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#1
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
I have recently made several changes to my Compaq Presario 5000,
running Windows ME. I now have a situation where System Restore Points are not being retained (I can create a restore point, but when I go back, they are not there.) The computer also does respond to Autorun when I insert CD-ROMS into my internal or external drive (Yes, I do have "Autorun Notification checked for both drives.) I did a Restore point set before making several modifications, and noted a previous restore point reflected at that time, but none since and all the old ones are gone. The modifications were that I installed an additional 256K RAM (to now total 384) plus a second (85GB) internal hard drive to the system. I encountered no real problems installing, formatting and having the system recognize these additions. I then tried to install and run Pinnacle Studio 8. While this software seemed to install properly, I have ongoing hangups in the process, it was not able to recognize my CD burner, etc. I have done several deinstall/reinstalls of Studio, downloaded a registry patch for this s/w, etc. Studio has continued to de-evolve in its ability to operate and I have picked up the restore point/autorun issue. Any sage advice for "nip and tuck" solutions, or am I facing the dreaded "system restore" option? I also have a Windows ME installation disk, so I could try to reinstall just the operating system, but do not know how that would impact programs already installed, data on the hard drive, MSIE 6, etc. I have backed up all of my data, including Outlook Express mail and address book, but I am concerned about the ability to run other software that I have installed. All ideas most gratefully accepted, Brian |
#3
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Mike-
Sorry for the delay. I was 6500 miles from this computer for the past couple of weeks. I tried the Restore procedure you suggested, to no avail. I was able to create a restore point, create a shortcut to a word document, then created a second restore point. I closed the restore function, then reopened it and saw the two restore points. However, after shutting down by computer and restarting, the system told me that there were no restore points available. Prior to this, I attempted to reset the Restore function by doing this: I went to System PropertiesāPerformanceā File System ā Troubleshooting and checked "Disable System Restore." I then immediately rebooted. I went to the same located, unchecked "Disable System Restore" and rebooted again. Relative to size of restore-related folders. My CompaqPresario 5000US has part of its 30GB hard drive partitioned to a SYSTEM_SAV (E: drive). This drive has a capacity of 2.71 GB, of which 2.28GB is used and 441 MB available. This drive contains 3 files: CPQDRV (which uses most of the space), CPQ, CPQS and DATA. None of the files on this drive has modified dates within the past 2 years. (The E: Drive is an internal 85GB Hard Drive I recently installed. Could this be a part of the problem?) In addition, the C:/Windows/System/Restore forleder has the RSTRUI.EXE System Restore program, plus small data files: rstrs2l.da2, rstrmap.dat and rstrlog.dat. The last 2 files do show modify dates as of my last restore attempt. These files are only 3-4 KB each. Don't know if this helps, but it all the relevant info I can think of to provide you. (BTW: I was able to solve the autorun problem by using REGEDIT to reset the NoDriveTypeAuto file settings. Thanks to Peter from the UK from 3 years ago for posting this solution!) Brian "Mike M" wrote in message ... Installing your new hard drive will have reset system restore but after this any subsequent checkpoints should be retained, provided, of course, that the volume/size of changed files with system restore monitored extensions between checkpoints doesn't exceed the space allocated to the system restore archive. At what point do you lose a newly created checkpoint? Immediately following a reboot or at some other time? How much space do you have allocated to the restore archive? The problem simply could be that you don't have enough space allocated to the restore archive to archive all the files involved in your repeated attempts to install and then uninstall Pinnacle Studio 8. To help try and establish why you have none could you please carry out the following quick test: a) Create a shortcut on your desktop to a file. b) Create a manual checkpoint Could you create a checkpoint? c) Delete the shortcut d) Restore your PC to the checkpoint you created. Was the shortcut restored? Did you see any error messages? e) Reboot your PC Was the checkpoint retained? Finally could you post back the total size of the C:\_RESTORE folder including sub folders and also how much space you have allocated to the system restore archive (Found at System | Performance | File System | Hard Disk). -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP Brian wrote: I have recently made several changes to my Compaq Presario 5000, running Windows ME. I now have a situation where System Restore Points are not being retained (I can create a restore point, but when I go back, they are not there.) The computer also does respond to Autorun when I insert CD-ROMS into my internal or external drive (Yes, I do have "Autorun Notification checked for both drives.) I did a Restore point set before making several modifications, and noted a previous restore point reflected at that time, but none since and all the old ones are gone. The modifications were that I installed an additional 256K RAM (to now total 384) plus a second (85GB) internal hard drive to the system. I encountered no real problems installing, formatting and having the system recognize these additions. I then tried to install and run Pinnacle Studio 8. While this software seemed to install properly, I have ongoing hangups in the process, it was not able to recognize my CD burner, etc. I have done several deinstall/reinstalls of Studio, downloaded a registry patch for this s/w, etc. Studio has continued to de-evolve in its ability to operate and I have picked up the restore point/autorun issue. Any sage advice for "nip and tuck" solutions, or am I facing the dreaded "system restore" option? I also have a Windows ME installation disk, so I could try to reinstall just the operating system, but do not know how that would impact programs already installed, data on the hard drive, MSIE 6, etc. I have backed up all of my data, including Outlook Express mail and address book, but I am concerned about the ability to run other software that I have installed. All ideas most gratefully accepted, Brian |
#4
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Brian,
Your drive SYSTEM_SAV (either D or E your post is a little confusing here) appears to be a Compaq created partition and probably contains files to allow you to return your system to the state it was in when first delivered. For more details see the documentation that came with the PC. The drive size and use that I was asking about is your C: drive, that is the one containing your windows folder. Further the system restore archive is the C:\_RESTORE folder not the C:\Windows\System\Restore folder which contains some of the program files and logs used by System Restore. To see the contents of the C:\_RESTORE folder using Explorer you first need to enable Explorer to "see" hidden and protected system files and folders (Tools | Folder Options | View and check "Show hidden files and folders" and UNcheck "Hide protected operating system files"). So, how big is your C drive, how much free space does it have and what is the size of the _RESTORE folder? Now to your problem, it appears that "something" is flushing your restore folder each time that you boot your system. Look in the C:\_RESTORE\Archive folder and check how many RG*.cab files there are. Each represents a system restore checkpoint. Create a manual checkpoint. Did this create a new RG*.cab file? Reboot. Check the C:\_RESTORE\Archive folder again. Are the RG*.cab files still present? If the folder is empty then this is because "something" is resetting system restore each time that you boot your system. -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP Brian wrote: Mike- Sorry for the delay. I was 6500 miles from this computer for the past couple of weeks. I tried the Restore procedure you suggested, to no avail. I was able to create a restore point, create a shortcut to a word document, then created a second restore point. I closed the restore function, then reopened it and saw the two restore points. However, after shutting down by computer and restarting, the system told me that there were no restore points available. Prior to this, I attempted to reset the Restore function by doing this: I went to System PropertiesāPerformanceā File System ā Troubleshooting and checked "Disable System Restore." I then immediately rebooted. I went to the same located, unchecked "Disable System Restore" and rebooted again. Relative to size of restore-related folders. My CompaqPresario 5000US has part of its 30GB hard drive partitioned to a SYSTEM_SAV (E: drive). This drive has a capacity of 2.71 GB, of which 2.28GB is used and 441 MB available. This drive contains 3 files: CPQDRV (which uses most of the space), CPQ, CPQS and DATA. None of the files on this drive has modified dates within the past 2 years. (The E: Drive is an internal 85GB Hard Drive I recently installed. Could this be a part of the problem?) In addition, the C:/Windows/System/Restore forleder has the RSTRUI.EXE System Restore program, plus small data files: rstrs2l.da2, rstrmap.dat and rstrlog.dat. The last 2 files do show modify dates as of my last restore attempt. These files are only 3-4 KB each. Don't know if this helps, but it all the relevant info I can think of to provide you. (BTW: I was able to solve the autorun problem by using REGEDIT to reset the NoDriveTypeAuto file settings. Thanks to Peter from the UK from 3 years ago for posting this solution!) Brian "Mike M" wrote in message ... Installing your new hard drive will have reset system restore but after this any subsequent checkpoints should be retained, provided, of course, that the volume/size of changed files with system restore monitored extensions between checkpoints doesn't exceed the space allocated to the system restore archive. At what point do you lose a newly created checkpoint? Immediately following a reboot or at some other time? How much space do you have allocated to the restore archive? The problem simply could be that you don't have enough space allocated to the restore archive to archive all the files involved in your repeated attempts to install and then uninstall Pinnacle Studio 8. To help try and establish why you have none could you please carry out the following quick test: a) Create a shortcut on your desktop to a file. b) Create a manual checkpoint Could you create a checkpoint? c) Delete the shortcut d) Restore your PC to the checkpoint you created. Was the shortcut restored? Did you see any error messages? e) Reboot your PC Was the checkpoint retained? Finally could you post back the total size of the C:\_RESTORE folder including sub folders and also how much space you have allocated to the system restore archive (Found at System | Performance | File System | Hard Disk). -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP Brian wrote: I have recently made several changes to my Compaq Presario 5000, running Windows ME. I now have a situation where System Restore Points are not being retained (I can create a restore point, but when I go back, they are not there.) The computer also does respond to Autorun when I insert CD-ROMS into my internal or external drive (Yes, I do have "Autorun Notification checked for both drives.) I did a Restore point set before making several modifications, and noted a previous restore point reflected at that time, but none since and all the old ones are gone. The modifications were that I installed an additional 256K RAM (to now total 384) plus a second (85GB) internal hard drive to the system. I encountered no real problems installing, formatting and having the system recognize these additions. I then tried to install and run Pinnacle Studio 8. While this software seemed to install properly, I have ongoing hangups in the process, it was not able to recognize my CD burner, etc. I have done several deinstall/reinstalls of Studio, downloaded a registry patch for this s/w, etc. Studio has continued to de-evolve in its ability to operate and I have picked up the restore point/autorun issue. Any sage advice for "nip and tuck" solutions, or am I facing the dreaded "system restore" option? I also have a Windows ME installation disk, so I could try to reinstall just the operating system, but do not know how that would impact programs already installed, data on the hard drive, MSIE 6, etc. I have backed up all of my data, including Outlook Express mail and address book, but I am concerned about the ability to run other software that I have installed. All ideas most gratefully accepted, Brian |
#5
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Dear Mike,
As to you original question: The C:\ Drive has a total capacity of 25.2 GB, of which 16.8 GB is being used. Thanks for the advice. It may be that I'm in "something is resetting the system" country, since the Archive folder of _RESTORE is empty. The Properties function tells me that the _Restore Folder has 6 files and 5 subfolders totaling 2.06 MB. I can see all of these folders. The memory is mostly being used by a couple of 1024 KB Log files which appear to have been created when I booted up this morning. There were no RG*.cab files in sight (or "in site" for that matter.) I started creating restore points, and sure enough, the system generated RG*.cab files of 14,715 KB size. I created/deleted a shortcut and set restore points after each operation. New RG*.cab files were created (along with a slew of TEMP files.) Each new file would have 0 KB in size. As a subsequent restore point was created, the newest RG*.cab file would be zero, and the previous file would upsize to 15715KB. I used the Start:Logoff function several times. Each time I logged back on, the files were still there. However, rebooting cleared out all of the RG*.cab files and all of the TEMP files. Any idea how to track down "something"? Or are we edging towards nuking the system and reloading everything? Your continued interest is much appreciated. Brian "Mike M" wrote in message ... Brian, Your drive SYSTEM_SAV (either D or E your post is a little confusing here) appears to be a Compaq created partition and probably contains files to allow you to return your system to the state it was in when first delivered. For more details see the documentation that came with the PC. The drive size and use that I was asking about is your C: drive, that is the one containing your windows folder. Further the system restore archive is the C:\_RESTORE folder not the C:\Windows\System\Restore folder which contains some of the program files and logs used by System Restore. To see the contents of the C:\_RESTORE folder using Explorer you first need to enable Explorer to "see" hidden and protected system files and folders (Tools | Folder Options | View and check "Show hidden files and folders" and UNcheck "Hide protected operating system files"). So, how big is your C drive, how much free space does it have and what is the size of the _RESTORE folder? Now to your problem, it appears that "something" is flushing your restore folder each time that you boot your system. Look in the C:\_RESTORE\Archive folder and check how many RG*.cab files there are. Each represents a system restore checkpoint. Create a manual checkpoint. Did this create a new RG*.cab file? Reboot. Check the C:\_RESTORE\Archive folder again. Are the RG*.cab files still present? If the folder is empty then this is because "something" is resetting system restore each time that you boot your system. -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP |
#6
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Brian,
Your findings confirm that the system restore archive is being reset each time you reboot your PC but not when logging on which means, I think, that the problem is with how Win Me is seeing your hardware when the system first boots rather than when a user logs on which would then suggest the problem was software related. Not that this totally excludes a software cause but if so it would have I think to be a machine service rather than a program installed by a user. Out of curiosity though what applications have you added if any that are being launched each time you boot your system. You can check this using MSConfig | Startup. Some more questions if I may. What storage hardware do you have on the system and how is it connected (ide, scsi, usb, firewre, etc.)? Please include disks and CD/DVD drives etc., that is everything that is assigned a drive letter in Explorer. How are the disks partitioned, single partition or multiple? Do you multi-boot (although I think you have already eliminated that as being the cause in the tests you reported). What I think is happening is that Win Me's state manager is detecting a change in your hardware and therefore resetting system restore and flushing the archive since it can no longer ASSume that the current device assigned a particular drive letter is the same device as was assigned that letter when the system last booted. -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP Brian wrote: Dear Mike, As to you original question: The C:\ Drive has a total capacity of 25.2 GB, of which 16.8 GB is being used. Thanks for the advice. It may be that I'm in "something is resetting the system" country, since the Archive folder of _RESTORE is empty. The Properties function tells me that the _Restore Folder has 6 files and 5 subfolders totaling 2.06 MB. I can see all of these folders. The memory is mostly being used by a couple of 1024 KB Log files which appear to have been created when I booted up this morning. There were no RG*.cab files in sight (or "in site" for that matter.) I started creating restore points, and sure enough, the system generated RG*.cab files of 14,715 KB size. I created/deleted a shortcut and set restore points after each operation. New RG*.cab files were created (along with a slew of TEMP files.) Each new file would have 0 KB in size. As a subsequent restore point was created, the newest RG*.cab file would be zero, and the previous file would upsize to 15715KB. I used the Start:Logoff function several times. Each time I logged back on, the files were still there. However, rebooting cleared out all of the RG*.cab files and all of the TEMP files. Any idea how to track down "something"? Or are we edging towards nuking the system and reloading everything? Your continued interest is much appreciated. |
#7
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Dear Mike
As long as you're still willing to ask questions, I will try to answer: The number of *STARTUP APPLICATIONS* revealed via MSCONFIG was scary: 38 items, many of whose purpose I recognize, and several that I do not. The only file which I know was recently added is PinnacleDriverCheck, "PSDRVCheck.exe CheckReg". This was part of my installation/shakedown of Pinnacle Studio 8 DV software/hardware. There may be another recent addition or two in there. I have tried unchecking all the Startup functions that I know I do not need loaded (the above, plus WinAmp, scanner finder, OCR software, MoneyAgent, a bunch of Compaq help and easy button functions, etc.) When I startup, I get a message that I am using selective startup for troubleshooting. However, this startup state still does not solve the Restore issue. I boot only from the C: drive. The *STORAGE HARDWARE* is as follows: **Internal generic NEC floppy drive, assigned drive A: **Native (boot) 30 GB IDE Hard Drive. Assigned drives C: (local) and E: (SYSTEM_SAV). [C: using 17.0 of 25.2 GB and E: using 2.28/2.71 GB] **Internal 85 GB Western Digital IDE HD. Assigned drive D: [using 3.4/74.5 GB] **Internal Compaq CD-ROM LTN403, assigned drive F: **External Yamaha CD-RW attached via firewire, assigned drive G: **External 32 MB USB flash Pen drive, assigned drive H: Notes relative to the drive assignments: (1) If I go to Device Manager:Properties:Settings, I cannot reassign the drive letters for any of the memory. (2) Installing the 85GD HD is a recent event. It is my impression that this installation changed the drive assignment of SYSTEM_SAV from drive D: to drive E:, fiving drive D: to the new HD. In addition to the HD installation, these are other recent events: (1) Installation of a PNY 256MB PC100 RAM module, upping total RAM to 384MB RAM. To do this, I needed to relocate 2 64MB modules, putting the 256MB module in the first memory slot; (2) To install Pinnacle Studio DV v8, I installed the Studio DV board into my last available PCI slot. The other PI slots contain the monitor input, dialup modem, and a 3 input firewire board. The Pinnacle board appears to have the right drivers installed, because I have been able to import digital video through the Pinnacle Studio application; (3) The Pinnacle shakedown also involved several uninstall/reinstalls of the s/ware, running a RegDelete program, and a RegFix2 program to fix a problem reading license info; (4) When installing the 85MB HD, Western Digital's instructions said to use a supplied EIDE interface cable. I was able to set up this drive as the slave by using the cable already in my computer (Compaq Presario 5 000US, setting the jumper appropriately. This drive is working properly, so I did not believe the cable I utilized was an issue. (Probably more than you need/want to know.) Hope this helps. Thanks for hanging in with me. Brian "Mike M" wrote in message ... Brian, Your findings confirm that the system restore archive is being reset each time [snip] Out of curiosity though what applications have you added if any that are being launched each time you boot your system. You can check this using MSConfig | Startup. Some more questions if I may. What storage hardware do you have on the system and how is it connected (ide, scsi, usb, firewre, etc.)? Please include disks and CD/DVD drives etc., that is everything that is assigned a drive letter in Explorer. How are the disks partitioned, single partition or multiple? Do you multi-boot (although I think you have already eliminated that as being the cause in the tests you reported). Mike Maltby MS-MVP |
#8
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Brian,
Thanks for all that information. Ah! Can you access the SYSTEM_SAV drive or is it "locked"? If so can you see the contents of the _RESTORE folder? I'm wondering here whether the file srdiskid.dat contains the letter D rather than E and that the discrepancy is what is resetting system restore. Basically system restore will reset and clear the archive if the assigned drive letter for a fixed drive differs from that when last used. The last used drive letter being stored in srdiskid.dat. Normally once reset the new value of srdiskid.dat will remain constant but I'm wondering if there is anything in SYSTEM-SAV, which I assume is a proprietary recovery partition, that keeps resetting srdiskid.dat back to containing D and thus causing system restore to reset each time the system boots. You might also want to check that your CD-ROM, CD-RW and Flash Pen are all marked as removable devices on their property sheets in the Device Manager and thus ignored by the state manager. I'm guessing that by now the new drive is filling up otherwise I'd suggest making a change so that it enumerated as drive E rather than D but that would involve fdisking it again meaning that you would have to save all of the data before doing so. This would then restore SYSTEM_SAV to being D and perhaps solve the problem. Oh, I see from your list that it has "just" 3.4GB so it might be worth considering. If so I'll post back what to do. -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP Brian wrote: As long as you're still willing to ask questions, I will try to answer: The number of *STARTUP APPLICATIONS* revealed via MSCONFIG was scary: 38 items, many of whose purpose I recognize, and several that I do not. The only file which I know was recently added is PinnacleDriverCheck, "PSDRVCheck.exe -CheckReg". This was part of my installation/shakedown of Pinnacle Studio 8 DV software/hardware. There may be another recent addition or two in there. I have tried unchecking all the Startup functions that I know I do not need loaded (the above, plus WinAmp, scanner finder, OCR software, MoneyAgent, a bunch of Compaq help and easy button functions, etc.) When I startup, I get a message that I am using selective startup for troubleshooting. However, this startup state still does not solve the Restore issue. I boot only from the C: drive. The *STORAGE HARDWARE* is as follows: **Internal generic NEC floppy drive, assigned drive A: **Native (boot) 30 GB IDE Hard Drive. Assigned drives C: (local) and E: (SYSTEM_SAV). [C: using 17.0 of 25.2 GB and E: using 2.28/2.71 GB] **Internal 85 GB Western Digital IDE HD. Assigned drive D: [using 3.4/74.5 GB] **Internal Compaq CD-ROM LTN403, assigned drive F: **External Yamaha CD-RW attached via firewire, assigned drive G: **External 32 MB USB flash Pen drive, assigned drive H: Notes relative to the drive assignments: (1) If I go to Device Manager:Properties:Settings, I cannot reassign the drive letters for any of the memory. (2) Installing the 85GD HD is a recent event. It is my impression that this installation changed the drive assignment of SYSTEM_SAV from drive D: to drive E:, fiving drive D: to the new HD. In addition to the HD installation, these are other recent events: (1) Installation of a PNY 256MB PC100 RAM module, upping total RAM to 384MB RAM. To do this, I needed to relocate 2 64MB modules, putting the 256MB module in the first memory slot; (2) To install Pinnacle Studio DV v8, I installed the Studio DV board into my last available PCI slot. The other PI slots contain the monitor input, dialup modem, and a 3 input firewire board. The Pinnacle board appears to have the right drivers installed, because I have been able to import digital video through the Pinnacle Studio application; (3) The Pinnacle shakedown also involved several uninstall/reinstalls of the s/ware, running a RegDelete program, and a RegFix2 program to fix a problem reading license info; (4) When installing the 85MB HD, Western Digital's instructions said to use a supplied EIDE interface cable. I was able to set up this drive as the slave by using the cable already in my computer (Compaq Presario 5 000US, setting the jumper appropriately. This drive is working properly, so I did not believe the cable I utilized was an issue. (Probably more than you need/want to know.) Hope this helps. Thanks for hanging in with me. |
#9
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Dear Mike,
I made it back. I'm jet-lagged as hell, but ready to plunge forward: "Mike M" wrote in message ... Can you access the SYSTEM_SAV drive or is it "locked"? If so can you see the contents of the _RESTORE folder? *****The E:\SYSTEM_SAV\_RESTORE folder is empty (I have set folder options to "show hidden files".) I think we determined this folder is something compaq installed. The "real" _RESTORE folder is C:\_RESTORE. This is where the .CAB files are created before being wiped out by restarts. I'm wondering here whether the file srdiskid.dat contains the letter D rather than E [snip] *****I cannot find a file named srdiskid.dat on the C:, D:, or E: files, unless I need to do something else during my search to uncover hidden files. You might also want to check that your CD-ROM, CD-RW and Flash Pen are all marked as removable devices on their property sheets in the Device Manager and thus ignored by the state manager. *****Ah. The USB is marked as removable. The internal CD-ROM is checked DMA, but the "Removable" box is unchecked and grayed out. The external firewire CD-R/W drive is not marked DMA, and also has its grayed out "Removable" box unchecked. Should these be changed and, if so, how? I'm guessing that by now the new drive is filling up otherwise I'd suggest making a change so that it enumerated as drive E rather than D but that would involve fdisking it again meaning that you would have to save all of the data before doing so. This would then restore SYSTEM_SAV to being D and perhaps solve the problem. Oh, I see from your list that it has "just" 3.4GB so it might be worth considering. If so I'll post back what to do. *****D:\HARDDRIVE2 still has less than 4GB on it, which can easily be transferred to the C:\ drive - or wiped out. I installed this drive for a video capture project. When the restore issue popped up, I decided to cure this (or reinstall) before moving forward. How would I go about fdisking (whatever that is)? Would this automatically swap the drive designations between the D:\ and E:\ drives? Mike, my eyes are glazing. As they say on talk radio, "I'll hang up and listen to your reply!" Continued gratitude. Brian |
#10
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Windows ME Restore and Autorun glitches: any advice to solve?
Brian,
Have tried to interleave my replies. Brian wrote: I made it back. I'm jet-lagged as hell, but ready to plunge forward: Can you access the SYSTEM_SAV drive or is it "locked"? If so can you see the contents of the _RESTORE folder? *****The E:\SYSTEM_SAV\_RESTORE folder is empty (I have set folder options to "show hidden files".) I think we determined this folder is something compaq installed. The "real" _RESTORE folder is C:\_RESTORE. This is where the .CAB files are created before being wiped out by restarts. Could you please check the folder E:\_RESTORE rather than the folder E:\SYSTEM_SAV\_RESTORE. What letter does the file srdiskid.dat contain? I'm wondering here whether the file srdiskid.dat contains the letter D rather than E [snip] *****I cannot find a file named srdiskid.dat on the C:, D:, or E: files, unless I need to do something else during my search to uncover hidden files. I thought we had already covered this some time (weeks?) ago. g To enable Explorer to see such files, whilst in Explorer, Tools | Folder Options | View. CHECK "Show hidden files and folders" and UNCHECK "Hide protected operating system files". Note that's one box to check and one box to UNCHECK. Do this and you will see the files and folders in the _RESTORE archive. You might also want to check that your CD-ROM, CD-RW and Flash Pen are all marked as removable devices on their property sheets in the Device Manager and thus ignored by the state manager. *****Ah. The USB is marked as removable. The internal CD-ROM is checked DMA, but the "Removable" box is unchecked and grayed out. The external firewire CD-R/W drive is not marked DMA, and also has its grayed out "Removable" box unchecked. Should these be changed and, if so, how? That seems to be as it should be and nothing needs to be changed. I'm guessing that by now the new drive is filling up otherwise I'd suggest making a change so that it enumerated as drive E rather than D but that would involve fdisking it again meaning that you would have to save all of the data before doing so. This would then restore SYSTEM_SAV to being D and perhaps solve the problem. Oh, I see from your list that it has "just" 3.4GB so it might be worth considering. If so I'll post back what to do. *****D:\HARDDRIVE2 still has less than 4GB on it, which can easily be transferred to the C:\ drive - or wiped out. I installed this drive for a video capture project. When the restore issue popped up, I decided to cure this (or reinstall) before moving forward. How would I go about fdisking (whatever that is)? Would this automatically swap the drive designations between the D:\ and E:\ drives? You will have fdisked your new drive before formatting it and adding it to your PC. Unless fdisked it would not have a partition and not be visible in Explorer and therefore not able to be formatted. If you were to fdisk it again (which would wipe out its current contents, I would a) remember to click Y when asked if you want to have large disk support, and then b) rather than creating a primary partition (which would enumerate as D), instead create an extended partition and a logical drive within that partition which would enumerate as E. The reason being that Win 9x systems enumerate all primary partitions, starting with C, and then follow those with any logical drives in extended partitions. Thus I think your current system enumerates as follows: C: - Primary active partition on disk 1 D: - Primary partition on disk 2 E: - Logical drive (SYSTEM_SAV) in extended partition on disk 1 Fdisking your second drive to have just a logical drive in an extended partition would then mean the drives would enumerate as follows: C: - Primary active partition on disk 1 D: - Logical drive (SYSTEM_SAV) in extended partition on disk 1 E: - Logical drive in extended partition on disk 2 Now, of course, it is quite possible that your drive layout has nothing to do with why system restore keeps resetting itself but is nevertheless a possibility. References: KB255867 - "How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard Disk" (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=255867) KB51978 - "Order in Which MS-DOS and Windows Assign Drive Letters" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=51978) Mike, my eyes are glazing. As they say on talk radio, "I'll hang up and listen to your reply!" You and me both (eyes glazing over). g Regards, -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP |
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