Dual boot problem

[Classic42]

Hi Guys,
Had a problem recently with Sygate Firewall not allowing me to
1. Get past Welcome screen in Win XP Home and 2. Not allowing internet
access. Both problems resolved thanks to your help.
Another problem has reared its head.!
Two h/drives, Win 98SE on 40GB Fat32 and Win XP Home on 250Gb.NTFS.Until
recently was able to choose which drive to boot to after switching on the
machine. (I use both for different work related apps.)Now will only boot to
Win XP Home. Have disconnected both drives and have jury rigged an old drive
with Win 98SE on to send this.
Have been into BIOS cannot see anything different there, restored old
values, F8 shows Boot from Floppy, IDE, CD, any other in that order.Got me
puzzled. Any ideas would be very welcome.
TIA.
Classic

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Two h/drives, Win 98SE on 40GB Fat32 and Win XP Home
on 250Gb.NTFS. Until recently was able to choose which
drive to boot to after switching on the machine....
Now will only boot to Win XP Home. Have disconnected both
drives and have jury rigged an old drive with Win 98SE on to
send this. Have been into BIOS cannot see anything different
there, restored old values, F8 shows Boot from Floppy, IDE, CD,
any other in that order.

Try setting the boot order to "IDE" first, not Floppy.

Which hard drive is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (NOT the device boot order that you list above)?

Please list the contents of the boot.ini file on the WinXP
hard drive.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Classic42]

Try setting the boot order to "IDE" first, not Floppy.

Which hard drive is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (NOT the device boot order that you list above)?

Please list the contents of the boot.ini file on the WinXP
hard drive.

*TimDaniels*

Thank you Tim, sorry been so long but "Trouble at 't mill". (Panic with
granddaughter).
Boot order set to IDE First. Here is what BIOS shows.
Pri Master 80Gb. That is win 98SE
Pri Slave 250Gb. That is Win XP Home.

Quick Boot...enabled
1st. Boot IDE 0
2nd. Boot CD/DVD 0
3rd. Boot Floppy
Try other boot....Yes.

Contents of Win XP Home boot.ini file are thus:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk (0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C;\="Microsoft windows"

It appears that Win 98SE drive is at the head (first) of the BIOS' h/d boot
order.

Thank you for your concern, hope you can advise me further.
Cheers.
Classic.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Classic42]

Try setting the boot order to "IDE" first, not Floppy.

Which hard drive is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (NOT the device boot order that you list above)?

Please list the contents of the boot.ini file on the WinXP
hard drive.

*TimDaniels*

Thank you Tim, sorry been so long but "Trouble at 't mill". (Panic with
granddaughter).
Boot order set to IDE First. Here is what BIOS shows.
Pri Master 80Gb. That is win 98SE
Pri Slave 250Gb. That is Win XP Home.

Quick Boot...enabled
1st. Boot IDE 0
2nd. Boot CD/DVD 0
3rd. Boot Floppy
Try other boot....Yes.

Contents of Win XP Home boot.ini file are thus:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk (0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C;\="Microsoft windows"

It appears that Win 98SE drive is at the head (first) of the BIOS' h/d boot
order.

Thank you for your concern, hope you can advise me further.
Cheers.
Classic.
Will have to leave this until 1400 GMT Sat 30-09-06.

Classic

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Timothy Daniels]

"Classic42" replied:

"Timothy Daniels" asked:


Boot order set to IDE First. Here is what BIOS shows.
Pri Master 80Gb. That is win 98SE
Pri Slave 250Gb. That is Win XP Home.

For the DEFAULT case, the Primary Master will be
at the head of the BIOS's *hard drive* boot order,
the Primary Slave next. BUT... that can easily be
re-ordered in the BIOS by the user. I will assume
that your BIOS is still set in the default order.

Quick Boot...enabled
1st. Boot IDE 0
2nd. Boot CD/DVD 0
3rd. Boot Floppy
Try other boot....Yes.

Contents of Win XP Home boot.ini file are thus:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk (0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C;\="Microsoft windows"

This boot.ini (in WinXP's partition) would be used
IF the hard drive containing the WinXP (the Primary
Slave) were at the head of the HD boot order. It says
to find the WinXP on "rdisk(1)", i.e. the SECOND HD
in the HD boot order - the one that you say contains
Win98E. Obviously, there is a contradiction.

Might this boot.ini file be actually from the Win98E's
partition? If it were, and if the Win98E's hard drive
were at the head of the HD boot order, it says the
default OS is WinXP (on the second HD - "rdisk(1)" -
in the HD boot order), and Win98E is on the "C:"
drive (old-speak for "rdisk(0)").

It appears that Win 98SE drive is at the head (first)
of the BIOS' h/d boot order.

Is that what the BIOS says?

If the WinXP were installed with an earlier installation
of Win98E visible to the installer, WinXP would know
its partition as "D:". Does it?

I'm not sure if the installer, seeing an earlier Windows
OS, would put the ntldr/boot.ini/ntdetect.com files in the
earlier OS's partition or in the partition of the WinXP being
installed. It's worth a check of the Win98E partition to
see whether ntldr/boot.ini/ntdetect.com are found there.
If so, what are the contents of that boot.ini?

*TimDaniels*

 

[Classic42]

"Classic42" replied:

"Timothy Daniels" asked:


Boot order set to IDE First. Here is what BIOS shows.
Pri Master 80Gb. That is win 98SE
Pri Slave 250Gb. That is Win XP Home.

For the DEFAULT case, the Primary Master will be
at the head of the BIOS's *hard drive* boot order,
the Primary Slave next. BUT... that can easily be
re-ordered in the BIOS by the user. I will assume
that your BIOS is still set in the default order.

Quick Boot...enabled
1st. Boot IDE 0
2nd. Boot CD/DVD 0
3rd. Boot Floppy
Try other boot....Yes.

Contents of Win XP Home boot.ini file are thus:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk (0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C;\="Microsoft windows"

This boot.ini (in WinXP's partition) would be used
IF the hard drive containing the WinXP (the Primary
Slave) were at the head of the HD boot order. It says
to find the WinXP on "rdisk(1)", i.e. the SECOND HD
in the HD boot order - the one that you say contains
Win98E. Obviously, there is a contradiction.

Might this boot.ini file be actually from the Win98E's
partition? If it were, and if the Win98E's hard drive
were at the head of the HD boot order, it says the
default OS is WinXP (on the second HD - "rdisk(1)" -
in the HD boot order), and Win98E is on the "C:"
drive (old-speak for "rdisk(0)").

It appears that Win 98SE drive is at the head (first)
of the BIOS' h/d boot order.

Is that what the BIOS says?

If the WinXP were installed with an earlier installation
of Win98E visible to the installer, WinXP would know
its partition as "D:". Does it?

I'm not sure if the installer, seeing an earlier Windows
OS, would put the ntldr/boot.ini/ntdetect.com files in the
earlier OS's partition or in the partition of the WinXP being
installed. It's worth a check of the Win98E partition to
see whether ntldr/boot.ini/ntdetect.com are found there.
If so, what are the contents of that boot.ini?

*TimDaniels*

Dear Tim,
I am without doubt the worlds biggest 'plonker'. After
reading your very succinct answer to my problem, all that I did was to
transpose the IDE cable so that Win XP Home is at the END of the cable and
Win 98SE is in the middle. This has cured the problem. I now have the choice
of either of the two OS's to boot to.
It happened when I was installing a new floppy drive and an extra DVD drive.
I pulled everything out for room to manoever and somehow the cables got
mixed. No excuses, my fault. Praise be for people like yourself who take the
time to help idiots like myself.
Thanks again. All good wishes and kind regards.
Classic 42
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Timothy Daniels]

"Classic42" explained:

"Classic42" replied:

"Timothy Daniels" asked:
:
Two h/drives, Win 98SE on 40GB Fat32 and Win XP Home
on 250Gb.NTFS. Until recently was able to choose which
drive to boot to after switching on the machine....
Now will only boot to Win XP Home. Have disconnected both
drives and have jury rigged an old drive with Win 98SE on to
send this. Have been into BIOS cannot see anything different
there, restored old values, F8 shows Boot from Floppy, IDE, CD,
any other in that order.

Try setting the boot order to "IDE" first, not Floppy.

Which hard drive is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (NOT the device boot order that you list above)?

Please list the contents of the boot.ini file on the WinXP
hard drive.

*TimDaniels*


Boot order set to IDE First. Here is what BIOS shows.
Pri Master 80Gb. That is win 98SE
Pri Slave 250Gb. That is Win XP Home.

For the DEFAULT case, the Primary Master will be
at the head of the BIOS's *hard drive* boot order,
the Primary Slave next. BUT... that can easily be
re-ordered in the BIOS by the user. I will assume
that your BIOS is still set in the default order.

Quick Boot...enabled
1st. Boot IDE 0
2nd. Boot CD/DVD 0
3rd. Boot Floppy
Try other boot....Yes.

Contents of Win XP Home boot.ini file are thus:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk (0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C;\="Microsoft windows"

This boot.ini (in WinXP's partition) would be used
IF the hard drive containing the WinXP (the Primary
Slave) were at the head of the HD boot order. It says
to find the WinXP on "rdisk(1)", i.e. the SECOND HD
in the HD boot order - the one that you say contains
Win98E. Obviously, there is a contradiction.

Might this boot.ini file be actually from the Win98E's
partition? If it were, and if the Win98E's hard drive
were at the head of the HD boot order, it says the
default OS is WinXP (on the second HD - "rdisk(1)" -
in the HD boot order), and Win98E is on the "C:"
drive (old-speak for "rdisk(0)").

It appears that Win 98SE drive is at the head (first)
of the BIOS' h/d boot order.

Is that what the BIOS says?

If the WinXP were installed with an earlier installation
of Win98E visible to the installer, WinXP would know
its partition as "D:". Does it?

I'm not sure if the installer, seeing an earlier Windows
OS, would put the ntldr/boot.ini/ntdetect.com files in the
earlier OS's partition or in the partition of the WinXP being
installed. It's worth a check of the Win98E partition to
see whether ntldr/boot.ini/ntdetect.com are found there.
If so, what are the contents of that boot.ini?

*TimDaniels*

After reading your very succinct answer to my problem, all that
I did was to transpose the IDE cable so that Win XP Home is
at the END of the cable and Win 98SE is in the middle. This has
cured the problem. I now have the choice of either of the two
OS's to boot to.

OK, the HDs were set for Cable Select, and you had by mistake
put the WinXP HD at the head of the default HD boot order by
putting it at the end of the IDE cable and thereby making it the
Master. Your solution was to reverse (i.e. return to) the correct
HD boot order by reversing the positions of the 2 HDs on the IDE
cable. Another way to have done that would have been, via
keyboard input to the BIOS, to reverse the HD boot order. As a
matter of fact, that is another way to dual-boot - just let each
HD's boot.ini think that it's the only HD in the system, and control
which HD is at the head of the HD boot order via keyboard
input to the BIOS.

Thanks for the feedback.

*TimDaniels*