Reinstalling\repairing Windows XP Pro to a drive other than C:\ (i.e. D;\)

[MurrayKerdman]

Reinstalling\repairing Windows XP Pro to a drive other
than C:\ (i.e. D;\Windows)

Can you successfully repair a corrupt Windows XP Pro
installation by inserting a new temporary C:\ drive with
a good bootable copy of Windows and then reinstal Windows
into what was the C:\ drive but is now D:\ drive either
as an IDE slave or a USB/Firewire external?

Thanks in advance.

Murray

 

[Nathan McNulty]

There are several things you can do. First, boot from the
Windows XP CD (You will need to find out how to access
your BIOS to change the settings) or use a floppy to boot
to DOS (if in DOS, type whatever drive name the CD ROM
drive is (like D and press enter, then type cd i386 and
press enter. Now type winnt and press enter). Once you
have started Windows XP Setup, press R to access the
recovery console. From here you should be able to fix any
problems.

Your second option is: Put the extra harddrive in and boot
from that one. Then insert the Windows XP Installation
CD. Choose to install it to D:\ and have it overwrite the
OS. This may cause problems, so formatting the D:\ drive
may be a good idea, but make sure you back up all of your
data before you erase it. Once you are installing Windows
XP, just follow the prompts until Windows is finished.
Now comes the tricky part. Find boot.ini on the C: drive.
Copy and paste it onto the D: drive and remove the C:
drive (after you turn the computer off). Now boot the
computer and it should boot Windows. You may need to edit
the boot.ini file in Notepad. Just remove the second
option and it will fix the wait 30 seconds to choose an OS
when you boot.

- McNutty