Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (
More info?)
Al Dykes wrote:
> In article <36l3hqF50f9qfU1@individual.net>,
> Rod Speed <rod_speed@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>"Al Dykes" <adykes@panix.com> wrote in message
>>news:cu3clk$3lc$1@panix5.panix.com...
>>> In article <36kq0kF54vr85U1@individual.net>,
>>> Rod Speed <rod_speed@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Irwin <ebct@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>news:1107633833.566068.314990@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>>>>
>>>>> Hello all. This is a very old computer which is running NT 4.0, which
>>>>> as you know does not support USB. Which is why I need to boot from
>>>>> floppy or CD. It's a long story, but the short version is that
>>>>> Microsoft is no longer supporting NT, so the network guys at work have
>>>>> kicked all NT boxes from the network, so I am trying to use the USB
>>>>> drive to backup the data and move it off. But can't use windows NT to
>>>>> do it, and have never been able to use USB on the box so I don't know
>>>>> if the ports or adapters have ever worked.
>>>>
>>>>Yeah, that's obviously the first thing to check.
>>>>
>>>>> The drive is externally powered.
>>>>
>>>>OK, that eliminates the main problem, the drive not getting enough
>>>>power.
>>>>
>>>>> I can try installing another partition with another
>>>>> version of windows, just didn't want to take the
>>>>> time or risk doing it without backing up the data first.
>>>>
>>>>True.
>>>>
>>>>> Maybe I will try the Ghost 9 CD, which I own,
>>>>
>>>>That would be worth trying as a quick check of the
>>>>viability of the USB port, but it wont allow you to image
>>>>the drive, you have to install it to create an image.
>>>>
>>>>True Image would be better, it will create an
>>>>image when booted from the CD and would be
>>>>ideal in your situation if it will actually boot on
>>>>that dinosaur and can see the USB drive on it.
>>>>
>>>>> or maybe a linux livecd or other windows rescue disk which
>>>>> I also have but haven't bothered learning how to use.
>>>>
>>>>Or knoppix. There's a pretty decent manual for that now.
>>>>
>>>>> I guess we will start with the ghost 9 CD.
>>>>> I will let you know how it goes.
>>>>
>>>>Yeah, I'd like to know the outcome, too rare in my opinion.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Rod Speed wrote:
>>>>>> Irwin <ebct@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:1107607914.617804.160480@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> > Speaking of dumb questions, here is mine. I have an external
>>>>>> > USB drive and ghost boot floppy. This combination works on
>>>>>> > all my other machines except this really old one. The DOS drivers
>>>>>> > can find the native USB adapter and replies with "adapter found"
>>>>>> > (not a PC card), but will not find the drive that is plugged in.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Try it with the ghost 9 CD to see if the drive is visible on that PC.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Its using PE, not DOS.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You sure the drive is getting enough power ? Should be fine
>>>>>> if the drive has external power and isnt being powered from
>>>>>> the USB cable. If its being powered from the USB cable, it
>>>>>> may not be getting enough power with that dinosaur.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> > In bios, I see something for USB
>>>>>> > legacy keyboard, which is disabled.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not relevant. That only controls whether the bios
>>>>>> looks for a USB keyboard at boot time so you can
>>>>>> do the basic bios setting stuff using a USB keyboard.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> > I see nothing else in the bios that sounds USBish.
>>>>>> > I am using the USB1 floppy drivers. Any ideas?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'd check if the drive is visible at the win level or with True Image
>>>>>> etc to check the basics on the USB drive in that dinosaur first.
>>
>>> I wouldn't trust an external drive on an old computer. Get
>>> a cheap IDE drive that's bigger than your NT disks, plug
>>> it into an IDE controller and do your backup disk-to-disk.
>>
>>Thats not completely trouble free either with those old
>>dinosaurs, particularly on what size drives they support.
>>
>
>
> The limit that most people know of is just for the boot
> partition. You've always been able to put larger disks on the
> secondary.
For certain values of "larger". Staples has 250 gig drives on sale this
week for $129.95, but don't count on them giving you more than 32 gig on a
machine of that vintage without a new host adapter.
FWIW, this might be a job for BartPE <http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/>.
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
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