Reinstall Windows 2000 Embedded?

April 7, 2007 6:59 AM

Help me make sure this Win2K Pro Embedded computer is secure (Itronix GoBook IX250). Can I reinstall the OS without a disk (or disk drive)?

I got the laptop above off eBay. I'd like to reinstall everything, but I don't have a disk, and there's no CD drive anyway. I'm sure the seller is cool and all, but you can't be too careful these days -- who knows how many hands it's gone through and what intentional or unintentional vulnerabilities there are (windows haters read below).

Anyway, it's got Windows 2000 Pro Embedded 1-2 CPU. There are several drives, which make me think I can reinstall the OS?

There's a RECOVERY drive (E) with stuff like WINDOWS.BAT, RECOVER.BAT and a TOOLS folder.

There's also a DATABAK drive (D) with nothing in it...

Can I reinstall everything? Does "Embedded" mean that the OS lives on the hard drive?

Finally, before you say "run Ubuntu", I'm slowly working on it. However, I'd like for this to run Windows as well (Win 2K actually runs quite well on this old laptop).

Thank you!

posted by powpow to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Embedded versions of Windows OSes are similar but not the same as the consumer versions. They are usually configured for a very specific set of hardware -- on a consumer version you could change a video card and expect the OS to figure it out to some degree. On an Embedded version that expectation is less likely to hold up (depending on its original configuration). Think of an embedded Windows version as someone rolling their own edition (like Pro or Home) of the OS with specific applications, drivers, and capabilities turned on or off. Usually Embedded versions are used for purpose-built hardware or for specific licensing reasons (Point of Sales terminals or personal media gadgets, for instance) and are usually less-featured than consumer versions.

Looking at the specs, or possibly these specs, it's possible that the seller installed Win2k Embedded as a step up from Win 98 that would still function on the older hardware. The second link states Windows XP though, so that may not be right.

I've used Windows XP Embedded, but I don't remember a RECOVERY volume being built automatically, so that may be a feature set up by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the hardware, not the OS itself.

Chances are good that if the PC can run a Windows Embedded OS, it can run consumer Windows (albeit with less performance/specific configuration). Given that this was an eBay sale, it's possible the OEM only provided drivers for the embedded OS version you have, which means you may want to at least stick with it long enough to make a complete drive image as a backup before reinstalling anything.
Based on the specs above, however, most of the hardware seems pretty common: ESS audio, etc. so you may be in good shape.

The specs above also mention a USB an Ethernet port, as well as a PCMCIA slot. You can find CD-ROMs that attach via PCMCIA and USB for cheap.

I suggest, in the following order:

Google each of the device drivers in Device Manager not using a Microsoft-supplied driver and see if they are well-known or OEM supplied.

Make a backup of the disk contents - boot it and mount a USB drive or network share and copy off everything that looks important (or just image the whole drive if you have the means, this may help using the Windows version of dd and netcat.). This is in case the OEM uses drivers that you can't find elsewhere.

Check the BIOS (if you can get to it) to see if it allows booting from external USB devices (presuming the device has a USB port). Similar question for FireWire/IEEE-1394.

Post the contents of RECOVER.BAT and let us review what it does... or just run it and see what happens (depending on your comfort level).

Buy/use a consumer version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP and perform an install by booting from an external PCMCIA or USB CD-ROM drive.

Depending on your comfort level, you may be able to use a BartPE or other boot environment to make a USB hard drive/flash drive into valid Windows installation media, but by that point you may as well go straight to your favorite Linux/whatever if the drivers are available.

posted by abulafa at 10:10 AM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: Thank you.

The main tricky hardware (I think) is the touchscreen, but I think I can manage to recover that.

I will back everything up as you suggested. I was sort of thinking of that, but you've made me decide it's essential.

@abulafa's first link on specs is pretty much right, although it has 128MB RAM...

The BIOS doesn't allow USB boot, but I haven't upgraded to the latest BIOS.

You may be right about why they used and embedded version (still don't know how that works but I don't really need to probably). The computer is pretty snappy for an old machine on Windows.

Here's the RECOVER.BAT:


@echo off
rem ***************************************************************************
rem *** This batch file allows recovery of the Base Partition
rem ***************************************************************************
cls

rem *** Figure out which language to display messages in.
if "%GOTLANG%"=="Y" goto gotlang
call \tools\bldinfo.bat

rem *** If running on a Kodiak, turn on 25% CPU to keep computer cooler while
rem *** we're waiting for user input.
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\fan on
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\throttle 25

@echo ÿ
if "%LANG%"=="ENG" goto :ISENG
if "%LANG%"=="FRN" echo 1. Les instructions en fran‡ais
if "%LANG%"=="GER" echo 1. Anweisungen auf deutsch
if "%LANG%"=="ITN" echo 1. Le istruzioni nell'italiano
if "%LANG%"=="SPA" echo 1. Las instrucciones en el espa¤ol
echo 2. Instructions in English
\tools\choice /c:12
if errorlevel 2 set LANG=ENG
:ISENG

:GOTLANG

if "%windir%"=="" goto indos
rem if "%SAFEBOOT_OPTION%"=="MINIMAL" goto indos
REM "The drive C: recovery program cannot be run from within Windows..."
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%13
goto end2
:indos

@echo ÿ
REM "This operation will restore drive C:..."
@echo ÿ
echo ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%01
echo ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
@echo ÿ
@echo ÿ

REM "Continue with recovery operation?"
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%02
if errorlevel 2 goto end2

REM "Are you sure?"
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%03
if errorlevel 2 goto end2

rem *** Get the current drive letter for the recovery partition
cd tools
getdrv.exe
call getdrv.bat
cd..

set VFY=0
set VFYSWITCH=

rem *** Determine if we booted from the Recovery Partition or the Base
rem *** Partition and set the Destination drive properly.
if exist c:\recover.bat set DSTDRV=D:
if not exist c:\recover.bat set DSTDRV=C:

rem *** Format (verify) the disk image
@echo ÿ
REM "Check the drive for errors?"
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%04
if errorlevel 2 goto NOVERIFY

rem *** If running on a Kodiak, turn on 100% CPU to get maximum performance
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\fan on
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\throttle 100

REM "Formatting and checking for bad sectors..."
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%05
rem *** Note that /AUTOTEST is an undocumented switch that formats without
rem *** any prompting, then exits.
\tools\format %DSTDRV% /AUTOTEST
set VFY=1
set VFYSWITCH="-vdw"

:NOVERIFY

rem *** If running on a Kodiak, turn on 100% CPU to get maximum performance
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\fan on
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\throttle 100

rem *** Reinitialize the master boot record in case it was infected by a
rem *** virus or something.
\tools\gdisk.exe 1 /MBR

rem *** Ghost the image
\tools\ghost.exe -clone,mode=pload,src=%$GETDRV%\image\DISK.IMG:1,dst=1:1 -sure -autoname %VFYSWITCH%
if errorlevel 1 goto failed

rem *** Verify the image
\tools\ghost.exe -CRC32,action=pverify,src=1:1,crcfile=\image\ghost.crc:1,vexcept=\tools\lst.exc,vlist=\image\ghost.ls -autoname -sure
if errorlevel 1 goto crcfail

md %DSTDRV%\ix>nul
copy \image\ghost.ls %DSTDRV%\ix\ghost.ls>nul
cls
echo Recovery from recovery partition successful>%DSTDRV%\ix\recover.log
@echo ÿ
REM "Recovery successful"
echo ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%ERR0
echo ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
goto done

rem *************************************************************************

:failed
echo Recovery from recovery partition failed!>%DSTDRV%\ix\recover.log
@echo ÿ
REM "Recovery failed - ghost error"
echo ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%ERR1
echo ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
goto done

:crcfail
md %DSTDRV%\ix>nul
copy \image\ghost.ls %DSTDRV%\ix\ghost.ls>nul
cls
echo Recovery from recovery partition failed on CRC32!>%DSTDRV%\ix\recover.log
@echo ÿ
REM "RECOVERY VERIFICATION FAILED!"
echo ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%ERR3
if "%VFY%"=="0" call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%ERR4
echo ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
goto done

:done
rem *** If running on a Kodiak, turn on 25% CPU to keep computer cooler while
rem *** we're waiting for user input.
if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\throttle 25
rem if "%COMPUTER%"=="IX550" \tools\fan off

cd \tools
type beep.dat
@echo ÿ
REM "It is now necessary to restart the computer"
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%06
REM "Press any key to continue..."
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%07
\windows.bat

:end2
cd\
@echo ÿ
REM "To return to Windows, type Exit"
call \tools\messages.bat %LANG%10
@echo ÿ

:end




Thanks again!
posted by powpow at 11:05 AM on April 7, 2007

Best answer: Yep, looks like they have a standard Norton Ghost disk image stored on the recovery drive which will re-image the main drive.

The empty storage drive is probably for just that - storage. You can ignore it or use a partition manager (fdisk or your favorite GUI) to remove it and expand the main paritition. RECOVER.bat and Ghost shouldn't much care unless it's a very old version.

Once you've made a backup of at least the RECOVERY partition, you should be able to start experimenting. You can even install a consumer Windows version onto the main partition (not STORAGE or RECOVERY) and should be able to roll back using that RECOVER.bat if it doesn't find all your drivers.

If you decide on a consumer version, you may be able to copy off the original \WINNT\SYSTEM32 folder and point the new hardware wizard to your backup to find drivers for the touchscreen (hackish -- the better way would be using their original drivers, which may live on RECOVERY someplace).

In the end, if you want the space back, you can repartition the entire drive and remove RECOVER, STORAGE, and the boot partition. Don't do this until you've gotten whatever you solution will be to work to your satisfaction, as going back will be a pain (re-imaging from a Live CD, while doable, is much more complicated than from the HD, especially with older hardware that can't boot USB.)
posted by abulafa at 12:00 PM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks again.

OK, so stupid question: if I find a way to install a consumer version, does it just ask me at installation where to put it (and I say "install to " or C: or whatever)?

Then, if I don't like the consumer version, do I just navigate to the RECOVERY.bat file through my consumer version, double-click it, and I'm back to the working version that I have now?
posted by powpow at 12:28 PM on April 7, 2007

I'm working under the assumption that it is possible to boot to the recovery partition directly (via a startup boot menu) or that you can safe boot from HD or CD and run RECOVER from that partition (the RECOVER.bat seems to have a section that would suggest this is possible).

If you install a consumer version, it'll show you the three partitions at install time. You'll need to choose the "base" partition (not "RECOVERY" or "DATABAK") and the regular consumer version will install to that partition only.

To recover, you'd likely need to reboot in safe from the new OS or the consumer Windows CD-ROM or other DOS/Windows boot disk, then run RECOVER.bat from that drive. (You could also modify boot.ini or install a third party bootloader, but that's much more complicated and presumes the RECOVERY partition is itself bootable.)

Make sure RECOVER.bat works correctly when booting from a CD or other media before you try installing a consumer version, just to be sure.

If all else fails, if you've made a full backup, you can always restore that with your favorite live CD.

Good luck!
posted by abulafa at 1:35 PM on April 7, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks again
posted by powpow at 1:57 PM on April 7, 2007