Preparing for and Dealing With Windows NT® Start-up Problems Agilent ChemStation Products "Success depends on preparation." Read this document now; schedule regular backups and perform disk maintenance regularly. Create and maintain a current ERD (see below). The following procedure assumes you have some knowledge of Windows, and you have determined that you need to repair or restore a Windows NT system. You should always maintain a current backup of all critical data from the hard disk you wish to save, before using this procedure. It is the ChemStation User's responsibility to ensure that all critical computer files are backed up on a routine basis, as determined by your business environment. Working with the Microsoft Windows NT “Blue Screen” halt. The text mode STOP messages or “Blue Screens” are used to identify and debug hardware and software problems that occur while loading or running Windows NT. When a mission critical operating system fails, NT will generate the Blue Screen consisting of a STOP message, the text translation, the address of the violating call, and the drivers loaded at the time of the STOP screen. Each time Windows NT boots up and a user successfully logs on, the registries are backed up into a compressed file. If any drivers or programs are changed that cause the system to halt with the dreaded Blue Screen, try rebooting. During the boot process, Windows NT gives you the opportunity to “Hit the Spacebar for the Last Known Good Configuration”. Hitting the spacebar will find the compressed backup of the registries from the last successful logon, and copy these files back to the registries. This will fix many problems caused by configuration changes or incompatible drivers. If the Windows NT boot files have become corrupted, or deleted, the Blue Screen will appear without giving an opportunity to “hit the spacebar….” In this case, the boot files must be restored. This can be done using the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). This document is believed to be accurate and up-to-date. However, Agilent Technologies, Inc. cannot assume responsibility for the use of this material. The information contained herein is intended for use by informed individuals who can and must determine its fitness for their purpose. a05308.doc http:// www.chem.agilent.com Page 1 of 8 *NOTE* All bundled systems purchased from Agilent, where the Instrument and ChemStation are purchased together are shipped with an Emergency Recovery Kit (see Appendix A). This kit consists of: 1 (one) CD labeled Emergency Recovery CD - This CD contains an image of the NT operating system, along with a folder called i386, which contains the standard Microsoft NT install files. 2 (two) floppy Disks - 1 disk labeled Emergency Boot Floppy and a second floppy disk labeled Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). This ERD is not the current ERD, which you must create and update regularly. This kit can be used if the operating system cannot be recovered as previously noted. NOTE: If you do not have these disks, you will need to find and/or purchase replacements before you will be able to restore your system. AFTER THE SYSTEM IS INSTALLED, AND WHENEVER THE SYSTEM IS UPGRADED, UPDATED, OR SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED, DO THE FOLLOWING: Creating and using the Windows NT Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) The ERD is used to take a snapshot of your system’s configuration. The ERD is not bootable, and is used in conjunction with the NT Startup Disks. The ERD mentioned above that ships with the standard Agilent bundles, needs to be updated once you have the entire system installed and updated, or any time after you install new programs or modify system settings. !!!IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE ERD DISK CURRENT!!! If you are not sure if your ERD is current, create or update it before installing any software or hardware updates. You can use the emergency repair disk to: Inspect the Registry files Inspect the Startup environment Verify the NT system files Inspect the boot sector If any of your boot files are missing or corrupt, you can repair the failure through the emergency repair disk, or by using a NT Boot Disk (See below). To repair boot files, you need the three NT setup disks and the ERD. To create/update your NT Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) a05308.doc hhttp://ttp:// www.chem.agilent.com Page 2 of 8 This option can only be performed when your system is working properly. If you do not complete this step before a failure, then you have a poor chance of successfully repairing your NT system after a failure. Click on Start-Programs-Command Prompt - the Windows NT Command Prompt should appear. At the C:\> prompt type: RDISK /s (then press <Enter> key.) The Saving Configuration window appears. This stores the information to the hard drive. When prompted, select 'Yes' to also save the information to a floppy. You will need to insert a new floppy at this point. The program will format the disk and store the ERD to it. Label the disk and store it in a secure area. You should avoid using an ERD from another computer if you plan on repairing the registry. Nor should you use this one on another computer!! *Note* The /s switch used with the RDISK command, forces RDISK to backup the SAM and SECURITY hives to the hard drive \winnt\repair folder, along with the rest of the registry. Without the /s, these hives aren't backed up by RDISK Preparing a NT bootable floppy disk It is essential that you prepare an NT boot disk, this is a 3 1/2" floppy formatted under NT. You can boot from this disk later if any of your NT startup files become corrupt or missing. Prepare this disk as listed below. If you suspect one or more of the startup files is bad, insert this floppy into your floppy disk drive with the computer shut down. Turn on the computer and allow the normal startup process to proceed. If successful, your computer will read from the floppy and then continue booting the NT system from the hard drive. You should be able to logon as usual. You can now restore the individual NT boot files from this floppy to your hard drive. Use the NT Explorer to restore these files. This step may save you from having to run through the NT SETUP/ERD process. Create an NT bootable floppy disk: 1. Format floppy in NT Explorer (A disk formatted on DOS or Win9x will not work!!) On a working NT machine, format a floppy diskette (You MUST format the disk on NT; even if you're using a pre-formatted diskette, format it again on NT.) Before formatting the disk, ensure that the “Quick Format” option is not selected, or there will be no NT boot sector written to the formatted floppy. Or from the Command Prompt in NT type: format a: 2. You need to copy some files to this diskette from the root directory of the boot partition for NT on the system for which you are creating these disks. Make sure hidden & system files are displayed in the NT Explorer. To do this, open NT Explorer, click View...Options and click the radio button to "Show All Files", and unselect “Hide file extensions for known file types”. Select OK to close the window. You should see the following files: NTLDR - Loads NT operating system for Intel based computers BOOT.INI - Builds the boot loader operating system menu NTDETECT.COM - Only used on Intel machines, Detects HW, passes to ntldr. BOOTSECT.DOS - Run for all non-NT Op Systems, used to boot MS-DOS. NTBOOTDD.SYS - SCSI hard drives on Intel machines with BIOS disabled adapter. *Note if you don't find the file, your machine probably does not use it. The first 4 files are most important! Copy all of these files to your newly formatted floppy disk. YOU NOW HAVE AN NT BOOT FLOPPY!! a05308.doc hhttp://ttp:// www.chem.agilent.com Page 3 of 8 Creating the 3 (three) NT setup floppy disks If you purchased an Agilent ChemStation bundle, you will have to create the 3 NT install setup disks. You can use either the First or the Second choices below. First choice: On a running ChemStation Bundle system, select Start, Run, and enter: \i386\winnt32.exe /ox Second choice: 1. With the system shut down, insert the Emergency Boot Floppy and Emergency Recovery CD. Then turn on your computer. The system should boot from the floppy and stop at the a:\> prompt. 2 Type at the prompt: a:\> d: (then press <Enter> key) Only type (d:). This assumes that d: is the drive letter assigned to the CD-ROM drive. Substitute the correct letter for your system. 3. Now your prompt should be: D:\>. Type the following: cd i386 Press <Enter> key. 4. At the d:\i386> prompt, type: winnt /ox *Note* This will start the NT installation program. The /ox option forces winnt to only create the 3 installation floppies. Follow the prompts and label the floppies accordingly. Saving Data needed to restore ChemStation(GC, LC, A/D, UV & LC/MSD only) 1. With ChemStation sessions closed, select one of the following based on your revision: Before A.08.0x: START-PROGRAMS-HP CHEMSTATIONS-HP CONFIGURATION EDITOR A.08.0x: START-PROGRAMS-CHEMSTATIONS-CONFIGURATION EDITOR UV-VIS: START-PROGRAMS-UV-VISIBLE CHEMSTATIONS 2. Select File, Print and choose All Instruments. Print and save the configuration in a safe place. 3. Make sure you have all Software License Numbers.