:(

Ok maybe we actually do have to copy the file as a .sy_

Sorry. Go ahead and boot from the CD again and do the same thing you did up until you get to the C:\ prompt then do:

REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\volsnap.sys volsnap.sy_

Then EXIT and see if it boots normally.
If not, we haves ourselves a problem that I may need to research, although we could try and copy the .in_ file as well to see if that makes a difference. One step at a time.

Hmm, after typing in that line and enter it says the system cannot find the file.

Oh crap...

Sorry, I forgot to add the DRIVERS directory...

REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys volsnap.sy_

Oops, I overlooked it too. Ok it returned the C prompt, so I'll hit EXIT. I didn't take the CD out this time, but let it do it's thing and didn't type a key when asked to if I wanted to boot from CD. Blank screen.

Ejected CD, shut off and back on, nothing but a blank screen.

Could it be that my boot order still says CD drive first? Or I guess it would automatically go the the next option if there's no disc? Dunno, just throwing out ideas.

Nah, if you don't choose to boot from the CD by pressing any key, it will go to the next option, which would be your hard drive presumably.

The only other thing I can suggest at this point is to put all possible versions of the file into your driver directory. Since you already have the .sy_ in there, let's go ahead and and throw in the rest. If they're not actually used, it won't matter that they're there unnecessarily. Do:

COPY H:\I386\volsnap.in_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.in_
COPY H:\I386\volsnap.in_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.ini
COPY H:\I386\volsnap.sy_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys

Exit and reboot.
If that doesn't give you results, I'll be needing to do some research. But off the top of my head, I do know that you can back up any files or directories with files in it you may want to save... to another drive like a USB key or external drive, using command console, in case you have to reinstall the operating system. Hopefully we can resolve this without having to do that though. But just know that you won't lose everything.

There also might be another set of commands that might work.. I used to have to do them a lot because I had a laptop who's system files got corrupted all the time. We'll do that if you're not booting normally.

Sorry man been on a phone call...I can normally multi-task but this is tedious and I don't want to mess up...

No prob. Just let me know if those last commands do the trick or not. Whenever you need. I'll be here a while.

Well they seemed to copy properly, but no good news on reboot.

I think it's time to call it a night, been at the office 13 hours already today, time to chill out. Thanks again, I'll be back in tomorrow.

I think I mentioned it already that I have probably 99% of my files backed up on an external, so it wouldn't be too bad if I have to reinstall the OS. I'll do a bit of research myself but I think after this weekend if I can't get it resolved, I'll go for a reinstall or pass it off to someone locally, because I really can't afford to spend more time on it myself...I've got some crucial projects to work on (rebuilding my website/portfolio asap for a job search, that I should be done with by now).

Cheers, have a good night. :beer:

Alright man.
Although I'm interested to find out why this didn't work, I understand your constraints. Let me know if you need anything.