Why does XP think a data disk is a system disk?

[Noel Sant]

I installed XP Pro on a disk with three partitions. During the install I
deleted the first partition and re-created it (to get rid of the old OS).
Install all went ok(-ish). and XP says the first partition, on to which it's
installed the system, is a boot disk, drive letter C:, which is fine. But it
thinks partition two, which is only supposed to have data, and to which it
has given the drive letter J: (!?), is a system disk, and so I can't change
the drive letter.

It has put, on this second partition, the files boot.ini, ntldr and
NTDETECT.COM. On my old system (Windows 2000) these are on the root of the
C: disk, but they aren't there now, they're on J:, as I said. This must be
why it's now a system disk.

But why did it do this, and above all how can I put it right?

Many thanks for any ideas,

Noel Sant

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

This can happen when you delete and recreate the first partition on the disk (C during the installation. I've found it better to format (quick or normal) rather than delete/recreate. Why it happens, no clue, but it does.

 

[Noel Sant]

OK, I'll bite the bullet and format and re-install.

Many thanks,
Noel

This can happen when you delete and recreate the first partition on the disk
(C during the installation. I've found it better to format (quick or
normal) rather than delete/recreate. Why it happens, no clue, but it does.

 

[Jim Macklin]

Boot the recovery console from the CD and then you can fix
the boot menu and delete the partition, etc.


| OK, I'll bite the bullet and format and re-install.
|
| Many thanks,
| Noel
|
| | This can happen when you delete and recreate the first
partition on the disk
| (C during the installation. I've found it better to
format (quick or
| normal) rather than delete/recreate. Why it happens, no
clue, but it does.
| --
| Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered
Smart
| Display\Security
| Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
| http://www.dougknox.com
| --------------------------------
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| --------------------------------
| Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
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|
| | >I installed XP Pro on a disk with three partitions.
During the install I
| > deleted the first partition and re-created it (to get
rid of the old OS).
| > Install all went ok(-ish). and XP says the first
partition, on to which
| it's
| > installed the system, is a boot disk, drive letter C:,
which is fine. But
| it
| > thinks partition two, which is only supposed to have
data, and to which it
| > has given the drive letter J: (!?), is a system disk,
and so I can't
| change
| > the drive letter.
| >
| > It has put, on this second partition, the files
boot.ini, ntldr and
| > NTDETECT.COM. On my old system (Windows 2000) these are
on the root of the
| > C: disk, but they aren't there now, they're on J:, as I
said. This must be
| > why it's now a system disk.
| >
| > But why did it do this, and above all how can I put it
right?
| >
| > Many thanks for any ideas,
| >
| > Noel Sant
| >
| >
|
|