Followup results of disconnecting old 60GB drive

[Joe Starin]

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you suggested
(but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted normally. "My
Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard drive as the only hard drive.
And it retained the "C" lettter designation. Belarc Advisor, likewise, now
shows the new 320GB drive as the only hard drive present. The whining noise
(from the now-disconnected) old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems
expected. Everything seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says "Drive 1 not
found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I press
okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me to "choose an
operating system," with both choices being "Windows XP -- default." I'm
quite sure that both of these screens are expected. After the 30 second
timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I have
not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of both
"boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's file
probably won't make much difference if I ultimately disconnect/remove it.
And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have any operating systems
listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away from
closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both sides
of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe

You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John

I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However, does this
info
help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone on
first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old 60GB
drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE cable, while the
new drive was connected to the middle (grey) connector. Both drives were
set to "cable select." IIRC, the new drive after boot was named "H" and
the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped the
position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to the old
60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new (parent?) drive to be
named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups, but
your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested that I take
the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the line below the
[operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of the new drive
(making it the last line immediately following the [operating systems]
line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe


It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that your
drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected to take
precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on the first boot
after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]

timeout = 30

default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS = "60Gb Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS = "320GB Microsoft Windows
XP
Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB may not
represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the installations will
still boot, the stuff between the "quotation marks" is just descriptive
text that you see at the boot menu when the computer boots, it is just
for human eyes you could put what ever you wanted between the quotation
marks and the operating system would still boot.

--
Joseph R. Starin
2025 Radcliffe Drive
Westlake, Ohio 44145-3246
440.223.TEXT (8398)
email: (e-mail address removed)
blog: www.joecalled.blogspot.com
"Business writing that leaves a mark."

 

[Timothy Daniels]

The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive 1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I have not
edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of both "boot.ini"
files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's file
probably won't make much difference if I ultimately disconnect/remove it. And
the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have any operating systems listed.
Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away
from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both sides of
the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe

You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John

I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:

Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:

It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Joe Starin]

Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to match
the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can I edit the
BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens appearing are
my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check (access) the BIOS?

Joe

The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive 1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I have
not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of both
"boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away
from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe

You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:

I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:

Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:

It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[John John (MVP)]

Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to
be two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if
there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right
file is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the
ntldr and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter
this command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that
these are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to
change the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual
for your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here
and someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the
BIOS it should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be
careful while in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to match
the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can I edit the
BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens appearing are
my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check (access) the BIOS?

Joe

The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive 1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I have
not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of both
"boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away
from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe


You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:


I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:


Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:


It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Joe Starin]

Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass flashes
for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other programs/files open
fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2, I
also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last line
named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe

Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to be
two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if there is
nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right file is in the
root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the ntldr and
NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter this
command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that these
are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to change the
Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual for
your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here and
someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the BIOS it
should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be careful while in
the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can I
edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens
appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check (access)
the BIOS?

Joe

The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive 1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of
both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away
from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe


You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:


I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:


Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:


It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Joe Starin]

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe

Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass flashes
for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other programs/files
open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2, I
also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last line
named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe

Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to
be two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if
there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right file
is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the ntldr
and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter this
command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that these
are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to change
the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual for
your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here and
someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the BIOS it
should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be careful while
in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can
I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens
appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check
(access) the BIOS?

Joe


The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive 1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of
both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away
from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe


You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:


I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:


Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:


It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Joe Starin]

FWIW, two things to complete the picture....
While I have the power disconnected to the old drive, I still have the old
drive's EIDE cable temporarily connected. Important?
And, in the same new 320GB "boot.ini" file, I don't have a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign. I'll tweak this once I "unhide" the file
again and we make some sort of edits.
Joe

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check
marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe

Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass flashes
for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other programs/files
open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2,
I also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last line
named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe

Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to
be two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if
there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right
file is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the
ntldr and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter
this command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that
these are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to
change the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual
for your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here
and someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the
BIOS it should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be
careful while in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Joe Starin wrote:

Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can
I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens
appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check
(access) the BIOS?

Joe


The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive
1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:

Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are
expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents
of both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away
from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe


You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one
is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:


I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:


Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the
old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file
of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:


It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and
that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[John John (MVP)]

Set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to Off. Save the settings and
exit the BIOS. Most BIOS are made to be foolproof, if you exit without
specifically saving the settings and confirming the changes nothing will
be saved. The boot sequence is fine, no need to change anything there.

John

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe

Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass flashes
for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other programs/files
open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2, I
also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last line
named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe

Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to
be two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if
there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right file
is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the ntldr
and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter this
command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that these
are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to change
the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual for
your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here and
someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the BIOS it
should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be careful while
in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Joe Starin wrote:


Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can
I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens
appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check
(access) the BIOS?

Joe



The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive 1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:


Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents of
both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away

from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe



You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:



I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:



Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:



It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[John John (MVP)]

FWIW, two things to complete the picture....
While I have the power disconnected to the old drive, I still have the old
drive's EIDE cable temporarily connected. Important?

You can remove that drive altogether now. Removing the cable may cause
the BIOS to automatically and properly change the setting for the
Primary Drive 1.

And, in the same new 320GB "boot.ini" file, I don't have a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign. I'll tweak this once I "unhide" the file
again and we make some sort of edits.

Yes, try to fix the incorrect boot.ini information.

In your very first post you said:

"Actually, I copied the 60GB contents to the 320GB twice -- long story."

Do you have more than one partition on the new disk? If you only have
one partition did you copy the operating system twice? Do you have a
second copy of Windows XP in another different folder? Search for
folders named "System32", how many have you got?

John

Joe

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check
marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe

Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass flashes
for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other programs/files
open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2,
I also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last line
named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe


Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to
be two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if
there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right
file is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the
ntldr and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter
this command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that
these are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to
change the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual
for your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here
and someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the
BIOS it should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be
careful while in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Joe Starin wrote:


Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can
I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens
appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check
(access) the BIOS?

Joe



The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive
1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:


Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are
expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents
of both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't have
any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away

from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's file?]

Joe



You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one
is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:



I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:



Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the
old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file
of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:



It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and
that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Joe Starin]

Almost there. Still getting the one B&W screen asking me to "choose an
operating system." Both choices are still identical: WINDOWS XP (default.).
Here's what I did:



1) Used the XP search tool to search for System32 folders and found two -
sort of.



"SYSTEM32" folder located in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 860MB, containing
4,965 files and 216 folders, both "Read only" and "Archive" have a tick in
them.) Folder was created February 3 at 3:05 PM. I can also see this folder
by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C" drive, then opening the WINDOWS
folder.



"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2 files,
no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at 4:41 PM.
BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C" drive,
then opening the WINDOWS folder.



FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4 MB,
created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.



2) Completely removed the old drive. PC appears to be functioning normally,
320GB still called "C," etc.



3) Entered setup. In the BIOS, set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to
OFF. Saved the changes.



4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the "boot.ini"
file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.) "Boot.ini" file
now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]



5) Searched and found a second "boot.ini" in "C:\Documents and
Settings\default\Recent" created yesterday and modified today, about a half
hour before I posted this reply. It's apparently a shortcut (icon has arrow
in lower left corner) to the "boot.ini" file in "C:\." That same file folder
(called My Recent Documents) has a blusih icon with a clock in the
foreground. It contains about a dozen shortcuts, including shortcuts to the
"C:" drive, to WINDOWS, to System.INI. and many other files and folders
accessed recently. I didn't create these shortcuts. Is this the culprit?



Thanks again for all your time and help. Very generous.



Joe

Set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to Off. Save the settings and
exit the BIOS. Most BIOS are made to be foolproof, if you exit without
specifically saving the settings and confirming the changes nothing will
be saved. The boot sequence is fine, no need to change anything there.

John

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check
marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe

Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass flashes
for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other programs/files
open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2,
I also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last line
named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe


Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not sure
that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the option to
boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots there has to
be two entries under the [operating systems] section of the file, if
there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file. The right
file is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\) along with the
ntldr and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file with Notepad enter
this command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that
these are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to
change the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual
for your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here
and someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the
BIOS it should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be
careful while in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Joe Starin wrote:


Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info. Can
I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those screens
appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I check
(access) the BIOS?

Joe



The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive
1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:


Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the
now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are
expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents
of both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB drive's
file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't
have any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away

from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on both
sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's
file?]

Joe



You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label
on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one
is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot
the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:



I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:



Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the
clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the
old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically
swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file
of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:



It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and
that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Jim]

Almost there. Still getting the one B&W screen asking me to "choose an
operating system." Both choices are still identical: WINDOWS XP
(default.). Here's what I did:



1) Used the XP search tool to search for System32 folders and found two -
sort of.



"SYSTEM32" folder located in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 860MB, containing
4,965 files and 216 folders, both "Read only" and "Archive" have a tick in
them.) Folder was created February 3 at 3:05 PM. I can also see this
folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C" drive, then opening the
WINDOWS folder. This is the one



"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2
files, no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at
4:41 PM. BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the
"C" drive, then opening the WINDOWS folder.

Don't have this one on my systems. Who owns it, and what are the
permissions on it?

FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4
MB, created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.

So does everybody else. It is a legacy of Win9x. And, the size is about
right.

2) Completely removed the old drive. PC appears to be functioning
normally, 320GB still called "C," etc.



3) Entered setup. In the BIOS, set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to
OFF. Saved the changes.



4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the "boot.ini"
file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.) "Boot.ini" file
now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]



5) Searched and found a second "boot.ini" in "C:\Documents and
Settings\default\Recent" created yesterday and modified today, about a
half hour before I posted this reply. It's apparently a shortcut (icon has
arrow in lower left corner) to the "boot.ini" file in "C:\." That same
file folder (called My Recent Documents) has a blusih icon with a clock in
the foreground. It contains about a dozen shortcuts, including shortcuts
to the "C:" drive, to WINDOWS, to System.INI. and many other files and
folders accessed recently. I didn't create these shortcuts. Is this the
culprit?

What are the properties of this file? It does sound more than a little
suspicious.
Jim

Thanks again for all your time and help. Very generous.



Joe

Set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to Off. Save the settings and
exit the BIOS. Most BIOS are made to be foolproof, if you exit without
specifically saving the settings and confirming the changes nothing will
be saved. The boot sequence is fine, no need to change anything there.

John

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check
marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe


Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass
flashes for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other
programs/files open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2,
I also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last
line named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe


Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not
sure that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the
option to boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots
there has to be two entries under the [operating systems] section of
the file, if there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file.
The right file is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\)
along with the ntldr and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file
with Notepad enter this command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that
these are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to
change the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual
for your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here
and someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the
BIOS it should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be
careful while in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Joe Starin wrote:


Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info.
Can I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those
screens appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I
check (access) the BIOS?

Joe



The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini
file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive
1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:


Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the
now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are
expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents
of both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C
contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive
contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB
drive's file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't
have any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away

from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on
both sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's
file?]

Joe



You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label
on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the
old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one
is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot
the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:



I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:



Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the
clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the
old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically
swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these
newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file
of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:



It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and
that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what
ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[Jim]

Almost there. Still getting the one B&W screen asking me to "choose an
operating system." Both choices are still identical: WINDOWS XP
(default.). Here's what I did:



1) Used the XP search tool to search for System32 folders and found two -
sort of.



"SYSTEM32" folder located in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 860MB, containing
4,965 files and 216 folders, both "Read only" and "Archive" have a tick in
them.) Folder was created February 3 at 3:05 PM. I can also see this
folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C" drive, then opening the
WINDOWS folder. This is the one



"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2
files, no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at
4:41 PM. BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the
"C" drive, then opening the WINDOWS folder.

Don't have this one on my systems. Who owns it, and what are the
permissions on it?

FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4
MB, created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.

So does everybody else. It is a legacy of Win9x. And, the size is about
right.

2) Completely removed the old drive. PC appears to be functioning
normally, 320GB still called "C," etc.



3) Entered setup. In the BIOS, set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to
OFF. Saved the changes.



4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the "boot.ini"
file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.) "Boot.ini" file
now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]



5) Searched and found a second "boot.ini" in "C:\Documents and
Settings\default\Recent" created yesterday and modified today, about a
half hour before I posted this reply. It's apparently a shortcut (icon has
arrow in lower left corner) to the "boot.ini" file in "C:\." That same
file folder (called My Recent Documents) has a blusih icon with a clock in
the foreground. It contains about a dozen shortcuts, including shortcuts
to the "C:" drive, to WINDOWS, to System.INI. and many other files and
folders accessed recently. I didn't create these shortcuts. Is this the
culprit?

What are the properties of this file? It does sound more than a little
suspicious.
Jim

Thanks again for all your time and help. Very generous.



Joe

Set the "Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive" to Off. Save the settings and
exit the BIOS. Most BIOS are made to be foolproof, if you exit without
specifically saving the settings and confirming the changes nothing will
be saved. The boot sequence is fine, no need to change anything there.

John

More info that you requested....

Pressed F2 to run setup. Saw the following info:
Primary Drive 0 Hard Drive
Primary Drive 1 Unknown Drive

Also in "Boot Sequence" I saw three numbered entries, all with check
marks:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Hard Disk Drive C
3. IDE CD-ROM Device

Does this help us or add to the mystery LOL?.

Joe


Hi, John.

msconfig from the Start/Run menu does not work anymore. Hourglass
flashes for a fracrtion of a second, nothing else happens. Other
programs/files open fine using Start/Run.

To access the "boot.ini" file, I used two methods:
1) Clicked Start/Run and entered "c:\boot.ini notepad" (w/o quotes) to
successfully access the boot file, as you suggested.
2) Also put a tick in "show hidden files and folders" and unticked "hide
unprotected operating system files."

Using both methods, I arrived at a "boot.ini" file. BTW, using method 2,
I also saw the two (hidden) files that you mentioned: "ntldr" and
"ntdetect.com." Using method 2, I was also able to confirm that the boot
file was on the "C" drive, not in any folder, just a file in "C," (This
would be the "root folder," correct?)

Guess what? Same thing -- no operating systems listed under the last
line named [operating systems].

I'll check the BIOS tomorrow. Stumped. Thanks for staying with this.

Joe


Just use the msconfig tool and under the Boot.ini path have it clean up
invalid paths, no need to use the file from the old drive. I'm not
sure that you are giving us the right boot.ini file, if you see the
option to boot 2 different operating systems when the computer boots
there has to be two entries under the [operating systems] section of
the file, if there is nothing there you are looking at the wrong file.
The right file is in the root folder of the System partition (C:\)
along with the ntldr and NTDETECT.COM files. To open the right file
with Notepad enter this command in the Start Menu Run box:

c:\boot.ini notepad

If you are looking for these files in the root folder remember that
these are hidden read-only system files, to view them you may have to
change the Folder options View settings.

To access the BIOS you have to press a key when the computer starts,
before is begins to boot Windows. On most computer there is a message
telling you to press a certain key to enter the setup, common keys are
Del, Esc or F2. If you don't see the message look in the user manual
for your computer or motherboard or post the make and model number here
and someone may be able to tell you which key to press. Once in the
BIOS it should be fairly easy to find the drive to disable but be
careful while in the BIOS, don't change things that you are unsure of.

John

Joe Starin wrote:


Thanks for posting, Tim. Sounds like you have a good handle on what's
happening here.

So, I should first edit/change the new hard drive's "boot.ini" file to
match the old hard drive's. Plus, I should check the BIOS for info.
Can I edit the BIOS so that both B&W prompt screens go away? (Those
screens appearing are my only real real issues now.) BTW, how do I
check (access) the BIOS?

Joe



The boot.ini file for the old HD is fine. Just make the boot.ini
file
on the new HD match it. And you can take out the space on
either side of the "=" sign. The system may be still looking for
what you call "hard drive 1" because of some kind of enablement
in the BIOS that tells the system that there should be a "hard drive
1".
In BIOSes that instead maintain a list of connected hard drives,
ordered by boot priority, if a hard drive is disconnected, the BIOS
just doesn't list it. So check in the BIOS to see what you told it
about the hard drives.

*TimDaniels*

:


Hey, John John....

I disconnected the power supply to the old 60GB hard drive, as you
suggested (but temporarily left the EIDE cable connected.) PC booted
normally. "My Computer/Properties" shows the new 320GB hard
drive as the only hard drive. And it retained the "C" lettter
designation.
Belarc Advisor, likewise, now shows the new 320GB drive as the
only hard drive present. The whining noise (from the
now-disconnected)
old 60GB hard drive is gone. All of this seems expected. Everything
seems normal.

However, before Windows boots, I now get a B&W screen that says
"Drive 1 not found." (The old 60GB drive is/was Drive 1.) When I
press okay/enter/escape/whatever, I still get a B&W screen asking me
to "choose an operating system," with both choices being "Windows
XP -- default." I'm quite sure that both of these screens are
expected.
After the 30 second timeout, the PC boots normally.

Would editing the "boot.ini" file or files eliminate both screens? I
have not edited either one so far, and am assuming that the contents
of both "boot.ini" files are the same as they were last week:

Boot.ini file from new 320GB drive DRV2_VOL1 (C
contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]

Boot.ini file from old 60GB Local Disk (H drive
contains:
[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


Not sure what to edit now. Or which one. Editing the old 60GB
drive's file probably won't make much difference if I ultimately
disconnect/remove it. And the new drive's "boot.ini" file doesn't
have any operating systems listed. Hmmm.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sounds like I'm a few tweaks away

from closure.

[Aside: In the 320GB "boot.ini" file, should there be a space on
both sides of the equal ("=") sign, as there are in the 60GD drive's
file?]

Joe



You are booting off of Disk 0, the 320GB drive, the (System) label
on
the drive confirms this. Everything seems to be right, that the
old
"C:" drive adopted another drive letter when you booted the new one
is
perfectly normal, you can't have two drives with the same letter
assignment running at the same time.

You say that you want to permanently retire the old noisy 60GB hard
disk, just unplug the power connector at the old drive and reboot
the
computer. What happens when you try this? What does the Disk
Management tool report? Does the 320GB drive retain its "C:"
designation? Can you run the msconfig tool?

John


Joe Starin wrote:



I have NOT changed anything yet -- but will tonight. However,
does this info help clarify anything?

Disk 0
DRV2_VOL1 (C
298.09 GB FAT32
Healthy (System)

Disk 1
(H
55.9 GB FAT32
Health (Active)

Joe

:



Hi, John John. Many thanks to you and Gary for staying with this
thread.

You're correct that I did not have the parent hidden from the
clone
on first boot. And, when I first booted after cloning, I had the
old
60GB drive connected to the black (end) connector on the EIDE
cable, while the new drive was connected to the middle (grey)
connector. Both drives were set to "cable select." IIRC, the new
drive after boot was named "H" and the old 60GB was still "C."

At the suggestion of Western Digital, I've since physically
swapped
the position of both drives -- could that have prompted the PC to
assign/reassign the letter "C" to the new 320GB drive, and "H" to
the old 60GB drive? Just a guess. And don't I want the new
(parent?) drive to be named "C" anyway?

I know your advice is good from earlier posts on these
newsgroups,
but your advice seems to differ from that of Gary, who suggested
that I take the old drive "boot.ini" content (last line only, the
line
below the [operating systems] line) and add it to "boot.ini" file
of
the new drive (making it the last line immediately following the
[operating systems] line.) I'll do either or both.

Joe

:



It looks like you are booting the old Windows installation and
that
your drive letter assignment was changed because you neglected
to take precautions to have the parent hidden from the clone on
the first boot after the cloning operation.

Modify the boot.ini file on the old 60GB drive to read as so:


[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"60Gb Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS =
"320GB Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

I don't know the real layout of your drives, the 60GB & 320GB
may not represent the actual drive, but it doesn't matter the
installations will still boot, the stuff between the "quotation
marks"
is just descriptive text that you see at the boot menu when the
computer boots, it is just for human eyes you could put what
ever
you wanted between the quotation marks and the operating system
would still boot.

 

[John John (MVP)]

"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2 files,
no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at 4:41 PM.
BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C" drive,
then opening the WINDOWS folder.

Those are the remnants of a failed or aborted Windows installation.
When you do a Windows XP installation the Setup program copies the files
from the CD to the hard drive and stores it in this folder and adds an
entry to the boot.ini file to reboot to this folder. You no longer need
this folder delete it. Along with that folder there is a folder named
$WIN_NT$.~LS and a file named $LDR$ that can also be deleted.

FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4 MB,
created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.

That is the Windows installation that you are (or should be) booting to.
You can confirm that by starting a Command Prompt and issuing the
following command:

set systemroot

The command should return: SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS

You didn't tell us what happens when you try the different boot options
when Windows is booting, if you try the different boot option do they
both boot the computer correctly? Do they both boot to the same
Systemroot folder?

4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the "boot.ini"
file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.) "Boot.ini" file
now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]

The only boot.ini file that is of any importance is the one in the root
folder, the other ones cannot be used and are not used to boot Windows.
Your file should read as such:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

There are no empty lines in the file, it is as above, without blank lines.


When the Boot.ini file is not present Ntldr attempts to boot Windows
from the Windows folder on the first partition of the first disk, this
is usually the C:\Windows folder, but the C:\$WIN_NT$~BT folder also
qualifies as a location for a Windows operating system. My guess is
that with an incomplete boot.ini file devoid of entries under the
[operating systems] section, ntldr may be acting in the same kind of
manner and presenting what it thinks are two valid boot options. That
guess or theory would be easy enough to test by trying to boot the
computer with the boot.ini file unchanged after you remove the failed
setup folders.

John

 

[Joe Starin]

Thanks for the insightful information. I will make the changes tomorrow and
report back. I truly appreciate your time and knowledge. Joe

"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2 files,
no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at 4:41 PM.
BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C"
drive, then opening the WINDOWS folder.

Those are the remnants of a failed or aborted Windows installation. When
you do a Windows XP installation the Setup program copies the files from
the CD to the hard drive and stores it in this folder and adds an entry to
the boot.ini file to reboot to this folder. You no longer need this
folder delete it. Along with that folder there is a folder named
$WIN_NT$.~LS and a file named $LDR$ that can also be deleted.

FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4
MB, created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.

That is the Windows installation that you are (or should be) booting to.
You can confirm that by starting a Command Prompt and issuing the
following command:

set systemroot

The command should return: SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS

You didn't tell us what happens when you try the different boot options
when Windows is booting, if you try the different boot option do they both
boot the computer correctly? Do they both boot to the same Systemroot
folder?

4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the "boot.ini"
file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.) "Boot.ini" file
now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]

The only boot.ini file that is of any importance is the one in the root
folder, the other ones cannot be used and are not used to boot Windows.
Your file should read as such:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

There are no empty lines in the file, it is as above, without blank lines.


When the Boot.ini file is not present Ntldr attempts to boot Windows from
the Windows folder on the first partition of the first disk, this is
usually the C:\Windows folder, but the C:\$WIN_NT$~BT folder also
qualifies as a location for a Windows operating system. My guess is that
with an incomplete boot.ini file devoid of entries under the [operating
systems] section, ntldr may be acting in the same kind of manner and
presenting what it thinks are two valid boot options. That guess or
theory would be easy enough to test by trying to boot the computer with
the boot.ini file unchanged after you remove the failed setup folders.

John

 

[Joe Starin]

You nailed it, John. PC finally booted normally. I'm using the new drive.
Old drive has been removed. No B&W prompt screens at start up. In closing,
let me list the steps taken so others might benefit:

1) Deleted the "C:\$WIN_NT$~BT" folder and the $LDR$" file, as suggested.
(Did not see/delete a "$WIN_NT$.~LS" folder.)

2) When asked to choose an operating system, both "WINDOWS (default)"
choices booted the PC normally. Tested them both.

3) Started a command prompt and typed in "set systemroot" (no quotes), the
command returned: "SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS" and this happened the same
regardless of which operating system I chose.

4) Unhid and edited the "boot.ini" file exactly as you wrote it below. No
extra lines. (When I post to these NGs, something adds extra lines and all
these crazy carets (>) to my text.)

You're a genius. Thanks a million to you, and others who kindly offered
ideas. I not only fixed some problems, I learned a LOT. Joe

"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2 files,
no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at 4:41
PM. BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C"
drive, then opening the WINDOWS folder.

Those are the remnants of a failed or aborted Windows installation. When
you do a Windows XP installation the Setup program copies the files from
the CD to the hard drive and stores it in this folder and adds an entry
to the boot.ini file to reboot to this folder. You no longer need this
folder delete it. Along with that folder there is a folder named
$WIN_NT$.~LS and a file named $LDR$ that can also be deleted.

FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4
MB, created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.

That is the Windows installation that you are (or should be) booting to.
You can confirm that by starting a Command Prompt and issuing the
following command:

set systemroot

The command should return: SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS

You didn't tell us what happens when you try the different boot options
when Windows is booting, if you try the different boot option do they
both boot the computer correctly? Do they both boot to the same
Systemroot folder?

4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the
"boot.ini" file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.)
"Boot.ini" file now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]

The only boot.ini file that is of any importance is the one in the root
folder, the other ones cannot be used and are not used to boot Windows.
Your file should read as such:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

There are no empty lines in the file, it is as above, without blank
lines.


When the Boot.ini file is not present Ntldr attempts to boot Windows from
the Windows folder on the first partition of the first disk, this is
usually the C:\Windows folder, but the C:\$WIN_NT$~BT folder also
qualifies as a location for a Windows operating system. My guess is that
with an incomplete boot.ini file devoid of entries under the [operating
systems] section, ntldr may be acting in the same kind of manner and
presenting what it thinks are two valid boot options. That guess or
theory would be easy enough to test by trying to boot the computer with
the boot.ini file unchanged after you remove the failed setup folders.

John

 

[Joe Starin]

Yes, since making the tweaks below, I can now access "msconfig" again via
Start/Run. It stopped working when I was swapping hard drives. Back to
normal. Don't know why. Or how. Or nuthin' else. Coincidence? Magic?

 

[John John (MVP)]

You're welcome, Joe. I'm glad to see that you got things working properly.

John

You nailed it, John. PC finally booted normally. I'm using the new drive.
Old drive has been removed. No B&W prompt screens at start up. In closing,
let me list the steps taken so others might benefit:

1) Deleted the "C:\$WIN_NT$~BT" folder and the $LDR$" file, as suggested.
(Did not see/delete a "$WIN_NT$.~LS" folder.)

2) When asked to choose an operating system, both "WINDOWS (default)"
choices booted the PC normally. Tested them both.

3) Started a command prompt and typed in "set systemroot" (no quotes), the
command returned: "SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS" and this happened the same
regardless of which operating system I chose.

4) Unhid and edited the "boot.ini" file exactly as you wrote it below. No
extra lines. (When I post to these NGs, something adds extra lines and all
these crazy carets (>) to my text.)

You're a genius. Thanks a million to you, and others who kindly offered
ideas. I not only fixed some problems, I learned a LOT. Joe

Joe Starin wrote:

"system32" folder located in C:\$WIN_NT$~BT (size 1.8MB, containing 2
files,

no folders, "Read only" has a tick in it.) Created February 3 at 4:41
PM. BUT, I CANNOT see this folder by using MY COMPUTER to access the "C"
drive, then opening the WINDOWS folder.

Those are the remnants of a failed or aborted Windows installation. When
you do a Windows XP installation the Setup program copies the files from
the CD to the hard drive and stores it in this folder and adds an entry
to the boot.ini file to reboot to this folder. You no longer need this
folder delete it. Along with that folder there is a folder named
$WIN_NT$.~LS and a file named $LDR$ that can also be deleted.




FWIW. I also have a "System" folder in the C:\WINDOWS folder (size 25.4
MB, created February 3 at 3:03 PM.) Not sure this is relevant.

That is the Windows installation that you are (or should be) booting to.
You can confirm that by starting a Command Prompt and issuing the
following command:

set systemroot

The command should return: SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS

You didn't tell us what happens when you try the different boot options
when Windows is booting, if you try the different boot option do they
both boot the computer correctly? Do they both boot to the same
Systemroot folder?


4) Removed spaces on some sides of the equal ("=") sign in the
"boot.ini" file in the root drive (C:\). (Spacing was inconsistent.)
"Boot.ini" file now contains:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]

The only boot.ini file that is of any importance is the one in the root
folder, the other ones cannot be used and are not used to boot Windows.
Your file should read as such:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

There are no empty lines in the file, it is as above, without blank
lines.


When the Boot.ini file is not present Ntldr attempts to boot Windows from
the Windows folder on the first partition of the first disk, this is
usually the C:\Windows folder, but the C:\$WIN_NT$~BT folder also
qualifies as a location for a Windows operating system. My guess is that
with an incomplete boot.ini file devoid of entries under the [operating
systems] section, ntldr may be acting in the same kind of manner and
presenting what it thinks are two valid boot options. That guess or
theory would be easy enough to test by trying to boot the computer with
the boot.ini file unchanged after you remove the failed setup folders.

John

 

[Ron Martell]

Yes, since making the tweaks below, I can now access "msconfig" again via
Start/Run. It stopped working when I was swapping hard drives. Back to
normal. Don't know why. Or how. Or nuthin' else. Coincidence? Magic?

Or just another instance of "all computers are female".

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Joe Starin]

LOL. Either female or aliens from another planet. Joe