | All my steps taken, to configure the Microtime's Primary Master and
make
| it
| | a Slave, did not succeed. The configuration shown on the HD about the
| jumper
| | positions did not work. However, the system detected that HD as a
Primary
| | Slave.
| | This was shown: (besides other info)
| | Primary Master Disk: 61492 MB UDMA 5
| | Orimary Slave Disk: 30750 MB UDMA 5
| | Secondary Master Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| | Secondary Slave Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
|
| OKAY, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
|
| The disk is a MAXTOR - WHAT {model/number}?
|
| |
| | Without the Microtime's HD connected, this was shown:
| | Primary Master Disk: 61492 MB UDMA 5
| | Orimary Slave Disk: None
| | Secondary Master Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| | Secondary Slave Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| |
| | It was bothersome to see that the size of the Microtime's HD did not
| appear
| | to have the size that I thought it should have. I will check further
into
| | that.
|
| PLEASE wait until we can determine how to address the MAXTOR disk in
this
| new BIOS. Obviously the BIOS has built-in support, so to fudge the disk
and
| attempt to access properly, we MAY need to attempt to manually set the
BIOS
| to mimic what the Microtime would have used AND that drive will need
some
| adjustments to its jumpers {configure as SLAVE} and its MBR/partition
table
| {its presently configured with a hidden overlay partition AND as a BOOT
| disk}.
| HOWEVER, finish reading this post before responding.
|
| *IF* there's nothing you need from that drive, then use MAXTOR's [now
| SEAGATE] disk tool to remove the overlay and the disk will be usable in
ALL
| BIOSes which support it natively. DO NOT attempt to use fdisk and format
to
| remove the overlay and its partition.
|
| *IF* you want to recover that dsk:
|
| 1. REMOVE the present SONY VAIO master disk or unhook the ribbon AND
power
| cabling. Connect the ribbon and power to the Microtime MAXTOR mater/OS
disk,
| leaving it as MASTER; have the DATA Microtime hard drive configured as
| SLAVE, connected to the same ribbon. It would be best to disconnect the
ZIP
| drive, and the CD and DVD for this part of the recovery attempt, as
well, as
| they were not part of the prior setup on the Microtime. To disable the
CD
| and DVD, disconnect their power, and the ribbon from the motherboard
{noting
| where the color indicator/stripe was in relation to the MB connector}
|
| ****
| ?I should have concentrated on the options you presented, 2, 3, 4 and 5
| that follow. Instead I got excited about the first option and what it was
| saying.
| Although sort of apprehensive about what I was doing, the suggested scheme
| of removing Sony's Primary Master HD and put in its place the Microtime's
| Primary. Master HD, brought good results. I had the ZIP, CD_ROM and the
DVD
| disconnected. There were several instances, during the booting cycle,
where
| warnings popped out that new hardware had been found and the system wanted
to
| find the best ways to deal with them and/or asked for the W98 installation
| Disk. I allowed some events to
| happen, then, rather fearful, I started canceling the suggested steps or
| closing the dialog boxes. Eventually, it did complete the booting process
and
| the HD became available, along with the same layout of the Desktop as the
| Microtime.
| All the folders and data were available.
| I powered it down reconnected all the disconnected Drives and
re-connected
| the
| companion Primary Slave. I re-booted (this time without warnings) and
| copied the desired Data from the Master to the Slave.
| Once done, I replaced the Primary Master with the Sony's Master and copied
| the Data from the Microtime's Slave to the Sony's second Partition. All
came
| out well.
| Later, I removed the Microtime's Primary Slave and closed up the tower of
| the Sony,
| All is back to normal. Hopefully, the warning boxes and the allowed steps
| did not create problems that may pop up in time.
| I will plan on backing up all that I want on CD's.
| Thank you, "MEB", for all your help!
| Thank you to all those who contributed to this issue!
| ***

OKAY then [sigh of relief], done issues for hard drive recoveries... Don't
worry about issues in the Millennium, all changes were made to the 98 disk
[except the addition of the temporary secondary hard drive, and BIOS/CMOS
change to auto detect, so that leaves just the CD DVD issue(s).

|
|
| 2. Attempt to boot the computer into SAFE MODE. Do NOT use NORMAL
Startup as
| that will attempt to reconfigure the Windows system which may not be
| successful.
| In Safe Mode, the disks will be using DOS compatibility mode, and the
MASTER
| should have used the Drive Overlay upon initial boot.
|
| 3. IF there is a successful SAFE MODE boot, pull any files or data off
the
| MASTER and put it on the SLAVE. IF the slave has insuficient space, as
you
| now have that data saved, DELETE the SLAVE drive files, and transfer
what
| ever files you need to it. Make sure those deleted files aren't taking
up
| space by being stored in the Recycle Bin.
|
| 4. IF you successfully retreive that data or files, you will need to
| determine what you intend to use that former Microtime OS disk for in
the
| future.
|
| 5. IF SAFE MODE fails, attempt to start in pure DOS with either a boot
| EBD/recovery floppy [preferred] or from the Windows Menu [Command Prompt
| Only]. Type - fdisk /status - and post what it found.
|
|
| | At any rate, 'My Computer' did not show this HD in the list of Disk
| Drives.
| | I wish there would be a way, but, I am glad that most of my data has
been
| | recovered.
| | Thank you for all the suggestions.
| | ***
|
| Look above, and try that to see if that works, if not, we can attempt
to
| make some modifications to the VAIO BIOS HD settings OR we can use some
| other recovery techniques. For that we will need the model number of the
| Microtime computer and/or the motherboard make and model/number so we
can
| see what the BIOS was.
|
| | Checking for that drive shows it is actually a Hitachi drive
DeskStar
| 16GP:
| | http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techl.../Deskstar_16GP
| | Check those Hitachi jumpers!
| |
| | You can also try the drive fitness test, but do use no destructive
| tests
| | until you recover the data:
| | http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
| | http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/down...2_v412_b01.EXE Windows

--

MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
_________

BAP wrote:

See my reply to "MEB"suggestions to disconnect the Sony's Master
Disk and connect the Microtime's Master in its place. Surprisingly,
it did work and I was able to recover the desired Data.

YAAAYYYY!!

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

BAP wrote:
| ****
| dadiOH, ?to the end connector, where the DVD is normally placed, I
| connected the Microtime’s Primary Master, with the jumper in place,
| and in any combination ....other drives in or disconnected (CD- ROM,
| or ZIP 250)..... the System, while booting, would detect it as the
| Secondary Master, but it would not be available. I also connected it
| to the other connector on the cable, normally for the CD_ROM. Same
| results. Although detected while booting, MS Explorer/My Computer,
| would not show it the list of available Drives, in spite of its
| presence in the list of Storage/Physical Devices created by the
| MSI.EXE Software.
|
| See my reply to “MEB�suggestions to disconnect the Sony’s
| Master Disk and connect the Microtime’s Master in its place.
| Surprisingly, it did work and I was able to recover the desired Data.

Amazing! Glad to hear it! I read that post to MEB, & it sounded like
quite an ordeal of messages at first boot. You are a brave one, BAP! I
hesitate to analyze why it worked. But, I guess its overlay wanted it to
be the drive that boots.

| Thanks all for your replies and
| valuable suggestions. My feeling is that I have learned a lot during
| this process.
| ***
|
|
| "dadiOH" wrote:
|
| dadiOH wrote:
| BAP wrote:
|
| Any possibility that things might work out better if I were
| to remove the DVD Disk Drive from the Sony and hook that Master HD
| to the vacant cable connection?
| Thank you!
| ***
|
| I would think so, try it. But determine which drive -CD or DVD -
| is master and replace whichever is. If you are in doubt about
| which is master/slave, SIW will tell you...
| http://www.gtopala.com/
|
| If you don't want to add still another program (it's a good one)
| then assume the optical drive at the end of the ribbon cable is
| Master and replace it.
|
| BTW, you need not physically remove the optical drive(s) from the
| computer, merely disconnect the ribbon and power cables when the
| machine is off. By the same tolen, you do not need to physically
| place the hard drive into a drive tray, just connect the power and
| ribbon cables after placing the drive wherever the cables can reach.
|
| If you do what I suggest, I have no idea what the drive letter will
| be in your setup so use explorer to browse your drives. If for some
| reason it does NOT show up in explorer, power down the computer and
| attach the drive you want to read to the other terminal on the ribbon
| cable.
|
| ****
|
|
|
|
| --
|
| dadiOH
| ____________________________
|
| dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
| ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
| LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
| Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR

****
Rather happy about the outcome, for sure!
Thank you for the help!
Regarding the issues of the CD-ROM and DVD, there is no problem with the
CD-ROM. The DVD shows warning that I have not tried to tend to, yet, but I
fail to see where to begin. With a store bought DVD Disk, Mad About You,
inserted in the slot, the MEDIA BAR splash screen comes on with the DVD
Player display, along with a warning sayng that the video display hardware is
being used by other applications. Try again after closing the applicatios. If
none is in use, the video settings like high refresh rate may be
inappropriate. After pressing OK, the DVD Player, still showing, does not
respond when pressing the Play button.
***

"MEB" wrote:

TOP POSTED: Final results: read below for outcome of Microtime OS disk
recovery.

I must say I am somewhat surprised, but I admit I did have crossed fingers,
glad you now have both disks recovered.


"BAP" wrote in message
...
|
|
| "MEB" wrote:
|
|
|
| "BAP" wrote in message
| ...
| |
| |
| | "MEB" wrote:
| |
| |
| |
| | "BAP" wrote in message
| | ...
| | | The start of this new Post regarding the 'Computer Failure' Post
was
| | | suggested by "MEB", and rightly so, as the that earlier Post was
| creating
| | | some confusion.
| | |
| | | As was discussed in the 'Computer Failure' Post, the Microtime
| Computer,
| | | that I have been using for several years, has failed and I find it
| rather
| | | difficult to get it operational, again. There is a Primary Master
and
| a
| | | Secondary Master HD's installed in it. There are folders in both
that
| have
| | | Data that I would like to recover. A more recent Computer, a Sony
| VAIO,
| | | that I am currently using, appears to have all that I would need
to
| | connect
| | | those HD's and recover the desired Data and back up the same, if
| desired,
| | | on CD's or Iomega Zip 250 MB Disks. The only obstacle is of
possible
| | | compatibility issues.
|
| {DELETED MATERIALS CONTAIN VAIO IFORMATION-
| (refer to the post containing it for reference
|
| | | Hopefully, this will mean something to you, "MEB" or anyone else
able
| to
| | help.
| | | Thank you in advance for any reply!
| |
| | One issue you failed to mention, which may or will be an issue, is
that
| the
| | other target drive [OS disk} had to be started in the other system
by
| using
| | a boot disk or other work around.
| | ****
| | ?"MEB", that was not the case. Early on, there was nothing wrong with
the
| | booting cycle, unless I
| | needed or wanted to start with a Boot Disk. If I did that and inserted
the
| | Boot Disk before
| | starting the booting cycle, at the Dos Prompt I would find myself in
the
| | Primary Slave HD. The
| | Master HD would not be available. This surfaced when I replaced the
| original
| | HD, 10 GB in size,
| | with a Maxtor with 40 GB. The MAX-BLAST software, that came with the
| Maxtor
| | HD, created
| | an overlay. As mentioned, in a rather old post, few years back, in
order
| | to boot from a Boot
| | Disk properly, I had to break the progress of booting with a CTRL Key
and
| | opt to boot from the
| | Boot Disk that had to be inserted at that time.
| | ***
|
| AAAAAh, thanks for clarifying, the MAXTOR drive contains a drive
overlay -
| that is the Microtime OS disk which you mentioned in the other
postings,
| which is not recognized when placed into other computers.
|
| DRIVE OVERLAY programs use the computer's BIOS translation and access
| routines when the algorythms are used to create and then use the overlay
| with the manufacturer's tools.
| This can even affect whether the hidden partition for the overlay
| translation is addressed properly. Overlays are not Plug and Play,
changing
| to meet differring BIOS needs and translations, PARTICULARLY as the
drive
| adapter chip may interact with the BIOS in a different fashion, such as
when
| the drive IS supported within the BIOS verses when the overlay was need
to
| use the drive in an unsupportive BIOS and/or OS.
| REMEMBER THIS: A different BIOS on another computer, OR *change within
the
| original BIOS* related to that hard drive, will likely change how that
| overlay addresses the drive.
|
| |
| | But we can work from this {BTW, good
| | information to work from, thanks}. I had also created a new posting
for
| your
| | VAIO attempt, which outlines what had been found to that point *
Sony
| | VAIO - WinME - hard drive usage and data recovery *. But we can work
| from
| | here with this new information, as long as everyone reviews the
other
| | postings as well so redundant suggestions aren't provided.
| |
| |
| |
| | I also created two new posts for your other computers:
| | Risys running Win31 - 98SE disk recovery
| | Microtime - Win98SE - computer diagnostics and repair
| |
| | There is a small program which might provide some useful
information
| | provided by MiTeC:
| | http://www.mitec.cz/Downloads/msi.zip - 782K - system information -
goto
| | Storage Physical Devices for drive identification
| | http://www.mitec.cz/ - main page with tools
|
| The above provides lots of information, without the necessity of an
| installation of another bloated Windows program.
|
| |
| | You can likely go ahead and try to connect the DATA drive to the
VAIO
| as it
| | may already configured as SLAVE *IF* it was on the same cable as the
| | other/OS drive in the Microtime. Some info he
| |
|
http://support.gateway.com/support/m...5896/05896.htm
| |
| | If the drive works, pull the data off.
| |
| | ****
| | ?"MEB", I did that and it worked, although the there was some
confusion
| | about the ID of the Disks shown by 'My Computer'. Normally, Disk C:
is
| the
| | Partition 0 of the Primary Master - D: Partition 1 - E: DVD - F:
CD_ROM -
| G:
| | Zip Drive.
|
| Did you forget that I had advised of that in the prior post/thread? Let
me
| repost so its in this discussion:
| - - - PRIOR POST - - - -
| | MEB:
| | Here are potential issues when connecting a drive to the secondary
| | connector on IDE0/channel1 - IRQ 14 [use SYSTEM Device Manager
Hard
| Disk
| | Controllers Primary IDE Controller settings and resources to
view].:
| | *****
| | BAP
| | Sorry, I can't seem to find my way around to get to that pane.
| |
| | MEB - you are running ME which will have that in a different area.
| |
| | ***
| |
| | MEB:
| | 1. The present drive [apparently 60 gig] is partitioned with C {the
| primary
| | boot partition} as a
| | 15.5 gig drive, adding another drive would move the second partition
| | presently being seen as the
| | 41.6 gig drive D to drive E. The new hard drive would have to be
| configured
| | as a slave and the
| | first hard drive as master with their jumpers or errors and potential
disk
| | corruption could occur.
| | There could also be a hidden partition involved for SONY specific
recovery
| | or other, so it may be
| | larger [an 80 gig drive perhaps, though that won't presently affect
what
| we
| | are discussing], what
| | is the actual model and make of that drive?
| | There MAY potentially be a hard drive conflict if the drives are not
| | compatible. What are the two drive's makes and models?
| |
| | 2. The two drives on the second channel [CD and DVD] will be moved to
| drive
| | F and G, but only IF the OS has not had its drives limited to only see
| | drives up to drive F: limited by either the driver settings, system
| | settings, or something like TweakUI which modified the registry or an
| | inclusion in the system.ini or config.sys [lastdrive=*]. If this is
the
| | case, the lost/un-recognized drive will still cause errors even though
it
| is
| | not listed in Windows, it is still holding memory and CMOS/BIOS
addressing
| | which Windows may try to assign to other needs, or may cause
conflicting
| | system device issues..
| |
| | 3. The Iomega drive adds potential issues to the mix if it has been
set to
| | always use some specific drive letter or IRQ, and/or if [as sometimes
| | happens] it is incompatible with this older drive you are attempting
to
| | access.
| |
| | 4. A drive overlay may be part of the issue, but beyond that, we may
also
| be
| | running across a disk or disks which have had Drive Space or Double
Space
| | [or another drive compressor] used.
| |
| ------ END POST FROM OTHER DISCUSSIONS ^^^
|
| | With the Microtime Primary Slave in place, C: was still Sony's HD
Primary
| | Master Partition 0 - D: the Microtime's Disk - E: Partition 1 of
Sony -
| G:
| | was showing as the ZIP disk. However, if I inserted a CD in the CD_ROM
| drive,
| | G became the CD_ROM Disk - F:, showing as removable Disk, was, in
effect,
| | the ZIP Drive.
|
| This is exactly as I had advised.
| This also indicates that the ZIP disk has been *assigned* a drive
letter.
|
| | No matter, 'though, as I was able to copy the contents of the
Microtime's
| | Primary Slave HD.
|
| *STEP 1 - SUCCESS* accomplished: now that AUTO had been set in the
BIOS,
| the Microtime DATA/storage disk has been recovered.
|
| | All my steps taken, to configure the Microtime's Primary Master and
make
| it
| | a Slave, did not succeed. The configuration shown on the HD about the
| jumper
| | positions did not work. However, the system detected that HD as a
Primary
| | Slave.
| | This was shown: (besides other info)
| | Primary Master Disk: 61492 MB UDMA 5
| | Orimary Slave Disk: 30750 MB UDMA 5
| | Secondary Master Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| | Secondary Slave Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
|
| OKAY, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
|
| The disk is a MAXTOR - WHAT {model/number}?
|
| |
| | Without the Microtime's HD connected, this was shown:
| | Primary Master Disk: 61492 MB UDMA 5
| | Orimary Slave Disk: None
| | Secondary Master Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| | Secondary Slave Disk: CD-ROM UDMA 2
| |
| | It was bothersome to see that the size of the Microtime's HD did not
| appear
| | to have the size that I thought it should have. I will check further
into
| | that.
|
| PLEASE wait until we can determine how to address the MAXTOR disk in
this

"BAP" wrote in message
...
| ****
| Rather happy about the outcome, for sure!
| Thank you for the help!
| Regarding the issues of the CD-ROM and DVD, there is no problem with the
| CD-ROM. The DVD shows warning that I have not tried to tend to, yet, but I
| fail to see where to begin. With a store bought DVD Disk, Mad About You,
| inserted in the slot, the MEDIA BAR splash screen comes on with the DVD
| Player display, along with a warning sayng that the video display hardware
is
| being used by other applications. Try again after closing the applicatios.
If
| none is in use, the video settings like high refresh rate may be
| inappropriate. After pressing OK, the DVD Player, still showing, does not
| respond when pressing the Play button.
| ***

Hmm, sounds like you have multiple programs trying to control
playing/handling of the DVD.
OR, perhaps in the leadin and copyright protection, there is an attempt to
force DRM, which may cause a conflict. Are you sure everything is setup
properly in your player(s)?

--

MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
_________

It does not appear that my earlier reply to this, might have failed to get
thru.
Here it is, again:
****

"MEB" wrote:



"BAP" wrote in message
...
| ****
| Rather happy about the outcome, for sure!
| Thank you for the help!
| Regarding the issues of the CD-ROM and DVD, there is no problem with the
| CD-ROM. The DVD shows warning that I have not tried to tend to, yet, but I
| fail to see where to begin. With a store bought DVD Disk, Mad About You,
| inserted in the slot, the MEDIA BAR splash screen comes on with the DVD
| Player display, along with a warning sayng that the video display hardware
is
| being used by other applications. Try again after closing the applicatios.
If
| none is in use, the video settings like high refresh rate may be
| inappropriate. After pressing OK, the DVD Player, still showing, does not
| respond when pressing the Play button.
| ***

Hmm, sounds like you have multiple programs trying to control
playing/handling of the DVD.
OR, perhaps in the leadin and copyright protection, there is an attempt to
force DRM, which may cause a conflict. Are you sure everything is setup
properly in your player(s)?

****
"MEB", I am some problems dealing with this. On the Control Panel, I was
hoping to get a clue about what was activated in the way of audio/video
codecs. There were several, some from copied from the 'failed machine' that I
thought, by installing the most reasonable, things would have gotten better.
I have few players active, such as WMB, Irfanview32, Real Player, BSPlayer
and DivX Player 2.1. I took a chance at uninstalling some of the Codex
appearing in the list of Add/Remove Programs. I figured that, since I had
their software, I could have re-installed them, if necessary. Needless to
say, I ran into some problems. Some players still function, as they did
earlier. Some complain that they can find the appropriate Codec, DIV4 or
DIV3. The Codex on hand a DivXPlayer 2.1 upgrade.exe, DivXPro505Gain
Bundle, eCodec-v4.541.exe, GDivX1.9.9.6.exe, WM9Codecs.exe and
XviD-041020021. Now, I feel that if I do re-install any of them, more junk
might be added to the Registry.
Do you have any idea of what might be best to do at this point? A better
Codec, perhaps?
Thank you!
***
--

MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
_________

"BAP" wrote in message
...
| It does not appear that my earlier reply to this, might have failed to get
| thru.
| Here it is, again:
| ****
|
| "MEB" wrote:
|
|
|
| "BAP" wrote in message
| ...
| | ****
| | Rather happy about the outcome, for sure!
| | Thank you for the help!
| | Regarding the issues of the CD-ROM and DVD, there is no problem with
the
| | CD-ROM. The DVD shows warning that I have not tried to tend to, yet,
but I
| | fail to see where to begin. With a store bought DVD Disk, Mad About
You,
| | inserted in the slot, the MEDIA BAR splash screen comes on with the
DVD
| | Player display, along with a warning sayng that the video display
hardware
| is
| | being used by other applications. Try again after closing the
applicatios.
| If
| | none is in use, the video settings like high refresh rate may be
| | inappropriate. After pressing OK, the DVD Player, still showing, does
not
| | respond when pressing the Play button.
| | ***
|
| Hmm, sounds like you have multiple programs trying to control
| playing/handling of the DVD.
| OR, perhaps in the leadin and copyright protection, there is an attempt
to
| force DRM, which may cause a conflict. Are you sure everything is setup
| properly in your player(s)?
|
| ****
| "MEB", ?I am some problems dealing with this. On the Control Panel, I was
| hoping to get a clue about what was activated in the way of audio/video
| codecs. There were several, some from copied from the 'failed machine'
that I
| thought, by installing the most reasonable, things would have gotten
better.
| I have few players active, such as WMB, Irfanview32, Real Player, BSPlayer
| and DivX Player 2.1. I took a chance at uninstalling some of the Codex
| appearing in the list of Add/Remove Programs. I figured that, since I had
| their software, I could have re-installed them, if necessary. Needless to
| say, I ran into some problems. Some players still function, as they did
| earlier. Some complain that they can find the appropriate Codec, DIV4 or
| DIV3. The Codex on hand a DivXPlayer 2.1 upgrade.exe, DivXPro505Gain
| Bundle, eCodec-v4.541.exe, GDivX1.9.9.6.exe, WM9Codecs.exe and
| XviD-041020021. Now, I feel that if I do re-install any of them, more junk
| might be added to the Registry.
| Do you have any idea of what might be best to do at this point? A better
| Codec, perhaps?
| Thank you!
| ***
| --
|
| MEB

Okay, though I put this under a new sub-heading, perhaps YOU [because
posters apparently hate to post under me, and the original discussion was
for hard drive issues] should make this an entirely NEW discussion. This
issue would likely then be responded to by others. Don't post my signature
MEB within that new discussion, and I'll let others supply their
suggestions.

I would, however, suggest finding perhaps just TWO players to handle the
formats/codex you actually *need* and getting rid of the rest. Having just
two would make it much easier to configure the supported file extensions and
Codex that they are supposed to handle. This would require searching the
registry for any references to the removed programs/Codex to ensure no
registry errors or mis-direction occurs.
Additionally, if the above WMB is actually WMPlayer, make sure it is NOT
the default player for media, as this seems to load the player [causing the
"application already in control/loaded] even though it can't play the file
[WMP9, in particular, is known for this issue]. And when removing Codex then
you MUST re-configure the related player to NOT attempt to play that
extension [removing its registry entry].
Real Player is another program which "takes control" if allowed to do so.

I can't make any recommendations for programs, as you apparently feel you
need far more formats/Codex than I have found I need.

--

MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
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