SP2 OVER SP2 CURES XP FIREWALL

I copied an XP partition with DD10 and the default FIREWALL was unreachable, obviously corrupted.

DD10 was a near infallible partition copying machine until about a month ago (perhaps it's time to uninstall/reinstall DD10: I have really punished DD10 having it do dozens of operations including ones I knew stretched it's capabilities).

Checked out the rest of the copy and the firewall problem seems to be the extent of the corruption. The "User Accounts" or "Internet Explorer" sections were not corrupted in this copy as previous DD10 copies exhibited.

Since SP2 includes the default firewall I decided to reinstall SP2 "on top" of the SP2 that the XP had already had. (I was going to re-do the operation anyway so no problem if the partition was trashed: a little exciting experimentation is good for old hearts).

Copying this "Makeshift slipstreamed XP" was 3 min. faster than using TI10.

This over-installation of SP2 went well and has been working well for over three weeks. Download from the Microsoft site and SAVE SP2 as a FILE and make a cd of it; very handy to have in any XP toolkit.

In Windows Explorer there was no duplicate SP2 files, so I believe it replaced the original SP2 with the Disc version (which is identical as far as I know). The default firewall was restored and all functions returned. I Don't know if this will work on all other systems, but I believe it can on many.

This could be a solution to those systems that always result in a corrupted Firewall when "Copying Partitions". This allows one to turn off the firewall if another is used.

For "Copy Partition" operations with "User Accounts" and "Internet Explorer" corruption, downloading "Internet Explorer 7" had cured these corruptions as I posted before .

Perhaps this can help some, especially those who do not have TI10 (or can't get it to work correctly).

 

What about all your post SP2 critical hotfixes, did they disappear?

 

zapjb:

The updates went untouched, all 70 plus of them. All of my other XP's (on this 'Experimental' Hard Drive 5 others) also were un- effected by this overwriting of SP2.

The problem of crosstalk has been a hot topic but on my all unhidden XP's there has simply been none. Articles by Microsoft experts claiming the non- need to hide separately partitioned Microsoft XP's seem to apply to my set-up.

I'm sure that on other systems it is a problem. Again luckiness, or is it that hiding XP's and crosstalk is a hit-and-miss specific set-up problem, with problem set-ups getting more press than is warranted?

The interconnectedness of my XP's is a definite advantage for my multi- generation family's computing ease. Keeping an eye on grandchildren's internet habits are easy to monitor this way.

Just lucky? Perhaps but I have overwritten SP2, 3 times total on different partitions just to try out, same luckiness. (I have a rock solid TI10 imaged DVD-RW of XP, SP2 and all updates to April which takes only 6-7 min to restore so this makes for some adventuresome headiness).

I hope if others try this 'cure' that they have a solid backup before trying it on their set-up, as I can easily imagine disaster on some systems.

If a person has TI10 on a small partition, restoring it will be much faster than re-applying SP2 time-wise. I just posted this for those with a DD10 that repeatedly corrupted copied partitions.

 

cortez,

I'd be really grateful for links to these articles. I've always kept my OS hidden from each other but it's difficult to find information on the "non- need to hide" issue.

Do you have 6 WinXPs on the one HD? Are they all bootable?

 

Brian K:

I just lost an hour's worth of typing a reply (two fingered typing of a tradesman) but will try to get to the heart of the reply.

Yes I have 6 XP's on one Hard drive and one data partition. Changes I make in one partition are reflected in all others (boot.ini, my computer, disk management, Windows Explorer ect.. All partitions are listed in the windows bootloader and boot in approx. 15 seconds.

I am a non expert in computer matters: most of what I know is from the internet and trial-and-error learning. Microsoft's support knowledge base, igrep, google, dogpile and other search engines are my source of what I know about multibooting non hidden XP's (most in various computer forums).



An early inspiration to multibooting is the Microsoft writer ('expert') Charlie Russel who said "...you can install as many different versions of windows NT and later versions of the Windows operating system as you have available logical drives...". www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/russel_september10.mspx

I have no real all-in-one-place documentation of un hidden XP's. Sorry I can't be of much help with documentation.

I can say that on my set-up non hidden XP's have worked very well with no crossfire.

 

cortez,

I'm curious if you did regular installs (off the Windows cd) of the 6 XP's or if you restored TI images to the partitions.

Also, when booted into each of your XP's, do they all have the C: drive as the system drive or do they have different letters?

 

cortez,

Could you do me a favor? From the windows bootloader could you boot one of the Win XPs that are in a logical volume inside the extended partition. For example "SWIRL". When Windows has loaded look in Disk Management and let me know which is the System partition and which is the Boot partition. A gif image would be great.

I note your post here re Disk Management.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1045800#1 Post #1

 

MudCrab:

On this test disk I am using 1 real XP install and the rest are either copied partitions or TI10 restored images from DVD-RW. All letters are different as I used DD10 to assign letters and since they are all unhidden I didn't want any two partitions to have the same letter. After I restore an image or copy a partition that partition becomes the booting partition until I correct it using disk management.

Before I had all clean installs but now that I have TI10 I have been trying it out (restore to same partition, restore to different partition ect.). using all clean installs results in less problems with letters changing and having to correct them usually withDD10.

Brian K:

I have already changed this disc as I moved a partition, restored another, and copied another. The graphic has yet to be corrected to make partition 2 the boot partition (since this is a test I still don' know if disk management will cause trouble with this as the whole disk has now been scrambled by moving and copying partitions and a Image restore.

I hope the graphic is loaded correctly:

Edit: Right now the booting partition is on a logical drive as I have had before with no booting problems. I have previously changed this so that the booting partition is primary.

 

GIF?: EDIT: cant get graphic to uplaod, sorry.

EDIT 2: even the testing section won't load-up the graphic!

EDIT 3: got to post graph in test forum: finally. Sorry new at this.

 

Disk management ?:

EDIT: I followed the same procedure as on the Test Forum but cannot get it to up load on this post for some reason, so I'll stop trying: cortez. Note: the image in the test forum is taken from within SWIRL partition.

Screenshot:

 

cortez,

Thanks for posting that graphic. Helpful.

Your system is so different from mine that I keep thinking of questions to help me understand the difference. Could you post the boot.ini from your first partition? That would be interesting to see.

In the quote above you mentioned changes being reflected across "all others". What do you mean, say in relation to Windows Explorer?

 

ronjor:
thanks for the help-cortez

Brian K: What I mean is that if I make a change in 'My Computer'( i.e. renaming a volume) that the other 5 XP's are also renamed, and this is reflected in Disk Management and the changes show up in all XP's Windows Explorer.

In Windows explorer I have access to all XP's folders and files and can copy them to the data partition or to cd's/dvd's.

If I make a change to the boot.ini file it is also changed in the other 5XP's also. Here is the boot.ini file you requested:

 

cortez,

Thanks for making the effort to outline your technique. I multi-boot quite differently. Only one OS is visible and the rest are hidden. They are independent so partitions can be deleted or different OS can be installed "over the top" and the remaining OS continue to function. Your multi-boot is dependent on Emachines_C. If that partition is removed nothing will boot.

If you have time, this site explains the technique.

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htm

 

Brain K:
A very good link which offers even more links on mulit-booting. Perhaps we should have a "sticky" section as TI10 does. This would be an easy way to find otherwise scattered info on the subject.

Just to be on recored, I am not an advocate of un-hidden partitions for their own sake but as a solution to a specific problem (multi users who want easy access to specific software with out hiding/un-hiding ,i.e. the impatient and children). Obviously multi-booting is not for everyone, as one OS is plenty for many users.

Having multiple partitions allow for a greater number of programs that will make a single partition's OS run extremely slow. This is a specific solution for a specific circumstance.

I also use DD10 to hide partitions on my laptop for privacy purposes, which is essential for buisiness (here XP Pro and passwords do the trick just find).

Thanks for the link (links)-cortez