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Thick As 2 Shor
14 Posts
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32042
December 18th, 2004 22:00
Dell PC Restore
Due to stupidity on my behalf I no longer have the ability to restore my PC using Ctlr + F11, all the data is still on the hidden partition and I can still restore using the fi.gho image file that I copied from the partition.
Is there any way I can make a bootable CD or floppy disk that will do the same job as Ctlr + F11. that will point towards the hidden partition.
This is a copy of aotoexec.bat file that I think it tries to use; when I tried to make a boot floppy myself this is what happens
*** Please power your system off then back on to restart ***
It looks like its failing when it runs dsrcheck, does anyone know what Ctlr + F11 actually does.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off
:: AUTOEXEC.BAT for Dell System Restore
:: A00 20 May 2004
:: Reset the customer OS partition back active, and the DSR back to type DB in
:: case the customer pulls the plug from under the restore process (we want to
:: boot back to the customer's OS in this case).
:: DSRCheck returns non-zero if the partition layout in the current MBR is
:: different from the original factory settings.
::
\bin\dsrcheck run
if errorlevel 1 goto PartChanged
::
:: Load the mouse driver for GUI control in the restore tool
::
\bin\mouse.exe
::
:: SRC2 contains the first step (starting place) in the restore process
::
cd \src2
srclient
if errorlevel 1 goto End
:: dsrreset will set the UP active and mount it as D:. This allows us to set
:: the UP back up for EBTS boot, which is desired after a restore.
\bin\dsrreset run
if errorlevel 1 goto End
:: Reinstate the EBTS version of config.sys, and we don't use autoexec for
:: EBTS (if diags are installed, breaking the seal will set that up again).
copy d:\config.bts d:\config.sys /y
if exist d:\autoexec.bat del d:\autoexec.bat
:: Ready to reboot
\bin\restart /x /w
goto BootMiss
::
:: If DSRCheck indicated the customer partition layout is different from
:: factory, SRC1 contains the interface that tells the customer to "Call Dell".
:: Load the mouse for GUI control in the "Call Dell" screen.
::
:PartChanged
\bin\mouse.exe
cd \src1
srclient
goto End
:End
\bin\restart /x /w
:BootMiss
cls
echo ************************************************************
echo *** ***
echo *** Please power your system off then back on to restart ***
echo *** ***
echo ************************************************************
Is there any way I can make a bootable CD or floppy disk that will do the same job as Ctlr + F11. that will point towards the hidden partition.
This is a copy of aotoexec.bat file that I think it tries to use; when I tried to make a boot floppy myself this is what happens
*** Please power your system off then back on to restart ***
It looks like its failing when it runs dsrcheck, does anyone know what Ctlr + F11 actually does.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off
:: AUTOEXEC.BAT for Dell System Restore
:: A00 20 May 2004
:: Reset the customer OS partition back active, and the DSR back to type DB in
:: case the customer pulls the plug from under the restore process (we want to
:: boot back to the customer's OS in this case).
:: DSRCheck returns non-zero if the partition layout in the current MBR is
:: different from the original factory settings.
::
\bin\dsrcheck run
if errorlevel 1 goto PartChanged
::
:: Load the mouse driver for GUI control in the restore tool
::
\bin\mouse.exe
::
:: SRC2 contains the first step (starting place) in the restore process
::
cd \src2
srclient
if errorlevel 1 goto End
:: dsrreset will set the UP active and mount it as D:. This allows us to set
:: the UP back up for EBTS boot, which is desired after a restore.
\bin\dsrreset run
if errorlevel 1 goto End
:: Reinstate the EBTS version of config.sys, and we don't use autoexec for
:: EBTS (if diags are installed, breaking the seal will set that up again).
copy d:\config.bts d:\config.sys /y
if exist d:\autoexec.bat del d:\autoexec.bat
:: Ready to reboot
\bin\restart /x /w
goto BootMiss
::
:: If DSRCheck indicated the customer partition layout is different from
:: factory, SRC1 contains the interface that tells the customer to "Call Dell".
:: Load the mouse for GUI control in the "Call Dell" screen.
::
:PartChanged
\bin\mouse.exe
cd \src1
srclient
goto End
:End
\bin\restart /x /w
:BootMiss
cls
echo ************************************************************
echo *** ***
echo *** Please power your system off then back on to restart ***
echo *** ***
echo ************************************************************
sweetdevil14
12 Posts
604
0
Posted December 19th, 2004 03:00
you can use norton ghost to get an image of the systemThick As 2 Shor
14 Posts
604
0
Posted December 19th, 2004 08:00
I have already used Ghost to extract the image, there must to some way to point a boot disk at the hidden partition or to re-create the MBR.
Is there any way of e-mailing Dell in America as they will have set this up in the first place.
Perhaps they could make a boot disk and put it on the download site, after reading lots of post on this subject I am not the only person to have messed up?
Regards
Thick AsThick As 2 Shor
14 Posts
604
0
Posted December 29th, 2004 13:00
Dell Tec Support in India say there is no fix for this, have now e-mailed from the US web site hoping that the people that wrote the program can help, can’t see any reason why DellRestore can not be added to the F12 Boot Option at startup (where it should have been in the first place)Thick As 2 Shor
14 Posts
604
0
Posted January 13th, 2005 20:00
I have tried on several occasions e-mailing Tec support in UK/India, they always reply with the same answer “once the MBR has been changed the Ctrl + f11 facility has gone” as the hidden partition is still there, what they say is wrong, I then tried e-mailing Dell US Tec support after many more e-mails bouncing back and forwards the will not help as they can’t access my Service Tag (why they need that to alter a piece of software god only knows) so if any one out there has this problem from the US please e-mail your Tec support and ask them to make the changes, they should have added the restore facility to the BIOS/F12 boot menu .- Can Norton Ghost pull the image from the restore partition?I can't use Ctl+F11 - the documentation that came with the PC said NOTHING about using PC restore, so naturally we assumed the reinstall CD had everything on it.There has to be another way to access that partition. I can't believe Dell would do something as stupid as to supply a restore procedure without an alternative means of using it.I emailed Dell on this & got an Issue number, but I haven't heard anything back yet. If I do, I will certainly post what I learned.
Same problem here, found your forum, spent 48 hours straight and found the following possible way. Firstly, if your Ctrl-F11 feature is gone, it is gone forever. The only way to get it back is if Dell can send you a new HD with the original image.
The following solution would work only if you have not deleted or accidentally modified/damaged the hidden partition that has the Norton Ghost Image (or Symantec Ghost Image) of your new hard disk. Secondly, you'll end up with your new HD with at least two partitions if that's ok with you. The forum postings say the hidden partition is usually 2-4GB in size. Using Partition management tools that work off of DOS, if you will be able to see the hidden partition, this partition type is called "CP/M, concurrent docs, COTS". If you see this partition you are good to go.
Now, hoping your image partition is intact read further:
Temporary tools you will needed for the job:
1. Another computer, with either CD or DVD writer.
2. Preferably Roxio CD writer software or a CD burning software that can burn CD off .iso image files. Nero software can also probably do the job..
3. At least one blank CD (more in case you spoil a few) to write the ISO image.
4. Fast Internet Access (slow might take longer time to download).
Recovery Steps (may take 2-4 hours):
1. Using the other computer and search for asssaver.iso file on the internet. Download it and burn the ISO image on a blank CD. Using Roxio, double click on the above file in the download folder and it will do the rest. Now you have bootable CD with the required tools.
2. Prepare your Dell computer such that it's other HD partition is divided into two (make sure you don't damage or delete the Dell's hidden partition that has the Ghost image we are trying to retrieve). Use the second partition of the Hard disk to copy the image from from the hidden image partition. The first partition that you've made would become your new C drive so allocate space judiciously (>= 5 GB). Format the second partition and make sure it is accessible.
3. Configure your Dell computer's SETUP to boot form CD ROM first.
4. Boot the Dell Computer with the bootable CD made in step 1 above.
5. Choose Win 98 DOS with CD Rom support. Try to find drive letters of your hidden partition and the second partition of your HD (made in step 2 above). Hidden partition is not so hidden in the DOS mode. In the IMAGES (or IMAGE I forget) folder you will find FI.GHO or similarly named file with GHO extension of about 2 GB or so in size. Copy this file into the second partition of HAD. This may take 20-30 minutes. So take a break here. I had a SATA drive and it took 30 minutes.
6. Reboot from the Dell computer from the bootable CD again. Choose option 3. Select Partition, and image to partition option. Select the first partition as destination partition and the GHO file (the copied Ghost) image from your second partition as source. Once this restore is completed you are pretty much done.
7. Remove the CD from the CD drive and reboot the system form HD. You should get the same initial installation screens that you got when you first booted your new computer.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18798 Posts
604
0
Posted December 18th, 2004 23:00
If the Master Boot Record has been rewritten, PC Restore will no longer work. There is no recovery procedure.