Booting Xp From Ramdisk Options

[jaclaz]

If i use qemu tool to make raw img, VDK mounts it, but its nowhere to be found any ideas on making it show as a "corrupt" drive ready to format, with VDK?

I cannot say about Qemu tool, but you can try this (using fsz from the DSFOK toolkit):

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

You will have to spend some time on this.

fsz C:\test\vdktest.img 160000000

vdk.exe OPEN 0 "C:\test\vdktest.img" /RW

vdk.exe LINK 0 0 J:

(please note how the first 0 is the Virtual Disk Number, while the second one means "mount ENTIRE drive")

You have now a mounted RAW partition image with assigned letter J:

Just double click on drive J: in explorer and you will be prompted to format it, or use directly command line FORMAT on it.

OK, I joked , it won't work, the "stupid" 2K/XP format has some kind of check that won't allow you to format it as FAT16 or FAT32.

But, strangely enough, it will work as NTFS.

So you are right, we need some "trick" for FAT16 and FAT32.

Trick #1 (FAT32 only):

Try again with FAT 32 formatter:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

The image will not be bootable, but will nonetheless work OK.

Once it has been formatted as FAT 32, the 2K/XP Format will be able to re-format it as NTFS, but NOT as FAT16 or FAT32.

Trick #2 (having correct geometry):

One problem might be that the resulting image will have the "old" Nx64x32 NT geometry (because VDK, if you don't specify a geometry, defaults to to CHS Nx64x32).

Let's make a new image calculating a correct amount of bytes.

As an example, suppose you want to make a 100 Mbyte image.
1 Kbyte=1,024 bytes
1 Mbyte=1,024 Kbytes=1,024 x 1,024 bytes= 1,048,576 bytes
100 Mbyte=100 x 1,048,576 = 104,857,600
104,857,600/512 bytes/sector= 204,800 sectors

This is somehow not satisfying, as normally a drive under 2K/XP has a geometry of N x 255 x 63, and it is a good "rule" not to have "fractional end cylinders" to be sure of maximum compatibility with various utilities and Operating Systems.

divide 204,800 by 63 and you'll get 3,250.79
divide 3,250 by 255 and you'll get 12,74

So you can choose between an image 12 x 255 x 63 = 192,780 sectors = 98,703,360 bytes
and one 13 x 255 x 63 = 208,845 sectors = 106,928,640 bytes

Let's make the second (delete vdktest.img first):

fsz C:\test\vdktest.img 106928640

Now create a file with notepad with these contents:

CODE

DRIVETYPE      ide
CYLINDERS     13
HEADS        255
SECTORS       63
ACCESS "C:\test\vdktest.img" 0 208845

and save it as vdktest.pln

vdk.exe OPEN 0 "C:\test\vdktest.pln" /RW

vdk.exe LINK 0 0 J:

This can be formatted as NTFS or with FAT32 Formatter, this time with the "right" geometry of Nx255x63


Trick #3 (Make a temporary MBR)

Let's redo the above (delete vdktest.img first):

fsz C:\test\vdktest.img 106928640

vdk.exe OPEN 0 "C:\test\vdktest.pln" /RW

Now get MBRfix:
http://home.graffiti.net/jaclaz:graffiti.net/index.html

And use it to put an MBR on the PHYSICAL DISK (technically a MBR Code is not necessary, all is needed is that "magic" signature 55AA is present at the end of first sector, you can do it with a hex editor).

Now get Beeblebrox:
http://students.cs.byu.edu/~codyb/

Open the PHYSICAL DISK and input following data in entry 1 (Leave ALL others to 0):
Type=06
Bcyl=1
Bsec=1
Ecyl=(Cyl-1)=12
EHd=(Heads-1)=254
ESec=(Sectors)=63
StartSector=63
NumSector=(208845-63)=208782

Unmount, stop and uninstall driver:

vdk.exe REMOVE

Re-start it:

instead of the "accurate" command line:
vdk.exe OPEN 0 "C:\test\vdktest.pln" /RW /P:1 /L:J:

You can use the "automatic" one:

vdk.exe OPEN * "C:\test\vdktest.pln" /RW

The image will be mounted, first partition will be assigned to letter J: (if J: is first available letter).

Now you can format volume J: as FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS at will.

To make a copy of the drive without the MBR:

Use dsfo as follows:
dsfo \\.\J: 0 0 "C:\test\vdktest2.img"

Unmount, stop and uninstall driver:

vdk.exe REMOVE


Remount the new image:

vdk.exe OPEN * "C:\test\vdktest2.img" /RW

We still need to fix a little thing, that can be done with a Hex editor or with this little app:
http://www.roadkil.net/bootbuild.html

i.e. change the number of hidden sectors from 63 to 1.

If you use, instead of beeblebrox, PTEdit32, it can also correct the hidden sectors in the bootsector.

Please note that for "normal" activities, i.e. Copying/Deleting files, etc. the fact that the latter image is mounted with the Nx64x32 geometry instead of the usual Nx255x63 won't make any difference.

If you really need to access it the right way, you need another file vdktest2.pln:

CODE

DRIVETYPE      ide
CYLINDERS     12
HEADS        255
SECTORS       63
ACCESS "C:\test\vdktest2.img" 0 208782

Of course you should adapt size, number of Cyls and Sectors to your needed use....

Hope you get to the end of post with your brain still 100% working , don't blame me if not....

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: Oct 11 2007, 01:32 PM

[MAN2]

Hello from newbie. I want to report strange behaviors with xp boot into ram. After getting useful help from boot-land forum I make xp ram boot from hard drive no problem. I then try cd xp boot into ram using informations in this place. I boot xp into ram from cd no troubles. Boot image around 475 Meg and not compressed. Now gets crazy . I wake up and place same disc in compi and boot up. Now after many trys the boot process stops with display of welcome screen. I can move mouse cursor but no keyboard buttons have function such as ctrl+alt+del etc. So I have to do hard re boot. The partition i make ram image from boots no troubles. My regular work horse drive C: boot with no troubles. I try boot xp ram image from hard drive like i did with success yesterday and now get same result as boot with cd. It just stops and won't boot to desktop. I am confused now because both hard drive boot and cd boot work yesterday but not today. I have plenty ram. Kingston 1GB 400MHz DDR. My system work fine and BIOS settings no change there. Some suggestion from those with good knowledge welcome.

regards from man2

P.S I make ram image from WINXP Pro SP2 install

[jaclaz]

Well, unless you have been visited by some little green men overnight, something must have happened to the PC.

....try re-doing the .img from the working "base" partition....
....re-check BIOS settings

Question: is your keyboard USB ?
(they are known to cause problems, if you can use a PS/2 one it would be better)

jaclaz

[MAN2]

Well, unless you have been visited by some little green men overnight, something must have happened to the PC.

Lol. No litle green guys at night. I use PS2 Keyboard. I feel demoralized over why no boot. Thanks for tips

regards from man2

[MAN2]

Everything OK. I realize mistake when I make the .img from files from partition 2 installation on drive which have drive letter E:. Ram boot defaults to C: and so enviromentals all wrong. So I make vmware vmdk this time instead of installing on hard drive and add them files to .img and boot off hard drive or cd no problems.

regards from man2

[FeReNGi]

Next is also working to boot your SDI-file from the boot.ini :

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...mp;#entry114474

This post has been edited by jaclaz: Feb 5 2009, 03:49 AM

[strider85]

This is exciting! I can't wait to try booting WinXP into RAM from a CD!!!

Now I have a question. I still don't know too much about Windows Vista, but would a similar process work with Vista too?

Could you make an small Vista install (using vlite), make an image of it and boot that from RAM?

If someone could give it a shot and tell us what you find, that'd be great.

[Dietmar]

Hi all,

I tested the method from Euhenio to boot XP to ram.

After one day of hard work I can tell you, that it works also for XP SP1 .

I try now to crack the limit of 500MB, which I also know from ram boot of SDI files.
The limit seems to be the fault oft the used ramdisk driver and ntldr. This is possible to overcome,
because with XP SP1 now there isnt any restriction as in SDI for ram boot.

At this moment I write this from XP SP1 in ram,
from a FULL XPSP1, compressed NTFS.

I give you a very short Tutorial, how you can do Ram boot as first described by Euhenio with any clone of the NT serie,
when I am sure that it works on all compies.

Nice to hear from you
Dietmar

EDIT: The message, that the ramdisk cant be opened is the fault only of NTLDR.
If you choose a file (I used an 200MB video) an rename it to win.img, the silly NTLDR put this to ram.
But if the size of the video is bigger than 500 Mb, you receive the message that it cant be opened.

EDIT2:I succeed to burn this XP to a CD and boot from it without any grub. The boottime is about 3 Minutes, because it is put all to ram. The next step is to put it on a Boot DVD, because this is faster .
I do not overcome the limit of 500 MB. Therefore I think you have to hack NTLDR or use an other driver as disklessangel.com did
or I by myself with ntbootdd.sys.

EDIT3: The boottime from USB to ram is about 1,5 to 3 minutes, depending on special Bios.
The Boottime from DVD is 4 minutes, perhaps because that it is written in the middle of the DVD.
The boottime from USB (not to ram, using EWF) is about 1 minute to 1,5 minutes depending on Bios.

The USB stick for boot to ram can be write protected, even with NTFS .

That one and only CD with full XP SP1 on it can be used on any computer with about 500MB Ram or more.
I build a full XPSP1 with a size of 431 MB, double compressed with NTFS.

This is much better than Knoppix 5.2. Knoppix 5.2 does not boot on my new laptop with Intel 945PM chipset, but this CD with a generic XPSP1 on it does .

EDIT4: The methode from Euhenio to use gzip to shrink the image in ram does not work for me: I build an 950 MB
XP SP1 on Fat16, inserted there ramdisk.sys and NTLDR from Server 2003 and applied the Euhenio.reg patch. I build win.img from this whole 950 MB partition.
Together with this image win.img I build a new image forgrub.img, containing also ntdetect.com, NTLDR and boot.ini (with the wished entries for ramboot).
That I compressed with gzip to forgrub.gz as told by Euhenio. This image is after gzip -9 only 411MB large.
Together I build a MENU.LST (with trying different contents) and put grldr and the entry c:\grldr="grub4dos" in the boot.ini.
Grub loads the image but then appears again the message, that NTLDR cant open the ramdiskimage. I think, that grub makes again of those 411 MB 950 Mb in ramdisk and that is far away from the limit of 500 Mb for NTLDR to do ramboot.

This post has been edited by Dietmar: Mar 30 2007, 08:07 AM

[euhenio]

Dietmar

double compressed with NTFS

About what you?

I think, that grub makes again of those 411 MB 950 Mb in ramdisk

You are right. However this method not the best for CD boot.
He could appear useful to devices to which NTLDR has no access, such as usb unsupported bios, network , etc.
All is defined by opportunities Grub4Dos and Syslinux.

Also I do not see sense in big ram.img
I use MobileOS as regular OS, spending in her of 95 % of time and ram.img in it 64Mb.
For this purpose I carry usb-stick and miniCD together with myself , and I do not receive greater problems with loading on others compi.


Thank you for your idea http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14181 as MobileOS is her continuation.

See
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1218
for more information.

This post has been edited by euhenio: Apr 3 2007, 07:00 PM

[euhenio]

If MobileOSregPatch is still necessary to you , he here :

http://mobileos.boot-land.net/old/regpatch.reg

[dennis123123]

Also I do not see sense in big ram.img
I use MobileOS as regular OS, spending in her of 95 % of time and ram.img in it 64Mb.
For this purpose I carry usb-stick and miniCD together with myself , and I do not receive greater problems with loading on others compi.

Hi euhenio. can you please give me a few hints on how to accomplish a 64mb ram.img and having the rest in a separate image? Ive read your posts over at boot-land, but I prefer to do things the manual way rather than useing pre-made scripts and suchlike

[euhenio]

dennis123123

can you please give me a few hints on how to accomplish a 64mb ram.img and having the rest in a separate image? Ive read your posts over at boot-land, but I prefer to do things the manual way rather than useing pre-made scripts and suchlike

But exists whether a manual way for creation BartPE without pebuilder?

For MobileOS the same case.

This post has been edited by euhenio: Apr 29 2007, 06:57 PM

[hooovahh]

Quick question. I haven't attempted the steps described here

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...st&p=127683

On how to make XP boot into ram, but I have a question on step 8 it says

8. start>run>regedit then mount the hive SYSTEM of the Q:\ drive, as "sys"

I don't know how to do this, on my machine "Load Hive" is grayed out. Can I get a better description on how to mount the system on drive Q? Thanks.

[jaclaz]

Hive loading (as a sub-tree) is only allowed on
HKEY_USERS
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServe...51d65b1033.mspx

(maybe you haven't selected one of the two HKEY's)

You might find handy this little tool:
LOADHIVE
http://www.matcode.com/codes.htm

it temporary loads a hive to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE adding a _00 suffix to its name.

jaclaz

[hooovahh]

Thanks jaclaz

I'm not trying to be difficult but it appears the .reg file formerly located here:

http://euhenio.mam.by/mobileos/MobileOSregPatch.reg

Has been removed. I'd be glad to host it if some one could give it to me (I love free google hosting)

Also I realize now I wasn't selecting HKEY_USERS or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. I'm at work right now, but when I tell it to load the hive, what file do I give it? is there a "Hive" file in the windows directory or system32? Thanks again.

[jaclaz]

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724877.aspx

The supporting files for all hives except HKEY_CURRENT_USER are in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory; the supporting files for HKEY_CURRENT_USER are in the %SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username directory. The file name extensions of the files in these directories, and in some cases a lack of an extension, indicate the type of data they contain. The following table lists these extensions along with a description of the data in the file.
.....

jaclaz

[hooovahh]

It appears that the .reg file referred to in this post

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...st&p=127683

has been moved to a new location. Now the reg file is here.

http://mobileos.boot-land.net/old/regpatch.reg

[hooovahh]

Also I thought others should know that Thunn over at the boot land forum has posted a new page which describes in similar detail how to install xp into ram using VMware.

http://thuun.boot-land.net/XPnRAM/

[maxchock]

Hi all,

First I want to thanks to dennis123123, euhenio, to contribute their effort on ramboot XP on this forum. I've follow the instruction by dennis and able to load the image file into memory, but before actually get into the windows XP, the machine reboot everytime when it reach to load "ramdisk(0)\windows\system32\acpitabl.dat".



I'm using nlite to trim down the size of my windows installation, the whole image only take ups 480MB. I'm using VMWare Server 1.0.3 to test run.

I can't find the file acpitabl.dat in the specific directory... is it reboot because of file missing?? I check the my WinXP and win2kSP1 trial version doesn't contain this file as well.

what wrong could it be??

Thanks

Max.

This post has been edited by maxchock: May 20 2007, 11:03 AM

[pavel]

Thanks for all guys,

i have WinXP (full version) booted directly to RAM using dennis123123 post no. 30. I say full XP and it is almost true, i deleted unneeded files and folders (not using nLite).

My PC have 704 MB RAM, image file size is 490 MB. There is a small free ram, Explorer is trying (never ending) show content of My Computer. Via cmd.exe i can "dir" all logical drives except the "real" C:, ramdisk with XP in RAM use letter C:

1) Any way to use another ramdisk drive letter?
2) Any way to see the "real" C: drive?
3) Is it possible to extract Program Files? I think yes, using another virtual drive, mounted and "junctioned"...

Regards,
Pavel