Other Norton Products

[spudz3]

Forgot to mention - I checked the controller drivers for both OS (C) disk and internal backup (H).  Both use the same drivers: disk.sys and partmgr.sys

Since both disks use the same drivers, can I conclude that this is NOT a driver issue?  Or am I missing something?

[Brian_K]

I agree it is not drivers.

Let's change the Disk Signature. It is WinXP and I don't think Diskpart will work so try this....

Download BootIt BM. There is a 30 day trial usage. Unzip the file and make a boot CD.

 
 double click makedisk.exe, next
 dot in BootIt Bare Metal, next
 dot in I accept the agreement, next
 don't select Image for DOS (GUI), next
 dot in Mouse Support Enabled, next
 dot in VESA Video, next
 dot in Video Mode 1024*768 - 64K Colors, next
 dot in Partition Work (Don't put a dot in Normal), next
 don't choose any Device Options, next
 tick in Enable USB 1.1 (UHCI), next
 ignore Additional bootitbm.ini Options, next
 select your CD burner drive letter (you can use a CD-RW or a CD-R disc)
 Finish

 Boot from the CD

your BootIt CD boots to the Work with Partitions window
in the Drives field, make sure it is 1 - BIOS HD (click the drop down arrow)(0 is the first HD)(confirm the partitions are correct for the second HD)
click the "View MBR" button.
click the "Clear Sig" button. Then click OK on the Notice
click the "Apply" button.
click the "View MBR" button again and confirm the number in the left bottom corner is 0x00000000
click Cancel
click Close on the "Work with Partitions" window
click Reboot and remove the CD

Now see if Ghost works.

[spudz3]

Is this action reversible?  Are there any safeguards I should take beforehand (make a copy of something like the MBR?).  Just want to make sure - thanks!

[spudz3]

I think you're on to something.  I recall about a month ago Norton chkdsk detected a problem with the MBR of the backup internal disk.  It automatically fixed the MBR, so I didn't give it much thought.

Norton Utilities has a utility specifically for repair of MBR. I didn't run it on the backup internal drive because it gave a scary warning.  "This operation will overwrite existing disk boot loader code with Windows disk boot loader code.This operation could make your system unbootable".

Well, I don't boot from my backup drive.  Is running this repair utility worth a shot?  This MBR is stored on the drive itself, right?  It can only affect my backup drive, right?  Why is there boot code on my backup disk anyway?  I'm confused - sorry if I sound like a newbie.

[Brian_K]

Writing a new Disk Signature to HDs in a WinXP system is safe. It wouldn't matter if you did it to all your HDs.

After you have run "Clear Sig" on your second HD can you click View MBR again (for second HD) and then click Std MBR, OK, Apply. This is safe too. All HDs should have boot code, even non OS ones.

[spudz3]

Brian,

You're a genius!!!

You're a genius!!!

You're a genius!!!

It was indeed the MBR.  Follwing your wonderfully detailed instructions, I was able to get this to work perfectly.  Frankly, I was giving up hope that I would ever get this to work properly.  You are the best!  Thank you thank you thank you!

So it seems that what happened was some sectors went bad on the disk, and the MBR was in one of those sectors.  Scandisk shows 156K in bad sectors.  Chkdsk said it had repaired these, but I guess it wasn't a complete repair.

The thing I still don't understand is why the repartition didn't work.  Isn't a new MBR created when a new partition is created???

Also, with a bad MBR, any idea why Windows was able to see the disk, while Ghost could not?  Shouldn't the disk have been completely invisible to all?

[Brian_K]

Great news! And thanks for the pat on the back.

We've seen issues with the Disk Signature and Partition Table causing Ghost to miss seeing drive letters but I can't recall an issue with boot code. Changing the Disk Signature alone would probably have been sufficient,  I don't understand why Ghost is so sensitive to these errors when Windows can see the partitions.

Do you still have bad sectors?

[spudz3]

I stand corrected.  I followed the instructions in your first email, which said to "clear sig".  I did that and it worked.  I did not choose "view MBR" and "click std" as outlined in your 2nd email.  So I guess the MBR was OK, it was the disk signature that was the problem.

How on earth did you know to check for the disk signature?  That's pretty obscure.  What is a disk signature anyway?

[spudz3]

ahh yes, I still have 156K in bad sectors.  Is it possible that was where the disk sig was stored?  I have chkdsk which marked the bad sectors.

[Brian_K]

Make sure you have backups. Some people replace a HD with 1 KB of bad sectors.