How can I install Windows after booting with Knoppix? [Archive] - Download Knoppix Live CD or DVD, Get Documentation and Help

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MobileVisuals

01-07-2011, 11:56 PM

Harry Kuhman

01-08-2011, 12:04 AM

I am using Knoppix to boot an infected PC. I then want to install Windows 7 on it. I boot with Knoppix, but how can I then install Windows 7? I have to insert the Windows CD, but I can not remove the Knoppix while I am running Knoppix. I try this, but then I get the message "unable to eject device
volume knoppix is not mounted". So how can I proceed with my installation of Windows 7?
You're talking nonsense. You don't need Knoppix to install Windows, and I don't know of any way that you would install any version of Windows using any version of Linux. Just shut down Knoppix. Remove the disc. Insert a bootable Windows install disc. Boot it. Install Windows, making sure that your computer boots from disc before hard disk. Be sure to do a full format of the hard disk to get rid of anything nasty that you may have installed on it.

MobileVisuals

01-08-2011, 10:12 AM

My problem is that a virus maybe has infected the boot section. I can boot with the Windows disc, but I can not proceed with the installation of Windows 7. I have tried that, but then I got an error message which said that it could be a hardware error.

It could ofcourse be a hardware error, but I think that I've had a virus, because Norton and the firewall was shut of and security updates were blocked. A colleague adviced me to boot the PC with Knoppix and then install Windows. But you say that this is not a good idea. Do you mean that it is impossible to do or just that it's a stupid thing to do?

You're talking nonsense. You don't need Knoppix to install Windows, and I don't know of any way that you would install any version of Windows using any version of Linux. Just shut down Knoppix. Remove the disc. Insert a bootable Windows install disc. Boot it. Install Windows, making sure that your computer boots from disc before hard disk. Be sure to do a full format of the hard disk to get rid of anything nasty that you may have installed on it.

Harry Kuhman

01-08-2011, 10:47 AM

My problem is that a virus maybe has infected the boot section.

What I mean is that you can't (as far as I know) install Windows while running Knoppix.

You might want to boot that Knoppix disc and type memtest at the boot prompt. That will at least test memory, a likely source of hardware problems.

If you really think you have a boot sector problem you should be able to erase the boot sector from within Knoppix, or any Linux system. Off hand I don't know the best way to tell you to do that, but a few minutes spent with Google should give you several suggestions. Even dd is capable of overwriting the boot sector. Of course, don't do this if there is anything that you want on the hard disk. But in the end I expect that you will have to reboot the computer with the Windows disc in the drive.

And to really strike terror into your heart, it might not even be a boot sector virus at all, it might be a virus that has overwritten your BIOS.

But I'm inclined to think most people cry virus when there is none. And I care very little for Microsoft's "security updates". I'm typing this on a perfectly legal copy of XP that is still running service pack 1, which came with the computer. The only bad thing that ever got into this or any of my computers was a Microsoft "security update" that seems to have mucked up the eeprom in my notebook's built-in NIC in such a way that Windows could still use it but Linux could not. The same Knoppix CDs that worked in the notebook before the "security update" would no longer have Internet access after the "security update". So I no longer accept "security updates" from Microsoft. I can protect myself from the other low lifes on the Internet just fine, Microsoft is the only low life that has done me harm and they don't get to do it again.

Another thing that you could do if you really think that you have a boot sector virus and want to prove it is to simply swap out the primary hard drive with one that does not have a boot sector infection, then try to install Windows on that. If it works then maybe you do have a boot sector infection on the drive. Or maybe yu just have a failing drive. But the suspected infected drive could safely be added as an additional drive (the boot sector virus would not be activated since you don't boot from the second drive), and then you could determine if the drive still works and can be completely erased (including the boot sector) or if it is just dead. You might also have some tools in your BIOS that will show you the s.m.a.r.t. status of the hard drive, or self booting diagnostic tools that came with the drive if you purchased the drive separately in retail packaging (or look on the manufacturer's website for s.m.a.r.t. tools that you can download and make a self booting disc with.

MobileVisuals

01-10-2011, 10:11 AM

Thanks for the info. I talked to my colleague again and what he meant what that I should erase the harddrive with Knoppix and then reinstall Windows 7. I tried this but it didn't work, because Knoppix couldn't access the harddrive with the standard Linux commands. I then tried to reinstall Windows and got the following error message:

Windows has encountered a problem connecting with your device. The error can be caused by unplugging a removable device such as an external hard drive while the drive is in use or by faulty hardware such as a harddrive or a CD rom drive that is failing. Make sure that any removable storage device is properly connected and thenrestart your PC.
status:0xc0000069
info:unexpected I/Oexception

All USB devices are removed,so it is probably the harddrive that is failing. I tried the memtest command, but then I got "memtest could not find kernel image:memtest".
If this is only a harddrive error, it is strange that Nortons software and Windows security updates were blocked. Maybe it is both a virus and harddrive error.

Harry Kuhman

01-10-2011, 10:38 AM

You didn't say what version of Knoppix you are using. If it is anything but the most recent version then memtest should be there. If it is the newest version, well I have not downloaded that myself; a lot of useful stuff has been vanishing from Knoppix but removing memtest seems like a really bad idea if that happened. memtest needs to be typed in all lower case, just in case that was what went wrong.

Knoppix should be able to see the hard drive even if the boot sector is infected, although it may take some experience with Linux, particularly with newer versions that removed the desktop icons for the partitions. And it should be able to write to the disk (although writing to NTFS partitions may corrupt them and is generally made difficult for that reason). Of course, a failed drive might not be accessible.

I'm hard pressed to believe that you picked up an infection just when the disk died, and you certainly didn't pick one up after the disk died. So if there is a hardware failure that is the problem and if you also have a MBR infection then you likely have for some time and have been living with it. But as I said, I think more people cry infection when thee isn't than really have a speculated but unknown infection.

In addition to the suggestions that I already made, you might learn more just by looking at your BIOS. A BIOS can report a drive even if it failed, for example if it isn't spinning but the electronics are working. But if it is no longer showing up in the BIOS a drive's electronics have likely failed (or you have an interface problem or a connection problem).

Good luck. I still think the best idea is to swap in a different drive, better understand what the issue is, and rework the old drive as a second drive under Windows if the hardware is OK.

Werner P. Schulz

01-10-2011, 10:57 AM

yannos

01-22-2011, 07:37 AM

google Hirens Boot Cd.... get ver9 if you can its the better. This is a bootable cd with the tools in a usable gui, to rescue MBR, rewrite MBR, format, and even do low level AV scan. There are also 'burn in' tests for all periph.'s (HD, FD, NIC, sound, video.) do this first; it will report whether you've been rootkit tagged, or worse, if if you do have a mechanical problem with a device. basically it is nearly impossible for outside forces to affect anything lower level than your MBR. Ie. very unlikely that your bios is in trouble as all Bios's are firmware flashed and require special firmware burning progs to change. If some lamer has come up with a way to init a firmware flash via attack, he sould get a Nobel. Yannos