Mythor

Needed c:\ files to boot back to Win 98SE (in my case):

command.com
io.sys
msdos.--
msdos.sys <--from a Win 98SE install, not from a Win98SE boot disk

I believe that C:\Windows is the default for XP. I lost my boot.ini as well. Luckily I had another XP machine handy.

Well I have to go to sleep so that I'm somewhat coherant for work tommarrow, good luck everone.. l8r

Zachary - Funny thing. Hadn't realized that after reloading XP, I'd used the same SDC .99 install and... did it again. Neato, but thanks to your mentioning which 3 files to copy back over, I copied those back over and that did the trick. At least I didn't have to reinstall twice, but that's definite confirmation that just installing the original .99 SDC download was the prob.

~SDC~

Thanks DismalScience.
I got an undeleting program from a friend through IRC which seems to have gotten most of the (important) stuff back. No sign of msdos.sys or io.sys though. Friend sending both of them too.

~SDC~

To those of you with missing files I may be able to help.

If you use yahoo messenger, my id is travathian, send me a pm.

If not, send me an email at [email protected] and what OS and Service Pack you're using.

disclaimer - I dont work for Stardock, nor can I promise to be able to fix yer system. I just happen to have a bunch of OS's installed and a long history of troubleshooting.

Is this a problem for everyone or just for a small number of people? I've got WinXP - I'm going to try not to reboot and wait for some fix for this problem to be released...

Thanks for the help Zachary. I'm back in business. Now, let me get this out of the way...

[begin extortion] You owe me Brad. You have all of my contact information. [end extortion]

Here are the recovery intructions for WinXP (thanks to Zachary)

1. Pop in your WinXP installation disk
2. Choose to repair using the recovery console.
3. Choose your installation (1 for a single-boot machine)
4. Have the 3 files mentioned above on a floppy disk (NTLDR, boot.ini, and NTDETECT.com) You can copy these from another XP machine (from the c-drive, you have to show the files using Zachary's method above) if you are lucky.
5. Switch to your floppy drive and copy the files from your floppy to the c-drive of your hosed computer and reboot. For the DOS impaired the command is "copy ntldr c:\" and so forth (without the quotes)

Hope this helps.

~SDC~

oh crap, how do i know if stardock central hosed my win 98 se system ????

i downloaded it fairly early:

created thursday march 6, 2003 7:24pm
modified thursday march 6, 2003 7:24pm
accessed march 25 2003

I'm not sure about XP, but in Win98 I noticed I'd been affected by loading Windows Explorer and looking in c:\ and finding no files in there. :notsure:

~SDC~

forgot to add i have no obvious apparent problems

Just for the record I was not a beta tester. I laid down for the drengin account tonight in order to get Galciv (and corporate machine). Brad, you can thank all of your great AARs for this.

~SDC~

Russell, check your c:\

Slapbone, thanks! I'm going through this thread and promoting the access of some of you. People like you are what makes it worth it.

Thanks for your help and I really apologize for the inconvenience.

If in doubt, check your root drive, C:\

You may need to make system files visible. Open Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), and goto your C:\ drive, dont panic if you dont see anything.

Click Tools -> Folder Options

In the window that pops up goto the View tab. In the list below look for 'hidden files and folders' chose the option that says 'show hidden files'.

Below that, look for an option that says 'show system files', chose that one as well. Click OK

Now see if some files mysteriously appeared in your C:\ drive. If you see a bunch there, you are fine. Go back and undo what you just did. If you dont see anything, DO NOT REBOOT! Wait for the patch SD is working on.

Brad, just thought I'd say: I'm *REALLY* pissed off about this.... **BUT** I have to commend you for the way you've handled it. Many other companies would be burying this and denying there was a problem, but you've admitted there's a problem and jumped right into action to get things rolling on a solution. Top stuff.
Obviously, things can go wrong no matter what you do. What makes the difference is how you handle it when they do.

Of course, my lower amount of annoyance may just be because I think I've got everything fixed now...

~SDC~

I know exactly how you feel my friend.

Can you imagine this scenario: 18 months of working on the game and it could have all been ruined if this hadn't been caught tonight. And it isn't even in GalCiv, it's in a @#$@# updating program. Not taking anything away from SDCentral but it exists to make things easier for users, not destroy their computers.

Just a quick update: We have a Win98.zip and WinME.zip about to go up that users can download to recover their systems.

We also have logs of all users who have .99 so we'll be emailing them shortly.

Thanks for the kind words and I truly feel terrible about this problem.

"Of course, my lower amount of annoyance may just be because I think I've got everything fixed now..."

You suck! I pre-ordered from Amazon and don't have the game to console when this gets fixed. I was just getting primed for getting the game. And I still have the problem.

Brad, I assume XPhome.zip and XPPro.zip are in the works? I am definately missing those files.....

Your actions yet again confirm that I made the right decision in purchasing this game. It's really comforting to be treated like a customer.....it doesn't happen all that often.

XP is easier to recover from:

Here are the recovery intructions for WinXP (thanks to Zachary)

1. Pop in your WinXP installation disk
2. Choose to repair using the recovery console.
3. Choose your installation (1 for a single-boot machine)
4. Have the 3 files mentioned above on a floppy disk (NTLDR, boot.ini, and NTDETECT.com) You can copy these from another XP machine (from the c-drive, you have to show the files using Zachary's method above) if you are lucky.
5. Switch to your floppy drive and copy the files from your floppy to the c-drive of your hosed computer and reboot. For the DOS impaired the command is "copy ntldr c:\" and so forth (without the quotes)

"4. Have the 3 files mentioned above on a floppy disk (NTLDR, boot.ini, and NTDETECT.com) You can copy these from another XP machine (from the c-drive, you have to show the files using Zachary's method above) if you are lucky."

But I don't have another XP machine handy....

The recovery console should still repair the XP partition though.

I have the XP files from XP Pro, not sure if they are the same as Home, if not, I can do a quick install of Home on another system.

if you're running XP SP1 and don't have the CD "handy", you can find NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM in:

C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

and a backup of boot.ini ( boot.ini.backup ) in:

C:\WINDOWS\pss ( this directory may not exist for some )

i copied these files into C:\ and had no problems. this was after Brad so kindly deleted them for me. thank god i was read the notice before rebooting.

cheers

h

Can someone confirm that XP will repair via the recovery console without replacing those three files? If yes, then I'll do that. I just hate to try and then.....

I have Home SP1.

Thanks Horatio.

Bob, check out the post above you, that ought to take care of things.