XP SP 2 and Windows 2000 Dual Boot Problem

[Rob]

I have a dual boot XP / 2000 system that had been running
well for years. I just loaded XP SP2 for testing (since
all my apps run under 2000 I figured I could lose XP
without too much heartache.) XP is running fine, but I
cannot boot into 2000 anymore!

I get the error:
\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt

I had been using 2000 up to about an hour before booting
into XP and installing SP 2, so I don't think the 2000
system hive is too large. I am not using McAfee for
Exchange. (These seem to be the only relevant KB articles
out there).

Does anyone else dual boot with XP SP2?
Does anyone know if SP 2 replaced NTLDR with a version
incompatible with 2000?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!
(e-mail address removed)

 

[H. Debs]

I have a dual boot XP / 2000 system that had been running
well for years. I just loaded XP SP2 for testing (since
all my apps run under 2000 I figured I could lose XP
without too much heartache.) XP is running fine, but I
cannot boot into 2000 anymore!

I get the error:
\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt

I had been using 2000 up to about an hour before booting
into XP and installing SP 2, so I don't think the 2000
system hive is too large. I am not using McAfee for
Exchange. (These seem to be the only relevant KB articles
out there).

Does anyone else dual boot with XP SP2?
Does anyone know if SP 2 replaced NTLDR with a version
incompatible with 2000?

YES! I have the exact same problem!

Dual booting Win2K Pro SP4 with WinXP SP1 just fine for ages. Then I
install WinXP-SP2 and now have a dilemma: If I restore the XP-SP2
boot files (ntdetect.com, ntldr) then Win2K-SP4 doesn't boot
(complains that the registry SYSTEM file is corrupt). If I restore the
Win2K-SP4 boot files, then WinXP-SP2 won't boot, complaining exactly
the same thing.

So WinXP-SP2 boot process is NOT backwards compatible any more ?

What is the way out of this dilemma ?