Dumb as they come. Help?
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Apologies for being so long winded.
Okay, simplified. Windows 10. Drive C: (Sata plug P0), Trash Pile. Drive A: (Sata plug P1) Sector clone of C:
Trash Pile is the main drive where I do most of my work. Sector clone is dedicated to the use of one particular program. I restart my computer, enter the BIOS, and select either P0 or P1 and boot.
Sometimes I have to restart and swap boot drives 10 to 15 times a day.
This has led me to 'Gee, wouldn't be nice to swap boot drives a little more conveniently? Hello, Grub2Win ! Can you help me? Ultra super simple back and forth, if you please!
Caveat: Sector clone is in quarantine. It runs a crucial program I bought at great expense in the US. I move back and forth between the US and a foreign country where that program restricted on the PC to use only in the US. Periodically the program runs one of several codes embedded in the OS and untouchable entries in the registry which are poison pills and time bombs. Periodically one of the codes goes off and my parts of my program are deleted along with my settings and work files I haven't exported via a USB stick.. Embedded anti piracy codes. When the one of the codes goes off, I have to uninstall the remains of the program, run a disk cleaner, import the copy of the registry., disconnect from the net, change the time in Windows, and rerun my legit installation.
So the facilitated swapping between boot drives is just trying to make my misery a little more tolerable.
My request: See my subject of this thread. Bullet proof, clad in armor step by step all possible stupid moves on my part minimized, step by step Grub2Win installation, on the Trash Pile drive I assume but maybe both, So simplified and easy to understand that this won't contribute to my impending nervous breakdown, if you would be so kind.
Hi Ryan,
I'm not sure I fully understand what you are looking for.
Sounds like you want to dual boot Windows.
Relatively simple with EFI systems.
Very difficult with BIOS systems.
Please run the Grub2Win diagnostics and send them to me.
I really need the diagnostics to see your full hardware configuration and details.
Let me know,
Thanks,
Dave
Dave,
On behalf of my cement head sister who sent her request through me for me to attempt to translate
into English, we both thank you for the prompt reply.
Two minor problems. The BIOS in her computer is both it and EFI. We installed a PCIe SATA drive
and, due to the age of her computer, 10 years+ old, the boot BIOS/EFI completely failed to get
that drive to become the bootable C: drive. Any attempt to get the EFI employed made the computer
unbootable and I had to return it to the default BIOS.
But all this has become academic. The anti piracy code in her program went off again yesterday,
once again erasing her program executable, and this time as a bonus, removing all administration
privileges. That is, it boots to the desktop but she cannot run ANY program whatever. Even the
notepad or calculator gives her an Access Denied. And on that note, would you know how to boot
the computer where Administrative privileges can be restored? Safe Boot? When at the desktop, even
a DOS prompt is denied access. Same with system restore, device manager, settings, system and so
on. All access denied.
As far as I am concerned, this is beyond my level of expertise, let alone hers. If no quick fix is
readily available I'd just consider the drive hosed, format it, and make a new clone of the C: drive.
Your thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully, RJ.
On 8/18/2023 20:17, Drummer wrote:
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Hi again Ryan,
This sounds like a very frustrating situation for you and your sister.
It will be extremely difficult for me to help you given the crippled nature of your system.
The tools needed for diagnosis, including diskpart and bcdedit, usually require administrative access.
At a minimum, I need your Grub2Win diagnostics.
Otherwise I am working completely blind and cannot help you at all.
Please advise.
Dave
Dave,
Again, thanks very much for giving our matter your attention.
I have resolved my sisters issues with all the finesse of a charging rhino, to wit, Delete
Partition. I will perform my own sleight of hand in cloning her C: drive, then with that healthy I
will revert the original to a restore point before those programs went into destruction mode. I
have advised her to have stern words with her employer regarding them not warning their employees
their proprietary software can destroy or make inaccessible all data on their computers.
Regardless of the reasoning behind their safety precautions, I feel they have stepped way over the
line. By all means, protect your software, but not at the expense of damaging other peoples property.
Be all that as it may, I am in the process of upgrading my computer. Once I have the new
motherboard installed, I am firmly sold on having Grub2Win handle my boot drives.
One quick query. Will Grub2Win work with Windows XP? I have an admittedly horrible mess of old
disc drives, each with some valuable data. One, a spectacular 160 GB with Windows 98, one with Win
XP, three with Win 7, one with Win 10, and one with Win 11. Obviously I got to thinking it would
be wonderful to be able to have as many of those drives installed as possible where I can
conveniently swap back and forth, compiling all my ancient records and so forth.
(I'm an electronics technician who got tired of the unhonored warranties of power supplies and
built my own using a retired 15,000 watt isolation transformer as the primary power source. A
little bonus came with the 5 farads of capacitors that can run the average computer for about 15
minutes with the power off.)
In appreciation,
RJ & Co.
n 8/19/2023 19:52, Drummer wrote:
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Hi again Ryan,
Yes Grub2Win works with Windows XP,
Also Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, Vista and their server counterparts.
It will not work with Windows 98.
Dave