Dual boot with XP - Windows 2000 doesn't boot

[nez]

My problem is, i have XP and 2000 on the same machine, only XP boots. If
i choose 2000 from the OS list, it just shows a blank screen and does
nothing, no disk activity, no errors, nothing.

The full story:
I have this PC with XP Pro SP2.
I wanted to install 2000 Pro in another partition. I know i should clean
everything, then install 2000, then install XP, but i'd like to keep the
current system if it is possible.

So i:
- booted normally to XP;
- created another primary partition;
- rebooted with 2000 setup CD inserted.

Setup went fine. It reboots twice during the install, and every time i
was able to see the OS list (2000 being the default, and XP the other)
and finally i got to my 2000 desktop.

I didn't touch *anything* and just rebooted. This time, after choosing
2000, i encountered the problem reported at the start of my post. I
tried several times. Even with a boot loader on a floppy (G.A.G.). No way.
I was able to replace "ntldr" and "ntdetect.com", so at least i can
still boot XP. But i don't know what i can do to fix this problem.
Only unusual thing was the 2000 setup CD which includes SP4 (with
slipstreaming).

I will be grateful for any suggestion.
Thank you for your time.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My problem is, i have XP and 2000 on the same machine, only XP boots. If
i choose 2000 from the OS list, it just shows a blank screen and does
nothing, no disk activity, no errors, nothing.

The full story:
I have this PC with XP Pro SP2.
I wanted to install 2000 Pro in another partition. I know i should clean
everything, then install 2000, then install XP, but i'd like to keep the
current system if it is possible.

So i:
- booted normally to XP;
- created another primary partition;
- rebooted with 2000 setup CD inserted.

Setup went fine. It reboots twice during the install, and every time i
was able to see the OS list (2000 being the default, and XP the other)
and finally i got to my 2000 desktop.

I didn't touch *anything* and just rebooted. This time, after choosing
2000, i encountered the problem reported at the start of my post. I
tried several times. Even with a boot loader on a floppy (G.A.G.). No way.
I was able to replace "ntldr" and "ntdetect.com", so at least i can
still boot XP. But i don't know what i can do to fix this problem.
Only unusual thing was the 2000 setup CD which includes SP4 (with
slipstreaming).

I will be grateful for any suggestion.
Thank you for your time.

As a starting point, let's have a look at your configuration.
Please supply the following details:
- What disks do you have?
- What drives do you have?
- What type are they? (primary/logical/FAT32/NTFS)
- Where is each OS located? (Which drive? Which folder?)
- Contents of the hidden file c:\boot.ini?

When you boot into WinXP, can you see the file ntoskrnl.exe
pertaining to Win2000?

 

[nez]

As a starting point, let's have a look at your configuration.
Please supply the following details:
- What disks do you have?

One 120 GB IDE disk.

- What drives do you have?
- What type are they? (primary/logical/FAT32/NTFS)
- Where is each OS located? (Which drive? Which folder?)

- 1st partition, primary, 30 GB, FAT32, XP SP2, %WINDIR% = c:\windows
- 2nd partition, primary, 20 GB, FAT32, 2000 SP4, %WINDIR% = d:\winnt
- 3rd partition, primary, 61 Gb, NTFS, data only, e:\

- Contents of the hidden file c:\boot.ini?

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

When you boot into WinXP, can you see the file ntoskrnl.exe
pertaining to Win2000?

Yes. It is in D:\WINNT\SYSTEM32.

BTW, in the meantime i tried to re-install WIN2K using base CD (not the
one with SP4 slipstreamed) but the behaviour remains the same.

Any suggestion?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

As a starting point, let's have a look at your configuration.
Please supply the following details:
- What disks do you have?

One 120 GB IDE disk.

- What drives do you have?
- What type are they? (primary/logical/FAT32/NTFS)
- Where is each OS located? (Which drive? Which folder?)

- 1st partition, primary, 30 GB, FAT32, XP SP2, %WINDIR% = c:\windows
- 2nd partition, primary, 20 GB, FAT32, 2000 SP4, %WINDIR% = d:\winnt
- 3rd partition, primary, 61 Gb, NTFS, data only, e:\

- Contents of the hidden file c:\boot.ini?

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

When you boot into WinXP, can you see the file ntoskrnl.exe
pertaining to Win2000?

Yes. It is in D:\WINNT\SYSTEM32.

BTW, in the meantime i tried to re-install WIN2K using base CD (not the
one with SP4 slipstreamed) but the behaviour remains the same.

Any suggestion?

Thank you for your time.

I'm puzzled. Everything looks exactly as it should. If it was my machine
then I would start playing with the number in "partition(2)". If you have
another machine then you can accelerate the testing process by making
yourself a floppy boot disk like so:

- Format a floppy disk on a Win2000/XP PC.
- Copy c:\ntldr and c:\ntdetect.com to A:\.
- Copy the your current boot.ini file to it.
- Boot the problem machine with it.

This will let you make rapid changes to boot.ini.

I would also rename d:\WinNT to WinNT.bad for a quick
experiment. If the boot loader works the way it should then
it should complain immediately about not being able to find
%WinDir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.

Actually I lied when I said what I would do if this was my
machine. If it was my machine then I would install a proper
boot manager (e.g. XOSL, which is free), which would
give me completely independent operating systems rather
than this interdependency that you now have. But that's
another story.

 

[nez]

I'm puzzled. Everything looks exactly as it should. If it was my machine
then I would start playing with the number in "partition(2)".

- I wrote "partition(0)" and it complains about missing file
"%WINDIR%\system32\hal.dll" while trying to boot 2000
- I wrote "partition(3)" and it behaves exactly like "partition(2)",
i.e. blank screen after selecting Windows 2000 from OS list.
- I wrote "partition(4)" and it complains about an hardware error (since
i have only 3 partitions on my disk.

So, it looks as it is not a wrong numbering of partitions.

I would also rename d:\WinNT to WinNT.bad for a quick experiment.

Nothing changed. The same blank screen. no errors shown.

If it was my machine then I would install a proper boot manager

You know what? I tried with G.A.G. Boot Manager. But when i try to boot
2000 it tells me to "Remove media and reboot". Looks like the partition
has become invisible!

BTW, i'll try with another boot loader, maybe the one you suggest me.
If this doesn't work, and if you don't have any other suggestion, i'll
prepare myself to clean everything and install 2000 before XP.

Thank you very much for your time.

--
Francesco

My problem is, i have XP and 2000 on the same machine, only XP boots. If
i choose 2000 from the OS list, it just shows a blank screen and does
nothing, no disk activity, no errors, nothing.

- What disks do you have?

One 120 GB IDE disk.

- What drives do you have?

- 1st partition, primary, 30 GB, FAT32, XP SP2, %WINDIR% = c:\windows
- 2nd partition, primary, 20 GB, FAT32, 2000 SP4, %WINDIR% = d:\winnt
- 3rd partition, primary, 61 Gb, NTFS, data only, e:\

- Contents of the hidden file c:\boot.ini?

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

When you boot into WinXP, can you see the file ntoskrnl.exe
pertaining to Win2000?

Yes. It is in D:\WINNT\SYSTEM32.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

- I wrote "partition(0)" and it complains about missing file
"%WINDIR%\system32\hal.dll" while trying to boot 2000

*** This is expected. There is no "partition(0)" - numbering
*** starts at 1, not 0.

- I wrote "partition(3)" and it behaves exactly like "partition(2)",
i.e. blank screen after selecting Windows 2000 from OS list.

*** Partition(3) is your data partition. The boot loader should
*** have complained.

- I wrote "partition(4)" and it complains about an hardware error (since
i have only 3 partitions on my disk.

So, it looks as it is not a wrong numbering of partitions.

*** I agree.

Nothing changed. The same blank screen. no errors shown.

*** This test agrees with the results of the "Partitiion(3)" test
*** above. It suggests that there is something wrong with
*** your partition structure. Maybe partitions 2 and 3 have
*** an invalid attribute.

You know what? I tried with G.A.G. Boot Manager. But when i try to boot
2000 it tells me to "Remove media and reboot". Looks like the partition
has become invisible!

*** Bad partition attribute?

BTW, i'll try with another boot loader, maybe the one you suggest me.
If this doesn't work, and if you don't have any other suggestion, i'll
prepare myself to clean everything and install 2000 before XP.

Thank you very much for your time.

*** You can boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk
*** (www.bootdisk.com), then run ptedit.exe
*** (ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/)
*** to examine your partition attributes.

My problem is, i have XP and 2000 on the same machine, only XP boots. If
i choose 2000 from the OS list, it just shows a blank screen and does
nothing, no disk activity, no errors, nothing.

- What disks do you have?
One 120 GB IDE disk.

- What drives do you have?
- 1st partition, primary, 30 GB, FAT32, XP SP2, %WINDIR% = c:\windows
- 2nd partition, primary, 20 GB, FAT32, 2000 SP4, %WINDIR% = d:\winnt
- 3rd partition, primary, 61 Gb, NTFS, data only, e:\

- Contents of the hidden file c:\boot.ini?
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

When you boot into WinXP, can you see the file ntoskrnl.exe
pertaining to Win2000?
Yes. It is in D:\WINNT\SYSTEM32.