I have put in a new HDD for a lady and now need to put all her 'stuff' back on her Packard Bell ( 1999). She has given me two Master Disks, but I can't find out how I am supposed to use them. It seems that it is all archived, arj and cabs and an extension called .tag, which I am not familiar with. I have tried running the disks from the DOS screen, I have put Win 98 on independently and tried to access from within Windows, but nothing doing. I do get a screen up called 'smart restore' which seems to be looking for a missing file, but gives no text. Can anyone advise me please??
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Packard Bell System Restore disks 3
- Thread starter pawz
- Start date
What is this "all her stuff" that you are talking about?
If its files and documents that she had created on the old hard drive no amount of manufactur restore disk will restore this data as all they are meant todo is to restore the system to the state it was when she bought the pc.
Like OS and sometimes preinstalled programs. If she only have 2 floppy disk I would assume that for it to restore the OS it looks for a hidden partition that would be present on the old hard drive, hence why it gives you an error message when you try and run it on the new disk.
I think your easiest solution would be keep your installed windows 98 or reinstall it if you have removed it again. Then install programs from their cd's like if she has antivirus software etc etc.
Then if the old hard drive isn't totally dead and it hold alot of files/documents she need. Slot it in and put it on IDE chan to then boot into your new Windows and copy the files over to the new hard drive.
If its files and documents that she had created on the old hard drive no amount of manufactur restore disk will restore this data as all they are meant todo is to restore the system to the state it was when she bought the pc.
Like OS and sometimes preinstalled programs. If she only have 2 floppy disk I would assume that for it to restore the OS it looks for a hidden partition that would be present on the old hard drive, hence why it gives you an error message when you try and run it on the new disk.
I think your easiest solution would be keep your installed windows 98 or reinstall it if you have removed it again. Then install programs from their cd's like if she has antivirus software etc etc.
Then if the old hard drive isn't totally dead and it hold alot of files/documents she need. Slot it in and put it on IDE chan to then boot into your new Windows and copy the files over to the new hard drive.
- Thread starter
- #3
sorry for being so imprecise. No, not her own docs etc - all the programs and applications that come WITH a Packard Bell System, preinstalled - MS Office for instance. Also the hardware drivers of course - you get the picture I expect.
The two CD's ( not floppies) are, as you say, meant to restore the system to the state it was in originally. As she now has a new HDD, that would be desirable, but if there was a hidden partition on the original drive ( though why would it need two restore cd's full of archives and cabs if that was so?), then how am I supposed to get the machine up and running again when that partition is no longer accessible?
Other people must have needed to re-install onto a new disk, how did they do it I ask?
I do have Nortons as a separate application, so that is ok, but it looks to me as if the two cd's are entire in themselves, they are supposed to have a floppy to initiate them so that the cabs can be accessed
I have tried to recover her photos and thought I had a partial success and parked them on another drive but the cdrw can't recognise them as burnable files, only images, so perhaps it didn't go as well as it seemed at the time.
anyway thankyou for your help
The two CD's ( not floppies) are, as you say, meant to restore the system to the state it was in originally. As she now has a new HDD, that would be desirable, but if there was a hidden partition on the original drive ( though why would it need two restore cd's full of archives and cabs if that was so?), then how am I supposed to get the machine up and running again when that partition is no longer accessible?
Other people must have needed to re-install onto a new disk, how did they do it I ask?
I do have Nortons as a separate application, so that is ok, but it looks to me as if the two cd's are entire in themselves, they are supposed to have a floppy to initiate them so that the cabs can be accessed
I have tried to recover her photos and thought I had a partial success and parked them on another drive but the cdrw can't recognise them as burnable files, only images, so perhaps it didn't go as well as it seemed at the time.
anyway thankyou for your help
Right sorry thought you meant floppy disks not cd's
Maybe you can find the missing part here
Maybe you can find the missing part here
- Thread starter
- #5
thanks for the link. 
I have trudged around the web and found and loaded all the drivers except for the AMR. It doesn't like the SmartLink driver which is supposed to work for all PB AMR modems in the given OS, and I can't find anything specifically for 'AMR 2800 56k' for win 98se, so I guess I will have to rootle around and see if I have got a spare modem here.
I shall be giving back not much more than a basic operating system. Unsatisfactory. Don't seem right, but don't know what else I can do to recover whatever else is on the disks.
thanks again
I have trudged around the web and found and loaded all the drivers except for the AMR. It doesn't like the SmartLink driver which is supposed to work for all PB AMR modems in the given OS, and I can't find anything specifically for 'AMR 2800 56k' for win 98se, so I guess I will have to rootle around and see if I have got a spare modem here.
I shall be giving back not much more than a basic operating system. Unsatisfactory. Don't seem right, but don't know what else I can do to recover whatever else is on the disks.
thanks again
Usually when the restore discs are CD's, at least one of the CD's should be bootable. You can go into the BIOS to set the CDROM drive as the first boot device. Restore discs are usually not designed to allow you to pick and choose what you want to restore - so accessing them from Windows or DOS is probably not going to help.
Also when you do boot into the System Restore CD, it will likely expect to find a blank hard drive, or it may prompt you to format it.
~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Also when you do boot into the System Restore CD, it will likely expect to find a blank hard drive, or it may prompt you to format it.
~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #7
hello cdogg.
Disk One was not bootable ( yes I made the cd drive the primary boot option)
When in Windows a 'setup' folder offers you a 'system restore' icon, but the application that comes up does nothing but look for a missing file.
It warns on the disks that using them could destroy data as it restores the system back to original, so I think it must be used from within the Windows environment.
Disk One was not bootable ( yes I made the cd drive the primary boot option)
When in Windows a 'setup' folder offers you a 'system restore' icon, but the application that comes up does nothing but look for a missing file.
It warns on the disks that using them could destroy data as it restores the system back to original, so I think it must be used from within the Windows environment.
![[thumbsup2]](/data/assets/smilies/thumbsup2.gif "[thumbsup2] [thumbsup2]")
diogenes10
Technical User
Is it possible the cds are looking for somekind of validation information on the harddrive?
I seem to remember a thread from geekbros a long while back that discussed drive tatooing or something to that effect and how to eliminate that ( I think in HP's ) if you wanted to put a generic win 98 on the original manufacturer prepared harddrive. Maybe what we have here is a reverse of that-since this drive is not properly tatooed and related to the other hardware, the restore disks wont work.
-------------------------------------
It's 10 O'Clock ( somewhere! ).
Are your registry and data backed up?
I seem to remember a thread from geekbros a long while back that discussed drive tatooing or something to that effect and how to eliminate that ( I think in HP's ) if you wanted to put a generic win 98 on the original manufacturer prepared harddrive. Maybe what we have here is a reverse of that-since this drive is not properly tatooed and related to the other hardware, the restore disks wont work.
-------------------------------------
It's 10 O'Clock ( somewhere! ).
Are your registry and data backed up?
- Thread starter
- #10
perhaps that is the answer diogenes - I dunno, I shall keep an eye out for enlightenment.
A previous PB I had in had a hidden partition for the OS and you needed a floppy to initiate system restore. This one seems to have it all on the cd's. Oh well. I have completed the job now and given her back as much as I could in fair substitution for what was on there before, plus a few small utils and freebie downloads and her own extra applications. It looks ok so I don't feel so bad now, and the system is running nicely with no problems (oops, is it safe to say that out loud I wonder?)
A previous PB I had in had a hidden partition for the OS and you needed a floppy to initiate system restore. This one seems to have it all on the cd's. Oh well. I have completed the job now and given her back as much as I could in fair substitution for what was on there before, plus a few small utils and freebie downloads and her own extra applications. It looks ok so I don't feel so bad now, and the system is running nicely with no problems (oops, is it safe to say that out loud I wonder?)
-
2
- #11
pawz:
diogenes10 comments regarding Tattooing is I think correct.
Have you any information on the PB model number and specifications?
Did you download any Modem drivers from PB downloads?
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
diogenes10 comments regarding Tattooing is I think correct.
Have you any information on the PB model number and specifications?
Did you download any Modem drivers from PB downloads?
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
- Thread starter
- #13
hello GreyTed! we were tslking about you yesterday, Pete gave me your e-mail, being as how you are a PBer - is that right?.
Its a Club. Can't recall if it was a 4 or 600. The first I think - its gone back now. I did download a couple of drivers from PB Downloads. The smartlink one that is supposed to suit all AMR's didn't suit, but that may be because the modem had a different serial number, not the 2800 one. Nothing matched this one Acscxxxxxxx I think it was, I forget the numbers now. I gave up and put a PCI modem in, which works fine, so sent the AMR back in an antistatic bag.
This thing about tattooing... where can I find out a bit more - I feel sure I will come across this event again as these little PB machines come my way regularly enough.
ANFP you mean the Master CD's? The folders are all cab files and ARJ. I can open them but trying to find which ones I need without any friendly labels and then get all the needed components identified and extracted and then associated....nah. I am happy enough with the conextant. Does the job as well if not better. Thanks for your help though - appreciated
Its a Club. Can't recall if it was a 4 or 600. The first I think - its gone back now. I did download a couple of drivers from PB Downloads. The smartlink one that is supposed to suit all AMR's didn't suit, but that may be because the modem had a different serial number, not the 2800 one. Nothing matched this one Acscxxxxxxx I think it was, I forget the numbers now. I gave up and put a PCI modem in, which works fine, so sent the AMR back in an antistatic bag.
This thing about tattooing... where can I find out a bit more - I feel sure I will come across this event again as these little PB machines come my way regularly enough.
ANFP you mean the Master CD's? The folders are all cab files and ARJ. I can open them but trying to find which ones I need without any friendly labels and then get all the needed components identified and extracted and then associated....nah. I am happy enough with the conextant. Does the job as well if not better. Thanks for your help though - appreciated
pawz
Try this link:
Haven't worked on a PB machine for three or four months now but will look through my files for any tattooing information.
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
Try this link:
Haven't worked on a PB machine for three or four months now but will look through my files for any tattooing information.
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
pawz:
An informative article on tattooing here:
If you have the original HDD you should have no problems.
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
An informative article on tattooing here:
If you have the original HDD you should have no problems.
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
- Thread starter
- #16
thanks Ted, will go there presently - just at this moment have a problem with a Club 600. I noticed that the device manager was flagging the sound as having a problem. It had sound when I went to look at it tother day, and all I have done today is put a modem in and removed a quantity of spyware, so dunno what has changed.
The driver, it said was a Sigma-Tel AC97, which seems to be another name for the Intel 82801AA (v. confusing some of these) I downloaded for the OTHER machine we have been discussing, but then found out that although the motherboard is the same, the earlier revision had Yamaha, so the AC97 was not required. So, I have spent the last hour trying various AC 97 drivers for Win se, and although it seemed at first to be happy with the Intel package, when I rebooted it again it was back to the yellow flag. Dont suppose you, in your great experience of these matters would know which the correct driver really is? The board is a Gigabyte 6WMM7 second revision.
The driver, it said was a Sigma-Tel AC97, which seems to be another name for the Intel 82801AA (v. confusing some of these) I downloaded for the OTHER machine we have been discussing, but then found out that although the motherboard is the same, the earlier revision had Yamaha, so the AC97 was not required. So, I have spent the last hour trying various AC 97 drivers for Win se, and although it seemed at first to be happy with the Intel package, when I rebooted it again it was back to the yellow flag. Dont suppose you, in your great experience of these matters would know which the correct driver really is? The board is a Gigabyte 6WMM7 second revision.
Gracie,
Are you working on a different system now?
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
Are you working on a different system now?
Ted
"The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity."
Benjamin Disraeli.
- Thread starter
- #18
yus,m - sorry for delay in coming back. The previous PB Club ( 400?) went back this morning and the present Club 600 arrived yesterday. Both have the same mobo, but this is revision 2 and apparently has AC97 codec not Yamaha 744. I have been going round in circles trying to find the right driver from Packard for this model. One of them threw the system into serious disarray and gave me fatal exceptions. Got that sorted out now. Went to the Packard download site and downloaded the Sigma Tel driver, but it still isn't happy. I am wondering if the spyware has corrupted something. SFC next I s'pose. sigh.
- Thread starter
- #19
success at last. I downloaded the sigma tel driver meant for windows first edition, and whaddya know; it works. Thanks for all the help and advice on both machines.....
oh yes....there is another machine coming back with best beloved any moment now - but I don't think its a Packard. I have to investigate why it is slow. So I might be back..
oh yes....there is another machine coming back with best beloved any moment now - but I don't think its a Packard. I have to investigate why it is slow. So I might be back..
dawnrazor777
Technical User
Hi there, I recently had the exact same problems with a PB machine - I gave up on trying to use the original disks but I did discover that the modem was in fact an Aztech rather than what was on the spec for the particular club machine. Forgive me if this is no help but call me sad - I joined just to say that because it took me three days to find the right modem drivers and I was so pleased with myself 
. I emailed PB tech dept. but they didn't bother to reply so I was glad to read all the comments here. Thanks all x
. I emailed PB tech dept. but they didn't bother to reply so I was glad to read all the comments here. Thanks all x- Status
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