Re: XyWrite/NB with BartPE

["Patricia M. Godfrey" priscamg@xxxxxxxx]

Robert Holmgren wrote:

Ah! "Free" as in freeloading, "charity as a primary virtue",
etc.?


Lovely! right between the joints of the harness, and hoist by his own
petard. Thank you, Robert.

It depends. If you have a preloaded OS on your computer, with
all the *installation files* in the \I386 directory, then you
don't need an XP (or Server 2003) installation disk. A
"restoration disk" or hidden partition, which restores a
computer to its condition ab initio, will NOT suffice -- those
are just ghosted images of an already-installed virgin OpSys.
You need a true retail installation disk.


Thanks for clarifying that. I KNOW those "restore CDs" are in a way
worse than nothing, because people think they have a recourse they
don't. I have heard that SOME manufacturers will give you the
installation disk (for an additional $10 or so, but that's less than
an OEM version would cost) if you scream loud enough. Even M$ says
they should.

Michael Norman wrote:

I did not, repeat did not, have to use the I386 method.
I borrowed a clean unencumbered XP Pro SP2 install disk instead

And Robert replied:
You make that sound like the easier, preferred way to build
BartPE. Actually, an SP1+ \I386 dir is by far the simplest way
to go -- and the fastest.


No doubt. But would this work if all you had was one of those wretched
restore CDs? (This is not theoretical: I've got to clean up friend's
system that came loaded with tons of "trial versions" and other
garbage. When she first got it, I got her System Commander and
partitioned it, so her data is safe. Now I'd like to get rid of the
garbage, and am thinking that a wipe and reinstall would be quicker
than trying to Add/Remove programs--and then edit the Registry to get
all the entries Remove doesn't catch. But there is another, hidden
partition there; System Commander detected it. So maybe the i386 files
are there. I have the MS CD with ALL the SPs on it.)


I simply can't understand why anybody would not partition their
disk! To throw all your eggs in one basket makes no sense to
me. And the backup/restore times are insane!



Absolutely. I always say to other women, "You don't put your
groceries, your china, and your pots and pans all together in the
oven, do you?" (Guys, come up with the guy equivalent?)


Anyway, I intend to make a XyWrite plugin, although it may be
weeks away... busy busy.



Many thanks. Meanwhile, I'll get BArtPE and have a look at the docs.
And I think I heard that Acronis was making one of their older
versions available gratis.

PS: Robert, when you have time you might want to look at
PartitionLogic (http://partitionlogic.org.uk/index.html), a free
partitioning tool. Seems to detect all partitions correctly, but I
haven't had occasion to use it yet.


--
Patricia M. Godfrey
PriscaMG@xxxxxxxx