How to save pictures from XP that will not boot?

Message

Scoticus · #1 Post by **Scoticus** » Mon 01 Sep 2008, 19:41

I have a problem with my system as when I reluctantly want to use XP it will not boot. It displays NTLDR is missing and asks the use CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.

Nothing happens so I am in deep trouble as so far I have been unable to transfer a load of photographs. I was able to copy some of my files over to Puppy but as I have been using a multisession disk I could not copy the photos over as there was insufficient RAM.

If I do a frugal install will I be able to copy all the photos over to a DVD having retrieved them from the HD. If this is possible then I may be allowed to retire in peace as from RIP which is the current threat. To say that she who must be obeyed will be not amused is an understatement.

Your guidance is urgently requested.

rcrsn51 · #2 Post by **rcrsn51** » Mon 01 Sep 2008, 19:54

There is lots of information on the web for dealing with this problem. Do a search for "ntldr is missing". Do you have a Windows CD?

It would probably be simpler to use a flash drive to off-load the files.

Scoticus · #3 Post by **Scoticus** » Mon 01 Sep 2008, 20:20

rcrsn51

I agree there is lot on the subject which scared the life out of me. I have visions of having to go right back to a full re-install of XP but before I do anything I must have the photographs saved.

I am not talking about a few photos there are about 7000 of which I think that I have roughly 60% saved elsewhere. To have to take and check off each folder against those on my HD is a rather a large project. I was seeking some solution where I could copy the entire 7000 to DVD and then see how I could resolve the booting problem.

I must save the photos as a priority and it is to this end that I seek a solution

Trust this clarifies my needs

paulh177 · #4 Post by **paulh177** » Mon 01 Sep 2008, 21:07

why you can't just boot from a puppy cd, mount the xp drive, locate the snaps & copy them off to cd / dvd using the puppy tools with which you are already familiar ?

#5 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Tue 02 Sep 2008, 00:18

And in the same way, the ntldr may be found and through the puppy boot be copied to the windows c:\ maybe.

#6 Post by **Flash** » Tue 02 Sep 2008, 03:29

Scoticus, boot your multisession Puppy DVD with the "puppy pfix=ram" boot option so it won't use the hard disk. Then, as Paulh177 said, you can mount the XP partition (probably an NTFS filesystem) and use Puppy's tools to either burn the pictures to a DVD or copy them to a flash memory or an external USB hard disk. As long as you always choose "copy" and not "move," Puppy will not modify the files on the hard disk.

Then, as Béèm said, it's easy to repair your XP with Puppy. The hard part is figuring out what files need to be replaced in Windows, and then finding a good copy of them somewhere.

Scoticus · #7 Post by **Scoticus** » Tue 02 Sep 2008, 06:53

Many thanks to you all for the information.

I had a look at Pburn but could not find a way into the XP side of the HD. It gives me all the /root/choices etc etc but nothing shows me the way to the photos.

Can someone guide me through this area. So near so far at the moment.

aragon · #8 Post by **aragon** » Tue 02 Sep 2008, 08:23

hi scotius,

as i don't know on which level you stuck and which version of puppy you're using:

1. Mount your (xp-)partition(s) where your pics are located.
Open a Console and type 'pmount' choose the drive and click mount.
The partition will be mounted to /mnt/[partition]

2. Now you could select the files/folders on that drive in pburn.

i hope that helps.

cheers
aragon

Scoticus · #9 Post by **Scoticus** » Tue 02 Sep 2008, 19:43

Many thanks to you all for your assistance

Flash

using your suggestion of puppy pfix=ram causes me some difficulty as Puppy 4.0 needs the nvidia driver to be saved in order that the screen properly displays and attempting to do without the driver only gets me in a fankle. I becuase of this attempted to work from my Gizmo drive in the hope that the suggestions offered would work without pfix=ram.

I tried the suggestion by paulh177 but fell at the wayside. Using Pburn I am unable to find the path to the pictures.

aragon similarly leads me up the garden path. Following his suggestion I
mounted the XP hd and found that the file was listed as :

/use/sda1/Documents and Settings/Brenda/My Documents/My Pictures

on selecting the consol and typing pmount as instructed "Pmount Puppy Drive Mounter " is displayed and shows the drives as:

sda1 ntfs 2981.1G, sdb1 vfat 1.9G and the DVDRW drive

When I (if I have read your info correctly) choose the drive and click mount the rxtv shows :

# pmount
/usr/sbin/pmount: line 168: 12974 Terminated yaf-splash -font "8x16
" -outline 0 - margin 4 -bg orange -text "Puppy Drive Mounter

Please wait, probing hardware..." for a second time and then there is no sign of any action.

I looked at /mnt and found a folder sda1 with a green dot and clicking through it found that it would take me through to the listed file.

Assuming that this is what you described as /mnt/[partition] I then attempted to setect Pburn but when it opened I could not find a route through to the folder.

Where am I going wrong. I am sure that somewhere along the line I am missing something important but for the life of me I have been unable to make things work. I have been wrestling with this for the past two hours and am scared that I totally screw things up if I keep messing about with this

I would appreciate further guidance as I must secure the photographs before I go any further is resolving the boot problem.

Thanking you all in anticipation.

rcrsn51 · #10 Post by **rcrsn51** » Tue 02 Sep 2008, 23:14

At the risk of repeating myself and Flash, a USB pen drive would be a far simpler approach. These days, pen drives are big enough that you could probably fit all the files on one unit.

Scoticus · #11 Post by **Scoticus** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 06:54

rcrsn51

I note your remarks but as I am totally unable to establish the folder size feel that my 2GB Gizmo will not fit the bill.

The photographs are the result of a new camera which outputs pictures at 3648 x 2736 with a file size of 29 MB and I am unsure if they will all go on the Gizmo. If you think that I can get them all on a 4GB I will splash out on that.

I do not have a sufficient grounding in computing to work through this problem and this is causing me to take the conservative approach.

I appreciate your assistance in this matter and hope that this clarifies my position. Life for me will not be worth living if I can't save the photos above all else.

Thanks again

paulh177 · #12 Post by **paulh177** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 07:09

I'm easily confused by numbers so at the risk of making myself look very stupid indeed, I think if every photo is c.29MB and there are 7000 of them you are looking at c.200 GB; even if you only have c. 2800 to rescue (per your second post) that's over 80GB.
Which won't fit on a flash drive.

#13 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 07:47

If you have access to another PC (albeit on loan) you can always do the transfer in chunks of 2GB.
As Paulh177 you are speaking really of a lot of GB's.

Why not try to find the ntldr and see if boot is ok then?

HairyWill · #14 Post by **HairyWill** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 08:14

in rox filer right clicking on a folder and selecting dir NAME - properties will tell you the total size of all the files and sub directories in the folder

aragon · #15 Post by **aragon** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 09:18

hi scotius,

i'm asking myself, what you want to do with pburn if you got this huge amount of data?

in my opinion you 'll have to use an usb-hd.

if you use an usb-hd you could simply mount the usb-hd with pmount and then copy the directories in rox. if you then want to use your pics, all you have to do is plugin the drive, mount it and there they are.

if you burn your data to dvds, you'll need for example about 20 dvds for 80 gbs. it takes a long time to burn them. and if you then want to use your pics you'll allways have to change the dvds, what - in my opinion - will not be a convenient way (with this amount of data).

cheers
aragon

Tui · #16 Post by **Tui** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 12:22

Hi Scoticus Your problem is not that bad!
Yes you should be able to get all of the 7,000 photos, but it will
take time.

I have recovered 650 photos of a laptop using MS-XP There are a
number of ways. Is your machine laptop or desktop model?

With MS XP the details of the hardware are recorded
in the reg. and so make difficult to place into another machine.

For me the student I helped had a USB 160Gb ext portable HD with 5 or so
Gb of music and the format of H/D was fat32. So with the pc set to first boot
a PUPPY LIVE CD and second boot to ext USB H/D. All set to
recover! - yes.

So after puppy boot up into -- pfix=ram, open pmount and drill
thro' xp to find where the photos are located - Sorry forget to say that the XP was in German lingo!

With a laptop it took a while to get them into the ext h/d. after you can
do a sample check of photos on ext h/d to see that things went ok!

Now into pburn as I only had a cd burner and cds' for me are
as cheap as chips. With the photos recorded in numeric order and
loaded into pburn I could keep a check on the file size to fill the CD

A happy ending to what could have been a sad story!

Onward and upward!

Cheers Tui

P.S. You need to eject puppy live cd via the pmount and
then pop in the blank cd when requested.

Scoticus · #17 Post by **Scoticus** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 12:27

Once again many thanks to all for your assistance. I have decided to follow aragon and use a USB external drive which I have just purchased.

I will see how things get on when I get home and advise further.

In one way this problem only advances something that I was thinking off. I retire in under 2 months and had thought that I would like to keep my Linux OS apart from XP. I have nearly convinced my partner that Puppy rules except for photo printing and it was to this end that I felt that it would be better to keep both well apart.

When I look at the various OS on offer most seem to want a full install so I will have plenty of space to play with and investigate the best print offerings.

Again my sincere thanks

aragon · #18 Post by **aragon** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 15:27

hi scotius,

if photo-printing ist the only reason to stick with xp you might have a look at printxx:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=33032

i've not used it as i'm not printing my photos myself, but you might give it a try.

good luck
aragon

Scoticus · #19 Post by **Scoticus** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 16:47

Many thanks aragon.

I will have a look at your suggestion when I resolve this problem

Scoticus · #20 Post by **Scoticus** » Wed 03 Sep 2008, 19:52

I am pleased to say that my life is safe for the time being.

I have copied all the photos over to the new hard drive and will now address the NTLDR problem.

aragon

I downloaded your suggested print item only to find that having installed and rebooted that the programme does not display on the menu. Using the Petget manager it confirms that Printoxx-1.1 has been installed so where has it gone?

your assistance will be appreciated

Edit. After deleting and reloading etc Printoxx has decided to show up after all so I will see how it works.

Thanks again to everyone for their kind assistance

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