c\windows\system32\config\system Error - need Knoppix

[NYC]

I would like to back up using Knoppix but I don't know whether my OEM-installed XP Pro is NTFS or FAT32. How can I determine this in an unbootable computer?
Also, I have an external HD by Maxtor. I don't know if it is NTFS or FAT32 and I have already saved files on it.
If I use Knoppix to backup my HD to the Maxtor, then I may delete both the internal HD files and the Maxtor files, right?
What should I do in order to-

a) Backup my files safely using Knoppix
b) Repair the Error

Laptop Details:
IBM T40
30MB
512 RAM
OS: XP PRO

Error Details:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.
c\windows\system32\config\system
You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup CD-ROM (I can't do this since XP was OEM installed)
If I can't repair the error, can I just use Knoppix as my OS?
By the way, I am waiting to receive my Knoppix CD.

Thanks much.

[Harry Kuhman]

I would like to back up using Knoppix but I don't know whether my OEM-installed XP Pro is NTFS or FAT32. How can I determine this in an unbootable computer?
If the computer is unbootable, this may not matter much. But if it's XP factory installed, you will have an NTFS partition.
My perferred way of backing up files is to transfer a copy across a network by FTP. I install an FTP server on the destination system, then use Konquror under Knoppix as an FTP client on the system I'm trying to recover the files on. There are other ways, but this is fast and efficient.


...You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup CD-ROM (I can't do this since XP was OEM installed)
If I can't repair the error, can I just use Knoppix as my OS?
By the way, I am waiting to receive my Knoppix CD.

Thanks much.
You can use Knoppix as an OS, but it's mainly a Live CD and not ideal as an installed OS. I would suggest that you might want to install something like Debian testing to the computer. You might also want to contact the Computer OEM and see if you can get a backup of your Xp disc inexpensively. As to waiting to receive a Knoppix CD, I'm very sorry to hear this. We see a lot of problems here that are caused by high speed burns, and most CDs that you buy from a stranger trying to make a buck from Klaus' work are burnt at high speed. See http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17788 and http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=78582#78582 and http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17064

[NYC]

Thank you Herr Kuhman!

That's good to know about the high speed burns. I wish I had researched more before buying from the first seller I saw online.

I am a novice to self-directed computer repair so I have a couple of elementary questions.
-Setting up an FTP server-
Can I do this if my destination drive is just an external hard drive? Or do I need a computer with certain requirements?
Do you have a tutorial on how to set up the FTP server?

I will also contact IBM/Lenovo and see if they will sell me the CD though I am not under warranty anymore. I will write back with results.

Thank you so much for your advice.

[Harry Kuhman]

...-Setting up an FTP server-
Can I do this if my destination drive is just an external hard drive? Or do I need a computer with certain requirements?
Do you have a tutorial on how to set up the FTP server?....
Just an external drive isn't enough for an FTP server; an FTP server is a program that runs on a (networked) computer. There are not many requirements for the computer; FTP is pretty low in process requirements, although you certainly might find a particular FTP server that is more resource hungry than others. I don't have a tutorial to offer, and honestly I wouldn't recommend the server that I've been using to anyone (not particularly user friendly and a bit of a pain to configure, but I've learned to live with it. That's not to say I would suggest others fight with it though, they likely can find better candidates). I would suggest a Google search for Windows FTP servers. You should find several free programs, as well as some that people want to sell you (but usually will give you a free 30 trial or similar restricted use). I prefer free, and don't believe that paying always gets you better stuff. Long term, this is a handy skill to develop. After you do it a couple of times you will be able to do it on any computer in a matter of just a few minutes.

If you really just want to use an external drive, I would suggest:
1) Make sure that there is nothing on the drive that you want or need.
2) If it's formatted as NTFS, reformat it as FAT partition(s). Unfortunately, with Windows I've seen some nasty problems with larger FAT partitions on external drives when moved between different computers (this seems to be a LBA conflict problem). To avoid or at least minimize this problem I would suggest making multiple FAT32 partitions, each under 32 gig in size. Yea, this can be a pain, but it's the safest thing to do.
3) Boot Knoppix with the external drive with FAT partitions attached, right click on the external drive partition icons and make them writeable if needed (with 5.3.1 I was shocked to not need this step with a FAT flash drive!). Copy files to the removable drive partitions.
4) Shut down Knoppix before detaching the drive to make sure the drive is unmounted properly.
5) Move the drive to the destination system, copy the file as desired. Confirm that the contents of the files are as expected.
6) If desired, erase and repartition the external drive as NTFS again.

[NYC]

I have a computer that I can use. It is an old computer with Windows ME on it and it is on my wireless network. Will the clash between ME and XP be okay? Also, is a wireless network sufficient or does it have to be a regular network?
The ME computer is the one that is attached to the wireless router. Will this affect setting up the FTP server on the destination system?
I did find some free FTP server programs. Thank you for the hint and also thank you for explaining both the FTP route and the Knoppix to external hard drive route. I will take your advice and set up the FTP server.

[Harry Kuhman]

I have a computer that I can use. It is an old computer with Windows ME on it and it is on my wireless network. Will the clash between ME and XP be okay? ...
There will be no conflict between ME and XP. For one thing, you will not be running XP, you'll be running Knoppix. But in any case the files systems are for the most part compatible. I say for the most part because if, as I expect, ME has FAT partitions and the system that you want to recover files from has NTFS partitions, there is a slight chance of a problem with file size. FAT32 partitions were limited to files in size of 4 gig minus a byte or two, while NTFS file size limits pretty much allow anything that will fit on a modern drive. However, you are unlikely to have any files this large unless your crashed XP system has large ISO files or very very large video files. Other than this I expect the files will xfer just fine using FTP (by the way, if you try using Microsoft networking rather than FTP, in addition to being much slower, you may find that Microsoft networking will not allow you to transfer files greater than 2 gig in size, even though the FAT32 file size limit is just under 4 gig. (But that's considered good enough for Microsoft customers.)


... Also, is a wireless network sufficient or does it have to be a regular network?
As long as the wifi computer is running WinME you should be OK. Knoppix wifi support is pretty poor, but that will not affect your entire network. You should notice the transfers are slower than with a wired connection, and much slower if the wifi system is 802.11b rather than 802.11g, but it will still allow the transfer.


....The ME computer is the one that is attached to the wireless router. Will this affect setting up the FTP server on the destination system?.....
I'm confused (or you are). Did you just ask this? I'm expecting that WinME is the destination system, and will be running the FTP server. The Knoppix system will be wired, attached by ethernet to your wireless router or access point (although it could also connect by ethernet to a Network Bridge or to switches or hubs that eventually reach the wireless device). The Knoppix system will use Konquror as a FTP client. Actually, you could FTP the data anywhere in the world that you wanted and had an FTP server ready to receive it. Some ISPs, for example, give you some storage space accessable by FTP, as do almost all web hosting services. Once it leaves your system all you care about is the destination IP address or URL (for local storage you'll be using the private IP address of the destination system), you don't care about network topology at all, the network will take care of that for you.


...I did find some free FTP server programs. Thank you for the hint and also thank you for explaining both the FTP route and the Knoppix to external hard drive route. I will take your advice and set up the FTP server.
Great, good luck. Let us know how it works for you.

By the way, it's worth mentioning that you should make sure that any firewall on the WinME system lets in local FTP access. It's also very handy to bring up a console in Knoppix and be sure that you can ping the IP address of the WinME system before trying to make FTP work (type ping 102.168.0.102 or whatever the actual IP address of the other computer is and be sure it's not timing out).

[Harry Kuhman]

P.S. While assuring you of minimal conflicts when moving files between your crashed XP system and the older WinME system, I had intended to mention the assumption that you were using nice clean English formatted file names, but I forgot to say this. You might run into some issues if your file names diverge greatly from the English character set, I don't have enough experience with "strange" character sets to say just how likely this will be. Based on where you are posting from and your choice of user name, I don't expect this to be an issue.