Installing win2k on more than one drive

[Guest]

Is it possible to install win2kpro on both a C drive, and a temporary D drive? My laptop HD has been formatted, through my desktop, (IDE to laptop connection) because it wouldn't load anything. (Coming to the conclusion that it was toasted is a whole other story). Now, my desktop is seeing it as drive D:\ with nothing on it...at all. I went to load win2kpro from disk onto the D: drive, but I didn't see it ask me where to install (so I'm assuming it was going to reinstall on my C: drive) so I stopped the process and figured I'd speak to someone more smarterer than me. any help?
TIA
Whizard of ODD

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Is it possible to install win2kpro on both a C drive, and a temporary D

drive? My laptop HD has been formatted, through my desktop, (IDE to laptop
connection) because it wouldn't load anything. (Coming to the conclusion
that it was toasted is a whole other story). Now, my desktop is seeing it
as drive D:\ with nothing on it...at all. I went to load win2kpro from disk
onto the D: drive, but I didn't see it ask me where to install (so I'm
assuming it was going to reinstall on my C: drive) so I stopped the process
and figured I'd speak to someone more smarterer than me. any help?

TIA
Whizard of ODD

It is somewhat unclear what's where on your machine. I suggest you do a
quick audit like so:

- Start / Run / cmd.exe {OK}
- Make a note of the output from the following commands:
* set all
* set system
* set user
* type c:\boot.ini

 

[Guest]

Results
set all = allusers profiles=c:\documents and settings\allusers.winn
set sys = system drive = c
system root = c:\winn
set user = user domain = whizard-arx7v
user name = Doc Davi
user profile = c:\documents and settings\doc davi
boot ini
[Boot Loader
Timeout=
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DA
[Operating Systems
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetec
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Setup

If it's unclear what I'm trying to do, I try to clear it up better...
I have my HD from my laptop hooked up to my desktop. that HD has been wiped clean, then formated. Now, I would like to load win2kpro on the laptop HD, so I can put it back into my laptop. (laptop does not find an operationg system when I hook it up HD to it)

 

[Dave Patrick]

You can't do that. You'll need to run the install while the drive is in the
laptop for correct hardware detection and driver installation.

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

When you get to the point, delete the existing NTFS and or other partitions
found. After you delete the partition(s) abort the install, then again
restart the pc booting the CD-Rom or setup disks to avoid unexpected drive
letter assignments with your new install.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

Results:
set all = allusers profiles=c:\documents and settings\allusers.winnt
set sys = system drive = c:
system root = c:\winnt
set user = user domain = whizard-arx7vv
user name = Doc Davis
user profile = c:\documents and settings\doc davis
boot ini:
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Setup"

If it's unclear what I'm trying to do, I try to clear it up better....
I have my HD from my laptop hooked up to my desktop. that HD has been

wiped clean, then formated. Now, I would like to load win2kpro on the
laptop HD, so I can put it back into my laptop. (laptop does not find an
operationg system when I hook it up HD to it)

 

[Guest]

Dav
The laptop hd has been formatted, so the laptop just says "no operating system found - startup terminated". In addition, the "A" drive isn't being seen by the system, or something, because, my boot disk set wont work either. (Will bootdisks even work on a formatted drive that has no content

----- Dave Patrick wrote: ----

You can't do that. You'll need to run the install while the drive is in th
laptop for correct hardware detection and driver installation

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setu
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 200
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execut
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow th
prompts

When you get to the point, delete the existing NTFS and or other partition
found. After you delete the partition(s) abort the install, then agai
restart the pc booting the CD-Rom or setup disks to avoid unexpected driv
letter assignments with your new install

--
Regards

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems

Results
set all = allusers profiles=c:\documents and settings\allusers.winn
set sys = system drive = c
system root = c:\winn
set user = user domain = whizard-arx7v
user name = Doc Davi
user profile = c:\documents and settings\doc davi
boot ini
[Boot Loader
Timeout=
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DA
[Operating Systems
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 200 Professional" /fastdetec
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Setup

If it's unclear what I'm trying to do, I try to clear it up better...

I have my HD from my laptop hooked up to my desktop. that HD has bee

wiped clean, then formated. Now, I would like to load win2kpro on th
laptop HD, so I can put it back into my laptop. (laptop does not find a
operationg system when I hook it up HD to it

 

[Dave Patrick]

Check the boot order set in cmos setup Is the floppy drive attached by way
of cable or installed in it's bay? Probably needs to be the latter to be
bootable.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

Dave
The laptop hd has been formatted, so the laptop just says "no operating

system found - startup terminated". In addition, the "A" drive isn't being
seen by the system, or something, because, my boot disk set wont work
either. (Will bootdisks even work on a formatted drive that has no content?

 

[Guest]

It's connected by cable, and I did set the sequence. Does that mean that there is no way for me to load a windows platform to the hd

----- Dave Patrick wrote: ----

Check the boot order set in cmos setup Is the floppy drive attached by wa
of cable or installed in it's bay? Probably needs to be the latter to b
bootable

--
Regards

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems

Dav
The laptop hd has been formatted, so the laptop just says "no operatin

system found - startup terminated". In addition, the "A" drive isn't bein
seen by the system, or something, because, my boot disk set wont wor
either. (Will bootdisks even work on a formatted drive that has no content

 

[Dave Patrick]

Doubtful it will boot from the floppy if it's not installed in it's bay.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

It's connected by cable, and I did set the sequence. Does that mean that

there is no way for me to load a windows platform to the hd?

 

[Dave Patrick]

Why are you wanting to boot the floppies? Why not plug the CD-Rom in it's
bay and boot the CD-rom?

 

[Guest]

Ok...Then I'm reduced to these points:
A. There is no "bay" for the A drive, it's only dock station is through cable.
B. Being formatted, there is no way for a bootdisk to help anyway.
so
C. I'm screwed? i.e. there is no way to load windows onto this laptop or hd. (?)

----- Dave Patrick wrote: -----

Doubtful it will boot from the floppy if it's not installed in it's bay.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

It's connected by cable, and I did set the sequence. Does that mean that

there is no way for me to load a windows platform to the hd?

 

[Guest]

I don't think my CD is a bootable disk. It wont see it either (changed the sequence to cd first), and it's not the first time that my win2kpro disk has done this. Tried it on my current desktop once and got the same result, the only way I could use it (the CD) was to open it in explorer and get to the setup.exe file.

----- Dave Patrick wrote: -----

Why are you wanting to boot the floppies? Why not plug the CD-Rom in it's
bay and boot the CD-rom?

 

[Dave Patrick]

Have a look in cmos setup to see what devices are bootable.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

Ok...Then I'm reduced to these points:
A. There is no "bay" for the A drive, it's only dock station is through cable.
B. Being formatted, there is no way for a bootdisk to help anyway.
so
C. I'm screwed? i.e. there is no way to load windows onto this laptop or

hd. (?)

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

AFAIK, all Win2000 CDs are bootable.

If you're stuck then you can go back to what you proposed in the first
place: Install Win2000 on your laptop disk while it is the primary master
disk on your desktop. There will be a need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop. The success rate of this method is about
90% - I have done it before.

I don't think my CD is a bootable disk. It wont see it either (changed

the sequence to cd first), and it's not the first time that my win2kpro disk
has done this. Tried it on my current desktop once and got the same result,
the only way I could use it (the CD) was to open it in explorer and get to
the setup.exe file.

----- Dave Patrick wrote: -----

Why are you wanting to boot the floppies? Why not plug the CD-Rom in it's
bay and boot the CD-rom?

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

 

[Guest]

BLESS YOU!
The "...need to make some adjustments befor
you put it back into the laptop."...part worries me a little. What would they be? Also, once I put the laptop hd in the primary desktop hd, wont I end up with the same start up issues? i.e. no operating system found. (?

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: ----

AFAIK, all Win2000 CDs are bootable

If you're stuck then you can go back to what you proposed in the firs
place: Install Win2000 on your laptop disk while it is the primary maste
disk on your desktop. There will be a need to make some adjustments befor
you put it back into the laptop. The success rate of this method is abou
90% - I have done it before

I don't think my CD is a bootable disk. It wont see it either (change

the sequence to cd first), and it's not the first time that my win2kpro dis
has done this. Tried it on my current desktop once and got the same result
the only way I could use it (the CD) was to open it in explorer and get t
the setup.exe file

----- Dave Patrick wrote: ----
Why are you wanting to boot the floppies? Why not plug the CD-Rom i

it'
bay and boot the CD-rom

-- Regards
Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup

Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Let's take this one step at a time. There are at least two methods of
putting Win2000 on your laptop disk:

a) Use an imaging program (DriveImage, Ghost) to copy drive C: from your
desktop disk to your laptop disk. You will end up with a bootable disk but
it will most likely give you the infamous "Inaccessible boot device" error
when porting the disk back to the laptop. We'll deal with this later on.

b) Disconnect your desktop disk, then make the laptop disk your master disk.
Now install Win2000 from your Win2000 CD, the way you always do. Again you
are likely to get the "Inaccessible boot device" error on the laptop.

Before I spend more time on this I'd like to know if one of the above
methods is realistic for your setup.

BLESS YOU!!
The "...need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop."...part worries me a little. What

would they be? Also, once I put the laptop hd in the primary desktop hd,
wont I end up with the same start up issues? i.e. no operating system found.
(?)

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: -----

AFAIK, all Win2000 CDs are bootable.

If you're stuck then you can go back to what you proposed in the first
place: Install Win2000 on your laptop disk while it is the primary master
disk on your desktop. There will be a need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop. The success rate of this method is about
90% - I have done it before.

I don't think my CD is a bootable disk. It wont see it either

(changed
the sequence to cd first), and it's not the first time that my win2kpro disk
has done this. Tried it on my current desktop once and got the same result,
the only way I could use it (the CD) was to open it in explorer and get to
the setup.exe file. CD-Rom in
it's

bay and boot the CD-rom?

-- Regards,
Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in

newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

While having an afternoon snooze I realised that there is a simpler and
safer way to do this, without pulling tricks. The exact method depends on
the size of your laptop disk. What is it?

BLESS YOU!!
The "...need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop."...part worries me a little. What

would they be? Also, once I put the laptop hd in the primary desktop hd,
wont I end up with the same start up issues? i.e. no operating system found.
(?)

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: -----

AFAIK, all Win2000 CDs are bootable.

If you're stuck then you can go back to what you proposed in the first
place: Install Win2000 on your laptop disk while it is the primary master
disk on your desktop. There will be a need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop. The success rate of this method is about
90% - I have done it before.

I don't think my CD is a bootable disk. It wont see it either

(changed
the sequence to cd first), and it's not the first time that my win2kpro disk
has done this. Tried it on my current desktop once and got the same result,
the only way I could use it (the CD) was to open it in explorer and get to
the setup.exe file. CD-Rom in
it's

bay and boot the CD-rom?

-- Regards,
Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in

newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

 

[Guest]

Pegasus:
I put the laptop hd in my primary hd's spot, the bootable disk set, (I made brand new ones just to be sure - hence the delay - sorry about that) it "said" it was transfering all of the files, asked for each one in it's turn, but afterwards instead of saying no boot device, it said there was no disk drives installed. I assumed it was copying the files from the boot disks to the hd. (?) Am I on the right track still, or is this yet another way of making sure I don't sleep tonight?

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: -----

Let's take this one step at a time. There are at least two methods of
putting Win2000 on your laptop disk:

a) Use an imaging program (DriveImage, Ghost) to copy drive C: from your
desktop disk to your laptop disk. You will end up with a bootable disk but
it will most likely give you the infamous "Inaccessible boot device" error
when porting the disk back to the laptop. We'll deal with this later on.

b) Disconnect your desktop disk, then make the laptop disk your master disk.
Now install Win2000 from your Win2000 CD, the way you always do. Again you
are likely to get the "Inaccessible boot device" error on the laptop.

Before I spend more time on this I'd like to know if one of the above
methods is realistic for your setup.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

It seems we have to build this up from the very basics . . .

1. Install your laptop disk as the primary master disk in your desktop.
2. Go through the usual BIOS disk detection process. What size is the disk?
3. Boot your desktop with a Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com.
4. Run fdisk.exe. What partition information do you see?

By the way, to accelerate the information exchange process, I suggest you
respond directly to my Yahoo email address: (e-mail address removed). Replace
the dash with an underscore, and "abc" with "fnl".

Pegasus:
I put the laptop hd in my primary hd's spot, the bootable disk set, (I

made brand new ones just to be sure - hence the delay - sorry about that) it
"said" it was transfering all of the files, asked for each one in it's turn,
but afterwards instead of saying no boot device, it said there was no disk
drives installed. I assumed it was copying the files from the boot disks to
the hd. (?) Am I on the right track still, or is this yet another way of
making sure I don't sleep tonight?

 

[Guest]

1.52 gig
I replied to your other post, but I don't see it there yet. If this reply shows up first, I'll assume the other is lost in space and rewrite it.

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: -----

While having an afternoon snooze I realised that there is a simpler and
safer way to do this, without pulling tricks. The exact method depends on
the size of your laptop disk. What is it?

BLESS YOU!!
The "...need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop."...part worries me a little. What

would they be? Also, once I put the laptop hd in the primary desktop hd,
wont I end up with the same start up issues? i.e. no operating system found.
(?)

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: -----
AFAIK, all Win2000 CDs are bootable.
If you're stuck then you can go back to what you proposed in the

first
place: Install Win2000 on your laptop disk while it is the primary master
disk on your desktop. There will be a need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop. The success rate of this method is about
90% - I have done it before.

I don't think my CD is a bootable disk. It wont see it either

(changed
the sequence to cd first), and it's not the first time that my win2kpro disk
has done this. Tried it on my current desktop once and got the same result,
the only way I could use it (the CD) was to open it in explorer and get to
the setup.exe file. CD-Rom in
it's

bay and boot the CD-rom?

-- Regards,
Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in

newsgroup.
Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

1.52 GBytes is a very small drive. It suggests that your laptop is very old,
and possibly very slow. Are you sure you want to install Win2000 on it?

Anyway, here is the method. I assume that you have now verified that the
laptop hard disk is properly recognised by your desktop, as per my other
post.

1. Install the laptop disk as the primary master disk in the desktop.
Disconnect your existing hard disk.
2. Boot the machine with your Win98 boot disk.
3. Use fdisk.exe to create a single FAT32 partition, taking up all available
space. You will, of course, lose all existing information.
3. Use fdisk.exe to set the disk to "active".
4. Format the disk: format c: /s
5. Copy everything from your Win98 boot disk to C:, including all
subdirectories: xcopy a:\*.* c:\ /s
(say "no" when it asks you if it can overwrite command.com).
6. Use a suitable editor to change all references in c:\config.sys and
c:\autoexec.bat from "a:" to "c:".
7. Remove the Win98 boot disk and reboot the desktop. You should get a DOS
prompt. You should also see your CD drive. Test it with some CD!
8. Install the laptop disk in your laptop.
9. Reboot the laptop. You should get the same result as under Step 7 above.
10. Insert your Win2000 CD.
11. Run these commands:
D:.
cd \i386
winnt

The Windows 2000 installation process should now start.

1.52 gig
I replied to your other post, but I don't see it there yet. If this reply

shows up first, I'll assume the other is lost in space and rewrite it.

----- Pegasus (MVP) wrote: -----

While having an afternoon snooze I realised that there is a simpler and
safer way to do this, without pulling tricks. The exact method depends on
the size of your laptop disk. What is it?

BLESS YOU!!
The "...need to make some adjustments before
you put it back into the laptop."...part worries me a little.

What
would they be? Also, once I put the laptop hd in the primary desktop hd,
wont I end up with the same start up issues? i.e. no operating system found.

(?)

the

first
place: Install Win2000 on your laptop disk while it is the

primary

master
disk on your desktop. There will be a need to make some

adjustments

before
you put it back into the laptop. The success rate of this

method is
about

90% - I have done it before.