Possible to reinstall XP bootloader without damaging something?

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

I had Win98se installed on active partition 1 (boot).

Then I copied that installation to partition 2, made that active
partition (boot), and upgraded it to WinXP.

So far so good. But the NTloader installed it self on the active
partition (2).
So to choose OS now I have to use a partition tool to change boot
partition.

This is not very easy to use, so I'd like to install the NTloader
bootloader on the Win98se partition (1) to set that as boot partition
and select OS from there.

But how? How do I install the NTloader and bootsector on the WIn98
partiton without destroying anything (neither the existing Win98 nor
the WinXP) one?

PS! I tried to you a bootmanager (GAG), worked great when booting
from partition 1 (then Win98 booted, and the WinXP drive was visible
as D, BUT when booting WinXP from partition 2 the first partition is
hidden (not visible from XP) and that's not working (I need to be able
to use it from XP as well for data files). When I manually changed
boot partition (from Ranish) none got hidden and all partitions were
visible both from Win98 and from WinXP...

So... I either need a boot manager that does not hide partitions
(only sets the boot flag), or a need a way to install the NTloader on
the Win98 partition, without destroying it or my existing XP
installation (writing a new bootsector, copying the NTload files,
boot.ini and saving the Win98se bootsector to bootsect.dos).

Please please please. Someone help me. I have used a whole day on
this :-(

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I had Win98se installed on active partition 1 (boot).

Then I copied that installation to partition 2, made that active
partition (boot), and upgraded it to WinXP.

So far so good. But the NTloader installed it self on the active
partition (2).
So to choose OS now I have to use a partition tool to change boot
partition.

This is not very easy to use, so I'd like to install the NTloader
bootloader on the Win98se partition (1) to set that as boot partition
and select OS from there.

But how? How do I install the NTloader and bootsector on the WIn98
partiton without destroying anything (neither the existing Win98 nor
the WinXP) one?

PS! I tried to you a bootmanager (GAG), worked great when booting
from partition 1 (then Win98 booted, and the WinXP drive was visible
as D, BUT when booting WinXP from partition 2 the first partition is
hidden (not visible from XP) and that's not working (I need to be able
to use it from XP as well for data files). When I manually changed
boot partition (from Ranish) none got hidden and all partitions were
visible both from Win98 and from WinXP...

So... I either need a boot manager that does not hide partitions
(only sets the boot flag), or a need a way to install the NTloader on
the Win98 partition, without destroying it or my existing XP
installation (writing a new bootsector, copying the NTload files,
boot.ini and saving the Win98se bootsector to bootsect.dos).

Please please please. Someone help me. I have used a whole day on
this :-(

This will take less than five minutes:
1. Boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).
2. Run this command:
fdisk /mbr
This will create a standard Windows Master Boot Record.
3. Run this command:
bootpart WinNT boot:C:
This will restore your WinXP boot sector.
4. Run this command:
bootpart Win95 c:\Win98.sys "Windows 98"
This will create a Windows 98 boot sector file. It will also
add a "Windows 98" entry to c:\boot.ini.
5. Copy these files from your WinXP CD to c:\ -
ntldr
ntdetect.com

It may not be necessary to run Step 4.
You can get bootpart.exe from here:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/bootpart.htm

 

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

This will take less than five minutes:

1. Boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).
2. Run this command:
fdisk /mbr
This will create a standard Windows Master Boot Record.
3. Run this command:
bootpart WinNT boot:C:
This will restore your WinXP boot sector.

Will bootpart be on that disk (I allready have a Win98 boot floppy but
I can't remember having that file).

4. Run this command:
bootpart Win95 c:\Win98.sys "Windows 98"
This will create a Windows 98 boot sector file. It will also
add a "Windows 98" entry to c:\boot.ini.
5. Copy these files from your WinXP CD to c:\ -
ntldr
ntdetect.com

But this will cause the WinXP drive to become D: at boot won't it?
And since it was installed with its partition active as C: that won't
work will it :-( Didn't think of that when I installed this.

Then I might need to use a bootloader that sets the boot partition
(see other thread for a full explanation of my stupid setup

It may not be necessary to run Step 4.
You can get bootpart.exe from here:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/bootpart.htm

OK, there was that file