BootVis

Logla · Aug 9, 2003, 11:04 AM

I've been trying to run BootVis on my new XP install which is on my new SATA drive. After the boot tracing is done, bootvis comes back with an error saying that the number of logical drives in the configuration equals 0. and then stops.

I have 1 SATA drive which has the xp install on it and another partition with data. I also have an ATA100 drive with data on it.

Any ideas why it won't work?

Logla · Aug 17, 2003, 11:14 AM

Anyone? Please?

Necrosis · Aug 17, 2003, 02:01 PM

Are you running any time of raid configuration? If you're running the seagate drive, uninstall the raid utility that comes with it. I didn't have any problems running bootvis, but I'm not using my SATA as my primary though.

Logla · Aug 18, 2003, 06:38 AM

Nah, its just one drive in BASE. Its a Maxtor drive and I'm only running the one drive now. It's worked for me before which is why I find this so strange.

***Zardon*** · Aug 19, 2003, 03:37 AM

bootvis was temporary pulled from the MS site due to a problem with some IDE drivers (so ive heard) and other issues, ive heard that the version they have "re-put" up while having the same date 1/29/2002 has been modified. Im not saying any of this is true but you can try redownloading it here for XP but personally ive found that it does little to no difference on my system. Id recommend trying an MFT defragger.

Logla · Aug 19, 2003, 04:28 AM

Forgive my ignorance but whats an MFT defragger?

Chaos · Aug 19, 2003, 05:54 AM

MFT----Master File Table would be similar to MBR----Master Boot Record the difference being the use of the NTFS file system......correct me if I am wrong :P

Quote:

Originally posted by Logla
Forgive my ignorance but whats an MFT defragger?

Logla · Aug 19, 2003, 06:34 AM

So would this be the normal windows XP defragger or should I use something like Powequest?

***Zardon*** · Aug 19, 2003, 07:16 AM

Each file on an NTFS volume is represented by a record in a special file called the master file table (MFT). NTFS reserves the first 16 records of the table for special information. The first record of this table describes the master file table itself, followed by a MFT mirror record. If the first MFT record is corrupted, NTFS reads the second record to find the MFT mirror file, whose first record is identical to the first record of the MFT. The locations of the data segments for both the MFT and MFT mirror file are recorded in the boot sector. A duplicate of the boot sector is located at the logical center of the disk.

The third record of the MFT is the log file, used for file recovery. The seventeenth and following records of the master file table are for each file and directory (also viewed as a file by NTFS) on the volume.

The master file table allocates a certain amount of space for each file record. The attributes of a file are written to the allocated space in the MFT. Small files and directories (typically 1500 bytes or smaller), can entirely be contained within the master file table record.

This design makes file access very fast. Consider, for example, the FAT file system, which uses a file allocation table to list the names and addresses of each file. FAT directory entries contain an index into the file allocation table. When you want to view a file, FAT first reads the file allocation table and assures that it exists. Then FAT retrieves the file by searching the chain of allocation units assigned to the file. With NTFS, as soon as you look up the file, it's there for you to use.

Directory records are housed within the master file table just like file records. Instead of data, directories contain index information. Small directory records reside entirely within the MFT structure. Large directories are organized into B-trees, having records with pointers to external clusters containing directory entries that could not be contained within the MFT structure.

Incidentally diskeeper can defrag the MTF on bootup.

-={420}=- · Aug 19, 2003, 04:08 PM

O&O Defrag is also good and defrags all locked files including the paging file, registry files, and the MFT (only on NTFS drives)

PangingJr · Aug 19, 2003, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Logla
So would this be the normal windows XP defragger or should I use something like Powequest?

try 3rd party defrag program like PerfectDisk 6, Diskeeper 7, O&O Defrag and you'll like it.

i'd say the windows XP defragger is not good enough for home user either..

The Windows XP defragger — is it good enough for the enterprise?
http://www.serverworldmagazine.com/m...xpdefrag.shtml

PangingJr · Aug 19, 2003, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chaos
MFT----Master File Table would be similar to MBR----Master Boot Record the difference being the use of the NTFS file system......correct me if I am wrong :P

well, only thing that i would say is they both contains valuable informations...
Master File Table(MFT) contains info about all files and folders on the NTFS volume.
Master Boot Record(MBR) contains info about your HDD partitions.

Zardon has already detailed everything about the MFT.
here's about the MBR...

Master Boot Record (MBR)
the smallest addressable piece of space on the HDD is the "sector".
the MBR is contained in the sector located at
cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1 of the HDD,
and is created by a disk utility such as the dos "fdisk" utility.
each operating system has a program similar to fdisk that creates
a functionally similar MBR.

each sector of a hard drive contains 512 bytes, the MBR is no exception.
the first 446-bytes of the MBR contains a program that is executed each
time the hard disk is booted; the rest of the record contains a 2-byte header,
and, most importantly, four 16-byte partition table entries.

each partition table entry within the MBR contains
valuable information about your HDD partitions.

when doing "fdisk /mbr" it will reinstall the first 446 of 512 bytes of information with zeroes effectively rewriting the executable code and data strings that may currently be residing there. the remainder of the 512 bytes is the boot settings which tells the computer how to boot. these settings are left alone.

Judas · Aug 19, 2003, 05:01 PM

how do you clear/reset the remainder of the 512 bytes?.....

PangingJr · Aug 20, 2003, 03:46 AM

well icant give any infos re the bootvis sorry about that.
...talk about bootvis next time okay

------------------------------------------

re the MBR...
i never have to do that i usually use "fdisk /mbr" from a win 9x/ME boot disk and let windows setup do the rest... but i'm sure there're many 3rd party softweres avail for the job.

here's one solution

Quote:

Originally from Clearing out the Master Boot Record(MBR)--Danger, Will Robinson! / http://gazette.euskal-linux.org/issue63/okopnik.html

DOS-based solution
Boot with a DOS floppy that has "debug" on it; run "debug". At the '-' prompt, "block-fill" a 512-byte chunk of memory with zeroes:

f 9000:0 200 0

Start assembly mode with the 'a' command, and enter the following code:

mov dx,9000
mov es,dx
xor bx,bx
mov cx,0001
mov dx,0080
mov ax,0301
int 13
int 20

Press <Enter> to exit assembly mode, take a deep breath - and press "g" to execute, then "q" to quit "debug". Your HD is now in a virgin state, and ready for partitioning and installation.