by Lance Jensen

Executive Software Technical Support Director

Emergency Repair Without an ERD

In spite of everything you've tried, your Emergency Repair files still won't fit on a floppy disk. Your system is at risk, and possibly your job as well. Isn't there anything you can do?

Yes, there is. It takes a bit of work, and possibly some new hardware, but I have done this myself, and it works. However, it does involve rebuilding your Windows NT system, either reinstalling everything or reformatting and restoring from backup, but in the long run it will save you a lot of time, especially if the machine in question is a server with hundreds of users.

Overview

I'm offering two routes here: The easier-to-accomplish, minimal change setup, and a full-blown "start from scratch". You will probably not want to use the full-blown route unless you are setting up a new system.

In both routes we will be setting up your system so that it has a large boot/system partition with a primary Windows NT installation, and a second partition with a secondary Windows NT installation. The full route calls for a third partition for applications, and a fourth partition for data.

This is a minimum; you may want to have several data partitions. For more information about partitions and why applications and data should be on separate partitions, see these articles from past issues, available on our back issue Web site (URL for that issue is below each article for your convenience):

Configuring Windows NT Partitions

eLetter Volume 2, Issue 8

http://www.executive.com/eletter/vol2-iss8.htm

Multiple Boot Systems

eLetter Volume 2, Issue 13

http://www.executive.com/eletter/vol2-iss13.htm

Efficient NTFS Partitions:

eLetter Volume 3, Issue 4

http://www.executive.com/eletter/vol3-iss4.htm

The Full-Blown Route

First, back up everything. Everything!

Now install a new disk drive on an existing computer. Create a 2GB bootable partition at the beginning of the disk and format it NTFS with a cluster size of 4096. I have heard that there is a tool that will create the boot sector, but haven't tracked it down. At worst, you can create the boot sector using the Windows NT setup disks.

Shut down the computer and reconnect the new drive as the Primary Master. This is usually done by setting jumpers on the disk; see the owner's manual. Install this disk as Drive 0. Now install Windows NT without reformatting.

This will give you an NTFS format partition C:, which will hold your primary Windows NT installation.

When the installation is complete, make 2 ERDs and label them "Initial Primary Installation". Then set the size of your paging file. It should be at least 10% larger than the total RAM. Go to Control Panel, double-click

System, select the Performance tab and click Change. Set the initial and maximum sizes of the paging file to the same value (so the paging file will not grow or shrink) and click Set. Reboot.

Install the Diskeeper defragmenter and defragment C:, set the boot-time consolidation of the paging file, and reboot. This will give you a contiguous paging file. You need to use Diskeeper for this because only diskeeper can defragment the paging file.

Now create another 2GB partition, preferably on another disk, and format it NTFS with a cluster size of 4096. Install Windows NT to that partition, and create your application and data partitions. When you have finished, you should have all partitions created and in their permanent form. Make 2 ERDs and label them "Initial Secondary Installation". This is your secondary installation, which you can use to do most repairs and recoveries should you have problems with Windows NT. If you are using a Service Pack, you should install it now to your secondary installation. Run RDISK/S, then make another set of ERDs and label and date them. Your secondary installation is now complete.

If you are restoring your system from backups rather than reinstalling everything, you should now restore everything, including your primary Windows NT, then boot to your primary installation. Now you need to update your old disk configuration to include the new partition where you have the secondary installation. Go to Disk Administrator and click Partition, Configuration, Search, and "Yes" in the warning box that pops up. This will search the disks and list the existing disk configurations. When the "Get Previous Disk Configuration" box appears, select the configuration from the secondary installation and click OK.

If you are building your system from scratch, boot to the primary installation and install the applications. Whenever you are given an option of where to install them, select your application partition instead of C:. After you have installed all of the applications, install the Windows NT Service Pack (if any) which you use.

Make another set of ERDs, label them "Primary Installation" and date them. Last step: Run RDISK/S- to update the primary installation's repair files. Create a folder named \Primary Repair on the partition containing the secondary Windows NT installation. Copy the contents of C:\WINNT\repair to the new \Primary Repair folder. Make a new set of backup tapes.

The Minimal-Change Route

Do the backup, new disk, and initial Windows NT installation as described above. Create the second partition and install your secondary Windows NT installation. Make ERDs for both installations. Now install your backup software to the secondary Windows NT installation and restore your original Windows NT from your backups to C:. Boot back to C:, create the partitions you need and restore your applications and data from backups.

Update your old disk configuration to include the new partition where you have the secondary installation. Go to Disk Administrator and click Partition, Configuration, Search, and "Yes" in the warning box that pops up. This will search the disks and list the existing disk configurations. When the "Get Previous Disk Configuration" box appears, select the configuration from the secondary installation and click OK.

Now do the "Last step" above, running RDISK and making the \Primary Repair folder. Don't forget to install the Service Pack (if needed) to the secondary installation, and make ERDs for the secondary installation.

Recovering

Now, you will have to do your maintenance chores regularly. Update the primary installation's repair data weekly, and whenever you add or remove software, and don't forget to copy the \repair files to \Primary Repair.

Run RegClean a couple of times a year. Keep your backups up-to-date, including a full backup of the primary Windows NT partition. If you update Windows NT with a new service pack or a new version, update your secondary installation as well. Do this and you will be ready.

OK, here's the fun part. Disaster strikes, so what do you do? You run a repair on your primary installation, but when asked if you have an RD, you reply No. The repair then attempts to use the contents of the \repair folder, and usually succeeds.

What if the \repair folder is corrupt? Boot to the secondary installation, copy the files from \Primary Repair to \repair and try again.

What if the problem is a corrupted system file? Boot to the secondary installation, copy the affected files from the secondary to the primary, and reboot.

What if it's major corruption involving many files, or the MFT itself is corrupt? Boot to the secondary installation and restore C: from your backup.

What if the whole computer got burned up in a fire? Put together a new computer and follow the Minimal-Change Route, restoring from your off-site backups.

Do you see the advantages here? No matter what happens, you can have your system fully restored in just minutes, once you have replaced any damaged hardware. That's worth spending a couple of hours to set up.

CONTACT AUTHOR

Lance Jensen is Executive Software ace Tech Support Director, and has great experience with both Windows NT and Digital's OpenVMS operating systems.  He can be reached at dknt_support@executive.com

Please feel free to write to him with questions or comments about this article.

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