Can Only Boot with Boot CD in Drive

[Paige Miller]

I recently did a clean install of Windows XP, because my old Windows
XP was unstable. The installations seems to have been successful, but
.... I can only boot the computer with the Windows XP Recovery CD in
the drive.

If I try to boot without the CD in the drive, I get an error message
that says

DISK BOOT FAILURE
INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

Now, I know how to change the BIOS so that it should boot from the
hard drive, and not the CD ROM. When I make this change, so that it is
supposed to boot from the hard drive, I get the above error message
regardless of whether or not the disk is in the drive.

How do I fix this?

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I recently did a clean install of Windows XP, because my old Windows
XP was unstable. The installations seems to have been successful, but
... I can only boot the computer with the Windows XP Recovery CD in
the drive.

If I try to boot without the CD in the drive, I get an error message
that says

DISK BOOT FAILURE
INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

Now, I know how to change the BIOS so that it should boot from the
hard drive, and not the CD ROM. When I make this change, so that it is
supposed to boot from the hard drive, I get the above error message
regardless of whether or not the disk is in the drive.

How do I fix this?

Run diskmgmt.msc via the Run box, then make sure that your
system partition is marked as active.

 

[Paige Miller]

Run diskmgmt.msc via the Run box, then make sure that your
system partition is marked as active.

I solved this by accident. I will explain what happened, and maybe
someone much smarter than I can provide an explanation. I certainly
would appreciate knowing why this happened in case I ever want to do
this again, as I would really like to understand what happened.

1) I perform a clean install of Windows XP. The install program
recognizes my 80gig C: drive as the D: drive. This drive is located on
the third IDE master (I don't know why, that's the way the computer
manufacturer built it), while my 160gig D: drive, the primary drive on
the first IDE channel, was identified as the C: drive. Why?
2) I go ahead and wipe the 80gig drive clean, perform the install.
3) When I boot up, the computer now recognizes the 80gig drive with
the Windows XP installation as the D: drive. The 160gig drive is now
the C: drive. Why?
4) I try to boot without the CD in the drive, and the computer will
not boot. I change the boot up sequence to have the 80 gig drive (with
the new Windows XP installation) first, but it will not boot. It will
only boot if the boot up sequence has the CDROM first and the CD is in
the drive. Why?
5) As a lark, I try making the boot up sequence to look at the 160gig
drive first (even though there is no Windows installation there), the
80gig second (where the Windows installation is) and floppy third (no
CDROM in the sequence). Now things boot properly without the CD in the
drive. Why?

Thanks!

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[John John]

Pegasus gave you the answer. Where are the files: ntdetect.com, ntldr
and boot.ini located?

John

 

[Paige Miller]

Pegasus gave you the answer. Where are the files: ntdetect.com, ntldr
and boot.ini located?

John

I can't find those files anywhere. I did a search, I told it to search
for hidden and system files.

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Start a Command Prompt, then run this command for
every drive you have:
dir /ah C:\nt*.*
dir /ah D:\nt*.*
etc.

 

[Guest]

This page may help to explain (or confuse):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/228004/

In particular,this note, from that page:

(Quote)"NOTE: Windows always considers the active partition to be drive C,
so the drive letters on the hard disk partitions may have changed from their
original orientation.
Using the Recovery Console, you need to copy the following files from the
root directory of the original system partition to the root directory of the
current active partition (which is now drive C):
NTLDR
NTDETECT.COM
BOOT.INI
If the partition was not formatted using Windows, you may also need to use
the Recovery Console's FIXBOOT command to make the active partition bootable.

After you are able to boot into Windows, it is recommended that you use the
Windows Disk Management snap-in tool to reset the original system partition
as the active partition, and reboot the computer. This will restore the
correct system partition as the C: drive."(End quote)

Sounds like the 160G drive was the active or boot partition, even though
Windows is/was installed on the 80G drive.
Bet you'll find NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and Boot.ini if you go to [on the 160G
drive] tools>folder options...>view (tab) and check "show hidden files and
folders'and uncheck "hide protected operating system files
[Recommended]".Just open Windows Explorer on the 160G and look below the
folders after you change the options. You may also have to uncheck "Hide
extensions for known file types".

The page at the address above explains a fix, but your Windows programs now
call the 160G "C:", and think "Windows" is on "D:", the 80G. You might just
leave well enough alone, if everything is working. [Is there a Windows folder

 

[Paige Miller]

Start a Command Prompt, then run this command for
every drive you have:
dir /ah C:\nt*.*
dir /ah D:\nt*.*
etc.

Okay thanks, so what does this mean?

Those files are on my new C: drive (which is not the boot drive) and
are not on the D: drive (which is the boot drive currently).

Should they be on the D: drive? Is this screwed up somehow, or is this
perfectly okay?

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Paige Miller]

This page may help to explain (or confuse):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/228004/

In particular,this note, from that page:

(Quote)"NOTE: Windows always considers the active partition to be drive C,
so the drive letters on the hard disk partitions may have changed from their
original orientation.
Using the Recovery Console, you need to copy the following files from the
root directory of the original system partition to the root directory of the
current active partition (which is now drive C):
NTLDR
NTDETECT.COM
BOOT.INI
If the partition was not formatted using Windows, you may also need to use
the Recovery Console's FIXBOOT command to make the active partition bootable.

After you are able to boot into Windows, it is recommended that you use the
Windows Disk Management snap-in tool to reset the original system partition
as the active partition, and reboot the computer. This will restore the
correct system partition as the C: drive."(End quote)

Where do I find this Windows Disk Management snap-in tool?

Sounds like the 160G drive was the active or boot partition, even though
Windows is/was installed on the 80G drive.

Seems as if you are correct!

Bet you'll find NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and Boot.ini if you go to [on the 160G
drive] tools>folder options...>view (tab) and check "show hidden files and
folders'and uncheck "hide protected operating system files
[Recommended]".Just open Windows Explorer on the 160G and look below the
folders after you change the options. You may also have to uncheck "Hide
extensions for known file types".

Correct, these files are on the 160GB drive which is not the boot drive.

The page at the address above explains a fix, but your Windows programs now
call the 160G "C:", and think "Windows" is on "D:", the 80G. You might just
leave well enough alone, if everything is working. [Is there a Windows folder
on the 160G drive?]

Yes there is a Windows folder on the 160GB drive. I don't know how it
got there.

I would leave everything alone since just about everything works fine
except my Photoshop Album software, where it thinks my photo library
is on the D: drive, when in actuality my photo albums are now on my C:
drive, and there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to switch this in
the Photoshop Album program, without backing up every photo to a DVD
and then using Photoshop Album to restore the backup to a new
location. Not a terrible situation, but I haven't decided if I want to
do that or not.

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Guest]

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you now have
TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on the 160G. The
original apparently is corrupt. The boot files remained there when you
reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive. Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left pane,
click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says "Active"
("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn Tool, and may
cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make changes without proper
Knowledge.)
As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install are
pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd Windows, THAT
became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL programs not reinstalled
are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to the the
library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the final library folder
at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library,
open D:\Program Files and just make a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder
inside it named Photoshop, then copy and paste the library folder inside of
that. May work; don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.

Where do I find this Windows Disk Management snap-in tool?

Sounds like the 160G drive was the active or boot partition, even though
Windows is/was installed on the 80G drive.

Seems as if you are correct!

Bet you'll find NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and Boot.ini if you go to [on the 160G
drive] tools>folder options...>view (tab) and check "show hidden files and
folders'and uncheck "hide protected operating system files
[Recommended]".Just open Windows Explorer on the 160G and look below the
folders after you change the options. You may also have to uncheck "Hide
extensions for known file types".

Correct, these files are on the 160GB drive which is not the boot drive.

The page at the address above explains a fix, but your Windows programs now
call the 160G "C:", and think "Windows" is on "D:", the 80G. You might just
leave well enough alone, if everything is working. [Is there a Windows folder
on the 160G drive?]

Yes there is a Windows folder on the 160GB drive. I don't know how it
got there.

I would leave everything alone since just about everything works fine
except my Photoshop Album software, where it thinks my photo library
is on the D: drive, when in actuality my photo albums are now on my C:
drive, and there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to switch this in
the Photoshop Album program, without backing up every photo to a DVD
and then using Photoshop Album to restore the backup to a new
location. Not a terrible situation, but I haven't decided if I want to
do that or not.

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Paige Miller]

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you now have
TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on the 160G. The
original apparently is corrupt. The boot files remained there when you
reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive. Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left pane,
click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says "Active"
("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn Tool, and may
cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make changes without proper
Knowledge.)

Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C: drive)
is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that used to
be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install are
pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd Windows, THAT
became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL programs not reinstalled
are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to the the
library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the final library folder
at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library,
open D:\Program Files and just make a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder
inside it named Photoshop, then copy and paste the library folder inside of
that. May work; don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.

To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D: drive.
I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in case
I ever have to do a re-install.

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[John John]

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you now
have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on the
160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files remained
there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive. Therefore the
160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left
pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says
"Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn
Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make
changes without proper Knowledge.)

Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C: drive) is
listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that used to be my
D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install are
pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd
Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL
programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to the
the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the final
library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make a
New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop, then
copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work; don't know
what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.

To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always refers
to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C: drive (80gig)
was always referred to by this program as my D: drive. I'm sure this is
part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in case I
ever have to do a re-install.

Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT of
the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the position as
I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows properly. Once
you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed and running
properly shut down the computer and install your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start the
computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It will
work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette, just hit
Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's entering
"Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there remove the
"Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard drive. BE CAREFUL!
Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the active flag on the
Windows System Partition! Once done remove the BootItNG diskette and
reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the wrong
place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure that the
Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that this is the
drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

 

[Paige Miller]

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you now
have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on the
160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files remained
there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive. Therefore
the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left
pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says
"Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn
Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make
changes without proper Knowledge.)

Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C: drive)
is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that used to
be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install
are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd
Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL
programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to the
the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the final
library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make a
New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop, then
copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work; don't
know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.

To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D: drive.
I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in case
I ever have to do a re-install.

Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT of
the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the position as
I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows properly. Once
you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed and running
properly shut down the computer and install your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start the
computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It will
work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette, just hit
Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's entering
"Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there remove the
"Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard drive. BE CAREFUL!
Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the active flag on the
Windows System Partition! Once done remove the BootItNG diskette and
reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the wrong
place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure that the
Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that this is the
drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is a
lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at
the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really
sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the C: drive
on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master (and
only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why they did
that, and right now I have no idea how to move things around as you
instructed so that the drive I want to be my C: drive as the master on
the primary IDE controller. Can you help?

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[John John]

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you
now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on
the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files
remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive.
Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left
pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says
"Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn
Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make
changes without proper Knowledge.)



Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C: drive)
is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that used to
be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install
are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd
Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL
programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to
the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the
final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make a
New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop,
then copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work;
don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.



To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D: drive.
I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in case
I ever have to do a re-install.

Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT
of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the position
as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows properly.
Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed and running
properly shut down the computer and install your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start
the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It will
work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette, just
hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's entering
"Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there remove the
"Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard drive. BE
CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the active flag on
the Windows System Partition! Once done remove the BootItNG diskette
and reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that this
is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is a
lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at
the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really sure
I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the C: drive on
the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master (and only) drive
on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why they did that, and
right now I have no idea how to move things around as you instructed so
that the drive I want to be my C: drive as the master on the primary IDE
controller. Can you help?

There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an IDE
controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller comes from.
Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the drive and data
cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables look
like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

 

[Paige Miller]

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you
now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on
the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files
remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive.
Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left
pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says
"Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn
Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make
changes without proper Knowledge.)



Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C:
drive) is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that
used to be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install
are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd
Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL
programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to
the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the
final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make
a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop,
then copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work;
don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.



To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D: drive.
I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in
case I ever have to do a re-install.


Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT
of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the position
as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows properly.
Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed and running
properly shut down the computer and install your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start
the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It will
work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette, just
hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's entering
"Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there remove the
"Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard drive. BE
CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the active flag
on the Windows System Partition! Once done remove the BootItNG
diskette and reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that
this is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is a
lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at
the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really
sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the C:
drive on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master (and
only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why they did
that, and right now I have no idea how to move things around as you
instructed so that the drive I want to be my C: drive as the master on
the primary IDE controller. Can you help?

There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an IDE
controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller comes from.
Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the drive and data
cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables look
like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

John,

When I boot the computer, and go into the BIOS setup, it tells me that
the 80gig HD that has my Windows installation is the "Third IDE
Master". That's not my interpretation ... that's the exact wording in
the BIOS setup. The 160 gig HD is listed as the First IDE Master.

As far as what the cables look like, I won't have time to open the
case and look tonight. That's a job for when I have more time (maybe
tomorrow).

Thanks for your help, I really would like to understand what is going
on and how to fix it, but I'm not going to try re-installing Windows
again until I'm sure I understand this, otherwise I will most likely
spend hours only to wind up right back where I am now.

Quick update ... I just looked at the invoice, and the invoice clearly
lists both hard disk drives as ATA or SATA. So how do I move them so
that they are in the right place?

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[John John]

On 10/5/2006 8:41 AM, John John wrote:

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you
now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on
the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files
remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive.
Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the
left pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which
says "Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk
SnapIn Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to
make changes without proper Knowledge.)




Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C:
drive) is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that
used to be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install
are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the
2nd Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So
ANY/ALL programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover
parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to
the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the
final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make
a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop,
then copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work;
don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.




To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D:
drive. I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my
data files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just
in case I ever have to do a re-install.



Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT
of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the
position as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows
properly. Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed
and running properly shut down the computer and install your other
drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start
the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It
will work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette,
just hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's
entering "Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there
remove the "Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard
drive. BE CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the
active flag on the Windows System Partition! Once done remove the
BootItNG diskette and reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that
this is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is a
lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at
the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really
sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the C:
drive on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master
(and only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why
they did that, and right now I have no idea how to move things around
as you instructed so that the drive I want to be my C: drive as the
master on the primary IDE controller. Can you help?

There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an
IDE controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller comes
from. Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the drive and
data cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables look
like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

John,

When I boot the computer, and go into the BIOS setup, it tells me that
the 80gig HD that has my Windows installation is the "Third IDE Master".
That's not my interpretation ... that's the exact wording in the BIOS
setup. The 160 gig HD is listed as the First IDE Master.

As far as what the cables look like, I won't have time to open the case
and look tonight. That's a job for when I have more time (maybe tomorrow).

Thanks for your help, I really would like to understand what is going on
and how to fix it, but I'm not going to try re-installing Windows again
until I'm sure I understand this, otherwise I will most likely spend
hours only to wind up right back where I am now.

Quick update ... I just looked at the invoice, and the invoice clearly
lists both hard disk drives as ATA or SATA. So how do I move them so
that they are in the right place?

Ok, this is easy to do. Open the computer and look at your hard drives
and just follow the data cables to the motherboard and switch them
places! Now look in the BIOS and (hopefully) the 80GB drive will be the
"First IDE Master" and the 160 one will be third.

While your Windows installation will still all be accessible on the
drive, the integrity of the installation will be completely destroyed.
You will have to reinstall Windows. Make yourself a startup diskette
and see if it works to start the switched drive. See here:
http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/ntboot/ You might need the SATA drivers on
a diskette to install Windows, the F6 thing.

You may not need to use the BootItNG utility, but I think you should
leave the other drive unplugged until after you install Windows.

John

 

[Andy]

On 10/5/2006 8:41 AM, John John wrote:

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you
now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on
the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files
remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive.
Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left
pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says
"Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn
Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make
changes without proper Knowledge.)



Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C:
drive) is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that
used to be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install
are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd
Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL
programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to
the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the
final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make
a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop,
then copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work;
don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.



To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D: drive.
I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in
case I ever have to do a re-install.


Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT
of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the position
as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows properly.
Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed and running
properly shut down the computer and install your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start
the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It will
work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette, just
hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's entering
"Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there remove the
"Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard drive. BE
CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the active flag
on the Windows System Partition! Once done remove the BootItNG
diskette and reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that
this is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is a
lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at
the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really
sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the C:
drive on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master (and
only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why they did
that, and right now I have no idea how to move things around as you
instructed so that the drive I want to be my C: drive as the master on
the primary IDE controller. Can you help?

There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an IDE
controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller comes from.
Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the drive and data
cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables look
like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

John,

When I boot the computer, and go into the BIOS setup, it tells me that
the 80gig HD that has my Windows installation is the "Third IDE
Master". That's not my interpretation ... that's the exact wording in
the BIOS setup. The 160 gig HD is listed as the First IDE Master.

Most likely the Third IDE Master 80 GB drive is SATA. If there is no
Third IDE Slave, then it's definitely SATA. You won't be able to make
it First IDE.

As far as what the cables look like, I won't have time to open the
case and look tonight. That's a job for when I have more time (maybe
tomorrow).

Thanks for your help, I really would like to understand what is going
on and how to fix it, but I'm not going to try re-installing Windows
again until I'm sure I understand this, otherwise I will most likely
spend hours only to wind up right back where I am now.

If you want the 80 GB drive to be C: and the Windows system and boot
drive, do the following:

1. Move the 80 GB drive to the top of the list in BIOS setup Hard Disk
Boot Priority setting.

2. Boot from the Windows XP CD, select new install, and proceed to the
screen that shows the disks and the partitions on the disks.

3. Notice the assignments of the drive letters to the partitions.

4. If C: is assigned to the partition on the 80 GB disk, select C: to
install Windows. (If C: is not assigned to the partition on the 80 GB
disk, delete the partition and recreate the partition. Then quit
setup, and start setup again.)

5. On the next screen choose to format the partition (as opposed to
using the existing file system).

 

[Paige Miller]

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/5/2006 8:41 AM, John John wrote:

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you
now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on
the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files
remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive.
Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the left
pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System", which says
"Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is the Disk SnapIn
Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything, if used to make
changes without proper Knowledge.)


Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C:
drive) is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive that
used to be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows install
are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you installed the 2nd
Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to Windows. So ANY/ALL
programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to
the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the
final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just make
a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named Photoshop,
then copy and paste the library folder inside of that. May work;
don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.


To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of my
drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the other
drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D: drive.
I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my data
files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just in
case I ever have to do a re-install.

Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s) OUT
of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up and
running, these other drives can be brought online after you install
Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one you
experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the position
as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows properly.
Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly installed and running
properly shut down the computer and install your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows start
the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from the
site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG! It will
work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot diskette, just
hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that it's entering
"Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once there remove the
"Active" flag from any partitions on the second hard drive. BE
CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and don't remove the active flag
on the Windows System Partition! Once done remove the BootItNG
diskette and reboot the computer to your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that
this is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is a
lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at
the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not really
sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the C:
drive on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master (and
only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why they did
that, and right now I have no idea how to move things around as you
instructed so that the drive I want to be my C: drive as the master on
the primary IDE controller. Can you help?
There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an IDE
controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller comes from.
Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the drive and data
cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables look
like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

John,

When I boot the computer, and go into the BIOS setup, it tells me that
the 80gig HD that has my Windows installation is the "Third IDE
Master". That's not my interpretation ... that's the exact wording in
the BIOS setup. The 160 gig HD is listed as the First IDE Master.

Most likely the Third IDE Master 80 GB drive is SATA. If there is no
Third IDE Slave, then it's definitely SATA. You won't be able to make
it First IDE.

As far as what the cables look like, I won't have time to open the
case and look tonight. That's a job for when I have more time (maybe
tomorrow).

Thanks for your help, I really would like to understand what is going
on and how to fix it, but I'm not going to try re-installing Windows
again until I'm sure I understand this, otherwise I will most likely
spend hours only to wind up right back where I am now.

If you want the 80 GB drive to be C: and the Windows system and boot
drive, do the following:

1. Move the 80 GB drive to the top of the list in BIOS setup Hard Disk
Boot Priority setting.

No, no, no. The 80GB was at the top of the list from the day the
computer arrived. When I ran the Windows Recovery/Install CD last
weekend, it decided that the 80GB drive, which was at the top of the
list in the BIOS setup Hard Disk Boot Priority, was actually the D:
drive, and then I wnet ahead and clean installed WIndows anyway and
now the computer thinks the 80GB drive is the D: drive.

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Paige Miller]

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/5/2006 8:41 AM, John John wrote:

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe you
now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and one on
the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot files
remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G) drive.
Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the
left pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System",
which says "Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is
the Disk SnapIn Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything,
if used to make changes without proper Knowledge.)




Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C:
drive) is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive
that used to be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows
install are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you
installed the 2nd Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to
Windows. So ANY/ALL programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any
leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path to
the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy the
final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just
make a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named
Photoshop, then copy and paste the library folder inside of that.
May work; don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or haven't.
I'd start over.




To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of
my drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the
other drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D:
drive. I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my
data files on a different drive from my Windows installation, just
in case I ever have to do a re-install.



Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s)
OUT of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and up
and running, these other drives can be brought online after you
install Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one
you experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the
position as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall Windows
properly. Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly
installed and running properly shut down the computer and install
your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows
start the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from
the site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG!
It will work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot
diskette, just hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you that
it's entering "Maintenance Mode" (or something like that). Once
there remove the "Active" flag from any partitions on the second
hard drive. BE CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and don't remove
the active flag on the Windows System Partition! Once done remove
the BootItNG diskette and reboot the computer to your Windows
Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that
this is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is
a lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer well.
When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install Windows
at the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm not
really sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new with the
C: drive on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as the master
(and only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have no idea why
they did that, and right now I have no idea how to move things
around as you instructed so that the drive I want to be my C: drive
as the master on the primary IDE controller. Can you help?


There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an
IDE controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller comes
from. Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the drive
and data cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables
look like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

John,

When I boot the computer, and go into the BIOS setup, it tells me that
the 80gig HD that has my Windows installation is the "Third IDE
Master". That's not my interpretation ... that's the exact wording in
the BIOS setup. The 160 gig HD is listed as the First IDE Master.

As far as what the cables look like, I won't have time to open the
case and look tonight. That's a job for when I have more time (maybe
tomorrow).

Thanks for your help, I really would like to understand what is going
on and how to fix it, but I'm not going to try re-installing Windows
again until I'm sure I understand this, otherwise I will most likely
spend hours only to wind up right back where I am now.

Quick update ... I just looked at the invoice, and the invoice clearly
lists both hard disk drives as ATA or SATA. So how do I move them so
that they are in the right place?

Ok, this is easy to do. Open the computer and look at your hard drives
and just follow the data cables to the motherboard and switch them
places! Now look in the BIOS and (hopefully) the 80GB drive will be the
"First IDE Master" and the 160 one will be third.

While your Windows installation will still all be accessible on the
drive, the integrity of the installation will be completely destroyed.
You will have to reinstall Windows. Make yourself a startup diskette
and see if it works to start the switched drive. See here:
http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/ntboot/ You might need the SATA drivers on
a diskette to install Windows, the F6 thing.

You may not need to use the BootItNG utility, but I think you should
leave the other drive unplugged until after you install Windows.

John

Although its easy for you, I don't think it would be easy for me. I
just don't feel comfortable. There are too many things that could go
wrong where I don't understand exactly what I am doing. For example,
why would I need a startup diskette? I don't get it. I have a Windows
Recovery/Installation CD that I can boot from. And don't I have to
tell the BIOS that I am moving the drives? And what about the problem
that Windows right now thinks that my 160GB drive is the boot drive
because it has boot.ini and other files on it, while the actual
Windows installation is on the other drive.

I appreciate your help, but right now, I think I'm going to leave
things the way they are.

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[John John]

On 10/5/2006 7:16 PM, John John wrote:

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/5/2006 8:41 AM, John John wrote:

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/4/2006 11:28 PM, Justin Case wrote:

I don't think you realize all that you have done. I believe
you now have TWO installations of Windows, one on the 80G, and
one on the 160G. The original apparently is corrupt. The boot
files remained there when you reinstalled to the wrong (the 80G)
drive. Therefore the 160G boots.
[Rightclick My Computer. Choose Manage. Under Storage in the
left pane, click Disk management. Which drive says "System",
which says "Active" ("Boot"), etc. in the right pane? (This is
the Disk SnapIn Tool, and may cause you to reinstall everything,
if used to make changes without proper Knowledge.)



Currently, the D: drive (the 80gig drive that used to be my C:
drive) is listed as Boot, while the C: drive (the 160gig drive
that used to be my D: drive) is listed as system.

As of Now, ANY programs installed with the first Windows
install are pointing to the wrong drive, because when you
installed the 2nd Windows, THAT became the C: drive according to
Windows. So ANY/ALL programs not reinstalled are skewed, and any
leftover parts are, too.
Best bet: total reinstall of entire system.(if it was me)
To make Photoshop work (possibly), as is: replicate the path
to the the library with empty folders on the D: drive, and copy
the final library folder at the end of the path.
That is: If program's path says D:\Program
Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Library, open D:\Program Files and just
make a New>folder named Adobe, make a folder inside it named
Photoshop, then copy and paste the library folder inside of
that. May work; don't know what all else you've reinstalled, or
haven't.
I'd start over.



To start over, do I need to erase these system files from one of
my drives? Specifically, do I need to get rid of (or move to the
other drive) NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI?

When I insert the Recovery disk to re-install windows, it always
refers to my drives backwards ... in other words, the original C:
drive (80gig) was always referred to by this program as my D:
drive. I'm sure this is part of the confusion that I am having.

You are definitely correct about Photoshop Album, but I want my
data files on a different drive from my Windows installation,
just in case I ever have to do a re-install.


Place the drive on which you want to install Windows at the Master
position on the Primary IDE controller. Keep the other drive(s)
OUT of the machine until you have Windows installed properly and
up and running, these other drives can be brought online after you
install Windows. That will avoid mix ups and errors like the one
you experienced. Just be sure to place the Windows drive at the
position as I said earlier. Format the drive and reinstall
Windows properly. Once you are satisfied that Windows is properly
installed and running properly shut down the computer and install
your other drive(s).

After installing the other drive and BEFORE you reboot Windows
start the computer with a BootItNG diskette.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html This is a fully
functional 30 day trial version. Following the instruction from
the site above create a boot diskette. DO NOT INSTALL BootItNG!
It will work from a diskette boot, like a Windows 9x DOS boot
diskette, just hit Escape or click cancel and it will tell you
that it's entering "Maintenance Mode" (or something like that).
Once there remove the "Active" flag from any partitions on the
second hard drive. BE CAREFUL! Don't mix up your drives and
don't remove the active flag on the Windows System Partition!
Once done remove the BootItNG diskette and reboot the computer to
your Windows Installation.

If the computer doesn't boot properly, you stuck the drives in the
wrong place or the Master/Slave jumpers are wrong. Just make sure
that the Windows installation is on partition 1 on HDD0, and that
this is the drive set to boot in the BIOS.

John

John,

Thank you, this is very helpful. I might still decide to re-install
Windows again to get things running properly, or I might not. It is
a lot of work.

However, I don't know my way around the inside of the computer
well. When you say "Place the drive on which you want to install
Windows at the Master position on the Primary IDE controller", I'm
not really sure I know how to do that. The computer arrived new
with the C: drive on the third IDE controller, and my D: drive as
the master (and only) drive on the primary IDE controller. I have
no idea why they did that, and right now I have no idea how to move
things around as you instructed so that the drive I want to be my
C: drive as the master on the primary IDE controller. Can you help?

There is only 2 IDE controllers on motherboards. Unless you have an
IDE controller card I don't see where this third IDE controller
comes from. Maybe you have SATA instead of EIDE drives? Does the
drive and data cable look like these with wide fat connectors:
http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/howto/insthdd.htm Or do the cables
look like this (SATA): http://www.satagear.com/SATA_Cables.html ?

John

John,

When I boot the computer, and go into the BIOS setup, it tells me
that the 80gig HD that has my Windows installation is the "Third IDE
Master". That's not my interpretation ... that's the exact wording in
the BIOS setup. The 160 gig HD is listed as the First IDE Master.

Most likely the Third IDE Master 80 GB drive is SATA. If there is no
Third IDE Slave, then it's definitely SATA. You won't be able to make
it First IDE.

As far as what the cables look like, I won't have time to open the
case and look tonight. That's a job for when I have more time (maybe
tomorrow).

Thanks for your help, I really would like to understand what is going
on and how to fix it, but I'm not going to try re-installing Windows
again until I'm sure I understand this, otherwise I will most likely
spend hours only to wind up right back where I am now.

If you want the 80 GB drive to be C: and the Windows system and boot
drive, do the following:

1. Move the 80 GB drive to the top of the list in BIOS setup Hard Disk
Boot Priority setting.

No, no, no. The 80GB was at the top of the list from the day the
computer arrived. When I ran the Windows Recovery/Install CD last
weekend, it decided that the 80GB drive, which was at the top of the
list in the BIOS setup Hard Disk Boot Priority, was actually the D:
drive, and then I wnet ahead and clean installed WIndows anyway and now
the computer thinks the 80GB drive is the D: drive.

Forget the drive letters, Paige. These letters can be misleading and
they mean absolutely nothing to the computer. Drives and partitions
have numbers, not letters, the letters are arbitrarily assigned by the
operating system at the time of installation and can be different from
one operating system to another on the same computer. You could have a
dual boot on your computer and the drive letter assignment could be
completely different when you boot one or the other.

Do you want to install Windows XP on the 80 gig drive? If yes remove
the power to the 160 gig drive and look in the BIOS. What do you see?
Where is the 80 gig drive? On the first controller? And how is the
boot order set?

John

Ps. The drives can be disabled in the BIOS but if you are confusing the
drives, removing the power to the drive is a foolproof way of seeing the
right drive and its position in the BIOS.