Mission Accomplished! (FD-ISR & WINDOWS 7)

Discussion in 'FirstDefense-ISR Forum' started by pandlouk, Feb 20, 2009.

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  1. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    I see that now. I offer my sincere apology, houaus, for the oversight. My only excuse was that my focus settled on post #17 and I went on from there.

    So, is it down to it's just not going to work as a jump from WinXP to Win7 and only works coming up from Vista?
     
  2. Ragzarok

    Ragzarok Registered Member

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    I've had similar luck with XP-> 7. Created snapshot, installed 7 into snapshot, preboot disabled, can't do anything.
    I would try XP->Vista->7 if I had Vista. In either event, having tried 7 on SSD, I can't say that it's so much faster or much more "wow factor" than my tweaked up and optimized XP. As more and more tweaks and customizations become available for 7, I might have a renewed interest in making FDISR work with it, but unless FDISR works with 7, I'll stay with XP.

    Edit: Looks like Todd is a little tied up with stuff until July. Hope he gets a chance to look at it then.
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2009
  3. Longboard

    Longboard Registered Member

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    :doubt:
    It's down to some MS complication as well, not allowing updates from XP to 7.
    :shifty: Bet some smarty figures out a hack, but the 'new' WGA will no doubt be set up to screw that tightly shut ergo another hack ad infinitum. :cautious:
    ;)
    Interesting how FDISR has come to be a primary tool, above and beyond OS :)
    My XP-Pro does it all atm, no rush to change , never even really gave Vista a more than cursory look.
    If I was a recent uptaker of Vista I'd prolly be royally pissed at the way MS has pushed re XP > Vista ( now at least informally acknowledged as a cludge) and now onto 7.

    If I didn't need MS to run some biz related apps, it would be all *nix here.
    There is still testing to be done to see if my office management ( installed 7 years ago) system will work with either Vista -now no longer relevant really- or 7.
    As long as there is support for me and XP via vendors of my software XP stays.
    More importantly FDISR stays. :D
    That would be an amazing boost.
    He obviously has moved into other areas as we know.
    Maybe Todd will be able to release some 'new' ISR in time as Win7 becomes the dominant OS into the future and could launch a new era ??
    (It's not like HDS apparently really cares re FDISR.)
    That would be nice: might make me move to Win7, LOL.
     
  4. houaus

    houaus Registered Member

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    Nick and crofttk no problem I was being more silly than serious and Pandlouk did get the ball rolling and always provides great advice.

    Crofttk, I may have found a workable solution that I will try to post later.
     
  5. Longboard

    Longboard Registered Member

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    No slur intended. :oops:
    Just saw it as cooperative effort. :)

    So:
    Have to have vista disc ??
    Hhmm: might be worth it if it leads to a stable FDISR in Win7.
    Might be some cheap Vista discs available very soon ;)
    Thanks guys for running through this:
    :ping: Pete :
    If there is a solution that is applicable, how about a sticky ??
     
  6. houaus

    houaus Registered Member

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    Okay, this might be a viable option for those who have already installed Windows XP first and do not have a Vista install disc, but are interested in testing Windows 7.

    Download Windows Vista Recovery Disc either 32 or 64 bit, only 120 mb in size, hosted at Neosmart.net, developer of the software EasyBCD. You can read more at:

    http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

    It is stated there that this is a legal download because it does not contain the installation files, but is soley used for recovery.

    "What it does: The Windows Vista Recovery Disc can be used to access a system recovery menu, giving you options of using System Restore, Complete PC Backup, automated system repair, and a command-line prompt for manual advanced recovery."

    Testing within a virtual machine, I first installed XP, then FDISR, created new snapshot, installed Windows 7, booted into the downloaded Vista Recovery Disc and used the following command:

    bootrec.exe /fixboot

    ,restarted and installed FDISR within Win 7. Switched snapshots without problem.
     
  7. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    OK, this is downright exciting!:cool: Unfortunately, today is "honey-do" day at home and, as I'm currently unemployed, I have no excuse for not scrubbing toilets.:oops: SO, I will get to this as soon as I can and will at least monitor to see any other developments here.:thumb:
     
  8. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    DITTO! OK, thanks very much, houaus. All is working fine now. I'm really glad you pointed that little stepping stone out for me. Now, on to play.*puppy*
     
  9. houaus

    houaus Registered Member

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    Glad it worked out you and thanks for the feedback! By the way, good luck on the job front!!
     
  10. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    OK, thank you. Now I wonder if that didn't sound bad, going off to play when my job is currently finding a job. :oops: LOL. Oh well, at least I get up in the morning and don't do most of my playing until evening!

    So far, I've got Comodo Firewall (free) and Avira Free set up in Win 7 and it works very well, including switching back and forth between Win 7 and XP several times.

    OK, enough of the OT stuff.

    Again, thanks very much for the help.

    Good thread here.:thumb:
     
  11. Ragzarok

    Ragzarok Registered Member

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    Hm,
    I tried houaus' method. Installed Win7, ran the Vista recovery disk, installed FDISR. A couple things:

    1. The snapshot that was supposed to have Win 7 on it was empty. Win 7 was instead put on another snapshot, so I lost that snapshot. But functionality is normal when copying and updating snapshots except:
    2. While in Win 7, can't copy the Win 7 snapshot to another one. I get this error: "Unable to create static copy of active snapshot".


    So,
    I guess I'll try next to boot to an XP snapshot and copy the Inactive Win7 snapshot to a new snapshot. Will see about this.

    Thanks much houaus and everyone.
     
  12. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Interesting stuff, fellows, keep it coming. When it is released to the public I will NOT purchase Windows7 unless I know for sure that I can get it to work with FirstDefense. FirstDefense original-classic is more important to me than the next release of Windows. :cool:

    Acadia
     
  13. boonie

    boonie Registered Member

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    Thanks to houaus, pandlouk and the rest for this info.
    Tried housaus' method (Vista Recovery Disk), and it went off without a hitch.
    All snaps and archives visible in Win7 and XP.
    Have already copied Win7 snap to archive, made a few changes in Win7, and restored archive to Win7 snap with no problems.
    FD-ISR v.3.32.235
     
  14. samy

    samy Registered Member

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    Thank you Houaus for your valuable 'method'. Now I get the answer to my question I posted in post# 14 above:
    I would like to test Windows7 but I I would not like to have the same problem like Ragzarok had.
    Please can you elaborate regarding the steps to follow in order to install it without problem? i.e.
    1- Create an empty snapshot and fully install Windows7 in it
    2- Within the new snap, restart and boot in the Vista Recovery Disc
    (Is it not going to 'overwrite' the new installed Windows7 and create problems...?)
    3- Can you elaborate how and where you used the command: 'bootrec.exe /fixboot'. Within Windows 7?

    I am like Acadia. If I am not sure it will work flawlessly and I understand all the installation steps, I will not use it.

    Thanks for your assistance.

    P.S.: IMHO opening a sticky post with the detailed installation steps can be very helpful
     
  15. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    I tried that today and had no problem copying live Win7 to a new snapshot - just for reference.

    I've seen this error before, as have others, in various situations. For me, it's sometimes been that I didn't realize that Shadow Copy service was already active with a backup being performed with Retrospect from my main machine on that particular machine - not that it's likely sonething similar for you - you may just want to try again.

    @ samy

    After booting to Vista Recovery CD, select "Repair Computer" (exact wording?), then select command prompt option. At command prompt, simply issue the command "bootrec /fixboot". Then reboot and it should start up OK into Win7 where you can then install FD-ISR without getting the "unnknown type" message about the Boot Sector.

    @ALL: Maybe after everyone is happy and all kinks are out of these procedures, someone can do a fresh post for Vista and XP users with the simple but well explained cookbook steps for a sticky? This one's a little noisy - and I know I'm to blame for a good bit of it.
     
  16. houaus

    houaus Registered Member

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    Ragzarok, I am not sure what happened, seems unusual from my testing. The method seems to have worked for crofttk & boonie (glad to hear boonie) without problem. I will try again. Are you using the Leapfrog or HorizonData FDISR Rescue version? I can only vouch for Leapfrog's 3.31.233 & 3.32.235 version.

    I will start from scratch, reiterating the steps that crofttk just kindly explained, sorry if some of the steps are elementary.

    1) Download Vista Recovery Disc 32 or 64 depending on what version of Windows 7 you plan to install.
    http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/.

    Recovery Disc is only needed if one does not have a Vista installation disc. For those with a Vista disc reread post 5 and Pandlouk's post 17 of this thread. Note: on post 17 substitute Vista disc instead of Win 7.

    2) Install XP or Vista (if already installed, including FDISR, move to step 4).

    3) Install FDISR 3.32.235.

    4) Within FDISR create a new snapshot for Windows 7.

    5) Restart into new snapshot. You must first receive error message before installing new operating system.

    6) Put Win 7 disc in and install.
    a. Select "Custom" install
    b. On the "Where..to install Windows?" screen, just select Next
    c. Win 7 should install as normal

    7) After installation, restart computer into the Vista Recovery Disc, must be 32 bit or 64 bit depending on what version of Windows 7 you chose to install.

    8] Within Recovery Disc, select "Repair your computer" at bottom left of screen. Choose "next" at following screen.

    9) At the "System Recovery Options" screen select "Command Prompt"

    10) type: bootrec.exe /fixboot
    (There is a space after bootrec.exe)
    Should receive "The operation completed successfully" message.

    11) exit, done with Recovery Disc

    12) Now install FDISR in Windows 7 as normal.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2009
  17. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Actually I did gave you credit... :)

    For the record, the idea of using bootsector.exe modification, actually came from the How To: Install Windows 7/Vista From USB Drive [Detailed 100% Working Guide] ;)
    And this was the reason that I said that you had saved me time from testing it....
    Wrong. The method I described was not incorrect. With 7 build 7000 you could use the bootsect.exe to modify correctly the bootsector of the partition from bootsector nt61 (7) to nt60 (Vista).

    Panagiotis
     
  18. houaus

    houaus Registered Member

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    Thanks and I gave you credit and never mentioned you did otherwise. In hindsight, I should have not included the sarcasm and focused on "the cooperative effort" as Longboard said.

    Well for the record thats the first time I ever read that site ;) and I never claimed first creation or first thought of some method, but simply and jokingly stated I had proposed the bootsector method in regards to FDISR and Win 7 to an earlier poster. Also, like most people in order to solve a problem, I accumulated information and knowledge from various sources and experimented and aggregated them to see if they worked. That site also borrows information published elsewhere.

    I incorrectly assumed that you inadvertantly mentioned Win 7 instead of Vista after not visiting this site for some time and reading nfranken (Nick's) post and also retrying the method and for some reason failing to get it to work with the Win 7 disc. I apoligize for the mistake :oops:. It would certainly be more convenient to use the Win 7 disc for those who skipped Vista.
     
  19. PoetWarrior

    PoetWarrior Registered Member

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    Guys, I appreciate the collected info in this thread because I successfully installed FD on Win 7 using the latest summary by houaus.

    Have booted into both snapshots and back without problems. Successfully deleted a basic XP snapshot. Created a Win7 archive. All without problems. It's a good feeling to have FD back again. Just wanted to say thank you to all involved. :thumb:
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2009
  20. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    I see it as a cooperative effort too. :)
    Sorry I am not a native english speaker and probably did not express myself correctly.
    I did not mean that you have read that article. I meant that before I started to test the 7 FD-ISR combatibility I already had in mind to try the bootsector modification after having read that article. My testing proceadure was:
    1st . Installing 7, imaging it and then from a PE enviroment importing the windows 7 file to an empty snapshot by using Shadow copy https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1396913&postcount=4
    (this failed miserably since it gave a problem with the linked folders of 7.
    2nd. The upgrading procedure from xp to vista to seven (which was a success)
    3rd. The bootsect method that you posted.
    4th. If everything else failed I would use a hex editor to directly modify the bootsector.
    Yesterday I checked the rc and it seems that microsoft have decided to use bootsect.exe /nt60 for both vista and 7.
    On the 7000 they had /nt60 for vista and /nt61 for 7.
    I also noticed that if you try to install 7 on an unpartitioned disc, by default will create a 1st minor primary partition (for OEM drivers etc.) and 7 will be installed in a second partition. The only way to overcome this is to use the command line and diskpart.

    Panagiotis
     
  21. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Yet another way to install FD-ISR to Windows Seven RC (if you want to use only the the 7 DVD without the vista recovery procedure that houaus described above).

    steps to take:
    1. After installing 7 select to show the hidden system files and folders.
    2. Make a copy of the 'bootmgr' file in the root directory and rename the copy to 'ntldr'.
    3. Insert your windows 7 dvd, run cmd as admin and insert the command
    [dvddrive]:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT52 [system_drive]:
    [dvddrive]= the drive letter of your dvd
    [system_drive]= the drive letter of your windows partition
    4. install FD-ISR.

    ps. the xp Bootstrap can correctly boot a vista/7 system if there is a copy of the 'bootmgr' file, renamed to 'ntldr'. Same thing that a vista/7 Bootstrap can correctly boot an 2000/xp/2003 system if there is a copy of the 'ntldr' file, renamed to 'bootmgr'.

    Panagiotis
     
  22. houaus

    houaus Registered Member

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    Your english if fine, but I think I did misinterpret your original point :D. I am glad you cleared it up, makes perfect sense to me now. :thumb:

    Nice work on the new method. Should give users a few options.

    Glad things worked out for you. I had the exact same sentiment about having FDISR back after a brief separation; makes computing life so much easier and stress free. :cool:
     
  23. Ragzarok

    Ragzarok Registered Member

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    I'll try this again, with these steps:
    1. delete Win7 snapshots.
    2. create empty snapshots.
    3. install win 7.
    4. run recovery disk
    5. install fdisr on win 7.

    Update later.
    Also, I thought it was pretty gay that it took all the stuff from other snapshots and jammed it into a Window.old folder, just taking up my disk space. Why does Vista, or 7 do that>?
     
  24. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    A warning to those that use FD-ISR to dualboot windows xp/ windows 7.
    Do not try to remove you all your 7 snapshots and remaining with only with the xp snapshots; there is a very high propability that it will kill your partition and you will be unable to recover any data even from a pe disk.
    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=184009

    Panagiotis
     
  25. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    That would make me suspect that you inadvertently did NOT install Win7 into a truly empty snapshot. It sounds like you installed Win7 onto a preexisting system in which you had done an uininstall of FD-ISR with the "Remove Program only" option, leaving snapshots behind.
     
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