Probably dumb question

[Walter Donavan]

I want to make an NTboot dual boot diskette from scratch, starting with a
blank, formatted floppy. This diskette, in case I don't have the name right,
is the one that contains NTLOADER, BOOT.INI, NTDETECT.COM, and a boot
record. I can copy the three files, but I can't create a proper boot record.

I've tried FORMAT, making an ERD, making a WME boot diskette, and SYS. None
works properly.

How do put a proper boot record on the diskette?

 

[Dave Patrick]

For the floppy to successfully boot Windows 2000 the disk must contain the
"NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on a
Windows 2000 machine, not a DOS/Win9x, so the NT boot sector gets written to
the floppy), then copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to it; and possibly
ntbootdd.sys. Edit the boot.ini to give it a correct ARC path for the
machine you wish to boot.


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I want to make an NTboot dual boot diskette from scratch, starting with a
| blank, formatted floppy. This diskette, in case I don't have the name
right,
| is the one that contains NTLOADER, BOOT.INI, NTDETECT.COM, and a boot
| record. I can copy the three files, but I can't create a proper boot
record.
|
| I've tried FORMAT, making an ERD, making a WME boot diskette, and SYS.
None
| works properly.
|
| How do put a proper boot record on the diskette?
|
|

 

[Walter Donavan]

That's not working for me. I'd already tried that. Just to be sure, I did it
again. Here's what I did.

Using Windows 2000, I formatted a floppy under both Windows Explorer and
Command Prompt. I then copied the three files (boot.ini, ntldr and
ntdetect.com) to the floppy.

It booted all three copies of Windows 2000 OK. But here's the error I got
when I tried to boot Windows ME.

Windows 2000c could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:
<windows 2000 root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Please reinstall a copy of this file

As you can see, it thinks the Win ME boot line should refer to a Win 2K OS.

The copy of boot.ini on the floppy is identical to the one on the C: drive,
and boots from the C: drive work fine.

Here's the exact line that boots Win ME from C: and fails from A:

C:\winME.sys="Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition" /win95

 

[Dave Patrick]

You can't use a floppy disk formatted from "NT" to start win9x. since it
contains the NT boot sector.

Some background info;
When you dualboot Win9x and Windows 2000; Windows 2000 creates a file named
bootsect.dos; if you select an operating system other than Windows 2000,
NTLDR loads bootsect.dos and passes control to it. The operating system then
starts up as normal, because bootsect.dos contains the boot sector that was
on the primary partition before you installed Windows 2000.

Something to try. Start the recovery console, insert your win9x startup
disk, then issue the command
fixboot A:

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer:
%systemroot% and %windir%

Probably easier to just boot from the other floppy though. Not clear at all
why you're wanting to do this either.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| That's not working for me. I'd already tried that. Just to be sure, I did
it
| again. Here's what I did.
|
| Using Windows 2000, I formatted a floppy under both Windows Explorer and
| Command Prompt. I then copied the three files (boot.ini, ntldr and
| ntdetect.com) to the floppy.
|
| It booted all three copies of Windows 2000 OK. But here's the error I got
| when I tried to boot Windows ME.
|
| Windows 2000c could not start because the following file is missing or
| corrupt:
| <windows 2000 root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
| Please reinstall a copy of this file
|
| As you can see, it thinks the Win ME boot line should refer to a Win 2K
OS.
|
| The copy of boot.ini on the floppy is identical to the one on the C:
drive,
| and boots from the C: drive work fine.
|
| Here's the exact line that boots Win ME from C: and fails from A:
|
| C:\winME.sys="Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition" /win95
|
|

 

[Walter Donavan]

Hi Dave,

Probably I am confused. Below is the logic of why I want to make a spare
NTboot diskette. But first:

FIXBOOT A: doesn't work, gives this error:

"Can't find system drive or drive specified is not valid."

I have an NTboot diskette, which serves in the event that I cannot dual boot
from the C: drive. This can happen -- and has happened -- if I mess with
boot.ini on the C: drive and render the system unbootable. I can boot with
the boot diskette and then replace C:\boot.ini with a working copy.

I thought it would be nice to have a way to recreate that NTboot diskette
from scratch. A KB article says to format a diskette and copy the three
files (which is what you said). But it fails. It gets the error I quoted in
my last post.

I can, however, make a backup copy of the NTboot diskette simply by copying
it in Windows 2000. Being both bored and retired, I thought it would be cool
to learn how to not depend on that working copy. After all, I made the
original once. I just can't remember how I did it.

I'll give up, stop pestering you, and make copies if I need them. You
probably have better uses for your MVP talents than fussing with my
non-problem.

 

[Dave Patrick]

I didn't think it would work. Here's where you lose me.

"It booted all three copies of Windows 2000 OK. But here's the error I got
when I tried to boot Windows ME."

You'll probably need to boot from your WinME startup disk.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Walter Donavan"wrote:
| Hi Dave,
|
| Probably I am confused. Below is the logic of why I want to make a spare
| NTboot diskette. But first:
|
| FIXBOOT A: doesn't work, gives this error:
|
| "Can't find system drive or drive specified is not valid."
|
| I have an NTboot diskette, which serves in the event that I cannot dual
boot
| from the C: drive. This can happen -- and has happened -- if I mess with
| boot.ini on the C: drive and render the system unbootable. I can boot with
| the boot diskette and then replace C:\boot.ini with a working copy.
|
| I thought it would be nice to have a way to recreate that NTboot diskette
| from scratch. A KB article says to format a diskette and copy the three
| files (which is what you said). But it fails. It gets the error I quoted
in
| my last post.
|
| I can, however, make a backup copy of the NTboot diskette simply by
copying
| it in Windows 2000. Being both bored and retired, I thought it would be
cool
| to learn how to not depend on that working copy. After all, I made the
| original once. I just can't remember how I did it.
|
| I'll give up, stop pestering you, and make copies if I need them. You
| probably have better uses for your MVP talents than fussing with my
| non-problem.
|
| --
| Walter Donavan
| www.revelation7stages.com
|
|

 

[Walter Donavan]

Dave,

My working NTboot diskette (and a normal boot without a diskette) can boot
any of the three Win2K systems, Win ME, or the recovery console. I am trying
to make another one of those diskettes. But I can't get the diskette to boot
Win ME.

I was in error when I said I could make a duplicate diskette by copying it.
That doesn't work either unless the diskette already contains the proper
boot record.

 

[Colon Terminus]

Dave,

My working NTboot diskette (and a normal boot without a diskette) can boot
any of the three Win2K systems, Win ME, or the recovery console. I am trying
to make another one of those diskettes. But I can't get the diskette to boot
Win ME.

I was in error when I said I could make a duplicate diskette by copying it.
That doesn't work either unless the diskette already contains the proper
boot record.

What happens when you use the diskcopy command to copy your working
diskette?

 

[Walter Donavan]

Running DISKCOPY from WME MS-DOS, I get the same "Win2K can't start cause no
ntoskrnl.exe" error that I mentioned previously.