Dual Booting Problem - HELP!

[George]

Update - I was able to change the Dynamic disk back to Basic (using
dskprobe), and it now shows up as drive C:. This partition contains my
previous installation of W2K. Partition Magic now indicates that it is
formatted as HPFS - not sure how that happened!

I still cannot direct boot into W2K - I only get here by booting to the
WinMe drive and then choosing "Partition Copied From Disk 1" from the menu
that comes up. Seems like it should not be difficult to fix, but I am at a
loss.

Maybe I should delete all W2K and start again?
But then how do I get rid of the boot menu in WinMe? Just edit Boot.ini?

GM

I didn't try to do that, that is what seems to have happened - I am in Win2K
right now, and it says that the system drive (WinNT) is on D:. There is no
C: The CDROM shows as E: and the WinMe drive is F: There is another data
drive that is I: and a partition on the WinMe drive that is H:.

I should mention that I tried to move the Win2K parttion, but it hung up in
midstream. Not sure if that is cause of my problems, but PM reports 4 disks
(which is correct):
Disk 1 - F: (WinMe) & H: Data
Disk 2 - "Dynamic Disk" ( Original W2K location, and Win2K will not load
unless this drive is connected)
Disk 3 - I: - Data disk
Disk 4 - D: - Drive that was supposed to be Win2K, but only using 2.19 Gb,
so perhaps transfer was not completed.

I realise it is a mess - But Win2K is there - Just would like to recover it
without completevre-install. and get rid of the boot menu in WinMe.

Thanks for your interest!

It looks like you made the Windows ME drive the system partition when
you installed Windows 2000. When you boot the Windows 2000 installation
I suppose you see the Windows ME drive as C: and the Windows 2000, where
the Winnt folder resides, as drive D: (or other)? Can you confirm that
for us?

John

file

or

help.

I

choice

of

O/Ss when I boot from the IDE.

Any suggestions as to how I can clean this up?

I have a spare drive if that would help.
I have two Rescue disks - one from W2K before I re-installed, and one from
present installation.

WinMe boot loader file:

[boot loader]
timeout=4
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1)\WINNT="Partition Copied From Disk 1"
C:\="Microsoft Windows"

 

[George]

I have both ATA100 and IDE on board my MB. I dual boot by having WinMe on
the IDE and Win2K on the ATA100. I have two separate drives for the two
O/Ss. I just choose ATA100 or IDE in the BIOS and that is the system I am
on.

I had decided to do a clean install of W2K, and something has gone wrong!

Now, when I start up from ATA100 (Win2K), I get the lovely "Press Key to
Reboot". Arghh!! So no access to Win2K which I have just spent 2 days
installing all the updates and software.

BUT, when I start from IDE (WinMe drive), I get a menu that has 3 items:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Partition Copied From Disk 1
Microsoft Windows

(See boot loader contents below)

If I use the first option, I get an error message saying that some file or
other cannot be loaded and that running repair from boot CD might help. I
tried and it did not. )It asks which installation to repair - perhaps I
chose the wrong one, because I thought there was just one.)

If I use the last option, I boot WinMe, which is fine.

If I use the second option, lo and behold, Win2K boots up fine.

If I remove all but the Win2K drive and connect it to either the IDE or
ATA100 cable, it will not boot.

What I need to do, is
- somehow correct the problem with the Win2K drive so that it will boot
- remove the boot loading items from WinMe so that I don't get a choice of
O/Ss when I boot from the IDE.

Any suggestions as to how I can clean this up?

I have a spare drive if that would help.
I have two Rescue disks - one from W2K before I re-installed, and one from
present installation.

WinMe boot loader file:

[boot loader]
timeout=4
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1)\WINNT="Partition Copied From Disk 1"
C:\="Microsoft Windows"

 

[George]

I didn't try to do that, that is what seems to have happened - I am in Win2K
right now, and it says that the system drive (WinNT) is on D:. There is no
C: The CDROM shows as E: and the WinMe drive is F: There is another data
drive that is I: and a partition on the WinMe drive that is H:.

I should mention that I tried to move the Win2K parttion, but it hung up in
midstream. Not sure if that is cause of my problems, but PM reports 4 disks
(which is correct):
Disk 1 - F: (WinMe) & H: Data
Disk 2 - "Dynamic Disk" ( Original W2K location, and Win2K will not load
unless this drive is connected)
Disk 3 - I: - Data disk
Disk 4 - D: - Drive that was supposed to be Win2K, but only using 2.19 Gb,
so perhaps transfer was not completed.

I realise it is a mess - But Win2K is there - Just would like to recover it
without completevre-install. and get rid of the boot menu in WinMe.

Thanks for your interest!

It looks like you made the Windows ME drive the system partition when
you installed Windows 2000. When you boot the Windows 2000 installation
I suppose you see the Windows ME drive as C: and the Windows 2000, where
the Winnt folder resides, as drive D: (or other)? Can you confirm that
for us?

John

I have both ATA100 and IDE on board my MB. I dual boot by having WinMe on
the IDE and Win2K on the ATA100. I have two separate drives for the two
O/Ss. I just choose ATA100 or IDE in the BIOS and that is the system I am
on.

I had decided to do a clean install of W2K, and something has gone wrong!

Now, when I start up from ATA100 (Win2K), I get the lovely "Press Key to
Reboot". Arghh!! So no access to Win2K which I have just spent 2 days
installing all the updates and software.

BUT, when I start from IDE (WinMe drive), I get a menu that has 3 items:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Partition Copied From Disk 1
Microsoft Windows

(See boot loader contents below)

If I use the first option, I get an error message saying that some file or
other cannot be loaded and that running repair from boot CD might help. I
tried and it did not. )It asks which installation to repair - perhaps I
chose the wrong one, because I thought there was just one.)

If I use the last option, I boot WinMe, which is fine.

If I use the second option, lo and behold, Win2K boots up fine.

If I remove all but the Win2K drive and connect it to either the IDE or
ATA100 cable, it will not boot.

What I need to do, is
- somehow correct the problem with the Win2K drive so that it will boot
- remove the boot loading items from WinMe so that I don't get a choice of
O/Ss when I boot from the IDE.

Any suggestions as to how I can clean this up?

I have a spare drive if that would help.
I have two Rescue disks - one from W2K before I re-installed, and one from
present installation.

WinMe boot loader file:

[boot loader]
timeout=4
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1)\WINNT="Partition Copied From Disk 1"
C:\="Microsoft Windows"

 

[John John]

It looks like you made the Windows ME drive the system partition when
you installed Windows 2000. When you boot the Windows 2000 installation
I suppose you see the Windows ME drive as C: and the Windows 2000, where
the Winnt folder resides, as drive D: (or other)? Can you confirm that
for us?

John

 

[George]

Oh my, what a mess we have now! See my In-line replies.

Yes it is a mess, but amazingly, provided I boot from the WinMe drive, I get
the menu and can access both WinMe and W2K! But, things are in a mess and I
must clean it up.

What disk shows up as C:? How did you even end up with a Dynamic disk
is the question. Does the Windows ME installation still boot on C:\?
Or did you loose this disk also?

Booting from WinMe drive and choosing "Microsoft Windows" in menu, I have
C: WinMe boot/system partition
D: Data partition on above drive
E: Separate Data drive
(Other 2 drives are NTFS & HPFS, and don't show)

Booting from WinMe drive but choosing the "system transfered from drive 1"
option, gets me to my newer installation of Win2K with the following drives:

C: Original Win2K drive ( was dynamic, now basic) (I have no idea where the
dynamic came from, but I was able to change it back to basic using dskprobe
and a method I found on the net!)
D: drive that contains WinNT that is in use (i.e this is the Boot/system
drive)
F: WinMe boot/system partition
H: Data partition on above drive
I: Separate data drive

It's next to impossible to do! Changing the System and Boot partition
letters is not supported in any fashion and not something that you
should even try. The only appropriate fix for this is to reinstall the
operating system.

That's too bad considering it works fine when I boot via the WinMe start
"menu". Re-installing would not be that bad, but it's Service Pack 2 and I
have to update to SP4 and download all those updates and install the
drivers again!

One thing that crossed my mind, was whether I could do a complete disk
backup and then restore to a new drive while I am in W2K - Not sure if
problems would be restored at same time!

That is the only sensible thing to do, what you have now is not a mess,
it's a disaster! You could have used Boot Magic to accomplish what you
were trying to do. But you can also do it as you were, by toggling the
drives in the BIOS. Here is what you can do:


To regain the Windows ME direct boot (assuming the disk isn't lost) do
the following:

I have printed out your instructions and will likely end up doing the
complete W2K reinstall as you suggest.

I checked and boot.ini, Ntdtect.com & NTLDR are on the WinMe C: drive, but
Ntbootdd.sys is not.

I am impressed that you understood my disjointed posts! Thanks for the input
and advice.

Regards

 

[John John]

Oh my, what a mess we have now! See my In-line replies.

Update - I was able to change the Dynamic disk back to Basic (using
dskprobe), and it now shows up as drive C:. This partition contains my
previous installation of W2K. Partition Magic now indicates that it is
formatted as HPFS - not sure how that happened!

What disk shows up as C:? How did you even end up with a Dynamic disk
is the question. Does the Windows ME installation still boot on C:\?
Or did you loose this disk also?

I still cannot direct boot into W2K - I only get here by booting to the
WinMe drive and then choosing "Partition Copied From Disk 1" from the menu
that comes up. Seems like it should not be difficult to fix, but I am at a
loss.

It's next to impossible to do! Changing the System and Boot partition
letters is not supported in any fashion and not something that you
should even try. The only appropriate fix for this is to reinstall the
operating system.

Maybe I should delete all W2K and start again?
But then how do I get rid of the boot menu in WinMe? Just edit Boot.ini?

That is the only sensible thing to do, what you have now is not a mess,
it's a disaster! You could have used Boot Magic to accomplish what you
were trying to do. But you can also do it as you were, by toggling the
drives in the BIOS. Here is what you can do:


To regain the Windows ME direct boot (assuming the disk isn't lost) do
the following:

To avoid more errors you might want to disconnect the Windows 2000 disk
(or turn it off in the BIOS) before you do this.

Boot with a Windows ME startup diskette and issue the following command:

SYS C:

This will transfer the Windows ME system/boot files to the disk, you
should now be able to boot to the installation. Once booted delete the
following files from the root directory (C:\):

Boot.ini
Ntdetect.com
NTLDR
and, if present, Ntbootdd.sys

Logoff the installation and power down the computer.

- Disconnect the Windows ME disk (or turn it off in the BIOS).
- Boot with the Windows 2000 cd and start the setup process.
- At the drive/partition selection screen delete ALL the partitions and
recreate them as you would want them.
- *** RESTART the computer and start the setup process again.*** This
will avoid drive mix ups that can sometimes happen when partitions are
deleted and created during the disk preparation stage.
- Select the proper partition and format it. If you don't intend to
access the Windows 2000 partition with Windows ME I recommend that you
format the partition NTFS immediately.
- Install Windows 2000 anew.

Good luck,

John

 

[George]

Added info and a question:

John,

I had a closer look at the contents of the C: drive under WinMe and I find
that it has a WinNT folder. So presumably, when I tried to do a clean
install, it installed W2k system on WinMe boot drive, thus the dual boot
menu. (I am sure you already knew this).

Question - If I use Sys C: and delete the boot.ini etc files, my WinMe disk
will still contain the WinNT folder and any other root files and registry
entries that may have been installed whn W2L was added. Is this likely to
cause any problems? Should I delete WinNT and any other files? (I would like
to keep my WinMe setup until I have reinstalled everything on W2K and even
afterwards as a backup. It has years and years of data and programs. )

I decided it could do no harm to delete the only partition on the drive that
had been previously shown as a Dynamic Drive - I did that and I could still
dual boot from the WinMe drive to either WinMe or Win2k. So, I thought I
would unplug the drive altogether - No problem with WinMe, but Win2K would
not boot - message saying there was a hardware problem. Seems strange -
nothing on drive, but it affects Win2K loading?

Appreciate your input!

 

[George]

Replying to my own post here

I decided it could do no harm to delete the only partition on the drive that
had been previously shown as a Dynamic Drive - I did that and I could still
dual boot from the WinMe drive to either WinMe or Win2k. So, I thought I
would unplug the drive altogether - No problem with WinMe, but Win2K would
not boot - message saying there was a hardware problem. Seems strange -
nothing on drive, but it affects Win2K loading?

OK - After learning a bit about the parameters used in Boot.ini, I realised
that I needed to change the rdisk( ) number from 3 to 2 because I had
removed one drive. New boot.ini (on WinMe boot drive):

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINNT="Partition Copied From Disk 1"
C:\="Microsoft Windows"

I formatted a boot diskette in Win2K and added boot.ini. ntldr ntdetect.com.
I renamed the ATA100 driver NTbootdd.sys and added it too. I have no
NTbootdd.sys on the WinMe boot drive, but it does have Bootsect.dos - I did
not copy this over. - Not sure if all this was needed but the diskette does
boot the system into Win2K. Don't need the diskette to gain access, but may
be useful later?

Situation right now, is that I have ended up with a dual booting system that
essentially works fine. Most of the "mess" has been cleaned up!

But, I don't really like having the dual boot setup. I would like to go back
to two independant systems with choice from BIOS.

Question - How to eliminate dual booting and retain both installations?

I have started a new thread on this question.

 

[George]

You cannot do that because as far as I can see the installations have a
common system partition.

John,

I thought that too, but there are system files on the W2K drive too. Just
doesn't have the boot.ini,ntldr, Ntdetect files. I made the floppy to check
that out. Since I can boot directly from the floppy with boot.ini parameters
set for the Win2K drive, doesn't that mean I am bypassing the WinMe drive
altogether? I could test this by removing it, but will have to change the
boot.ini parameters on the floppy. Maybe I should do this?

GM

 

[George]

OK, I tried that. I am able to boot from floppy into W2K with all other
drives including WinMe boot drive removed. So, it seems that system files on
WinMe disk are not being used.

Next step is how to boot to this drive without floppy?

Maybe try using Win2K CD and repair?

GM

 

[George]

I was able to get boot drives separated and booting individually. BUT, I had
to use teh Win2K CD to repair the Win2K boot drive. Unfortunately, it is a
SP 2 CD and it messed things up a bit so, instead of going through updating
an installation that might have problems, I will reinstall a clean version
of W2K. I could have done this earlier, but as a result of this little
challenge, I learned quite a bit! Thanks for the help.

GM

 

[John John]

Question - How to eliminate dual booting and retain both installations?

You cannot do that because as far as I can see the installations have a
common system partition.

John

 

[John John]

John,

I thought that too, but there are system files on the W2K drive too. Just
doesn't have the boot.ini,ntldr, Ntdetect files.

The System Partition is the one that contains these files. The Boot
Partition contains the Windows files. In a Windows dual boot setup
there will be one and only one System Partition but there will be a Boot
Partition for each operating system. The System Partition may also
serve as Boot Partition for one operating system.


I made the floppy to check

that out. Since I can boot directly from the floppy with boot.ini parameters
set for the Win2K drive, doesn't that mean I am bypassing the WinMe drive
altogether? I could test this by removing it, but will have to change the
boot.ini parameters on the floppy. Maybe I should do this?

Yes, you are bypassing the Windows ME drive, the System Partition is now
the floppy diskette. You can boot that way but you will not be able to
boot directly off the Windows 2000 drive unless you reinstall Windows.
Trying to circumvent this basic rule will result in an unreliable
installation, a ticking time bomb!

John

 

[John John]

You're welcome.

John