Ghost 14: Booting from a custom SRD leads to BSOD "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL"

Hello to the forum.

 

I need assistance with the issue reported in the subject line.  Recently purchased & installed the Ghost 14 application on a Windows XP system, which is fully up-to-date.

 

I followed the instructions as per the Ghost 14 official user guide and executed a driver validation test on the original SRD that came in the box.  This gave 3 drivers missing with the detailed message included below:

 

{

The following devices do not have drivers in the Symantec Recovery Disk.

Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATALink Controller
Packet Scheduler Miniport
NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller

A detailed information about these devices is given below

Description : Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATALink Controller
Class  : SCSIAdapter
Class Guid : {4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043&REV_01
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&CC_018000
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&CC_0180
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321095
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_710A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_B0021458
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CA9105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_3009148C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_88881019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_09781019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_716A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_715A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAB105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAD105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8F105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8D105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8B105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C89105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C87105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_722A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_02391154
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63001462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63101462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2C0B17F2
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_00226409
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0D10105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_820E1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2A4A103C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A57
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A5F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_1000131F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_000F182D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_F000147B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_8958152D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_00401170
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_CE21136B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321095
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_710A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_B0021458
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CA9105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_3009148C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_88881019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_09781019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_716A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_715A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAB105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAD105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8F105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8D105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8B105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C89105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C87105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_722A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_02391154
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63001462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63101462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2C0B17F2
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_00226409
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0D10105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_820E1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2A4A103C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A57
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A5F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_1000131F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_000F182D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F103C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_F000147B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_8958152D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31328086
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_02AF1028
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_CE21136B
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&REV_01
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&CC_018000
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&CC_0180
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095
Compatible Id : PCI\CC_018000
Compatible Id : PCI\CC_0180
----------------------------------
Description : Packet Scheduler Miniport
Class  : Net
Class Guid : {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Hardware Id : ms_pschedmp
Hardware Id : ms_pschedmp
----------------------------------
Description : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Class  : Net
Class Guid : {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Hardware Id : {1a3e09be-1e45-494b-9174-d7385b45bbf5}\NVNET_DEV0373
Hardware Id : {1a3e09be-1e45-494b-9174-d7385b45bbf5}\NVNET_DEV0373
Hardware Id : {1a3e09be-1e45-494b-9174-d7385b45bbf5}\NVNET_DEV0372
Hardware Id : NVENET_VFD
----------------------------------

}

 

I nonetheless tried to boot my system from the ORIGINAL Ghost 14 disk.  The boot sequence picked up the CD and continued with a "Windows is loading files" message (...) and then gave a BSOD with the "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" message.

 

After that, I rebooted normally and started Ghost in order to create a custom SRD.  I kicked off the process from the respective menu item, which picked up the 3 missing drivers and proceeded to create my custom SRD.

 

I ran the driver validation process from the custom SRD and this time around it gave no missing drivers.  Great, thought I, and so continued rebooting my PC with the custom SRD.

 

The boot sequence started and again it gave a BSOD "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL".

 

Can I please get some help with this issue?  I'd like to be able to boot my PC from the custom SRD and restore disk image backups in case of a system crash.

 

Details of my system:

 

Motherboard: ASUS Striker Extreme

Chipset: NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI

BIOS: v1901 [latest]

Memory: 8GB

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (x2 in SLI mode)

Sound: Creative X-Fi Elite

Hard disks: 2 WD VelociRaptor for system (in RAID 1), 2 WD for data (in RAID 1)

iomega REV disk drive (SATA)

DVD writer (IDE)

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-4000 card (PCI)

Hi Dave,

 

thanks for your input.

 

I guess I forgot to add the details of my system...; it is actually an XP 32-bit one, fully up-to-date with the following XP 32-bit drivers:

 

NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI: v15.46 [20091001]

NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series: v191.07 [20091005]

 

(...well..., there is a newer GeForce driver but haven't installed it yet.)

 

I do understand the process you are explaining below, but it looks like I it is not 64-bit drivers that have somehow slipped onto the SRD that are causing the problem.  After all, even the genuine original SRD from NGh fails to boot.

 

I am therefore suspecting that the problem lies with incorrect 32-bit drivers as opposed to correct/incorrect 64-bit drivers.  Meaning that, for some reason both the original SRD as well as the custom one I create somehow do not get the right 32-bit drivers through the "Create custom SRD" wizard process.

 

If I have understood this right then, I'll just head off and create a custom SRD with the specific 32-bit driver files that I am using in my system - as per your recommendation.  And see how that goes.

 

Maybe I'll be back - if it all goes pear-shaped :).

 

Cheers.

Hi Lamda,

 

You said the original SRD fails to boot? Did you purchase Ghost online or at a store? If you purchased online, how did you burn the ISO to the CD? You need to have an application which is ISO aware as this cannot be burned using conventional methods through Windows. What type of disk did you burn the ISO to? CD-R is the recommended though CD-RW and DVD usually works.

 

I also have GeForce video card. I can tell you for a fact that you do NOT need custom drivers for your video card. The default SRD absolutely will work. You may have just gotten a bad burn to your CD.

 

I would recommend just trying to burn the ISO again and then try booting from the new one. If you do not have any ISO utility you can try ImgBurn from here.

 

Do you have any other special hardware such as RAID arrays, etc? If so then you will need custom drivers. However if you have standard drive configuration (non RAID) and backup drive such as USB you should not need any custom drivers for those either.

 

Please let us know how it goes either way.

 

Thanks

Allen

Hi Allen,

 

by "original", I mean a genuine Norton Ghost 14.0 CD that came in the Norton Ghost 14.0 box along with a paper manual.  It is a yellow CD in a white sleeve that has the yellow product key sticker at the back.  I purchased this boxed version from amazon as I was in no mood whatsoever to get into trouble with burning my own ISO image.  "Better safe that sorry" was what I was thinking, I guess...

 

However, I do have RAID arrays, two of them in fact.  Both RAID 1, i.e. a total of 4 physical disks arranged in 2 RAID 1 arrays.

 

Based also on the previous input from Dave, I am going to create a new custom SRD whereby I explicitly provide it with the exact same drivers I use in my Windows XP for my RAID storage, my networking and my graphics cards.

 

You seem to be in favour of the ImgBurn, I'll give this a go.  When I first created the first custom SRD, I used Ghost's own CD burner.  The custom CD that was produced thus was ok to autoplay - that much I know.  Whether it has problems with its boot sectors and/or the drivers saved on it, I am not sure I can tell.

 

Many thanks for your input.

Hello to the forum.

 

I need assistance with the issue reported in the subject line.  Recently purchased & installed the Ghost 14 application on a Windows XP system, which is fully up-to-date.

 

I followed the instructions as per the Ghost 14 official user guide and executed a driver validation test on the original SRD that came in the box.  This gave 3 drivers missing with the detailed message included below:

 

{

The following devices do not have drivers in the Symantec Recovery Disk.

Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATALink Controller
Packet Scheduler Miniport
NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller

A detailed information about these devices is given below

Description : Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATALink Controller
Class  : SCSIAdapter
Class Guid : {4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043&REV_01
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&CC_018000
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&CC_0180
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321095
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_710A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_B0021458
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CA9105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_3009148C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_88881019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_09781019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_716A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_715A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAB105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAD105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8F105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8D105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8B105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C89105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C87105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_722A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_02391154
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63001462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63101462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2C0B17F2
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_00226409
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0D10105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_820E1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2A4A103C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A57
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A5F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_1000131F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_000F182D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_F000147B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_8958152D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_00401170
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_CE21136B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321095
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_710A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_B0021458
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CA9105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_3009148C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_88881019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_09781019
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_716A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_715A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAB105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0CAD105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8F105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8D105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C8B105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C89105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0C87105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_722A1462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_02391154
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63001462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_63101462
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2C0B17F2
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_00226409
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_0D10105B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_820E1043
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_2A4A103C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A57
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31321A5F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_1000131F
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_000F182D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_819F103C
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_F000147B
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_8958152D
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_31328086
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_02AF1028
Hardware Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&SUBSYS_CE21136B
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132&REV_01
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3132
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&CC_018000
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095&CC_0180
Compatible Id : PCI\VEN_1095
Compatible Id : PCI\CC_018000
Compatible Id : PCI\CC_0180
----------------------------------
Description : Packet Scheduler Miniport
Class  : Net
Class Guid : {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Hardware Id : ms_pschedmp
Hardware Id : ms_pschedmp
----------------------------------
Description : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Class  : Net
Class Guid : {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Hardware Id : {1a3e09be-1e45-494b-9174-d7385b45bbf5}\NVNET_DEV0373
Hardware Id : {1a3e09be-1e45-494b-9174-d7385b45bbf5}\NVNET_DEV0373
Hardware Id : {1a3e09be-1e45-494b-9174-d7385b45bbf5}\NVNET_DEV0372
Hardware Id : NVENET_VFD
----------------------------------

}

 

I nonetheless tried to boot my system from the ORIGINAL Ghost 14 disk.  The boot sequence picked up the CD and continued with a "Windows is loading files" message (...) and then gave a BSOD with the "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" message.

 

After that, I rebooted normally and started Ghost in order to create a custom SRD.  I kicked off the process from the respective menu item, which picked up the 3 missing drivers and proceeded to create my custom SRD.

 

I ran the driver validation process from the custom SRD and this time around it gave no missing drivers.  Great, thought I, and so continued rebooting my PC with the custom SRD.

 

The boot sequence started and again it gave a BSOD "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL".

 

Can I please get some help with this issue?  I'd like to be able to boot my PC from the custom SRD and restore disk image backups in case of a system crash.

 

Details of my system:

 

Motherboard: ASUS Striker Extreme

Chipset: NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI

BIOS: v1901 [latest]

Memory: 8GB

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (x2 in SLI mode)

Sound: Creative X-Fi Elite

Hard disks: 2 WD VelociRaptor for system (in RAID 1), 2 WD for data (in RAID 1)

iomega REV disk drive (SATA)

DVD writer (IDE)

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-4000 card (PCI)

Hi lamda When I referred to imhburn it was to burn the original ISO, You need ghost to creat the custom ISO. However you can have ghost save the ISO to HD and burn the cd with imgburn if you like. You need a custom cd for your raid drivers but you do not need new drivers for your video card so you can remove those from the list when you create the custom cd.

Yeap, that is my understanding too, we are 100% in line.

 

I'll try it later today or tmrw and report back.

 

Cheers.

Hmm, You said you had 8GB of RAM, XP32 would only see about 3.5GB of that.

 

Very nice system by the way, I saw that part about the RAM and RAID but didn't notice the motherboard and raptors.

Thanks for not saying you have an Intel Extreme, I'm jealous enough already.

 

If you go to assus and look under the downloads for your mobo, under RAID there is a raid driver for making a setup floppy. It's the small one in the middle about 1.9MB.

If you have a floppy drive to make the disk, that one contains the right files to use, I just checked.

 

Edit- I also should mention that although Ghost does a good job with most of the drivers, I also had a similar problem where everything checked OK but I couldn't get the network card to work.  It worked in windows, Ghost checked it and said it was OK but it still didn't work until I remade the rescure disk adding in the same drivers manually.

 

Edit2- Your network drivers are in the "chipset" download, when you extract it they are in the "ethernet folder"

 

But I do have a Striker Extreme!  Didn't I mention that in the details of my system? :smileywink:

 

Just teasing... It's a good system, when the wireless mouse/keyboard doesn't stop responding...

 

I actually forgot to mention that it is a dual boot system with Windows XP 32-bit and a Vista Ultimate 64-bit.  I am doing most of my work in Vista but the backups and system maintenance, I do in XP.  Vista 64-bit works sort-of ok but you can't be too careful when dealing with system tasks.

 

Incidentally, trying to create the SRD from Vista 64-bit bombed out with an application error.  Hence, XP is the way to go for now.

 

Those were some good tips Dave, thanks a lot for those.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the whole process will work in the end.

No, can't get it to work.

 

Running the custom SRD creation from Windows XP, I added manually the exact same drivers that my system is using, i.e. the NVIDIA RAID driver, the NVIDIA Networking Controller and the Silicon Image SATALink driver.  These were added successfully to the image, which I subsequently burned on a CD using ImgBurn (great app btw).

 

I enabled the "verify" option on ImgBurn and it verified that the image was created successfully and w/o problems.

 

I then tried to reboot but got the same BSOD.  No improvement.

 

Forgot to mention that the custom SRD wizard suggested a missing driver: "QoS Packet Scheduler".  Including or excluding this driver made no difference whatsoever, i.e. I created a bootable CD both with and without that driver and both gave the BSOD.

 

Now: I noticed something: when the machine boots from the CD drive, it gives an initial black screen with a grey progress bar at the bottom saying: "Windows is loading files...".  This progress bar gets to the end and then a new screen comes up, which is the splash screen of Windows Vista, i.e. a low graphics black screen with a greenish progress bar at the bottom where it says "Microsoft Corporation".  This is the exact one that comes up when my Vista is starting.  After a few seconds on that screen, I get the BSOD.

 

I am wondering why is this happening?  I am booting from the CD drive and getting a Vista splash screen?  How come?  Is the NGh stand-alone environment on the CD a Vista OS?  Or could it be that even though I am booting from the CD drive, the NGh is actually accessing my Vista OS on the hard disk?  Remember that I have a dual boot system: Windows XP 32-bit and Vista 64-bit.

 

I am stuck again so if anyone could offer some assistance, it'd be appreciated greatly.

Hi Lamda,

 

Thanks for the update. Regarding the SRD. The SRD contains what is referred to as WINPE (Windows Preinstallation environment). It is a scaled down version of the regular Windows OS and is essentially the one that MS itself uses when you are installing a fresh copy of WIndows and boot off of the DVD. I'm not sure off hand if Ghost 14 is using a WINPE based on Vista but I suspect so.

 

As a test I'd like you to try removing half of your memory. You have 8 GB but the WINPE is 32 bit. This normally should not cause a problem as Windows will use what it can recognize but given that the WINPE is a scaled down version of the OS, I"m sondering if this might be creating a problem resulting in the BSOD.

 

Can you remove 4 GB of ram from your computer and try booting from the SRD again and let us know the results?

 

Thanks

Allen

Hi Lamda,

 

By the way, what is your memory configuration which makes up the 8GB of RAM? Do you have a single 8GB module, 2x4GB or what?

 

Also, do you see the same error if you boot from the original Ghost CD? With the boxed version, the Ghost installation CD doubles as the SRD. If you have not tried booting from this, please try and let me know the results.

 

Thanks

Allen

Hi Allen,

 

I have 4 x 2GB modules, thus occupying all the memory banks on the mobo.  So, I guess I'll have to remove 2 modules and leave 2 modules in that will be occupying the first 2 banks (so that they are recognised).

 

And also, I have tried booting from the original NGh disk and I got the same BSOD.  That's where the whole thing started really.

 

Will try your suggestion then.  Thanks.

Hi Lamda,

 

Thanks for the update. Knowing that the original SRD from the Ghost CD has the same problem at the least tells us this has nothing to do with the Custom CD you created.

 

I have a feeling it might be due to the large memory capacity so I will look forward to the results.

 

Thanks much

Allen

And results I have!  I've been a bit of a cluck and forgot the peculiarities of my own system.

 

Here's how it went:

 

First of all, I removed 2 out of the 4 DIMMs of my system.  I was left with 4 GBs in 2 modules, one in bank 1 and another in bank 2 (as per manual).  Rebooted the computer; checked the BIOS screen for the memory; it recognised 4 GBs (good) and proceeded to boot the CD.  BSOD again!

 

Then it hit me.  My computer has a SATA iomega REV drive in it (70GB version).  This REV drive is of course connected fully (power & SATA cable), is visible from BIOS on the respective SATA port and is fully working on both Windows XP and Vista (with the same drive letter in fact).

 

HOWEVER, this rev drive gives a BSOD upon the installation procedure of Vista Ultimate 64-bit that I have.  It is a known issue to me, as I had to overcome it a couple of years back when I installed Vista 64-bit on this pc.  If the rev drive is connected to the mobo and powered, then the installation of Vista 64-bit will choke on a BSOD.  My Windows XP 32-bit won't; it will go ahead fine.  The solution to the Vista BSOD is to power off the drive so that it doesn't exist from the BIOS perspective.  Then, the Vista 64-bit installer will not give a BSOD, it will go ahead fine and install Vista w/o the slightest problem.  Then, once Vista 64-bit is up & running, install the software for the rev drive, power down, connect the drive, power up and everything is working 100% as it should.

 

(I do not know if this issue comes up with the installation of Vista 32-bit, as I went straight to Vista 64-bit.)

 

In our case, the NGh standalone environment is a Vista one - as you pointed out.  So, I thought, this is it: the REV drive is screwing things up.  I powered down, disconnected it, powered on and the standalone environment came up w/o the slightest glitch.  That was with the 4GBs of memory AND the original Norton Ghost CD.  But then, it also came up fine, with the 8GBs of memory and my custom-made SRD with the explicitly provided drivers.

 

The operation of the environment was the same under all cases.  No matter whether I was using the genuine or the custom SRD, I was getting the same options, networking service was starting up fine, I was accessing my network backup shares fine.  All seemed good in all cases.  And thankfully, I don't have to remove SIMMs in order to boot from the NGh SRD.

 

Bottom line: the REV drive was the culprit for the BSOD.  REV drive & Vista 64-bit is a bad mix on my hardware configuration.

Hi Lamda,

 

Thanks for the update and great job my friend!! :smileyhappy:

 

I will add a tag to this post in case someone else has a similar problem in the future.

 

Since you have solved your own problem, please mark your post as the solution so that others may benefit.

 

And again, great job!

 

Thanks

Allen