multiple boot problem

[Guest]

I had my computer set up to give me a choice to boot either in Win98 (C partition) or WinXP (D partition). I had to reformat & reinstall 98 on C: and it deleted the file (boot.ini?) which gave me the dual-boot option. Last night a friend did something with the boot.ini file (or created a boot.ini file) in either D: or C: and restored the dual-boot option at startup, but now the 98 bootup does not work. The boot.ini reads as follows

[boot loader
timeout=2
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW
[operating systems
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="win xp d"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="win98 try

We thought that the last line might be written wrong and need some different commands to boot 98 correctly. Please advise. Also, even when I make changed to this boot loader, even when I removed it from the c: root directory, the changes do not affect bootup. It could be that the above is not the actual boot loader but a copy. Please tell me where to find (and how to write) the boot loader that determines what comes on the screen at startup.

 

[kawipoo]

I would recommend repairing as follows:
Go into dos and type sys c: this will get you into Windows 98 but you will
no longer be able to dual boot.
Take the Windows XP CD and boot up. Find the boot repair and repair.

I had my computer set up to give me a choice to boot either in Win98 (C

partition) or WinXP (D partition). I had to reformat & reinstall 98 on C:
and it deleted the file (boot.ini?) which gave me the dual-boot option.
Last night a friend did something with the boot.ini file (or created a
boot.ini file) in either D: or C: and restored the dual-boot option at
startup, but now the 98 bootup does not work. The boot.ini reads as
follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="win xp d"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="win98 try"

We thought that the last line might be written wrong and need some

different commands to boot 98 correctly. Please advise. Also, even when I
make changed to this boot loader, even when I removed it from the c: root
directory, the changes do not affect bootup. It could be that the above is
not the actual boot loader but a copy. Please tell me where to find (and
how to write) the boot loader that determines what comes on the screen at
startup.

 

[peter]

The format also destroyed XP's boot sector files which were written to the "C"
drive by the XP install
You could of course reinstall XP into the same directory as before from within
98 and all would be recreated.
peter

I had my computer set up to give me a choice to boot either in Win98 (C

partition) or WinXP (D partition). I had to reformat & reinstall 98 on C: and
it deleted the file (boot.ini?) which gave me the dual-boot option. Last night
a friend did something with the boot.ini file (or created a boot.ini file) in
either D: or C: and restored the dual-boot option at startup, but now the 98
bootup does not work. The boot.ini reads as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="win xp d"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="win98 try"

We thought that the last line might be written wrong and need some different

commands to boot 98 correctly. Please advise. Also, even when I make changed
to this boot loader, even when I removed it from the c: root directory, the
changes do not affect bootup. It could be that the above is not the actual boot
loader but a copy. Please tell me where to find (and how to write) the boot
loader that determines what comes on the screen at startup.

 

[Hamish]

Which OS did you install first? You needed to install 98
first, then XP. The boot.ini file on the active partition
is the one that will load. You can use fdisk to determine
which partition this is.

By loading 98 AFTER XP, you've caused yourself a world of
hurt. My experience is that loading 98 after XP stuffs up
XP in many ways and it is extremely difficult to recover.
98 over-writes the master boot record for a start. I think
you may have to start again!

-----Original Message-----
I had my computer set up to give me a choice to boot

either in Win98 (C partition) or WinXP (D partition). I
had to reformat & reinstall 98 on C: and it deleted the
file (boot.ini?) which gave me the dual-boot option. Last
night a friend did something with the boot.ini file (or
created a boot.ini file) in either D: or C: and restored
the dual-boot option at startup, but now the 98 bootup
does not work. The boot.ini reads as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="win xp d"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="win98 try"

We thought that the last line might be written wrong and

need some different commands to boot 98 correctly. Please
advise. Also, even when I make changed to this boot
loader, even when I removed it from the c: root directory,
the changes do not affect bootup. It could be that the
above is not the actual boot loader but a copy. Please
tell me where to find (and how to write) the boot loader
that determines what comes on the screen at startup.

 

[Honjo]

Easiest way to fix the problem is as follows:

1) Boot to W98 start-up FD and execute following at command prompt:

sys C:

2) Restart PC then W98 will boot.
3) Insert WXP CDROM and start WXP installation process.
4) When at the first reboot instance, OS selection menu will be displayed, then select Windows XP. If you miss the timing and WXP installation process resumes, then press Reset button and try again.
5) After booting to WXP, edit boot.ini file to be as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows XP"
C:\bootsect.dos="Windows 98"

Note that names within quote mark(") can be anything as desired.

Kaz

 

[Guest]

I tried this idea. When I got to the a: prompt and typed "sys c:" I got "Bad command or file name." The computer didn't do anything. It is possible that this is because I had removed the two "boot.ini.*" files which I described in my original post to the desktop, out of c:, b/c I wanted to see what would happen if I did so. (The computer still booted.) I am going to try putting them back in c: and see if "sys c:" gets any result. If not, then I will just reformat d: and reinstall XP there and see what happens. Then I'll be back
JK

 

[Guest]

I reinstalled XP on the d: partition and it created another option in the boot, but left all else as it was. I went into the boot.ini file and edited it as you instructed, but when I try to start up in 98, I get this

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dl
Please re-install a copy of the above file

I had already seen this problem earlier when trying to boot in 98, which is why I came to this message board. As various instructed, typing sys c: didn't do anything, nor did reinstalling winXP. When I saw the above error msg earlier, I looked in c: and did find hal.dll in there, so for some reason the computer is not finding the file. Please advise.

 

[Honjo]

Boot to W98 Startup FD and execute FDISK. You will see a list of options displayed(Before you get to this there will be two messages to both of which you answer Y) . Select #2 Set Active Partition, then select partition where W98 is installed. Restart computer to boot to W98 Startup FD. Then try sys C: again.

Kaz

 

[Guest]

One question, what do you mean by win98 startup "FD"? Do you mean win98 bootable CD, which allows me to go to the a: prompt

I set c: as the active partition in fdisk, then restarted and typed sys c:, but the same thing happened: "Bad command or file name."

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
One question, what do you mean by win98 startup "FD"? Do

you mean win98 bootable CD, which allows me to go to the
a: prompt?

I set c: as the active partition in fdisk, then restarted

and typed sys c:, but the same thing happened: "Bad
command or file name."

.

It is Windows 98 Start-Up floppy disk which is created in
the process of installing Windows 98. The floppy disk
which comes with W98 CDROM may work but I am not sure.

Please note that the partition to be set active is the one
where W98 is installed.

Instead of executing sys C: , executing FDISK /BOOT will
do the same thing.

My understanding is that presently W98 does not boot but
the partition where W98 is installed is still there and
nver be reformatted or deleted. You can check if my
assumption as above is correct or not by using Disk
Information option of FDISK. You have to do this anyway
to determine which partion is the one to be set active.

Kaz

 

[Guest]

I think it would be easier if we just dialogue by e-mail. I appreciate your help

I can boot from the Win98 CD. I tried fdisk /boot and just got this:

Invalid switch: /boo

Win98 is on C and I have already made this the active partition using fdisk. It was already active before

Why is this showing up and how can I deal w/ it?

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

 

[Guest]

Actually to my surprise, although d:/windows/system32 (the winxp partition) is full of files including hal.dll, c:/windows/system32 (the win98 partition) only has a folder "drivers" and a "hal.dll" - why is this folder empty? Last time when I copied hal.dll in there to try to correct the problem, I recall seeing many files & folders in the directory. However, the same error msg came at startup, looking for some other file it couldn't find, and I figured that would go on & on w/ countless files, b/c the system is looking for something in the wrong place - or else something happened to it.

 

[Guest]

Please check your inbox. Kaz

-----Original Message-----
I think it would be easier if we just dialogue by e- mail. I appreciate your help.

I can boot from the Win98 CD. I tried fdisk /boot and just got this:

Invalid switch: /boot

Win98 is on C and I have already made this the active

partition using fdisk. It was already active before.