virtual storage driver
#1
Posted 20 December 2008 - 06:58 PM
You will first need to download the VSS SDK.
Install it and play with it.
I hope The Finder will love it.
if this post is placed in the wrong subforum, Jaclaz will move it where it's more appropriate.
#2
Posted 20 December 2008 - 07:22 PM
I may, if I only could understand what it does or it is supposed to do.I hope The Finder will love it.
Since you posted it in the IMDISK forum, I guess that it has something to do with Virtual Filesystem Driver.....
What the heck is a "VSS hardware provider"? , I know about "HSS hardware provider":
http://www.chinasupp...s/Hss-Drill.htm
if this post is placed in the wrong subforum, Jaclaz will move it where it's more appropriate.
Well, since you asked for it...
Thanks for the link, I'll have a look at it, in the meantime, you can have a look at these:
Gizmo:
http://arainia.com/s...rview.php?nID=4
Pismo:
http://www.pismotechnic.com/pfm/
Rhymes in "smo" appear to be going strong.....
jaclaz
P.S.:
Well now it's clear (from the linked page)
The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is a new service in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It is essentially a framework facilitating communication between applications, storage subsystems, and storage management applications (including backup applications) in order to define, persist and exploit point-in-time copies of storage data.
Is there a reason WHY the good MS guys cannot speak English?
With my (limited) knowledge of English as an alien, translation is:
The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is a new service in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
It is essentially bla-bla, storage bla-bla, more storage bla-bla (including backup applications) in order to bla-bla, bla-bla, bla-bla copies of bla-bla.
#3
Posted 20 December 2008 - 08:15 PM
Ken Kato VDK
Olof Lagerkvist ImDisk
and same as
'XP Embedded SDI virtual disk drive'
with more drive type supported: cd-rom cd-r cd-rw removabledisk fixeddisk
http://www.boot-land...amp;#entry32954
virtual disk listed in Device Manager under Disk Drives and can be manipulated with 'Disk Management' snap-in (well not exactly, rather it communicates with the Logical Disk Manager service) & DiskPart.@strawtarget
FYI, VDK.EXE already creates a "PhysicalDrive" type of connection, though still not "good enough" to also work with device manager/disk manager.
Virtual drives can be created and deleted via the ‘vstorcontrol’ command:
Commands: install - Installs the Virtual Storage Driver uninstall - Uninstalls Virtual Storage create - Creates a drive remove - Removes a drive insert - Inserts a disk into the drive eject - Ejects a disk from the drive resize - Resizes a disk in the drive query - Displays information about the drive list - Lists all drives created on virtual storage help - Displays detailed help for commands vstorcontrol help <command> displays detailed help
Bin folder content:
Precompiled x86 versions of provider and kernel virtual storage driver as well as installation scripts
[edit]
removed broken RS download link
This file has been deleted.
Reason: No download for a longer period. Inactivity-timeout exceeded.
[/edit]
Edited by bilou_gateux, 20 May 2009 - 09:26 AM.
#4
Posted 20 December 2008 - 09:48 PM
download here select MPSRPT_CLUSTER.EXE extract from exe with parameters: /C /T:<some_path_here> /Q
With this tool, you can list, assign or delete letter to partition created on Virtual disks (and Physical disks)
Some examples:
vstorcontrol create fixeddisk -size 256M -memory
You can also create a script for Diskpart with the commands needed:
diskpart> list disk Disk 3 Online 251 MB diskpart> select disk 3 Disk 3 is now the selected disk. diskpart> list partition There are no partitions on this disk to show. diskpart> create partition primary DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition. diskpart> list partition * Partition 1 Primary 251 MB diskpart> list volume * Volume 6 Partition 251 MB Healthy diskpart> exit
Harddisk number and HarddiskVolume may be different on your box, depending of the number of disks you have and Partitions on these disks.
dosdev -a|find "PhysicalDrive" dosdev -a -r Z: \Device\Harddisk3\Partition1 rem or dosdev -a|find "Volume{" dosdev -a -r Z: \Device\HarddiskVolume6 rem format the new partition echo VDISK|FORMAT /FS:NTFS /Q /V:VDISK /A:512 Z: /Y
dosdev -d -r Z: vstorcontrol remove \\.\PhysicalDrive3
#5
Posted 20 December 2008 - 10:16 PM
I've bolded the part that's importtant to me. VSS allows you to "fork" a disk, allowing one "fork" to change and preventing the other "fork" from changing. It, or its equivalent, is how all backup programs and imaging programs work in modern multitasking operating systems. How do you make an image which requires finite time to create when the contents of the disk are constantly changing on time scales far smaller than the image creation? A shadow copy.The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is a new service in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It is essentially a framework facilitating communication between applications, storage subsystems, and storage management applications (including backup applications) in order to define, persist and exploit point-in-time copies of storage data.
Nobody's gotten VSS running in VistaPE, so DriveImage XML can't back up NTFS partitions in VistaPE. Kind of limiting. Ghost implements its own equivalent and works in VistaPE.
#6
Posted 20 January 2009 - 01:09 PM
At least we have gotten vss running under 2k3 in a preinstallation environment. See my thread at http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=22533 about StorageCraft ShadowProtect Server edition that is dependant on vss. It could be possible here by adapting the procedure to fit vista. Remember vista has a more matured version of vss than xp and 2k3 had. Check it out.Nobody's gotten VSS running in VistaPE, so DriveImage XML can't back up NTFS partitions in VistaPE. Kind of limiting. Ghost implements its own equivalent and works in VistaPE.
Joakim
#7
Posted 20 January 2009 - 08:17 PM
At least we have gotten vss running under 2k3 in a preinstallation environment. See my thread at http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=22533 about StorageCraft ShadowProtect Server edition that is dependant on vss. It could be possible here by adapting the procedure to fit vista. Remember vista has a more matured version of vss than xp and 2k3 had. Check it out.
Thanks. I'll check it out ... may take some time. Lots of more important stuff on my plate now.
#8
Posted 13 September 2009 - 04:48 PM
- vsmount.cmd <-mount an image file, installing the virtualstorage.sys if needed
- vsUmount.cmd <-UNmount an image file, UNinstalling the virtualstorage.sys if there are NO other images mounted
- mkhelptxt.cmd <-creates a vstorhelp.txt file with all the options of vstorcontrol help
they should be placed in the same directory where:
- vstorcontrol.exe
- virtualstorage.inf
- virtualstorage.sys
are.
jaclaz
Attached Files
#9
Posted 15 September 2009 - 07:49 AM
Nothing much useful , just the usual bunch of simple batches.
If Sherpya read this post, maybe could he write for us a nice shell extension like he has done in the past with filedisk
this driver is one of my favorite and i like command line tools but sometimes a right click is very handy.
#10
Posted 15 September 2009 - 08:25 AM
this driver is one of my favorite and i like command line tools but sometimes a right click is very handy.
Yep, everyone has his ways, I find right click very nice, but often I have systems with already too many options with right-clicking.
I prefer a "multiple desktop", with a desktop with shortcuts to utilities for each "chore" I'm going to perform.
JFYI, though I have NOT tested this feature, the mount and umount should work allright with drag'n drop the image file over the batch (or a link to it), if you just add:
CD /D %~dp0before the:
in both batches.IF %1.==. GOTO :Usage
(modified files attached)
jaclaz
Attached Files
#11
Posted 26 September 2009 - 05:03 AM
Have uploaded a script for using this within Live Windows, for what it is worth:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=9199
#12
Posted 27 December 2009 - 07:47 PM
#13
Posted 11 April 2010 - 09:12 AM
no error control and probably some bugs in below scripts...
vstorctl create fixeddisk -memory -blocks 65536
@ECHO OFF set DEBUG=1 if "%DEBUG%"=="1" (set TRACE=echo) else (set TRACE=rem) %TRACE% Running script: %0 set ID= For /f "tokens=2 delims=:" %%? in ('vstorctl list ^|find /I "ID"') Do ( call :__ParseDesc "%%?") if defined Desc call set "ID=%Desc%" set Desc= %TRACE% [%ID%] set NB= set DEFINITION= For /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%? in ('dosdev -a^|find /i "VirtualBus#GenDisk#%ID%"^|find /I "\Device\HarddiskVolume"') Do ( call :__ParseDesc "%%?") if defined Desc call set "DEFINITION=%Desc%" set Desc= %TRACE% [%DEFINITION%] set nb=%DEFINITION:~-1% %TRACE% [%NB%] set DL= For /f "tokens=1 delims==" %%? in ('dosdev ^|find /i "%DEFINITION%"') Do ( call :__ParseDesc "%%?") if defined Desc call set "DL=%Desc%" set Desc= %TRACE% [%DL%] format %DL% /fs:FAT /v:TMP /q /y md %DL%\Temp goto :eof :__ParseDesc set "inVar=%~1" %TRACE% Parsing: [%inVar%] Call :__TRIM %inVar% if not defined Desc set "Desc=%inVar%" set inVar= goto :EOF :__TRIM Set inVar=%* GoTo :EOF
vstorctl remove %DL% -surprise
:__CleanTemp for /F "tokens=* usebackq" %%G in (`dir "%temp%" /A:D /B`) do ( for /F "tokens=* usebackq" %%H in (`dir "%temp%\%%G" /A:-D /B /S`) do ( del /Q "%%H" ) rd "%temp%\%%G" ) del /Q "%temp%\*" goto :eofNB:
vstorctl.exe == vstorcontrol.exe renamed using 8.3 naming convention
dosdev.exe: see post #4
linkd.exe: Windows 2003 Server Ressource Kit
@ECHO OFF&SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS :# create call %0\..\newFD32.cmd :# format call %0\..\FormatFD.cmd :# Clean Temp dir call %0\..\ClnTmp.cmd :# linkd "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" %DL%\Temp call linkd "%Temp%" %DL%\Temp :# Installshield with MSI call %0\..\ISMSI.cmd :# Clean Temp dir call %0\..\ClnTmp.cmd :# Delete link call linkd %TEMP% /D :# Delete Temp dir RD /Q /S %DL%\Temp :# Re-create Temp dir in %USERPROFILE% MD "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" :# Unmount Ram disk call %0\..\VStorumnt.cmd
:# http://unattended.sourceforge.net/installers.php ISMSI_installer.exe /S /v/qn
#14
Posted 25 August 2010 - 04:49 AM
hddimage.cmd G:\Bootland\Test.img 250MIf I use the following command to create(actually mount) the above image as a removable drive using VSS
vstorcontrol create removabledisk -image G:\Bootland\Test.imgthen a removable drive is created, it is shown in WinXP->Control Panel->Admin Tools->Computer Mgmt->Disk Mgmt
but
it is NOT identified in HPUSBFW.EXE(HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool). Is there any way to befool the system to recognize the mounted image as an USB drive? If this can be done, then the process of experimenting with USB drive & then simulating in VMware will become easier.
#15
Posted 25 August 2010 - 08:22 AM
That's a good thing, notwithstanding what you think.it is NOT identified in HPUSBFW.EXE(HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool). Is there any way to befool the system to recognize the mounted image as an USB drive? If this can be done, then the process of experimenting with USB drive & then simulating in VMware will become easier.
The HPUSBFW.EXE shuld now be put to rest, it has served us well (mostly) for years but the numbers of problem it creates is much largter that the ones it solves.
None AFAIK/AFAICR, most probably one should write a Filter Driver for it to happen, and don't think it's an easy task.Is there any way to befool the system to recognize the mounted image as an USB drive? If this can be done, then the process of experimenting with USB drive & then simulating in VMware will become easier.
Wonko
#16
Posted 25 August 2010 - 12:17 PM
The HPUSBFW.EXE shuld now be put to rest, it has served us well (mostly) for years
My view towards the utility is:
1) It can optionally setup a bootloader able to load IO.SYS where normal "XP format" creates a bootloader able to boot NTLDR
2) Probably it sets the boot flag(0x80) for the primary partition to be able to boot which can be done by numerous other tools
3) It can format an USB drive with NTFS which can also be done either by "convert" utility in Windows or by mounting the USB drive as a fixed disk by using filter driver called "rdummydisk.sys"
Am I correct with the above assumptions? Does it do something extra?
but the numbers of problem it creates is much largter that the ones it solves.
What problems does it create?
BTW, is WINBOOT.SYS a standard DOS boot file?
#17
Posted 25 August 2010 - 01:48 PM
1) Yes, this is NOT an assumption, is a fact.Am I correct with the above assumptions?
2) Yes, but not always, and it depends on version too.
3) Yes, again this is NOT an assumption (first part), it is a fact, second part is only part of the story....
About 1) there are a few utilities, typically MBRFIX and bootpart, capable of doing the same.
About 2) READ this seemingly unrelated thread:
http://www.911cd.net...o...c=21702&hl=
About 3) the "optimize for quick removal" vs. "optimize for perfomance" settings may interest you:
http://www.msfn.org/...howtopic=128994
YES , several things, for some see above and below (all things that could be an advantage or a problem).Does it do something extra?
This shows that you played with MBRBatch without actually testing it/checking all the options....
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=3191
UPATCH sourcefile Patches sourcefile with "HP" USB/int13 modification (sourcefile must contain 2K/XP MBR code)http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=2246
http://www.boot-land...?...=2246&st=15
Mainly, an unbalanced CHS/LBA.What problems does it create?
See:
http://www.911cd.net...o...21049&st=20
And the tragically UNLIKE updated page:
http://jaclaz.alterv...B/USBstick.html
YESBTW, is WINBOOT.SYS a standard DOS boot file?
This is one of the lesser known things, but not really a secret, probably you were a toddler:
http://www.thefreedi...ary.com/toddler
when dual booting between MS-DOS 6.22 or earlier and Win9x was fairly common (or triple booting with NT 4.00 and both versions of DOS....)
http://home.earthlin...directboot.html
http://www.mdgx.com/msdos.htm
http://www.mdgx.com/osr2.htm#2BOOT
... and you will also learn of the existence of Jo.sys and WINBOOT.INI....
...and as soon as you'll have learned that ...., you will find another Jo.sys :
http://www.nu2.nu/jo/
it's a long way before you get here :
http://www.endoftheinternet.com/
Wonko
#18
Posted 25 August 2010 - 03:33 PM
#19
Posted 25 August 2010 - 05:21 PM
If there is any word in ur vocab which I can substitute for "Thanks", plz let me know.
Wait until I suggest you to peek inside the HP utility with 7-zip...
http://www.boot-land...?...=4902&st=48
Wonko
#20
Posted 25 August 2010 - 11:52 PM
Wait until I suggest you to peek inside the HP utility with 7-zip...
I never ever noticed that the utility is basically a compressed collection of so many files. But previously also I encountered some executables of this type. How can they be created? I guess that they are not of Winrar SFX archive category.
I had a look at the .exe and it seems like it downloads on-the-fly the HP utility from:
http://h50178.www5.h...550/SP27608.exe
Which is even worse, it means that the tool is useless if you are offline AND that as soon as HP will change, as it often does the file location, it will become TOTALLY useless.
But I've used the tool offline many a times.
#21
Posted 26 August 2010 - 11:44 AM
Jaclaz was talking about SamK's tool, not the HP tool.But I've used the tool offline many a times.
#22
Posted 26 August 2010 - 12:25 PM
I guess I am entitled to clarify what jaclaz was talking about , which is:Jaclaz was talking about SamK's tool, not the HP tool.
- NOT the HP tool
- NOT any "SamK's tool"
- BUT as quite obvious from the referenced thread, just a couple post before:
http://www.boot-land...?...=4902&st=46
the actual "DBRL Helper" found on Clonezilla (and gparted) "live-usb" pages.
As said I personally find utterly stoopid - besides ANY legal implications - that the "good guys" even thought of using such an approach.
Steps (AFAICR):
- sneakingly connect to the Internet to a hardcoded HP server address
- download an un-redistributable tool from it without any consent from the user
- extract the exe from it by-passing the EULA/License
About the lazyness of the HP "packagers" (I cannot find ANY reason to call them "engineers" or "programmers") I simply have no words:
- they removed the possibility (included originally in the program) to create a DOS boot disk from internal files BUT left the files inside!
More info in this thread:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=6800
Wonko
#23
Posted 26 August 2010 - 01:32 PM
I guess I am entitled to clarify what jaclaz was talking about , which is:
- NOT the HP tool
Shame on me. I should have read the entire thread, at least from a few posts before the post u referred to.
About the lazyness of the HP "packagers" (I cannot find ANY reason to call them "engineers" or "programmers") I simply have no words:
they removed the possibility (included originally in the program) to create a DOS boot disk from internal files BUT left the files inside!
That's what I was about to ask u. Decompressing the HP utility 2.0.6 produces the following eight files:
ansi.sys
choice.com : - A deprecated command, though M$ guys has again incorporated it in Win 7, at least the link says so !!(http://www.robvander....com/choice.php)
command.com
emm386.exe
himem.sys
mscdex.exe
oakcdrom.sys
ramdrive.sys
1) Then why the utility still asks for DOS system files to create a dos boot diskette when it is apparently seen that the utility itself comes with almost the entire distro (It would b complete if it would include IO.SYS & MSDOS.SYS on its bare minimum) with some redundancy?
2) Is it an SFX archieve? If not, then what sort of compression mechanism has been used?
#24
Posted 26 August 2010 - 02:26 PM
Decompressing HOW?Decompressing the HP utility 2.0.6 produces the following eight files:
Here (maybe it's the different time zone or longitude ) I find 10 (ten) files in it, including IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS
Read, this time slowly:1) Then why the utility still asks for DOS system files to create a dos boot diskette when it is apparently seen that the utility itself comes with almost the entire distro (It would b complete if it would include IO.SYS & MSDOS.SYS on its bare minimum) with some redundancy?
The step you are missing (lack of historical info) is that theAbout the lazyness of the HP "packagers" (I cannot find ANY reason to call them "engineers" or "programmers") I simply have no words:
- they removed the possibility (included originally in the program) to create a DOS boot disk from internal files BUT left the files inside!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Systems
The tool was also re-branded by HP and - I presume for the legal implications connected to this feature - removed the possibility to create a DOS bootable stick from internal files.
Some more semi-random info on that tool:
http://www.911cd.net...o...0806&st=252
Well, well, that's the kind of things you should actually learn to find out yourself.2) Is it an SFX archieve? If not, then what sort of compression mechanism has been used?
Just like open the file in tiny hexer and extract strings from binary file.....
BTW, hadn't you noticed, this thread is about MS Virtual Storage Server drivers, and NOT about:
- the HP USB TOOL
- it's history
- how it is compressed
- whatever question/doubt Holmes.Sherlock may have
(it would be advisable to start a new thread related to the actual tool you have questions about instead of posting *anything* in *any* thread)
Wonko
#25
Posted 16 January 2011 - 05:39 PM
Can someone update the link to latest version of Virtual Storage Driver that works in win7 64-bit? I assume the above batches would also need be better clarified and updated by their developer?
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