Hi Derrick,
Thanks a lot for your very thourough input.
However, I've tried out everything you mention, then plus++ some, sorry.
The main problem is a request for a redirector within *any* DOS, without
neither *any* DOS nor Win7 reacting from input from this redirector.
While the solution to this problem obviously should be within the world of
specs that the HWG members move within, this turned out NOT to be the case with
this laptop.
Quite burried into the HP support sites (referred from acronis.com), I finally found a page saying that the HP software on a G62 laptop *will block* any "foreign
software", including any access to the HDD. Furthermore, uninstalling this HP software will void the warranty, which is out of the question because of Danish Law about a
two years mandatory warranty. Nice. Well, depending... one could blame oneself by naming this a "feature" ;)
Conclusion on this journey: Never buy an HP laptop, unless you want to use everything as dictated by MS and especially HP. I had to talk my mom into investing in a USB
HDD, from which back up of course still will take forever, but still keeping it doable. Right now I'm wondering about keeping all the "profile" files on an USB pen, only
this isn't much different from the *nix distro I use myself. But, "Moms on *nix"...? Nope, I don't think so :)
As of laptops, I've experienced a different brand of laptops as a completely
different story, but that subject is off list.
/s
Gaffer wrote:
On Friday 08 October 2010 19:59:12 Soren wrote:
Booting from a normally usable floppy on CD (floppy disk emulation),
it only generates this exact error message:
"Type the name of the command interpreter (e.g.,
C:\WINDOWS.COMMAND.COM) A>"
Basically that error message is saying "I can't find Command.com on
drive C:" In which case just reply "A:\command.com" assuming a DOS
bootable floppy disk.
Or make sure that the disk is bootable and "Command.com" is in the root
directory of the floppy disk. You may need a "Config.sys" file with
the line "A:\command.com" in it.
Well, after getting an external USB floppy drive ('only' 45 US bucks
here in DK...), the laptop now boots properly from a floppy disk,
except no CD/DVD drive is detected. I tried this with no less than
eleven diferent boot disks, and all were no-go. "The CD driver isn't
loaded" is the common error message.
In that case you need a driver for the CD and a line in the "Config.sys"
file pointing to it eg: "A:\CD.sys". You will now need
an "Autoexec.bat" file with the correct parameters for the CD drive.
The second - and maybe most important thing - is that while it's
possible to start ghost.exe from this USB floppy drive, the error
message is "...no drive to clone (11093)..." appears. Nice :)
Thats simply because you don't have a CD driver loaded ! Ghost can't
see the CD drive.
This could be caused by either the fact that a CD driver is not
loaded, or that a 2003 Ghost is not supporting newer systems. A
Google search didn't bring me any closer.
Ghost works just fine from a floppy with access to a usable CD drive.
To say it straight, forget about Linux's dd, and Acronis in this
case, as I want absolute reliablity, and neither do serve that.
Rubbish ! If used properly then both work as advertised.
I know Symantec is working on a new version of Ghost that works
within Win7, so this could be a common problem?
Any suggestions?
If SATA's the problem (seems obvious), where do I find a boot floppy
for this??? (bootdisk.com doesn't fix this)
Assuming SATA is supported by the BIOS then it shouldn't be a problem.
If drivers are needed then they will probably be available somewhere on
the net. Though I must admit I've not yet met a situation where I've
needed SATA drivers.
Thanks.
/soren
HTH, YMMV.
