Q172952: How to Rebuild Corrupted or Missing SYSTEM Partition
Article: Q172952
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): WinNT:3.51,4.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbsetup
Last Modified: 09-AUG-2001
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51, 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0
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SUMMARY
=======
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) ALPHA-based RISC computers rely on a small
(less than 4 GB) FAT-formatted SYSTEM partition containing boot files. This
SYSTEM partition can also contain the Windows NT operating system, but must be
FAT. RISC computers use the system's firmware and the ARC paths defined in NVRAM
to read the SYSTEM and OSLOAD partitions. The firmware loads boot files from the
SYSTEM partition; the SYSTEM partition loads the Windows NT operating system
files from the OSLOAD partition. If the SYSTEM partition is damaged, corrupted,
or deleted, the system will no longer start. The SYSTEM partition can have any
partition number, but is usually Partition-1.
Typical Disk Configuration
--------------------------
_________<4GB______________________________________________
| SYSTEM PARTITION - FAT | BOOT PARTITION - NTFS or FAT |
| | |
| \Os\Winntxx\Osloader.exe | \Winnt\System32\Ntoskrnl.exe |
| \Hal.dll | |
| \*.PAL files | |
|__________________________|________________________________|
SYSTEMPARTITION (1) OSLOADPARTITION (2)
The SYSTEM partition contains Os\Winntxx directory (xx = Windows NT OS version).
The OSLOAD partition contains the Winnt directory or a user- defined directory
for Windows NT.
Until the SYSTEM partition can be rebuilt, use the article below to help return
to Windows NT:
Q172806 Creating an NT Boot Floppy for DEC ALPHA RISC Machines
After you are in Windows NT, you can try to run Chkdsk.exe to recover the
partition. If Disk Administrator shows the small SYSTEM partition as unknown,
Windows NT 3.51 will allow you to reformat or delete and recreate the SYSTEM
partition.
Disk Administrator in Windows NT 4.0 will not allow you to delete or reformat the
SYSTEM partition. If you try to do so, you will receive one of the following
messages:
Windows NT cannot format a volume containing Windows NT system files
-or-
Disk Administrator cannot delete the active partition on disk 0
MORE INFORMATION
================
To rebuild the SYSTEM partition, you must either run a built-in program
contained in the ALPHA firmware or use a utility called Arcinst.exe from the
Windows NT installation compact disc's Alpha directory to delete and then create
the SYSTEM partition.
DEC has two different kinds of firmware: the new AlphaBios firmware and the
original ARC MULTIBOOT firmware. Depending on the model number and age of the
computer, either kind of firmware could be in place.
NOTE: The screens and menu items may vary from one firmware revision to the next.
Use the appropriate section below for instructions on deleting or creating a new
SYSTEM partition.
Deleting and Creating a SYSTEM Partition Using AlphaBios Firmware
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To delete a system partition and then create a new one, use the following steps:
1. Turn on power to the system.
2. After POST initialization completes, press F2 to enter SETUP; the menu will
look similar to the following:
Display System Configuration
Upgrade AlphaBios
Hard Disk Setup ...
CMOS Setup ...
Install Windows NT
Utilities
About AlphaBios
3. From the AlphaBios SETUP menu, click Hard Disk Setup.
4. A map of the drives and partitions will be displayed along with selections
for deleting and creating or formatting partitions. The map will resemble the
following diagram:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Disk 0 QLISP10x0 SCSI ID 0 4091MB
Partition 1 4081MB FAT
Partition 2 10MB UNKNOWN
Insert=NEW DEL=Delete F6=Format F7=Express Esc=Exit
-----------------------------------------------------------
5. Select the damaged SYSTEM partition, and then either press F6 to format, or
choose DELETE and then create a new partition and format it.
NOTE: If you are recovering a Windows NT 3.51 installation, it will be
necessary to start Windows NT using the boot floppy as described in the
following Knowledge Base article:
Q172806 Creating a WinNT Boot Floppy for DEC ALPHA RISC Computers
This is necessary because the Windows NT repair process fails to copy the Windows
NT loader files if the Os\Winnt351 directory structure is not found on the
newly-created partition. After you manually recreate this directory structure on
the SYSTEM partition, copy the six boot files manually from the Windows NT
installation compact disc, or perform a normal shutdown and then continue with
step 5 from within the AlphaBios SETUP menu.
6. Go back to the main menu, and then click Install Windows NT.
7. At the first Windows NT Setup screen, press R to repair.
8. When you see the following menu, select only this repair option:
[ ] Inspect registry files
[ ] Inspect startup environment
[x] Verify Windows NT system files.
By selecting this option, Windows NT 4.0 setup will recreate the Os\Winnt40
directory structure on the newly created SYSTEM partition, and then prompt to
replace the following files from the Windows NT installation compact disc:
- A221064.PAL
- A221066.PAL
- A221164.PAL
- A321064.PAL
- Osloader.exe
- Hal.dll
NOTE: If you have any Windows NT service packs installed, it is very important
that you only allow Windows NT to replace the above six files, then select F3
to exit repair after they have been replaced. Do NOT select A to replace all
files during Repair.
9. After repair is complete, restart the system. The system should start up
using the re-created SYSTEM partition.
Deleting and Creating a SYSTEM Partition Using ARC Multiboot Firmware
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1. Insert the Windows NT installation compact disc into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Start the system. The first menu will be the Boot menu, which will appear
similar to the following:
Boot menu:
Boot Windows NT Server Vx.xx
Boot an alternate Operating System
Run A Program
Supplementary menu...
3. Click Run a Program on the menu. Type the following path, and then press
ENTER:
cd:\alpha\arcinst
Arcinst.exe will load from the compact disc and give you the following
choices:
CONFIGURE PARTITIONS
EXIT
Click Configure Partitions. Next, you will see this menu:
CREATE SYSTEM PARTITION
DELETE PARTITION
MAKE EXISTING PARTITION INTO THE SYSTEM PARTITION
EXIT
Click Delete Partition, and then select the small ~4 MB FAT partition. Click
Create a New System partition; the program will prompt you to enter the size
of the new partition:
ENTER SIZE IN MB (1-4)
After the partition is made, it will be automatically formatted.
4. Exit Arcinst.exe and go back to the main Boot menu.
NOTE: If you are recovering a Windows NT 3.51 installation, it will be
necessary to start Windows NT using the boot floppy as described in the
following Knowledge Base article:
Q172806 Creating a WinNT Boot Floppy for DEC ALPHA RISC Computers
This is necessary because the Windows NT repair process fails to copy the Windows
NT loader files if the Os\Winnt351 directory structure is not found on the
newly-created partition. After you manually recreate this directory structure on
the SYSTEM partition, copy the six boot files manually from the Windows NT
installation compact disc, or perform a normal shutdown and then continue with
step 5 from within the ARC Multiboot menu.
5. Select Run a Program from the main Boot menu. Type the following path, then
press ENTER:
cd:\alpha\setupldr
6. At the first Windows NT Setup screen, press R to repair.
7. When you see the following menu, select only this repair option:
[ ] Inspect registry Files
[ ] Inspect startup environment
[x] Verify Windows NT system files.
When you select this option, Windows NT 4.0 setup will recreate the directory
structure os\winnt40 on the newly-created SYSTEM partition, then prompt you
to replace the following files from the Windows NT Installation CD-ROM:
- A221064.PAL
- A221066.PAL
- A221164.PAL
- A321064.PAL
- Osloader.exe
- Hal.dll
NOTE: If you have any Windows NT service packs installed, it is very important
that you only allow Windows NT to replace the above six files, then select F3
to exit repair after they have been replaced. Do NOT select A (replace all
files) during Repair.
8. After Repair is complete, restart the system. The system should boot using
the re-created system partition.
Additional query words: RISC ALPHA BOOT SYSTEM
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Keywords : kbsetup
Technology : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT351search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTW351search kbWinNTW351 kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbWinNTS351 kbWinNTS351search
Version : WinNT:3.51,4.0
Hardware : ALPHA
Issue type : kbhowto
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