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06-29-2006, 01:02 PM
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mostly harmless
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
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Computer problem: am I screwed?
The wife was on the computer and things were working fine. Then she left for a bit, came back and the screen was black, with white text. I knew I couldn't troubleshoot it over the phone, so I told her to just shut it off and I'd look at it when I got home.
It's an IBM machine, about 3 years old. When I powered it up, things started normally, but after seeing the IBM logo, it said something about an Intel boot client (or something) and was spewing the following:
Quote:
Client MAC ADDR: <string of what I'm assuming are hex characters> GUID: <more alphanumerics>
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Then a line which said, "DHCP" followed by the ASCII version of the hourglass, a rotation of characters (\|/-), and then:
Quote:
PXE-E53: No boot filename received.
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM
1962: No operating system found. Press F1 to repeat boot sequence.
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It's that last line that has me very concerned. My only other options are going to setup, or an IBM recovery application. The recovery app gave me options of:
1. Reformat the hard drive, or
2. Running various diagnostics.
Well, I'm obviously reluctant to have to do #1, so I ran some of the diagnostics and all the tests I ran seemed to be OK. So, I'm wondering if my hard drive just crapped out, and if so, is there any way to recover any of the data that's on it?
Ideas? Suggestions? Recommendations? Anyone? HELP!!!
" Computer over"?
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
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06-29-2006, 01:28 PM
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Quality Contributor
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Luxembourg
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
First thing to do: Check your Bios and make sure that your hard-disk is recognized and in the boot sequence.
What operating system do you run? Do you have a boot-disk?
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06-29-2006, 01:32 PM
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mostly harmless
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Win XP Home. I tried using a boot disk made with AVG, but it didn't recognize it. I just made a new one at work and will try this tonight.
One time I got to a DOS prompt, which read, "C: \PCDR>". PCDR is apparently for PC-Doctor. I could run a directory listing from there, but they were all just files related to that program. I tried, "cd c:" and just "C:" but it gave me errors at that point.
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
Last edited by Shake; 06-29-2006 at 01:35 PM.
Reason: More info.
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06-29-2006, 02:13 PM
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Admin of THIEVES and SLUGABEDS
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I hate to say it, but everytime I've seen that message it has resulted in total hard drive failure, to the point where I couldn't even recover the data by enslaving the drive to a functioning machine (which is my favorite method for data recovery on a bad hd).
In my experience, to recover data off "no OS found" hard drives you have to send it to the professionals with their clean rooms and Ebola-handling gear, and they'll charge you big.
I'm sorry to be the bearer or bad news. Here's hoping someone else has a trick that I don't know.
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06-29-2006, 02:34 PM
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Quality Contributor
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Luxembourg
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I found this on cybertechhelp which might help:
Quote:
Here is a 10 steps approach to fixing this error. Follow one at a time and reboot. If one works, you don't have to go to the next one.
1. First, boot to DOS with a boot disk. Once booted from the floppy, at the a:> prompt type "scanreg /restore" without the quotes and with a space after "scanreg) and hit the ENTER key. Select a date before the problem occurred. Note the space between scanreg and /restore. Then reboot your computer.
2. From a:> type "scandisk" and hit ENTER. Reboot.
3. From a:> type "sys c:" and click ENTER. If successful it will say system transferred. Reboot.
4. From a:> type "fdisk /mbr" and click ENTER. Reboot computer.
5. Delete temporary files. From a:> type "del c:\windows\temp*.*" and click ENTER. Reboot.
6. Delete the swap file. From a:> type "del c:\win386.swp" and click ENTER. Reboot.
7. Perform a System Restore from DOS.
http://support.microsoft.com/default...scid=kbQ279736
8. Look at your bootlog.txt. From a:> type "c:\windows\bootlog.txt" and click ENTER
If it does not work, then type "a: c:\bootlog.txt". You can look at the last thing listed in log and most likely it is the item that caused Windows not to load. If the file is in windows you can rename it to old from whatever its was before, i.e., exe, txt, dll, etc.
An example of renaming would be to rename windoz.dll to windoz.old you would use
ren c:windows\windoz.dll c:\windows\windoz.old and click ENTER. Note the spaces.
9. As a next to last ditch way to open Windows if all else failed, on the C drive (where I am assuming Windows is installed) there should be a hidden file named system.cb. This is a "backup" system.ini that contains no third party drivers. Copy it to c:\windows and rename it to system.ini. Then see if you can boot up. If you can, you will have to install a bunch of drivers. Including video, sound, scanners, cameras, etc. But you should be able to boot to Windows.
To implement the above, From a:> type "c:" and click ENTER. Next type "cd\windows" and click ENTER. Next type "copy system.cb system.ini" and click ENTER. If it says there is already a file by that name and it will be over written. Click YES.
10. Finally, as a last ditch effort, reinstall windows over itself. Boot up with your Windows CD. If not bootable, boot to DOS with CD ROM support. While in DOS, put in your Windows CD. Type "setup" or "E:\setup" without the quotes and hit ENTER.
If you don't have the Windows CD, the system files may be in the CABS folder. From a:> type "c:\windows\options\cabs\setup" without the quotes and hit ENTER.
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06-29-2006, 02:38 PM
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Admin of THIEVES and SLUGABEDS
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Holy crap. I don't feel too bad about not knowing all that.
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06-29-2006, 02:49 PM
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A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Thanks for reminding me to backup my system. I think that's what I'll do tonight when I get home. Hopefully you'll get this fixed Shake.
__________________
Of Courtesy, it is much less than Courage of Heart or Holiness. Yet in my walks it seems to me that the Grace of God is in Courtesy.
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06-29-2006, 02:58 PM
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Quality Contributor
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Luxembourg
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TomJoe
Thanks for reminding me to backup my system. I think that's what I'll do tonight when I get home.
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That's what I tell myself all the time. All I have to do is plug in my external HD. But even that is too much effort apparently
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06-29-2006, 06:48 PM
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go fish
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: a rural part of Los Angeles, CA
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Hmmm, do you think all those steps would work if you've already assumed what livius said and removed the harddrive and failed at getting another computer to recognize the drive?
That's the message I got on my 3 year old WinXP computer one night. I figured my harddrive was a total goner. The computer is still waiting for me to build a new system on a new harddrive. The old harddrive is waiting for me to take it to professionals. And I bought a brand new computer that is working great.
I bought it with a Raid 1 mirrored system backup drive. And I Norton Ghost to an external drive. And I regularly (once a month) backup my new pictures, music, videos and email to an external drive.
There's 9 months of stuff on that crashed harddrive. I had backups from all my computers over the years, so I'm missing that period of time I was too lazy to copy my files to an external drive I had all set up.
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06-29-2006, 07:02 PM
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Quality Contributor
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Luxembourg
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Even if it works, though, it's obvious that part of the HD is corrupted and it probably needs to be replaced.
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06-29-2006, 07:17 PM
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mostly harmless
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TomJoe
Thanks for reminding me to backup my system. I think that's what I'll do tonight when I get home. Hopefully you'll get this fixed Shake.
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Thanks, I'm hoping one of these things will work. Although it seems like Stormlight's latest post is probably true and I'll need to get a new HD anyway.
* Shake prints this thread
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
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06-29-2006, 07:20 PM
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Admin
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Ypsilanti, Mi
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
That list of suggestions Stormlight posted looks like it's for Windows 98. I'm not positive but I don't think most of those things will work on an XP machine. If you have critical data on that hard drive I would definitely recommend taking it to a data recovery specialist - not just any old pc repair shop. Like liv said it's likely to be costly, though. Good luck Shake!
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06-29-2006, 08:06 PM
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mostly harmless
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Hmm. Noted about the Win 98 issue. Thanks, y'all!
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
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06-30-2006, 09:05 PM
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Dark Lord, on the Dark Throne
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shake
The wife was on the computer and things were working fine. Then she left for a bit, came back and the screen was black, with white text. I knew I couldn't troubleshoot it over the phone, so I told her to just shut it off and I'd look at it when I got home.
It's an IBM machine, about 3 years old. When I powered it up, things started normally, but after seeing the IBM logo, it said something about an Intel boot client (or something) and was spewing the following: Then a line which said, "DHCP" followed by the ASCII version of the hourglass, a rotation of characters (\|/-), and then:
Quote:
PXE-E53: No boot filename received.
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM
1962: No operating system found. Press F1 to repeat boot sequence.
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It's that last line that has me very concerned. My only other options are going to setup, or an IBM recovery application. The recovery app gave me options of:
1. Reformat the hard drive, or
2. Running various diagnostics.
Well, I'm obviously reluctant to have to do #1, so I ran some of the diagnostics and all the tests I ran seemed to be OK. So, I'm wondering if my hard drive just crapped out, and if so, is there any way to recover any of the data that's on it?
Ideas? Suggestions? Recommendations? Anyone? HELP!!!
" Computer over"?
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CMOS battery? That's the little watch battery in the system that powers the CMOS. And that little thingy keeps track of critical boot information when the machine is turned off.
__________________
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie...
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06-30-2006, 10:35 PM
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liar in wolf's clothing
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Frequently about
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I thought when the CMOS battery crapped out, the bios just reset to default settings and the computer couldn't keep time anymore.
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07-01-2006, 12:31 AM
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Always keep cool.
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Netherlands
Gender: Male
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Replace your harddisk, with an old one.
Use a boot diskette, and default everything in your BIOS.
The boot diskette is the step up for any "steering"(do not know the correct word.)
__________________
REMEMBER...........THE COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN IS ONLY AND JUST ONLY THE COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN, HOW YOU ARE AS A PERSON MAKES YOU A WHOLE PERSON AND NOTHING ELSE....HOW YOU HAVE SEX , HOW YOU DRESS UP, HOW YOU PRAY only gives away your hobbies
HOW YOU ARE AS A PERSON IS THE MASTER !!
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07-01-2006, 11:20 AM
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Now in six dimensions!
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: The Cotswolds
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I'm afraid it sounds like hard disk failure to me, too.
Now, it's possible you simply lost the sectors on the disk that have the operating system on. If you can get another hard disk to boot from, and set your malfunctioning hard disk to a slave, you could possibly access at least some of the data. But if the damage is too serious, you may have to write it off unless you're prepared to send it to a tech specialist (and as noted above, those are costly).
__________________
The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
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07-02-2006, 02:31 PM
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Wildcard!
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: A Plain(s) State
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I'd like to add my experiences here so more people don't end up in the same boat that I and perhaps Shake are in. Back up often. At least back up those things that are irreplaceable. Because I never had a single problem with my computer, I came to the very, very stupid conclusion that I never would have a problem with it. Or, at least if I did have a problem, that it would be a non-data-damaging component.
I was very wrong.
My hard drive died containing every digital picture we had taken over three years. Hundreds upon hundreds of photos -- gone. I've tried using that dead drive as a slave, in an external USB chassis, booted into Linux with access to it as both as drive '0' and '1'. I'm screwed -- because I'm lazy.
Everything else I can either do without or setup/find again. Applications, bookmarks, tweaks, e-mail account settings: they can all be recovered. I hate even typing this as it makes me sad all over again.
Here's the most horrible part of it all - and it shows me at my worst - I'm a system administrator and I know better! I make backups at work all the time and so do the sys-admins on other LANs in the office that I rely on. I realize their necessity.
For anybody that reads this, spend the handfull of pennies every couple of weeks and put your treasured information somewhere at least semi-permanent like a CD-R or DVD-R. If you never need them, you didn't lose much. If you do, you will thank yourself many times over.
__________________
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07-02-2006, 10:04 PM
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mostly harmless
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Quick check-in/update:
Bought a new HD, then realized I couldn't find my Windows CD anywhere, so we returned the HD and bought a new PC. Got a pretty good package deal: we were just going to get a new CPU, but for an extra $100, we got a 15" flat screen and a cheapo printer.
The printer isn't great, but this new PC doesn't seem to want to play nice with my Canon printer. I think I'll have to see if I can find a driver for it on the web.
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
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07-02-2006, 10:47 PM
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puzzler
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: UK
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
I've had two dead hard disks where the only fault was that the disk wasn't spinning round - it seems that some old HDs develop a fault where the motor isn't strong enough to start the disk up when it stops at some locations, but will keep it spinning if given a 'jump start'.
In each case, leaving the HD loose from the case, but with the cables connected, allowed me to get the disk started up by rapidly twisting the HD back and forth as the power was applied. I was then able to recover all data from the disks, before throwing them in the trash.
You can hear if a drive has this problem - it still makes clicking noises as the head mechanism moves the head back and forth across the disk, but the whirring noise can't be heard. At startup with a healthy disk, you hear an accelerating whirring sound for the first few seconds as the disk spins up to speed. If you're not used to the sounds, it helps to have a working disk to listen to as a comparison. Also temporarily disconnect any fans, so that their noise doesn't mask the noise of the HD.
__________________
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07-03-2006, 01:00 AM
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A fellow sophisticate
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Cowtown, Kansas
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
That's called " stiction". The way we used to unstiction the hard drive was to do the 1" drop. We would pick up the CPU box about 1" on one end, then drop it. That was usually enough to get it going again. Not very scientific, but we got by until the next fiscal year without having to buy a new computer or hard drive.
__________________
Sleep - the most beautiful experience in life - except drink.--W.C. Fields
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07-05-2006, 10:02 PM
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mostly harmless
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
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Re: Computer problem: am I screwed?
Hmm, actually I thought the old drive sounded OK. I'll check it out though. Thanks, cep!
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?
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