Where is this Boot Magic stuff on the hard drive?

[Enigmatic Thinker]

Hi,

Got a PC here running XP Pro that used to have a 2nd partition and Boot
Magic was there which gave you a choice at boot between loading XP or
going into the image.

The main partition was full-to-bursting and the 2nd partition held an
image of some sort. I've deleted the image partition and amalgamated
the new space into the primary partition using Partition Magic 8.

When the PC now starts, I get the following error message after the
usual:

Verifying DMI Pool Data......

-.¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
Error finding BTMAGIC.IMG
Run BootMagic install
Press a key


If you press a key, XP loads normally with no errors.

If you try to install BootMagic, the install fails because there's no
FAT32 partition. I don't want a FAT32 partition.

Where on the hard disk, in the startup process can I find the "Error
finding BTMAGIC.IMG?

I've run MSCONFIG and found nothing and I've scoured the Registry.

I'd really like to get rid of that error message without wiping the
hard drive and starting again.

Any help really appreciated. Thanks.

Robin

 

[John John]

It's using code in the Master Boot Record and because you deleted the
Boot Magic partition and files the MBR program can't find the proper
boot files. You should have uninstalled Boot Magic BEFORE deleting the
files and changing the partition. You have to dislodge Boot Magic from
the MBR. Boot to the Windows XP Recovery Console and issue the fixmbr
command. Be sure that you have a good up to date working backup set
before you do this!

John

 

[Enigmatic Thinker]

Thanks for that.

Boot Magic wasn't visible on the PC (in either Control Panel) or
Start/All Programs for to uninstall. Neither were there any signs of
relevant folders in Explorer.

Still, I'll give your suggestion a go.

Robin

 

[John John]

I haven't used Boot Magic but these programs are not normally installed
from within Windows or other operating systems, they are usually
installed by booting with a boot diskette in a DOS like environment.
You would most likely have had to boot with a Boot Magic diskette to
remove the boot loader and restore the MBR, or at the startup screen you
might have been able to access special functions to restore the MBR to
its former self.

Once again, MAKE SURE that you have a reliable backup before you
proceed! You are about to alter the MOST IMPORTANT bit of code on the
hard drive; like brain surgery, if it fails the results can be catastrophic!

John

 

[Enigmatic Thinker]

Well, that worked perfectly.

Many thanks.

Robin

 

[John John]

Happy to see that things went well. Thanks for the follow up.

John