Win 98 Computer won't re-boot when trying to do a merge or partition re-size

[Nev58]

Hello,

Have been trying to do an upgrade from Windows 98 to Windows XP but the pc has a partition drive that needs to be increased to allow for the installation.

Purchased Acronis Disk Director Suite but when we perform the merge (merging the two partitions to become one larger partition) the computer will not re-boot and keeps shutting down and re-booting.

Investigation starting in safe mode found that the fault seems to be when Acronis is accessing the AutoPr9x.exe file as when this line is diabled in system.ini the computer re-boots normally.

Disk Director now will not run a merge at all.

Also tried running a partition re-size with the exact same error when the PC tries to re-boot.

Disk Director will also now not run a partition re-size.

Have downloaded and re-installed the latest upgrade but still have the same issues.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

PC details are as follows:
Pentium II
192mb RAM
OS: Windows 98

Thanks

Nev

[K0LO]

Nev:

Welcome to the forum. Try the operation from the boot CD when Windows 98 is not running. If you have not made a boot CD yet, there is an option on the tools menu for the Bootable Media Builder that will allow you to make one, or if you purchased a retail CD then it should be bootable.

Any partition operations that affect the Windows system partition should always be done when Windows is not running. If you start such an operation in Windows then the PC has to shut down Windows and reboot into Linux (the OS used in the recovery environment) to finish, but this doesn't always work automatically. Better to do it yourself.

[Nev58]

Thanks Kolo,

I have tried to do the BootCD but unfortunately I am getting an error that the device is busy (only a CD burner on this pc).

I can create an ISO file but am not sure that if I put this on a CD if it will load up using the DVD drive.

Is there any way that I can save the necessary files to the hard drive and then burn them to the CD using the burning software?

This PC is using a very old version of Nero.

Thanks again,

Nev

[MudCrab]

Nev,

If the version of Nero supports burning ISO images to CDs, then you should be able to do it that way. If Nero can't, there are free programs that can, though I'm not sure about Windows 98 support. The ISO file needs to be burned as an image to the CD and not just burned as a regular file to the CD. What version of Nero are you using?

Another trick you can try is to leave the CD tray open with the blank CD in it and let the Acronis Media Builder program close the tray when it gets ready to burn the CD. This will often get around the "device is busy" error message.

[Nev58]

Thanks Mudcrab,

You guys are legends, the leaving the tray open worked a treat and the CD is burning as we speak.

Will give the boot CD a run and hope I can perform the merge.

How do I initiate it? Do I run it in DOS and how do I know the drive name etc?

I presume doing the merge from DOS should still keep my files intact (I have made some backups just in case).

Thanks again for all the information!

Nev

[MudCrab]

Originally Posted by Nev58

...leaving the tray open worked a treat and the CD is burning as we speak.

Great.

How do I initiate it? Do I run it in DOS and how do I know the drive name etc?

Boot to the DD CD and select either the Full Mode or Safe Mode version of DD. The Full Mode version is Linux-based. The Safe Mode version is DOS-based. Once in the program, you should be able to find your partitions by their labels (don't count on the drive letters being the same as in Windows). If you haven't given your partitions labels, do it in Windows before you boot the DD CD.

I presume doing the merge from DOS should still keep my files intact (I have made some backups just in case).

It should. It's good to have a backup, though. Merging and Splitting partitions are two of the procedures that seem to cause the most problems. Having a backup of your partitions (with TI, for example) or, at least, copying off your important files is highly recommended before doing any partitioning changes.

[Nev58]

Thanks again,

I will give it a go and let you know how I have progressed.

[Nev58]

Hi,

Back again.

I got it running from the boot disk however I still am having the problem that it won't let me run the merge again.

I have un-installed and re-installed but when you go through the merge and select the drive to attach it to and then the folder to put the information in, it returns to the main screen and instead of seeing the new proposed merged drive, I can only see the two seperate drives and you can not select the commit flag.

Any ideas?

Does DD keep some kind of information on what I have previously attempted that is now blocking what I am trying to do?

Is there a way I can fix this.

Thanks
Nev

[MudCrab]

Are you using DD 10 (build 2,160)?

As far as I know, DD doesn't keep any previous information.

Would it be possible for you to post a screenshot of what you're trying to do? It may help to see it. DD in Manual Mode would be good.

Putting information in a "folder" doesn't sound right to me.

[Nev58]

I am using 2160 in manual (won't perform merge in Wizard)

Screen shots follow:

[MudCrab]

Okay. I've looked in the manual and it does use a folder for the Merge procedure.

Maybe it's because there's not enough room to move the files.

Have you tried doing it manually instead of using the Merge feature?

1. Resize D: smaller by dragging its left edge to the right. Apply the change.
2. Resize C: larger by dragging its right edge to the right (into the new unallocated space). Apply the change.
3. In Windows, copy the files from the D: partition to the C: partition.
4. Back in DD, delete the D: partition. Apply the change.
5. Resize C: to use the entire disk. Apply the change.

[MudCrab]

You might also run chkdsk /f on your partitions to make sure there are not any errors that might be preventing DD from working with them.

I'm calling it a night. I'll check the thread in the morning.