Posts Tagged ‘boot drive’
October 27th, 2009 | 
Author: On a Windows installed computer system with SCSI drive being used as the boot drive and no SCSI adapter BIOS enabled, NTLDR will access NTBOOTDD.SYS file for initial boot to communicate with the controller. The file is basically a SCSI miniport device driver that system renames to Ntbootdd.sys and places in root system folder. Windows uses it when Boot.ini file contains SCSI() or SIGNATURE(). You computer becomes unbootable when no or incorrect NTBOOTDD.SYS file exists, while preventing you from accessing the data stored on SCSI drive. The solution requires you to boot the system from boot disk or rename the faulty file. However if the data remains inaccessible while no valid data backup is available, apply and use an effective Data Recovery Software.
For instance, you might receive the below error message when trying to boot from a SCSI drive installed in a Windows XP based computer:
“Windows XP could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware. Please check the Windows XP (TM) documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed.”
The boot process fails without allowing any access to stored data.
Cause
NTBOOTDD.SYS file is missing or incorrect.
Note: The error can also occur if an incorrect SCSI driver is selected.
Solution
Following are the basic solutions that can help you recovering from such problems:
Use Windows XP bootable disk or installation media, if available, to boot the computer
Replace or copy the Ntbootdd.sys file from the root of the boot or installation disk to the root system folder of your computer.
Try to duplicate the behavior by restarting the system from your boot SCSI drive. If the problem remains the same, try other troubleshooting steps, like formatting and reinstalling the operating system.
To recover inaccessible or lost data, consider your last good backup to restore. For any reason, if it is not available, you need a Data Recovery utility. A Disk Recovery Software proves as a valid tool to scan, locate and restore missing data from a logically crashed drive. While providing safe Partition Recovery, such tools are easy to implement with graphically rich user interface.
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is an advanced utility to provide systematic recovery of lost data for Windows 7 RC1, Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000 based systems. It is a non-destructive Data Recovery tool with rich graphical interface and powerful disk and recovery features. The application is compatible with FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file systems.
Kmadhav is data recovery expert and doing research on disk recovery software Hard Drive Recovery.
Article Source: Windows Boot Issues due to Missing NTBOOTDD.SYS
%SystemRoot% is a system-wide environment variable used in Windows NT family of operating systems with value as the location of the system folder plus drive and its path. Typically, in Windows XP and later versions, it is \WINDOWS and Windows 2000 uses \WINNT. The further reading discusses about issues installing Windows 2000 or Server 2003 with non-default %SystemRoot% folder. While Setup, you might fail to specify the installation folder because of system/boot drive failure, however, there can be other reasons as well. As a result, you may need to reformat the original boot partition and restore from backup. For any reason if backup proves incompetent to restore, you are suggested to use a comprehensive data recovery product to locate and recover data.
To illustrate, consider you try to install Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 by booting from installation media. You observe that while the Setup is running, you cannot specify or edit the installation folder name .
Cause
General causes for such behavior to occur are:
You have specified ‘TargetPath=’ parameter in answer file while an unattended installation
You are trying to install when WINNT or WINDOWS folder already exists
You are using Winnt32.exe tool from already working Windows copy and change the location
System/boot drive is failed
Solution
To aid installing Windows 2000 or Server 2003, use any of the below described methods:
You can try performing unattended Windows installation by defining installation folder as ‘TargetPath=WINDIR’ in an answer file.
Use Windows installation media to start Recovery Console and create a new system/boot partition with a WINNT or WINDOWS folder. Alternatively, you can choose to use an earlier version Windows disk or move the drive to another Windows running computer to create the new system/boot drive. Install Windows 2000 or Server 2003 and restore data from last backup after this is done.
At times, you cannot restore from backup as it is invalid or not updated. In such cases, use an effective data recovery software to scan and recover lost data. These are fully-competent partition recovery applications with graphically-rich user interface and safe data recovery scanning algorithms.
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a powerful utility to provide systematic recovery of lost and missing data. It is compatible with Windows 7 RC1, Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000 based systems. Providing advanced features, self-descriptive interface and comprehensive results, this data recovery software serves as complete solution while all logical data loss instances.
Elfin Ruler is a data recovery expert doing research from last 6 years on data recovery services and partition recovery.
Article Source: Issues Specifying Installation Folder when Installing Windows 2000 or Windows 2003
If you use Leopard, you may be leaving all your backup tasks to Time Machine. With Time Machine, backing up can be mindless, but Time Machine has its limitations and it is not necessarily the best backup option for all Leopard users or for all backup tasks. Some of the shortcomings of Time Machine include the need for a significantly large extra external hard drive, use of the Leopard Install disk to restore a complete system and backups that only occur automatically once an hour, although you can back up manually at any time. And, of course, to use Time Machine, you must be using Mac OS X 10.5. In this article, I describe alternative backup options that can be used with Leopard as well as with older versions of Mac OS X.
Cloning a Boot Drive
Probably the most important type of backup is a complete backup or clone of your boot drive, usually to an external hard drive. The easiest way to create a clone is to download the demo version of SuperDuper! This application makes cloning a no-brainer — just select your source and destination drives, enter your user password and SuperDuper! does the rest. If you purchase the full program for $27.95, SuperDuper! can be scheduled to do automatic incremental backups so you will have peace of mind that you always have a perfect bootable backup of your drive.
If you do not want to use SuperDuper!, you can clone your drive using Disk Utility’s Restore feature. However, I recommend SuperDuper! because Disk Utility’s Restore feature may result in a clone with permission errors. SuperDuper!, on the other hand, consistently produces perfect clones. You can also use a donationware program called Carbon Copy Cloner, which is very similar to SuperDuper!
Backing Up Specific Files and Folders
In addition to cloning your drive on a regular basis, you might want an easy way to back up specific files and folders, especially if you do not store valuable data files on your boot drive. Many Mac OS X applications, such as word processors, spreadsheets and databases, include a special option for automatically creating a backup of your work every time you save it. If you use this feature, select a backup location on a second drive so your most important data will always be saved on two separate drives.
Another way to back up critical data is to use a program like Apple’s Backup, available for free for MobileMe users. You can schedule Backup to automatically save data files to your iDisk so you will know that you always have an offline backup of the data. The full version of SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner also let you save selected files and folders to an external drive on a scheduled basis. Another easy option is to purchase a USB flash drive and manually transfer critical data files to it as necessary.
Backing Up to CDs and DVDs
Some applications, like iTunes and iPhoto, have built-in features that let you back up your valuable data to CDs or DVDs. This is the perfect solution for data files that are very large, such as a photo or music collection.
Large folders of data can also be easily backed up to CDs or DVDs using the Mac OS X 10.5 Finder Burn feature. Simply insert a blank CD or DVD into your computer’s optical drive, move files and folders onto it and click the Burn button on the Finder window or move the disk to the trash to create a permanent copy of your data. You can also use a free application, such as Burn, to create backup CDs and DVDs of your data.
With so many easy-to-use options for cloning your system and backing up your valuable data, there is no excuse for any Mac user to lose data and precious time trying to recreate or restore original files. And, if you use Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, you have the additional advantage of Time Machine.
Copyright 2009 Claire J Rottenberg, All rights reserved
Reprint Rights
- You have permission to publish this article electronically on free websites as long as the bylines and all hyperlinks are included. All URLs must be set to hyperlinks (clickable links).
- You are not allowed to change or delete any words or links in the article or resource box. Paragraph breaks must be retained with the article.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contain or support hate, violence or pornography or in any indecent or illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM.
- You are not permitted to insert affiliate links into any part of this article or into the author’s resource box.
Claire J Rottenberg writes and publishes ebooks on Mac OS X (www.cjrtools.com/ebooks). In her spare time she develops blogs for her hobbies and her most recent one is on major league baseball (www.baseball-fever.cjrtools.com). Learn more about Claire on her writer’s site: www.writer.cjrtools.com.
Article Source: Alternative Backup Options to Time Machine (Mac OS X Leopard)
If you use Leopard, you may be leaving all your backup tasks to Time Machine. With Time Machine, backing up can be mindless, but Time Machine has its limitations and it is not necessarily the best backup option for all Leopard users or for all backup tasks. Some of the shortcomings of Time Machine include the need for a significantly large extra external hard drive, use of the Leopard Install disk to restore a complete system and backups that only occur automatically once an hour, although you can back up manually at any time. And, of course, to use Time Machine, you must be using Mac OS X 10.5. In this article, I describe alternative backup options that can be used with Leopard as well as with older versions of Mac OS X.
Cloning a Boot Drive
Probably the most important type of backup is a complete backup or clone of your boot drive, usually to an external hard drive. The easiest way to create a clone is to download the demo version of SuperDuper! This application makes cloning a no-brainer — just select your source and destination drives, enter your user password and SuperDuper! does the rest. If you purchase the full program for $27.95, SuperDuper! can be scheduled to do automatic incremental backups so you will have peace of mind that you always have a perfect bootable backup of your drive.
If you do not want to use SuperDuper!, you can clone your drive using Disk Utility’s Restore feature. However, I recommend SuperDuper! because Disk Utility’s Restore feature may result in a clone with permission errors. SuperDuper!, on the other hand, consistently produces perfect clones. You can also use a donationware program called Carbon Copy Cloner, which is very similar to SuperDuper!
Backing Up Specific Files and Folders
In addition to cloning your drive on a regular basis, you might want an easy way to back up specific files and folders, especially if you do not store valuable data files on your boot drive. Many Mac OS X applications, such as word processors, spreadsheets and databases, include a special option for automatically creating a backup of your work every time you save it. If you use this feature, select a backup location on a second drive so your most important data will always be saved on two separate drives.
Another way to back up critical data is to use a program like Apple’s Backup, available for free for MobileMe users. You can schedule Backup to automatically save data files to your iDisk so you will know that you always have an offline backup of the data. The full version of SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner also let you save selected files and folders to an external drive on a scheduled basis. Another easy option is to purchase a USB flash drive and manually transfer critical data files to it as necessary.
Backing Up to CDs and DVDs
Some applications, like iTunes and iPhoto, have built-in features that let you back up your valuable data to CDs or DVDs. This is the perfect solution for data files that are very large, such as a photo or music collection.
Large folders of data can also be easily backed up to CDs or DVDs using the Mac OS X 10.5 Finder Burn feature. Simply insert a blank CD or DVD into your computer’s optical drive, move files and folders onto it and click the Burn button on the Finder window or move the disk to the trash to create a permanent copy of your data. You can also use a free application, such as Burn, to create backup CDs and DVDs of your data.
With so many easy-to-use options for cloning your system and backing up your valuable data, there is no excuse for any Mac user to lose data and precious time trying to recreate or restore original files. And, if you use Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, you have the additional advantage of Time Machine.
Copyright 2009 Claire J Rottenberg, All rights reserved
Reprint Rights
- You have permission to publish this article electronically on free websites as long as the bylines and all hyperlinks are included. All URLs must be set to hyperlinks (clickable links).
- You are not allowed to change or delete any words or links in the article or resource box. Paragraph breaks must be retained with the article.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contain or support hate, violence or pornography or in any indecent or illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM.
- You are not permitted to insert affiliate links into any part of this article or into the author’s resource box.
Claire J Rottenberg writes and publishes ebooks on Mac OS X (www.cjrtools.com/ebooks). In her spare time she develops blogs for her hobbies and her most recent one is on major league baseball (www.baseball-fever.cjrtools.com). Learn more about Claire on her writer’s site: www.writer.cjrtools.com.
Article Source: Alternative Backup Options to Time Machine (Mac OS X Leopard)
Mac OS X 10.5.x (Leopard) includes Boot Camp utility to allow running Windows XP or Vista on Intel-based Mac computer systems in dual boot configuration. When Windows is first attempted to install on Mac computers, through the application’s help users can carry out non-destructive hard disk repartitioning or resizing (if required). But for the process to accomplish, hard disk has to abide few requirements. If not fulfilled, user may lose data while solving the issue and Mac Data Recovery can be required.
Apart from Windows copy and Intel hardware with latest firmware, Boot Camp requires at least about 5 GB of free hard disk space, while if it is Windows Vista 15 GB is recommended for Windows to run into Boot Camp. Also for installing Boot Camp itself, more free space is required. This is due to the fact Mac OS X requires some amount of free disk space in order to manage items in memory, which is about ten percent of total boot drive space so that all functions may proceed properly. But if these space requirements are not complete, Boot Camp setup will not end properly. In addition, user may get errors that prompt to format the drive as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) as some of the files can’t be moved.
If user faces Boot Camp setup difficulties, even while possessing enough disk space, issue can be file system itself. Thus it is suggested to backup all the data before entire file system crash. If backup fails, instead Data Recovery Mac applications can be used. Users are required to check the disk using Disk Utility.
If insufficient free disk space is the case, we can try out couple of things:
• By free space, Boot Camp means contiguous free space. Thus disk defragmentation can help. It can be accomplished using third party drive utility applications.
• Alternatively, user can backup all the data and then format the drive. If Time Machine backup is available, it will help restoring.
Mac Recovery
There can be situations in which user may lose data and backup may fail to work correctly. This particularly happens when backup process suffers some faults. This is when Data Recovery Mac utilities can play a significant role. These are the special tools which scan the disk to recover lost data.
Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery is the well built and designed application to safely recover lost information. It supports HFS, HFS+, HFSX, HFS Wrapper and FAT file systems. The tool is available with rich graphical interface. It can perform Mac Data Recovery for Mac 10.3.9 and above including Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5.x).
Allen a student of Mass Communication doing research on mac recovery and mac data recovery software. He is also a freelancer for http://www.stellarinfo.com
Article Source: Boot Camp Issues and Recovery
The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a mode that defines the operation of Serial ATA host-controllers and offers a typical method to configure, program and detect SATA adapters. An error message might occur when you change the mode of the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) to AHCI mode.
As a recent scenario with Vista, when a user changes the SATA mode of the boot drive in the BIOS setup to use the AHCI specification he receives the following error message when the computer restarts:
“STOP 0×0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE”
Cause
The main reason for the above problem is that AHCI driver (Msahci.sys) in Windows Vista is disabled. The user needs to enable the AHCI driver before changing the SATA mode of the boot drive.
Resolution
To resolve the above issue, the user needs to make changes in the registry. The user needs to enable the AHCI driver in the registry before changing the SATA mode of the boot drive. This can be done with the help of these steps:
1. Firstly the user needs to exit all Windows-based programs.
2. The user needs to click Start, type regedit in Run or Start Search window, and then press ENTER.
3. If the user receives the User Account Control dialog box, he needs to click Continue.
4. The user needs to locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
5. In the right pane, the user needs to right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
6. The user needs to click on the File menu to close Registry Editor.
The user might receive the same error message intermittently especially those with more than one hard drives. In such circumstances, the user needs to do a clean reinstall that will lead to data loss without proper backup already taken. To recover the lost data, the user can restore all the data through the recent back up. In case, if the user has not maintained any back up the user needs to use a third party application to recover the lost data. Such third party applications are known as Data Recovery Software.
Stellar Information System Limited provides the finest Data Recovery Software named Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery. This Data Recovery utility is a high end application, which incorporates powerful scanning methods to recover corrupted and lost data due to disk formatting, file system corruption etc. Stellar Data Recovery Software supports FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file systems. This File Recovery utility supports more than 300 file types. You can recover all the lost files by adding hexadecimal and decimal header information of these files. This recovery application is compatible with storage media like, hard drive, pen drive and flash memory based cards like SD, MMC. It supports Windows Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000. This File Recovery application provides interactive user interface, which makes it easily understandable.
K Madhav is a student of Mass Communication doing research on data Recovery Software. He is also a freelancer for http://www.stellarinfo.com
Article Source: Error message during Windows Vista Boot Up process
Sometimes you have to restart your Mac system to clear up several system processes to free up system resources. It is the best solution to save your system from freezing. But sometimes after restart, Mac may give you a gray spinner. After this, the system gets stuck and the data becomes inaccessible.
In such grave situations, technical experts suggest to use Disk Utility, Zap PRAM and some other standard resolutions. But these resolutions work in limited cases and can not fix start-up sticking problems.
In these cases, it would be worth to perform complete system restore from your Time Machine backup. Mac Time Machine allows you to create backup on internal hard drive, external hard drive or remote storage media.
In such kind of cases, when you restore from Time Machine Backup, it gets completed successfully. All of your files and folders seem fine.
After successful restoration, when you restart your Mac using the restored boot drive, the system creates some problem while logging in.
In such situations, you can not move any file or folder through drag and drop. When you open any file or folder, the terminal goes into the spinning beach ball. The spotlight does not work.
Everything from your Mac hard drive becomes inaccessible and you can not use your precious data. It is the worst scenario, which a Mac user could face. It may possibly put you out of the business.
Cause
This problem generally occurs due to damaged groups or incorrect permission. It could be the result of unexpected system shutdown, virus attack and the similar reasons. Nevertheless the cause of this issues, it is essential to fix it as soon as possible.
Resolution
Damaged groups and permissions can be fixed only by reinstalling all the system files and data structures. It is potential by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system.
Though, it is the ultimate cure of all the problems, but also has a downside. It will wipe out all the data from hard drive, eventually making the situations worst. But you should not panic, as Mac recovery solutions are available.
Mac recovery can be done through Mac data recovery software. Mac data recovery software are very easy to use applications, which systematically scan entire hard drive and end up at absolute data recovery Mac. There are several Mac data recovery software available in the market, but selecting the best one among them is really essential.
Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery software is the ultimate solution of all your Mac data loss related worries. This robust data recovery Mac tools has amazing power for retrieving all your lost data. It supports Mac recovery from all file versions of Mac OS X, having HFS, HFS+, HFSX and HFS Wrapper file systems.
Simpson is a freelancer for Stellar which offers data recovery software and file recovery programs for different OS and file system including data recovery mac, data recovery linux, mac recovery, pst recovery and many other programs.
Article Source: Damaged Groups and Permissions Could Lead to Mac Data Loss
The EFI or Extensible Firmware Interface is the specification, defining the software interface between Mac operating system and platform firmware. EFI boot process involves a boot manager which is built into the firmware. But with few of the Mac systems, the boot drive options are found to be changed to include EFI boot.
When the user desires to choose from the available boot volumes, the boot menu starts displaying the options which have never been expected. The EFI boot option
starts displaying and you have no clue of the bootable volume which has lots of important data within. Also the booting process may not be as usual, but the drive name appears as normal in Finder.
The condition is threatening as the data stored can’t be lost in this way. The possible culprit behind the scene could be the some modifications, done to volume structure of the drive. This is also feasible that the user has restored a clone of the hard drive after upgrading or any other case.
In such conditions, the user is recommended to stop doing anything with the system and follow the given steps:
· If you are cloning the hard drive, try using some alternative method. It should be a bit-for-bit transfer as small differences could create problems. You can try cloning a temporary external disk and then replacing the internal one and then cloning back.
· Try using the disk repair utility
· Reset PRAM as this might contain some boot information
· Attempt changing the startup disk in System Preference as this could be the result of some firmware settings
· Erase all the partitions of the drive as the last resort by using the Disk Utility
Erasing or formatting the hard drive partitions mean that all your data has gone and this is the time to have Mac recovery. Data worth when this is significant from business point of view. So Mac data recovery needs productive source to happen.
Data recovery industry has benefited the users with data recovery Mac software which have the high scanning ability for the lost data. These Mac recovery utilities are easy to use and well in results.
Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery software is the advanced Mac data recovery help, offered to scan the affected drive. This data recovery Mac application is found to be compatible with HFS, HFS+, HFSX and HFS Wrapper file systems. Through its read-only conduct, the software is viable to get safe Mac recovery.
Williamz Jack work as a freelancer and researcher of Data Recovery & File Recovery Software.
Article Source: Boot Options Change To ‘EFI Boot’ in Mac