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My current boot drive has 3 partitions:

• Partition A – ‘vista-64′
• Partition B – ‘vista-32′
• Partition C – (mounted as H:) symlink from c:\users\ to act as the data drive

Due to bad luck, the 1TB boot drive is failing (my previous boot drive 320GB also failed and had to be RMA-ed), with bad blocks, and now I’ve to move all the data to a new drive.

I’ve made Ghost images of partitions A & B, and since Partition C is not a boot partition, I can simply back it up and copy over to a new partition using Synctoy 2.0. By the way, you can also make disk images using free tools here. Macrium seems to be pretty good. For Linux, Clonezilla rules.

Problem:

After restoring partition A to the new HDD, upon booting, vista64 will complain that “BOOTMGR is missing”.

Google above error message will show some sites to use the Vista DVD to repair. It finds the vista partition, and says it’ll repair it. But it still doesn’t work. Most sites will tell you to the next level of repair is using bootrec /fixboot but that too won’t work. Actually, bootrec /fixboot is the command that is called with the GUI interface, so of course it doesn’t work since you are doing nothing different from the 1st method.

The answer finally came from this very detailed site, which I will now bookmark.

The cause:

The problem of not being able to boot even after Vista attempted to repair the disk was because my system is a multiboot system. Specifically, I had 2 Vistas on the disk. The sequence which I installed the Vistas were:

1. Vista 32-bit (Partition B)
2. then, Vista 64-bit (Partition A)

The reason in the first place of why I went with Vista-64 was that I finally wanted to break the 3GB memory barrier of 32-bit systems. My system now has 4GB RAM, which I believe should be the standard now that memory is pretty affordable. 32-bit Windows systems can only address up to 3GB of memory.

Back to the cause. Because Vista-64 came after Vista-32, this meant that the boot manager now actually still resided in the old Vista-32. It is not simply of flagging the Vista-64 partition  as the active boot partition (this is achieved with partition managers like Vista’s or Linux Gparted or Acronis Disk Director), as would have been the case with older OS’s.

Even if I set Vista-64 as the active partition, the boot sequence seemed to be:

1. Boot up Vista-64.
2. Vista-64 Master Boot Record is told the vista boot manager (bootmgr) is at d:
3. D:\bootmgr is executed, presenting the  OS selection menu.
4. Selecting for example’Vista 64′ will tell the boot manager to look for the Windows Loader (winload.exe) back in c: (c:\windows\system32\winload.exe to be precise).

So without some reconfiguring, in order for me to move the data from the failing disk to the new one, I must move both Parition A (vista-64) and Partition B (Vista-32). This will not do, as I wanted to delete Vista-32 and re-install with some other OS like Linux (or maybe even OS-X86).

Solution:

To get around this problem, I had to basically:

1. Copy/move the boot manager into Vista-64’s c: drive.
2. Reconfigure the ‘configuration file’ that the boot manager reads, of partition layout from Vista-64′ point of view.

Some problems though:

• From Vista onwards, the boot manager config file is no longer a text file called c:\windows\boot.ini.
• Due to my sequence of install, the c:\bootmgr file is not available in Vista-64 as during the initial install, Vista has designated Vista-64’s partition as not being in the booting partition, but has pointed it to the old Vista-32’s partition.
• Vista-64 also hasn’t the boot manager’s configuration files.
• All these system files are hidden, and even locked.
• The needed utilities are not installed into the hard drive by default.

Steps:

(WARNING: The rest of the instructions below deals with system level tools and objects. Wrong moves can cause data loss. Use at own risk)

1. Precautionary steps:
   1. Uniquely name all your partitions.
   2. Physically disconnect all HDD’s from the PC so that you don’t get confused with which disk is which.
2. Boot up the Windows installation disk (or get the recovery disk here)
3. Get to the repair section, but skip the auto repair, and instead get to the command prompt.
4. At the command prompt, find out which drive letters belong to which partitions using diskpart:
   1. x:\diskpart
   2. diskpart> list volume
5. It is likely you cannot see the files below in Vista-32’s root directory. Use attrib or dir/a to reveal the hidden files.
6. From the DVD’s (likely x:\windows\system32) directory, copy the following files to the boot partition (Vista-64)’s  equivalent directories and/or any partition that can boot:
   • bootrec.exe
   • bcdedit.exe
7. The above step is just so that later if things when things are not working you still have access to the above tools as the boot up time for the Vista Install DVD is very long.
8. Now to create the boot manager’s config file if it is not in Vista-64 already:
   1. c:\> mkdir \boot
   2. c:\> bcdedit /createstore c:\boot\bcd
   3. To check, use “bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /v” and it should say it is (at this time) empty.
9. Now to build the skeleton bcd:
   1. c:\> bootrec /rebuildbcd
   2. If all is well, the bootrec utility will find the all the windows partitions and ask you to add to the boot manager.
   3. At this point, you’ll probably just want the one that points to Vista-64 only.
10. After the skeleton bcd is created, now you can manipulated it. First we need to make sure the boot manager will find the boot files (winload.exe) at the right place.
    1. Test with “bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /v“, and you should now only see 1 or 2 OS entries.
11. If the system so far recognise the Vista-64 partition as ‘C:\’ then no problem, it should boot.
12. But if the system recognises the Vista-64 partition as say, ‘d:\’, then there’s a problem if the OS expects things are in ‘c:\’, and your system will never boot. To fix,
    1. x:\bcdedit /source d:\boot /v, and note the long <identifier>. Select it (from the ‘{‘ to ‘}’) and copy to clipboard to paste in the <identifier> parts below.
    2. x:\bcdedit /source d:\boot\bcd /set <identifier> osdevice boot (or osdevice partition=d:)
    3. x:\bcdedit /source d:\boot\bcd /set <identifier> device boot (or device partition=d:)
    4. (bcdedit /? for help, and check this article out for more details)

If you’ve managed to do the above, then the partition that was not booting should now boot. To add/enable more partitions to boot (Such as including the adjascent Partition B which holds Vista-32), then get back to the console of the DVD-booted Windows Install, and follow the steps above again, but this time add the Vista-32 OS to the list.

Enjoy.

We’ve all had it before – the vacation from hell. I just recently had mine. We returned to KL for the Chinese New Year holidays. It has been 2 years since we went back to KL together as a family. I was looking forward to some real R&R to meet up with friends and just spend some spill out time with family. 3 weeks of being back, wearing shorts and T-Shirts … and a trip to a quiet tropical island … ahhhh ….

Nope! Going back during the major festive season for that is just way wrong for that purpose. We touched down at midnight, and it was quiet at night. That’s a really wonderful feeling – but that was the last of it. The next day we were out visiting my wife’s family already. The day after that it was the 29th day, and we had our reunion dinner (did it 1 day early). Then it was the 30th day – New Year’s Eve – more visits. Then CNY day, of course more visits. Then 2nd day – we did our traditional balik kampung to Ipoh.

However, all these were expected and I didn’t think much of it – but by the 9th CNY day of visiting another friend of relative, especially of the wife’s side where I end up sitting like a dunggu, I had enough. The only thing that kept me sane was the promise of the island vacation to Redang.

Instead of Redang, I book for Lang Tengah – the smaller island next to Redang. I’ve been there once 7 years ago, and I was stunned by its unspoilt beauty of clear emerald waters and white sandy beach. It was exactly what the post cards looked like.

Seeing that I’ve always felt guilty that I enjoyed such beauty, but my parent’s hadn’t chance to do so all this while, I decided to take them along. And since I now have a family with a 6 month old baby and a 4 year old kid, I even didn’t spare the dosh, and booked into the best resort on the island and in the deluxe rooms.

Off we go! Then it started.

First, one of the tuppet valves in that crummy Proton Wira of mine cracked, and luckily enough there was someone to fix it on that Sunday. It cost a bomb of course, but what the heck – safey first right. That added a 5 hour delay to the journey, and we arrived in Kuala Trengannu at 11pm. The only thing we did was to check in the hotel for the short sleep.

We were to go to the Merang jetty by 11am the next morning. We arrived early just to be sure, and when we arrived the jetty was quite empty. It was the last few days of the low season before the peak season starts.

I was quite pleased that there were no crowds yet. The weather was beautiful. What I didn’t take into account were the winds and the sea. It was still rough. Instead of the normal 1.0 to 1.5 metre waves, my guess is they were about 2 ~ 2.5m. From the calm jetty I couldn’t imagine how rough could they be.

They were rough. We boarded the speedboat. I didn’t think there was any danger. But we didn’t managed to make the right approach out to the deep sea. A stray breaking surf wave slammed right to the front of the boat, and flooded the front part of the boat. Everything was soaked, including us. Once we broke out to the deep water, it was relatively safe, but the ride was really rough.

The only thing that mattered was my 6-month old baby, and of course I held him tight throughout the 1 hour journey. Although we were not in real danger of capsizing the boat, the initial pound from that stray surf was enough to put everyone on edge.

I saw my camera bag splashed with water and was ready for the worse. When we arrived on the island, everyone was un-nerved. We were wet, and all our bags were wet. When I opened my camera bag, I was pleasantly surprised that my investment in an expensive proper camera bag paid off – the camera survived being zipped up in the splash proof bag.

But what I forgot was the smaller Canon S2-IS camera, which I use mostly to shoot videos. It was in my knapsack, and I forgot about it being in the front of the boat as all I could concentrate on was holding the baby tight.

For the journey, that bag was submerged in a puddle. No water proofing could’ve saved the contents. It would have been saved had it had a splash, but no – everything inside was dead – the camera, my password generator, battery charger – but luckily I didn’t bring my other usual electronics – the iPod and the external hard drive.

So – the Canon died – but that was not gonna stop the vacation. We’ve arrived safely on the island and the vacation was to begin in proper. My wife immediately remarked how beautiful the place is and already she wanted to extend another night to 3 nights on the island.

Nightfall … kunk! — The generator went dead. No aircon. Mosquitoes. Crap … My initial upbeatness was finally starting to erode. But the final straw to classified it to be the trip from hell had to be when it was time to go back to the mainland.

I’ve already requested that a larger boat need to be arranged given that there are kids and it is not safe on the speedboat since they cannot hold on properly. It wasn’t until that I offered to pay for the upgrade that it was changed to a larger boat.

Even with the larger fishing cruiser – the ride back was rough, and my wife threw up. That was how rough the seas were.

Lesson to be learned – you will not get R&R when you go back to your hometown during a festive season! However, after this harrowing trip, I really have much more appreciation for the seas and the sailors who sail them. If those 2 ~ 2.5m waves seem big, I can just imagine how much more scary it would be for those who have to ply the big open ocean routes and meet up with waves like what you saw in the movie ‘The Perfect Storm’ – 25m wave!

In case you want to know – the resort was D’Coconut Lang Tengah. If it wasn’t for all the mishaps, it would’ve been a great place. But definitely I wouldn’t recommend it as a family place. And for the dollars and cents sense of the manager of not arranging a larger boat seeing full well there were senior citizens and infants – and not even warning us of the potential rough transfer ride, I give it a E- rating.

I won my iPod Shuffle (1gb) last year at our company dinner. Ever since I got it, I was amazed at what it can do for its small size and really love it. I’ve used the bigger Nano before, but for sheer usability it is the iPod Shuffle that trumps the rest. After I attach it to my Beyerdynamics headphones, its like there’s nothing at the jack! So I bring it along with me all the time during flights and bus rides.

It is so portable, but yet the sound coming from it is just great.

And there’s one more thing that is just absolutely amazing. On a trip two weeks back, I left the Shuffle in my shirt pocket and it went in with the shirt to the washing machine – and it survived! At first after 1 day of drying, the thing didn’t start up and I thought it was dead for sure, although I read about some crazy dude doing the same thing in a beer. But being able to survive a washing machine with its detergent, spinning, temperature changes and of course the water – wow!

So if you’re in for a music player and a tough one that you can actually bring around without having to worry if you’ll scratch it or care too much for it, get the iPod Shuffle! …. And it sounds great too! I sure wouldn’t use the bigger iPods as much as the Shuffle. I mean I just want to listen to music, whenever, where-ever!

With my British driving license, I’ve managed to use it as a valid document to rent a car in many countries. In Taiwan, because it didn’t have a photo (I didn’t change it to the new card version), and the fact that it had an EU logo on it, I managed to convince the car renter that it is something as good as an International License.

It has served me well – until China. In China they don’t recognise nor want foreigners to drive. If you want to drive, you get a Mainland Chinese driving license, which I put off getting until I was just itching for the freedom of having a car to explore around. Having a car also meant it is easier to take the family.

Gettin the license is one thing, renting the car is also another complicated hassle. Last weekend, I managed to put my CNY700 investment to thrill use! … I rented the car from the local AVIS in Beijing. For documentation, they wanted:

• Passport
• Credit card
• Deposit of CNY5k – only refundable after 15 days
• Letter from company confirming that I am not a tourist nor a loafer

If you think that’s crazy, here’s what is reputedly the largest local car renter wanted:

• Passport
• Cash deposit of CNY10k
• Letter from company
• Guarantor from a local Beijing resident that he will be responsible for me.
• Photo

Well, TIC (This Is China) – just like the banks here don’t provide bank statements. I don’t know how am I gonna prove to any potential bank back home that I am actually earning X amount of money. Some agencies are really picky that not only you have a letter from employer, but they also want to see the money actually going into a bank

Anyway, I got a small Chevy ‘Sail’ – which is really a Korean Ssangyong rebranding since Chevy and Ssangyong belong to GM. This has got to be the narrowest car I’ve ever been in. It is 1.4l but the has the width of a Kancil! But OK … it was at least an auto.

How was the driving? I can safely say – if you can avoid it, rent a driver as well. It is not that people are nasty on the road – they just don’t want to follow rules. Being they usual Malaysian driver (or from any other country), you usually get pissed off big time if people cut queue. Not in China – people just don’t seem to get into fights if some idiot just barge in, or try to block you off while turning.

At the end of the day, I didn’t scratch the car, but I did almost wanted to step out of the car and give a few people a good piece of my mind. But then I remember, TIC. And when in Rome …