Boot.ini entry to access USB drive

K

Kafka

I have cloned a Win 2k to a USB hard disk. (Used Acronis True image)

I can boot to it from the Bios but after loading the bootmenu it
starts booting from my main disk.

What entry would do I require in the boot.ini file to continue booting
from the usb disk?

I have 3 hard disks.

Primary
Slave
USB

Thanks

Farouk Dindar

(e-mail address removed)
 
P

Peter

I have cloned a Win 2k to a USB hard disk. (Used Acronis True image)
I can boot to it from the Bios but after loading the bootmenu it
starts booting from my main disk.

What entry would do I require in the boot.ini file to continue booting
from the usb disk?

I have 3 hard disks.

Primary
Slave
USB
Click to expand...

Why are you doing that (cloning to USB and trying to boot from it)?

Anyhow, Windows 2000 boot process involves much more than just reacting to
boot.ini content.
There are many more things to be repaired, before boot is fully successfull.
Some of that repair is done by OS itself, but it depends if drives
referenced before (ie. before you have changed boot sequence in BIOS) are
still available (online) or not.

So it depens on what you have done to all drives and in what sequence.
 
K

Kafka

Why are you doing that (cloning to USB and trying to boot from it)?
Click to expand...

Here is may main reason

I am practising on my desktop before I try it on my notebook.

I am a neurologists and one of things that I do is electrodiagnostic testing
(EMG). There are occasions when I take my equipment to the intensive
care unit to the the test.

The manufactures software is loaded works with Win XP. It is connected
with the manufacturers machine via a network card.

http://www.cadwell.com/nav_components/index_pc.htm

If the hard disk gives me a problem at a crucial time I would like
to boot from bootable winXP from USB disk.

I just want to be prepared for the worst!

Farouk Dindar
 
P

Peter

Why are you doing that (cloning to USB and trying to boot from it)?
Here is may main reason

I am practising on my desktop before I try it on my notebook.

I am a neurologists and one of things that I do is electrodiagnostic testing
(EMG). There are occasions when I take my equipment to the intensive
care unit to the the test.

The manufactures software is loaded works with Win XP. It is connected
with the manufacturers machine via a network card.

http://www.cadwell.com/nav_components/index_pc.htm

If the hard disk gives me a problem at a crucial time I would like
to boot from bootable winXP from USB disk.

I just want to be prepared for the worst!
Click to expand...

I understand.
Can you hire an information technology professional to help you?

It seems that you can benefit from properly planned data backup and system
recovery strategy.
There are many crucial details involved that need to be addressed.
 
D

dannysdailys

Kafkawrote:
I have cloned a Win 2k to a USB hard disk. (Used Acronis True image)
I can boot to it from the Bios but after loading the bootmenu it
starts booting from my main disk.

What entry would do I require in the boot.ini file to continue booting
from the usb disk?

I have 3 hard disks.

Primary
Slave
USB

Thanks

Farouk Dindar

(e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...

I believe you may find your solution in your system bios. Make sure
"boot other device" is checked. Then, go through your boot
order.

I have no trouble booting to USB with XP. Half the time it wants to,
even when I don't want it to. LOL
 
E

Eric Gisin

I can't see the original post, so I will reply here.

There has never been the means to install or boot from USB drives in Win 2K/XP.
The USB driver stack is not loaded boot-time like IDE/SCSI/1394 is.

Ntldr does load the kernel from any BIOS device, but without drivers
the kernel never sees USB drives. In your case, it does see the original on IDE.

For those who suggest Bart's PE can load from USB,
he has written a RAM disk loader and driver that works around this.

Your only solutions are eSATA drives or BIOS with 1394 support.
 
K

Kafka

There has never been the means to install or boot from USB drives in Win 2K/XP.
The USB driver stack is not loaded boot-time like IDE/SCSI/1394 is.

Ntldr does load the kernel from any BIOS device, but without drivers
the kernel never sees USB drives. In your case, it does see the original on
IDE.
Click to expand...

After my multiple experiments this weekend I would tend to agree.

I have tried many scenarios.

I have a newish motherboard for my desktop with win 2k and and a
new thinkpad t42 with win xp which I use at work in the lab

I can get the booting to start in the USB disk and can see my different
menus that I have created but after that the booting goes to the the
primary disk.

I have actually solved my problem with the notebook.

With Multibay hard disk which I can boot up from the second disk.

It took many tries.

The final solution was to to create a an image with True Image on
primary drive. I then restored the same image to the second disk
in the Multibay. There was no need to change the boot.ini file.

I needed the option to boot from the second disk in the event of
program misbehaving whist I was doing electrodiagnostic testing
in a critical situation such as the ICU

Farouk Dindar
 
H

Harry331

Harry331 wrote...
Kafka wrote...

Google "booting from usb hdd".
Here is one of the hits that may interest you.

http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=6713
Click to expand...

A couple more URLs here.

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?
showtopic=14181&st=40&p=90809&#entry90809

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?
showtopic=14181&st=220&p=97519&#entry97519

I haven't tried any of these methods.

My advice is to google how other people did that,
and then pick some to try out yourself.
 

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