Win XP Pro: need trusted ISO image / restore-repair boot partition

[datora]

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I could use a hand out, if anyone is willing.

My CD media is corrupt.  If anyone knows of a trusted ISO image I could grab, it would be appreciated.  I found a number on teh PBays (for example) ... just would like a recommend (to anywhere) I could anon torrent one that you know is not hacked up or otherwise compromised.  OEM, retail, corporate doesn't matter - just don't want to waste my time on something all garbage.

I've got a couple Dell OEM keys for some old GX260 systems, but if anyone is willing to share a university or corporate key (something with a nice large pool of open licenses, or some etc. similar solution), that'd be Just Real Nice also.  The system I'm attempting to restore is an Intel mobo, not Dell, and was originally installed with a retail OEM.  I don't publish such things; they are kept secure and for limited personal use only.  In this case, probably for a single system and never again.

I suggest using PM, rather than posting links publicly for that item ... but, y'know, whatever you feel comfortable with.  I'll edit this post w/ a notice once I have a working solution.


On another related note, I have a drive that refuses to boot.  It was corrupted when a nearby lightening strike took out my power in the middle of shutdown.  I'm able to place the drive & read all its data in an external housing.  Drive appears completely healthy, but boot record (or somesuch) is clearly corrupted.  As soon as I migrate the data off it, I intend to wipe/format etc. the drive and re-use it (unless some other info turns up that it's a Bad Idea).

It sure would be sweetness if anyone can recommend possible repairs/restores to attempt.  Be a lot less painful than a full reinstall ... including the location of several sets of drivers that'll take most of a weekend.  A hundred hours of tweaks and configs would be nice not to have to do again, too. 

I'm googling around and doing the self-help thing right now ... but if you can drop a few links on me with competent technical help &/or useful utilities, that would be appreciated very much.

Thank you!

[GoGeTa006]

when I torrent stuff like that just go to any big torrent sites (isohunt, btjunkie, sumo, pirate) and read the comments. . .

[Bob2004]

Yeah, just check the torrents on TPB or somewhere - if it has plenty of seeders/leechers (which it should do for something as popular as Windows), lots of comments, and a positive rating, it's pretty much guaranteed to be safe. TPB prunes fake/dodgy torrents when they're discovered, so if it has plenty of attention and it's still available, it should be fine.

As for your second question, once you have a Windows XP cd, you can use that to boot into the Windows recovery console, which includes a couple of commands for fixing boot problems: FIXBOOT and FIXMBR. The first one repairs the bootloader, the second one repairs the MBR. More detailed instructions on their use from the microsoft site:

FIXBOOT

fixboot drive name:

Use this command to write the new Windows boot sector code on the system partition. In the command syntax, drive name is the drive letter where the boot sector will be written. This command fixes damage in the Windows boot sector. This command overrides the default setting, which writes to the system boot partition. The fixboot command is supported only on x86-based computers.

FIXMBR

fixmbr device name

Use this command to repair the MBR of the boot partition. In the command syntax, device name is an optional device name that specifies the device that requires a new MBR. Use this command if a virus has damaged the MBR and Windows cannot start.

Warning: This command can damage your partition tables if a virus is present or if a hardware problem exists. If you use this command, you may create inaccessible partitions. We recommend that you run antivirus software before you use this command.

You can obtain the device name from the output of the map command. If you do not specify a device name, the MBR of the boot device is repaired, for example:

fixmbr \device\harddisk2

If the fixmbr command detects an invalid or non-standard partition table signature, fixmbr command prompts you for permission before it rewrites the MBR. The fixmbr command is supported only on x86-based computers.

There is also a BOOTCFG command which comes in handy as well. typing "BOOTCFG /scan" will scan for Windows installs and allows you to add them to the boot list, "BOOTCFG /list" lists all active Windows installs, and "BOOTCFG /rebuild" can be used to rebuild the list entirely.

When fixing problems like this, I usually run "bootcfg /scan" first, then if the drive still fails to boot, I use "fixboot c:", followed by "fixmbr". If none of them work, then you're most likely screwed, and need to do a full reinstall.

[fohfoh]

Demonoid or isohunt would be my choice. But demonoid isn't anon leech.

[krumm]

For a Untouched Windows XP iso look for the Technet version and modify it to the type(oem,retail,etc) you need.

The Technet version of Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 hash is SHA1: 1C735B38931BF57FB14 EBD9A9BA253CEB443D4 59

edit: http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Product_IDs has the pids needed to modify the iso

[datora]

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Thank you very much for the tips, folks.  I always hate relying on comments on a particular offer, but agreed it's the usual Way to go.  Totally uncomfortable using that method for an OS install, especially when I'd like to attempt some form of repair.

Thanks, Bob, very much for the repair tips.  That gives me some really useful info on where to focus searches for a plan of attack.

krumm, thanks also for the links & info.  It's not entirely intuitive to me how to apply it as a repair attempt in my situation, but there's plenty of reading there I think I can grok it out eventually.


Any other tips anyone wants to add, please keep 'em coming guys.  I'm gonna figure my way through this one way or another, but anything that helps shorten the time involved is a Good Thing.  I took a real boot to the balls on this one and I'm in a pretty serious Bad Way.  Resources, including time, are extremely limited right now.  


[ EDIT:  Well, the -yyy- channel from my original PID install is 029 ... an ID that doesn't exist in the Lunarsoft Wiki tables.  Couldn't begin to imagine what the original Volume Label was ... probably wasn't one at all, given how the original (academic release ISO) was DL'd & burned to an install CD.  Can't remember the original serv pack on the install, either.  Maybe SP2 of some sort because I vaguely recall having to patch w/ SP3 after the original install.  My experiences in the past (Win2K) are that once a serv pack has been applied to an install, then the original install media is no longer recognized as valid for repair attempts; I always had to give up and wipe/reinstall because I could never get updated install media to work with an old install once a serv pack had been applied.  Be nice if WinXP can somehow get around that ...

If I could just get the system to boot, I performed a registry backup recently w/ ERUNT, which creates a self-extracting *.exe to reload the registry hives.  I feel one of my best bets is that, if I could somehow get that to reload, it would probably work. ]

[Freedom Kira]

If you need a disc image, I have one (XP Pro) downloaded from MSDN (actually, from my University, but they got the image from MSDN) that should work for fixing the MBR. I believe you can't use a retail key on an MSDN disc or vice versa, though.

Let me know if you want it, and I'll give you SFTP access to my NAS where it's located. I have about 175KBps up speed reserved for torrenting on a 2.5Mbps upload connection, so you'll have roughly 100KBps. It'd take a good couple hours at that speed (it's a 600-ish MB CD ISO).

[krumm]

...

krumm, thanks also for the links & info.  It's not entirely intuitive to me how to apply it as a repair attempt in my situation, but there's plenty of reading there I think I can grok it out eventually.


Any other tips anyone wants to add, please keep 'em coming guys.  I'm gonna figure my way through this one way or another, but anything that helps shorten the time involved is a Good Thing.  I took a real boot to the balls on this one and I'm in a pretty serious Bad Way.  Resources, including time, are extremely limited right now.  


[ EDIT:  Well, the -yyy- channel from my original PID install is 029 ... an ID that doesn't exist in the Lunarsoft Wiki tables.  Couldn't begin to imagine what the original Volume Label was ... probably wasn't one at all, given how the original (academic release ISO) was DL'd & burned to an install CD.
 ...

The link I gave is for getting a iso as clean as what you get direct from Microsoft.   First you need a MSDN/technet iso.  If it's a clean iso you can check what the hash is and compare to the hash from Microsoft here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx
You can't download there unless you got a account but you can get the hashs

The problem with the MSDN/technet isos is you can use a cd key from retail/oem unless you modify the iso before burning.

Changing the iso from MSDN to oem/retail is easy. I'm showing the XP Home disk.  Images in spoilers.

1st open the iso and find i386\SETUPP.INI

(click to show/hide)

That's where you find the pid that determines what cd keys your disk supports

The lunersoft page has the pids that are in the setupp.ini not what the installer sets yours to.

So in my case I change the pid in setupp.ini from 76477000 to 55277OEM and my volume label(the disk name) from GRTMHFPP_EN to VRMHOEM_EN

(click to show/hide)

Now the useless msdn disk is a guaranteed perfectly clean windows xp home sp3 oem disk.

You cant change a home disk to a pro disk but, you can easily change the keys the disk accepts.  I've heard reports that making a Volume license disk is harder and may not work tho.

[datora]

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Thank you for the responses, guys.

krumm, that helps a lot! Thank you!

Freedom Kira - that is a very kind offer.  I may take you up on it; I'll send a PM one way or another.


I'm really busy with some "projects" right now.  Looking for time to sit & read & grok all this info; might take a day or two as I am traveling & not at same location with my sick system.  Will be web surfing & reading to make some decisions as soon as possible & move forward with best strategy.

[Bob2004]

Can't remember the original serv pack on the install, either.  Maybe SP2 of some sort because I vaguely recall having to patch w/ SP3 after the original install.  My experiences in the past (Win2K) are that once a serv pack has been applied to an install, then the original install media is no longer recognized as valid for repair attempts; I always had to give up and wipe/reinstall because I could never get updated install media to work with an old install once a serv pack had been applied.  Be nice if WinXP can somehow get around that ...

Windows XP doesn't have this problem - you can use the recovery tools on any Windows XP disc, no matter what version/SP the install actually is. At least, System Restore and the recovery console should both work, which are really all you need.