Hi,
Windows XP SP2.
Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version on
another partition to be able to recover my files.
Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and even
after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows option,
I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as ntldr.
How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to read
them from the new partition, not the old one?

Thanks
Yahya

"yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
> Windows XP SP2.
> Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version on
> another partition to be able to recover my files.
> Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> even
> after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> option,
> I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as ntldr.
> How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to read
> them from the new partition, not the old one?
>
> Thanks
> Yahya

You need to boot your machine with your WinXP CD. During the installation
you will get the opportunity to format any partition and also to specify
which partition the new version of Windows should go to.

It seems there is another point. You might say that there are two groups of
people: Those who back up their important files regularly and those who
don't. Eventualle everybody joins the first group. The transition from one
group to the other can be very painful. In your case it hurt but it was not
fatal. If your disk had crashed then you would have lost the lot. Why not
get a 2.5" disk in an external USB case and use it as a backup medium for
your important files? It costs surprisingly little.

Thanks for your support and concern.
Thanks for your support:
What you have described is what i exactly did. I Booted from Win XP CD,
chose the new partition and installed Windows in it. When installation
completed, system restarted, I found that files such as ntldr, io.sys,
msdos.sys, ntdetect.com, and other system files were kept on drive C, the
place of the original (now non-stable) Windows system. I moved them manually
(cut $ paste) to the new partition and rebooted the system. Not suprisingly,
the system looked for those files on drive C. When it did not find them, it
halted.
I then had to use recovery console to move those files back to drive C and
reboot the system. It works now. Yet, I'm back to square one.
I need to format drive C. To do that, while still have the system boot
normally, I wonder if there is a way to instruct Windows on where to read
those files from. Apparently, by default, it reads them from drive C, while
I need it to look for them in the other partition, the fresh Windows
partition.

Thanks for your concern:
Data is safe.

Thanks
Yahya

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi,
> > Windows XP SP2.
> > Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version on
> > another partition to be able to recover my files.
> > Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> > even
> > after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> > option,
> > I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as ntldr.
> > How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to read
> > them from the new partition, not the old one?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Yahya
>
> You need to boot your machine with your WinXP CD. During the installation
> you will get the opportunity to format any partition and also to specify
> which partition the new version of Windows should go to.
>
> It seems there is another point. You might say that there are two groups of
> people: Those who back up their important files regularly and those who
> don't. Eventualle everybody joins the first group. The transition from one
> group to the other can be very painful. In your case it hurt but it was not
> fatal. If your disk had crashed then you would have lost the lot. Why not
> get a 2.5" disk in an external USB case and use it as a backup medium for
> your important files? It costs surprisingly little.
>
>
>

Here is how your computer boots up:
1. The BIOS locates the active partition on your disk.
2. It invokes the MBR (Master Boot Record) on that partition.
The MBR gets placed there during the format process.
3. The MBR code executes the hidden file \ntldr on the active
partition.
4. NTLDR checks \boot.ini on the active partition.
5. It then invokes the Windows boot-up files in the nominated
folder on the nominated partition (which does not need to be
the active partition).

From your description below I note that you did not format the
receiving partition. This is almost compulsory.

Moving system files manually from one partition to another does
not result in a stable installation. Your registry is full of references
to the original partition, hence your OS must remain where you
placed it at install time.


"yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:9F9D2FF7-1FC4-4F35-8B49-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for your support and concern.
> Thanks for your support:
> What you have described is what i exactly did. I Booted from Win XP CD,
> chose the new partition and installed Windows in it. When installation
> completed, system restarted, I found that files such as ntldr, io.sys,
> msdos.sys, ntdetect.com, and other system files were kept on drive C, the
> place of the original (now non-stable) Windows system. I moved them
> manually
> (cut $ paste) to the new partition and rebooted the system. Not
> suprisingly,
> the system looked for those files on drive C. When it did not find them,
> it
> halted.
> I then had to use recovery console to move those files back to drive C and
> reboot the system. It works now. Yet, I'm back to square one.
> I need to format drive C. To do that, while still have the system boot
> normally, I wonder if there is a way to instruct Windows on where to read
> those files from. Apparently, by default, it reads them from drive C,
> while
> I need it to look for them in the other partition, the fresh Windows
> partition.
>
> Thanks for your concern:
> Data is safe.
>
> Thanks
> Yahya
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
>>
>> "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Hi,
>> > Windows XP SP2.
>> > Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version
>> > on
>> > another partition to be able to recover my files.
>> > Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
>> > even
>> > after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
>> > option,
>> > I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as
>> > ntldr.
>> > How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to
>> > read
>> > them from the new partition, not the old one?
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> > Yahya
>>
>> You need to boot your machine with your WinXP CD. During the installation
>> you will get the opportunity to format any partition and also to specify
>> which partition the new version of Windows should go to.
>>
>> It seems there is another point. You might say that there are two groups
>> of
>> people: Those who back up their important files regularly and those who
>> don't. Eventualle everybody joins the first group. The transition from
>> one
>> group to the other can be very painful. In your case it hurt but it was
>> not
>> fatal. If your disk had crashed then you would have lost the lot. Why not
>> get a 2.5" disk in an external USB case and use it as a backup medium for
>> your important files? It costs surprisingly little.
>>
>>
>>

"yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
> Windows XP SP2.
> Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version on
> another partition to be able to recover my files.
> Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
even
> after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
option,
> I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as ntldr.
> How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to read
> them from the new partition, not the old one?
>


You cannot format your C: drive

no matter which partition Windows is installed on.
your "boot" files will need to remain on your active primary partition

You will need to keep:

boot.ini
ntdetect.com
ntldr


on C:


However you can *delete* all the rest thereby negating the necessity to
format the C: drive

Thanks

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

> Here is how your computer boots up:
> 1. The BIOS locates the active partition on your disk.
> 2. It invokes the MBR (Master Boot Record) on that partition.
> The MBR gets placed there during the format process.
> 3. The MBR code executes the hidden file \ntldr on the active
> partition.
> 4. NTLDR checks \boot.ini on the active partition.
> 5. It then invokes the Windows boot-up files in the nominated
> folder on the nominated partition (which does not need to be
> the active partition).
>
> From your description below I note that you did not format the
> receiving partition. This is almost compulsory.
>
> Moving system files manually from one partition to another does
> not result in a stable installation. Your registry is full of references
> to the original partition, hence your OS must remain where you
> placed it at install time.
>
>
> "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:9F9D2FF7-1FC4-4F35-8B49-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Thanks for your support and concern.
> > Thanks for your support:
> > What you have described is what i exactly did. I Booted from Win XP CD,
> > chose the new partition and installed Windows in it. When installation
> > completed, system restarted, I found that files such as ntldr, io.sys,
> > msdos.sys, ntdetect.com, and other system files were kept on drive C, the
> > place of the original (now non-stable) Windows system. I moved them
> > manually
> > (cut $ paste) to the new partition and rebooted the system. Not
> > suprisingly,
> > the system looked for those files on drive C. When it did not find them,
> > it
> > halted.
> > I then had to use recovery console to move those files back to drive C and
> > reboot the system. It works now. Yet, I'm back to square one.
> > I need to format drive C. To do that, while still have the system boot
> > normally, I wonder if there is a way to instruct Windows on where to read
> > those files from. Apparently, by default, it reads them from drive C,
> > while
> > I need it to look for them in the other partition, the fresh Windows
> > partition.
> >
> > Thanks for your concern:
> > Data is safe.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Yahya
> >
> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > Hi,
> >> > Windows XP SP2.
> >> > Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version
> >> > on
> >> > another partition to be able to recover my files.
> >> > Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> >> > even
> >> > after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> >> > option,
> >> > I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as
> >> > ntldr.
> >> > How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to
> >> > read
> >> > them from the new partition, not the old one?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks
> >> > Yahya
> >>
> >> You need to boot your machine with your WinXP CD. During the installation
> >> you will get the opportunity to format any partition and also to specify
> >> which partition the new version of Windows should go to.
> >>
> >> It seems there is another point. You might say that there are two groups
> >> of
> >> people: Those who back up their important files regularly and those who
> >> don't. Eventualle everybody joins the first group. The transition from
> >> one
> >> group to the other can be very painful. In your case it hurt but it was
> >> not
> >> fatal. If your disk had crashed then you would have lost the lot. Why not
> >> get a 2.5" disk in an external USB case and use it as a backup medium for
> >> your important files? It costs surprisingly little.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

"philo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eR4z9R%(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi,
>> Windows XP SP2.
>> Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version
>> on
>> another partition to be able to recover my files.
>> Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> even
>> after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> option,
>> I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as ntldr.
>> How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to read
>> them from the new partition, not the old one?
>>
>
>
> You cannot format your C: drive

<snip>

Yes, you can, but only during the installation process after booting from
the installation CD.

I think the case you are talking about is a fresh install on either drive C
or any other parition, knowing that data is now safe. If so, this will void
the point of my inquiry, which was basically to keep the current newly
installed OS on the other partition, while being able to format C, thus
having brand-new-like system, with one partition containing OS, and other
partitions formated virgin.

Yahya

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "philo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eR4z9R%(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> Hi,
> >> Windows XP SP2.
> >> Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version
> >> on
> >> another partition to be able to recover my files.
> >> Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> > even
> >> after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> > option,
> >> I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as ntldr.
> >> How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to read
> >> them from the new partition, not the old one?
> >>
> >
> >
> > You cannot format your C: drive
>
> <snip>
>
> Yes, you can, but only during the installation process after booting from
> the installation CD.
>
>
>
>

"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:evqtNk%(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "philo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eR4z9R%(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> Hi,
> >> Windows XP SP2.
> >> Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version
> >> on
> >> another partition to be able to recover my files.
> >> Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> > even
> >> after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> > option,
> >> I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as
ntldr.
> >> How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to
read
> >> them from the new partition, not the old one?
> >>
> >
> >
> > You cannot format your C: drive
>
> <snip>
>
> Yes, you can, but only during the installation process after booting from
> the installation CD.
>
>
>

You know quite well the implication was that you cannot format the C: drive
and expect the machine to boot! There is no need to confuse the issue here!
(sheesh)

If one wanted to format the C: drive there are *plenty* of other ways to do
so.

VIZ:

pop the drive in another machine and format it,

use a third party utility such as partition magic

boot up with a live Linux CD etc, etc, etc


Yes, there are quite a few ways one could format the C: drive

but the bottom line is : ****The OP does not want to format the drive and
make the machine unbootable!****

There is a good reason you cannot format the drive from within the OS
itself!!!!

Issue is much clearer than someone can confuse it.
Yes you are right. The bottom line was to format C, while keeping the system
bootable with the current OS version.

Thanks again
Yahya

"philo" wrote:

>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:evqtNk%(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > "philo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:eR4z9R%(E-Mail Removed)...
> > >
> > > "yba02" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > news:2ACE92F8-690B-4331-B2BD-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > >> Hi,
> > >> Windows XP SP2.
> > >> Windows on partition C became unstable. I had to install a new version
> > >> on
> > >> another partition to be able to recover my files.
> > >> Mission accomplished and I'm now ready to format drive C. However, and
> > > even
> > >> after modifying the boot.ini file not to include the corrupt Windows
> > > option,
> > >> I still can not format C because of boot-up system files, such as
> ntldr.
> > >> How can I move them to the new partition and instruct the system to
> read
> > >> them from the new partition, not the old one?
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > > You cannot format your C: drive
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > Yes, you can, but only during the installation process after booting from
> > the installation CD.
> >
> >
> >
>
> You know quite well the implication was that you cannot format the C: drive
> and expect the machine to boot! There is no need to confuse the issue here!
> (sheesh)
>
> If one wanted to format the C: drive there are *plenty* of other ways to do
> so.
>
> VIZ:
>
> pop the drive in another machine and format it,
>
> use a third party utility such as partition magic
>
> boot up with a live Linux CD etc, etc, etc
>
>
> Yes, there are quite a few ways one could format the C: drive
>
> but the bottom line is : ****The OP does not want to format the drive and
> make the machine unbootable!****
>
> There is a good reason you cannot format the drive from within the OS
> itself!!!!
>
>
>
>
>
>