XP installation/multiboot problem

[Guest]

Hi thanks for taking the time -

When Roxio knocked out my XP Home Edition and before I knew about the filter
delete fix in the registry, I started to do a reinstall to try and fix it.
Unfortunately, the installation can't complete b/c setup cannot read either
CD drive. Every time I reboot the system, a window pops up asking for the
i386 folder, but it can't see the drives. I have tried fising the boot from
the recovery console, etc and even copied the i386 folder to a flat on the C:
drive, and it found them but then started asking for other files too - will I
need to copy the whole CD to the C drive to finish the installation?

In the meantime, I installed XP Professional OEM on my second hard drive (D)
and I have transferred the data I really want to save to D. If I now wanted
to simply wipe clean the C drive, how can I do that when C: can't be
formatted as it has system files on it, and I cannot access it (Safe mode,
etc) as it still keeps booting to the hungup setup?

Appreicate any/all advice

 

[Rich Barry]

If you installed XP pro with the C: drive connected then you have a dual
boot situation. You have to copy the ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini files
over to D: You may have to from WinExplorer select Tools>Folder
Options>View>click on
Show hidden files and folders and uncheck hide unprotected operating
system files. Then using the Recovery Console
at the command prompt type bootcfg /rebuild For more info check
out this kb article.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314058

You can format the C: from WinXPPro.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

In view of the following Microsoft documents, why would the new
WinXP Pro OS not be installed with ntldr, boot.ini, and ntdetect.com?
How to create a multiple-boot system in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=306559&product=winxp
Multi-booting with Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/multiboot.mspx

I'd sure like to know if the orig. poster found those files to actually
be absent in the WinXP Pro installation on the other drive. BTW,
I haven't seen any requirement that the 2nd OS has to be on another
physical HD - only another logical drive, i.e. a different partition.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your posts. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I DO have a working
multiboot now, w/OS on different physical drives. XP Pro on D: boots fine,
np. But XP HE (first loaded on C) now always jumps back into setup, as I had
started to reinstall it before installing XP Pro, hoping to fix the lost CD
ROM drive problem. Now it cannot complete reinstallation, as it can't see
the files on the CD ROM (thanks to Roxio) and you have to cancel it, causing
a fatal error and rebooting, etc.

So, my question is how to either repair the XP HE reinstallation so I can
get back into the C: OS to uninstall it, or can I simply erase the volume,
though my understanding is it cannot be erased b/c it still has the HE system
files and MBR on it.

Is that correct? Now that I have XP Pro installed, I don't wan't to keep
the multiboot setup, I only set it up that way b/c I thought I might be able
to repair, transfer files and then uninstall the old HE system on C: Since I
have been unable to successfully reboot C: to Windows HE, I have since copied
important files/programs from C: to D: and I would rather have the availbale
disk space on C

 

[Timothy Daniels]

(It took me a while to figure out what "b/c" and "np" meant.
Such severe abbreviations are unnecessary these days.)

You're not telling us enough to understand your system.
Can the 2nd OS (WinXP Pro) boot up with the 1st HD removed,
or do you load the WinXP Pro using the boot.ini menu and ntldr
loader in the C: partition on the 1st HD? If the former is possible,
the MBR is there and functioning.

What are the contents of the boot.ini files in both partitions?

Are both the C: and D: partitions marked "active" on their respective
HDs?

Does the D: partition contain ntldr, boot.ini, and ntdetect.com files
just below the root of the file structure?

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Yes both partiitons are active and both drives are active and are listed as
MBR under parition style, but looks like the 2nd OS is using files from C:
drive, which contains the boot, ntdetect, ntldr and pagefile files, D: has
autoexec, config, hiberfil, io, msdos and pagefile.

The bootfile says:

[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Could i copy the boot, ntdetect and ntldr files from C: over to D: and then
just delete the C: parition?

 

[Timothy Daniels]

The boot.ini file below is set up to load the OS from the
2nd HD ("rdisk(1)") by default, not the 1st HD ("rdisk(0)") which
is usual. It specifies dual-booting between the 1st partitions
("partition(1)") that reside on the 2 HDs. This is OK, since the
boot files don't have to be in the same partition or in the same
HD as the OS to be loaded. But if you want to run the system
without the 1st HD always present, the boot files that you
mention (boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com) have to be on the 2nd HD.
IOW, I think your suspicions are correct.

So, it's time for an experiment:

1) Copy the boot files, i.e. boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com over to
positions just under the root of the D: partition as they had been
for the C: partition. (This is a "yes" in answer to your question.)

2) Remove the 2nd entry under "[operating systems]" in the boot.ini
file, and change "rdisk(1)" in the remaining line and in the default
line to "rdisk(0)".

3) Either reverse the order of the 2 HDs in the BIOS's HD boot order,
or simply disconnect or remove the 1st HD.

4) Start up the computer. The new OS should load. If it does,
you can jumper it as Master and the other HD as Slave if you
want to use the BIOS's default HD boot order, or you can
leave them jumpered as they are and reverse the BIOS's HD
boot order via keyboard command.

5) If the OS doesn't load, the boot sector in the 1st partition on 2nd HD
might need work. Try "fixboot" in the installation CD's Recovery
Console.

See "Recovery Console Overview":
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...proddocs/en-us/recovery_console_overview.mspx

See Recovery Consol Commands":
http://w"ww.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx

6) If fixboot doesn't do the trick, post again in the NG
"microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment".

*TimDaniels*

Yes both partiitons are active and both drives are active and are listed as
MBR under parition style, but looks like the 2nd OS is using files from C:
drive, which contains the boot, ntdetect, ntldr and pagefile files, D: has
autoexec, config, hiberfil, io, msdos and pagefile.

The bootfile says:

[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Could i copy the boot, ntdetect and ntldr files from C: over to D: and then
just delete the C: parition?

Can the 2nd OS (WinXP Pro) boot up with the 1st HD removed,
or do you load the WinXP Pro using the boot.ini menu and ntldr
loader in the C: partition on the 1st HD? If the former is possible,
the MBR is there and functioning.

What are the contents of the boot.ini files in both partitions?

Are both the C: and D: partitions marked "active" on their respective
HDs?
Does the D: partition contain ntldr, boot.ini, and ntdetect.com files
just below the root of the file structure?

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Hmmph. I guess he fell into a black hole.

*TimDaniels*

The boot.ini file below is set up to load the OS from the
2nd HD ("rdisk(1)") by default, not the 1st HD ("rdisk(0)") which
is usual. It specifies dual-booting between the 1st partitions
("partition(1)") that reside on the 2 HDs. This is OK, since the
boot files don't have to be in the same partition or in the same
HD as the OS to be loaded. But if you want to run the system
without the 1st HD always present, the boot files that you
mention (boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com) have to be on the 2nd HD.
IOW, I think your suspicions are correct.

So, it's time for an experiment:

1) Copy the boot files, i.e. boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com over to
positions just under the root of the D: partition as they had been
for the C: partition. (This is a "yes" in answer to your question.)

2) Remove the 2nd entry under "[operating systems]" in the boot.ini
file, and change "rdisk(1)" in the remaining line and in the default
line to "rdisk(0)".

3) Either reverse the order of the 2 HDs in the BIOS's HD boot order,
or simply disconnect or remove the 1st HD.

4) Start up the computer. The new OS should load. If it does,
you can jumper it as Master and the other HD as Slave if you
want to use the BIOS's default HD boot order, or you can
leave them jumpered as they are and reverse the BIOS's HD
boot order via keyboard command.

5) If the OS doesn't load, the boot sector in the 1st partition on 2nd HD
might need work. Try "fixboot" in the installation CD's Recovery
Console.

See "Recovery Console Overview":
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...proddocs/en-us/recovery_console_overview.mspx

See Recovery Consol Commands":
http://w"ww.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx

6) If fixboot doesn't do the trick, post again in the NG
"microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment".

*TimDaniels*

Yes both partiitons are active and both drives are active and are listed as
MBR under parition style, but looks like the 2nd OS is using files from C:
drive, which contains the boot, ntdetect, ntldr and pagefile files, D: has
autoexec, config, hiberfil, io, msdos and pagefile.

The bootfile says:

[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Could i copy the boot, ntdetect and ntldr files from C: over to D: and then
just delete the C: parition?

Can the 2nd OS (WinXP Pro) boot up with the 1st HD removed,
or do you load the WinXP Pro using the boot.ini menu and ntldr
loader in the C: partition on the 1st HD? If the former is possible,
the MBR is there and functioning.

What are the contents of the boot.ini files in both partitions?

Are both the C: and D: partitions marked "active" on their respective
HDs?
Does the D: partition contain ntldr, boot.ini, and ntdetect.com files
just below the root of the file structure?