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A slightly different approach to consider: Use virtualisation technology rather than dual boot.

If you use XP mode, I think you will notice a severe performance drop. I think XP mode only presents a single core (but I may be wrong!), so for image processing it would be sluggish.

Instead, try VirtualBox. Convert your existing XP image into a virtual machine and run it side-by-side with Win 7. No dual boot necessary and you can work more productively by having both systems running at the same time, with all CPU cores available to both XP and Win7.

If you go down this route, you may wish to consider adding an extra HD and dropping the VHD file onto that otherwise your SSD which may get quite full fairly quickly.

Errr….

I thought the OP described the symptoms as:

[*]The XP Home box can always read/write shares on the Win 7 HP box.
[*]The Win 7 box can read/write the XP shares only in Safe Mode.
[*]After a normal boot, the Win 7 box can only see the existence of the XP shares, but not read or write them.
[*]A Linux Live CD can read/write the XP Shares only in Safe Mode
[*]After a normal boot, a Linux Live CD can only see the existence of the XP Shares but not read/write them.

If I have got those symptoms summarised correctly, the last two points reported by sjoy are critical.

They indicate the standard Win 7 to XP networking setup referred to in the HowToGeek article and the Microsoft Workgroup configuration are not a consideration.
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No firewall eh? OK, let me have your IP address and I’ll see if I can help you out! (only kidding!):rolleyes:

Seriously though, that being the case, I’m stumped. I have come across strange scenarios when the XP firewall reported that it was off, but still had some functionality, but I can’t say what might cause your symptoms. Perhaps if the clean boot doesn’t work you might try a non-destructive XP re-installation to “repair” the problem?

My bad, I thought the Recovery Console would allow you to access to the chkntfs command.

So anyway, I just confirmed that you can access chkntfs via the Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows.

You’ll need to build the boot CD, last time I did this it took a little while and required some files from the Windows installation disk. Follow the instructions carefully and it will be worth it in the end.

Once the machine has booted off this CD (just choose the standard boot options and no networking), choose Command Prompt from the “Start” button. Navigate to c:WindowsSystem32. Then use the chkntfs.exe c: command to verify the drive is tagged as dirty. Assuming it is, use chkntfs.exe /x c: to clear the dirty bit.

If this works, you will now have another useful diagnostic CD in your collection and hopefully a functioning PC!

OH: I tried the Linux suggestion from Tinto Tech here: http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sho…o-a-XP-Machine

You called?

Hmmmm….It certainly is a strange one, but the diagnostic info so far is clear : it works in Safe Mode, but not after a normal boot. So, as Deadeye81 suggests look at drivers, antivirus etc.

One additional thing to consider is whether your XP firewall is mis-configured by 3rd party programs or even your own setup. After a normal boot, take a system backup or create a system restore point. Then open the Firewall configuration window in Control Panel. Under the Advanced tab, select Restore Defaults. Now see if it works after a normal boot (might need to re-boot to apply the changes). If it doesn’t, you can always set the firewall back to how it was by restoring the backup that you took.

Paul T’s inference is quite correct – One should never interrupt a chkdsk due to the real risk of causing a file system corruption.

However, it already is too late. To quote the OP:

….So the next time i started windows (XP – SP2), it began … SEVERAL days later it was still running. I power cycled the computer…..

Thus in this case, the risk is already present and force clearing the Dirty Bit is now a reasonable shortcut out of a long wait.

Yes, it surprised me too, I thought XPMode was only for Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate.

I admit, it’s quite confusing on that page, and it took me a couple of attempts to download the right update package, but XP Mode is not available in Win7 HP. You can download that update, but when you install it fails with an error referring to incorrect version of OS.

In the attached image, you have to click on the link next to my arrow to toggle the download to only Virtual PC rather that Virtual PC with XP Mode. In that image, I’ve already toggled it to just Virtual PC as can be seen by the circled headline.

28034-Virtual-PC-download

So, Virtual PC is available as a stand alone application for Win7 HP, similar to VirtualBox, whereas it becomes integrated as XP Mode in the business class versions of Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate.

Nevertheless, I still use Virtual Box because I had specific compatibility issues with Virtual PC in the past – it might be better now, but better the devil you know etc………

Since you are locked into the chkdsk cycle on that machine you can’t get to the command prompt or the OS which limits the options as the dirty bit is set on that drive. Autochk will detect this and start the chkdsk utility automatically.

Beg or borrow a Windows installation disk (not an OEM Recovery disk, but a true XP install disk). Boot the machine using that and enter into the recovery console. Once in the recovery console, you can then use “chkntfs /x C:” without the quotes which will clear the dirty bit on the drive and allow a normal boot once more.

The SFC (System File Checker) result was good, but as you have found, you’re not out of the woods yet.

The issues in the event viewer suggest one thing to me: a disk going bad. A corrupt registry hive being recovered with possible data loss, Drive corruptions and Controller errors all point to the same thing. You could try a Smart Monitor test, but may not find much in that, especially if SMART is not enabled. You could run a disk error check from within the OS, fix any bad clusters and keep your fingers crossed. However, personally I would always be worrying about the drive from that point.

If your backup images are up to date, I would cut and run – drop your latest good image onto a new drive and sleep soundly in bed at night.

I haven’t used Virtual PC on Win7 Home as a host, but on this Microsoft Page there is no reason why it shouldn’t install and run. It won’t enable XP mode as you note, but it should still run as a stand alone application as it would under Vista and XP.

If it installed OK and assuming all other installation requirements are met, you should have the Virtual PC program either in the start menu or in Program Files.

/Edit
Just installed Virtual PC on a Win7 HP box and it runs just fine. In the Virtual Machines “Folder” there is a link to click to create a new VM. this opens a dialog box that you can follow. Seems a bit arcane to me, but then it’s targeted at the integrated XP mode which would make sense. See attached image.

28021-VM

Failing that, my choice for these things is VirtualBox which runs just fine on Win7 Home Premium and supports Windows, Linux and others as guest OS’s out of the box.

Why changing UAC settings caused this problem is beyond me-any ideas?

Glad the System Restore worked eventually, but the fact it had a few attempts suggests there is an underlying problem and it maybe that problem is what caused the change in UAC settings to go belly up too.

If the machine is running OK now, I would be very tempted to take a system image just in case anything else goes pair shaped.

As to what caused it? Well a stab in the dark – you may have corruptions on your system drive, especially in your registry. Might be worthwhile running a chkdsk repairing any bad clusters etc and also looking at the event viewer to see if there are any indications of problems.

I have no experience of that application, but if you don’t need encryption, you might take a look at hosted services such as Box.net or Dropbox, which have public folders that you can share with people. They also get around the problem of sending zip or exe files which are often blocked by the ISP.

System Restore would be my first port of call.

However, some of the symptoms seem a bit odd:

Booting in Safe Mode takes you to your System Repair screen? That shouldn’t happen as System Repair is a Windows Pre-boot environment…… and yet you can start Task Manager which only will be available when the OS is loaded.

I feel there is a missing piece of info in the above somewhere, but nonetheless, I would still go to System Restore. Just remember if initiating System Restore in Safe Mode, that it needs to compete in Safe Mode too (ie select Safe Mode when the PC restarts to complete the System Restore).

Fred, sorry to be pedantic, but Engineman said he could get into BIOS. A dead CMOS battery will just give a checksum error in the BIOS, not cause a hard drive access error in Acronis.

Engineman: one thing to clarify…. at one point you say Hard Drives (plural) and another you say Hard drive (singular). Is it one or more physical drives? If one drive with multiple partitions, my advice still stands. If multiple physical drives that Acronis can’t see, then it’s more likely to be a motherboard failure.

Having said that I’ve never seen a laptop with more than one physical hard drive, so I might have just answered my own question!

If Acronis can’t see the HD, then either it or the hardware interface to it has failed – given the history of symptoms I think it much more likely to be the HD itself.

Remove the HD from the machine and either replace with a new one, or if you wanted to be sure first, ask a friend if you can test it on his/her machine first. Testing consists of removing their HD, replacing it with yours and booting off your Acronis CD.

Assuming Acronis still can’t see the HD, you have your diagnosis and a new HD is all that can be done.

Alternatively ask a friend to download GParted and burn onto CD, boot your machine from the GParted CD and verify that the HD cannot be seen. Once again if the HD can’t be seen I afraid it’s time to call it a day and replace with a new drive.

Is the XP machine running XP Home or XP Pro?

If XP Pro JoeP517’s link should get you going.

If XP Home, you have a mismatch in the levels of OS (Pro vs Home) and this thread describes what additional changes are needed.