please help

[ric1287]

so i changed few components in my rig, and had to reinstall windows. I for some reason didnt install over the old copy, so it was on its own fresh partition. Well today, i deleted the old install partition, and now it wont boot into windows!

i am guessing the boot info was stored on the previous windows install, is there any way to repairt this? or am i screwed.

ps...
-i have an image of both the old install and the new one

 

[olmer]

Just change your boot partition in boot.ini If it still says ntldr is corrupt/missing ? rewrite system files or

Use recovery console: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodte...eskit/core/fndc_rec_ivxb.mspx?mfr=true

 

[ric1287]

what do i use in the recovery console? fixboot didnt work, i still get "Disk Boot Failure"


i tried fixmbr but it gave a warning that i was unsure about. Any ideas?

 

[bendixG15]

Check the BIOS that you are booting off the correct drive/partition.

 

[olmer]

You do not need fixboot or fixmbr.

You have boot.ini in the root of the partition you want to boot from.

It looks like this:

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

Boot from the cd/floppy and edit it (if you do not know how - copy file into other pc and use notepad to edit partition # in both lines) ? e.g. like this

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

if you want to boot from partition 2 on the same disk. Obviously if your windows directory called System or WinXP put that instead of WINDOWS and if you have number of HDDs ? put the one you want to boot from.

 

[13black]

XP Repair install

Boot the computer using the XP CD.
You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive.
Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.
Do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console).
I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair.
Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot.
Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears.
Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: olmer
You do not need fixboot or fixmbr.

You have boot.ini in the root of the partition you want to boot from.

It looks like this:

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

Boot from the cd/floppy and edit it (if you do not know how - copy file into other pc and use notepad to edit partition # in both lines) ? e.g. like this

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

if you want to boot from partition 2 on the same disk. Obviously if your windows directory called System or WinXP put that instead of WINDOWS and if you have number of HDDs ? put the one you want to boot from.

i was able to get a boot.ini file into the root of my windows partition (it wasnt there before) but now i get "error loading operating system" so i am hoping i dont have the ini file set up correctly. I have 3 physical hdd's, and the one with the OS is set to the first boot drive in the BIOS. And it has 2 partitions on it. How would i set up the INI file to boot the the partition of that disk?

 

[ric1287]

haha, i am moving up in error codes. I now get "NTLR is missing" . Can i just copy this from a previous installation like the boot.ini file?

 

[13black]

Was the version of XP you deleted the original first version installed? If XP was installed to C: and then you install XP again and end up with a dual boot all of your boot files including the boot.ini file will be in the root of the active partition usually the C:\ drive or partition. If you go in and delete the original XP install and or format that partition you won't be able to boot to the second XP. You have erased the boot loader and all the system files needed to boot to XP.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: 13black
Was the version of XP you deleted the original first version installed? If XP was installed to C: and then you install XP again and end up with a dual boot all of your boot files including the boot.ini file will be in the root of the active partition usually the C:\ drive or partition. If you go in and delete the original XP install and or format that partition you won't be able to boot to the second XP. You have erased the boot loader and all the system files needed to boot to XP.

i did delete the original installation. But i still have access to the files since i can image it up to a blank partition. Can i copy the ntlr from the old install?

 

[13black]

You will need Boot.ini, NTLDR, and NTDETECT.COM.
NTBOOTDD.SYS if you have a SCSI controller and BOOTSECT.DOS if it is a dual boot.

 

[13black]

Even if you can find the files and copy them to the correct partition it may not be enough. I know in the old dos days coping the system files to drive didn't make it bootable. You had to use the sys C: command to get the files in the correct physical spot on the drive. I think that still holds true but there is no sys C: command for a NT OS like XP. Also which partition do you have marked as active? The boot files will need to be on that partition and the boot.ini needs to point to the partition XP is now on.

 

[ric1287]

dammit, well now i get a really long error about how it cannot boot the os. I have all the neccissarry files, but i think they just are not configured correctly

i copied over the ntldr and ntdetect and it still doesnt boot.

 

[ric1287]

hhaha ohhh yesss, i got it. But now i dont know what is safe to delete. I have the boot.ini file on 3 separate partitions, and dont know which one its reading off of. i am an idiot

 

[13black]

Go into disk management and check the status column. The one with (system) next to it is likely the active partition. It is on my system.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: 13black
Go into disk management and check the status column. The one with (system) next to it is likely the active partition. It is on my system.

bah, well the drive that has windows has (Boot) next to it, and the old install partition has (System). I guess thats fine, but i would really like to just have one partition with the install. any ideas what i can do?

 

[13black]

Hard to know without knowing how you have things laid out. List your drives and partitions and what is installed on each.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: 13black
Hard to know without knowing how you have things laid out. List your drives and partitions and what is installed on each.

well im an idiot/lazy for doing it like this (which is why its so messed up)

3 hard drives
1: 2 partitions Windows install (Boot) and old windows install (system)
2: 2 partitions storage and an even older os install (dont know why i didnt delete it)
3: 1 partition storage

 

[13black]

1: 2 partitions Windows install (Boot) and old windows install (system)
Ok so is the old windows install C: (first partition) and the current OS on D: ?

 

[ric1287]

no, its actually the way it should be Good OS install is C, old one is D

 

[13black]

Are you just going by how windows has labeled them or did you check disk management? I ask because that doesn't make sense. Normally the first OS installed is installed on the first active partition. Usually the first partition on the first drive. The second OS would usually be installed on another partition.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: 13black
Are you just going by how windows has labeled them or did you check disk management? I ask because that doesn't make sense. Normally the first OS installed is installed on the first active partition. Usually the first partition on the first drive. The second OS would usually be installed on another partition.

nope, i checked both. Disk mgmnt has the same thing. C drive and D drive

 

[13black]

If you go into disk management you should see Disk 0, Disk 1 etc, and the partitions contained on each. If you right click on a partition it will give you the option to "make this partition active". If that option is grayed out then that partition is the one currently marked as active. The PC will (try to) boot from the partition marked as active. Normally the first partition on Disk 0 is the active partition with windows installed on it. If the windows you want to boot to is on the first partition and your boot partition is the second one, right click the first one and set it as the active partition. Your boot.ini and other associated files will need to be on that partition. You may have to edit the boot.ini too.

 

[ric1287]

my C doesnt even have that option, but the D drive has that grayed out. So i am assuming its reading the boot files from the D instead of C. thats what i need to fix

 

[13black]

If you can't change the active partition to C: then my guess is you will have to reinstall windows. I would format the partition(s) during the install so you don't end up with another dual boot setup. That is after you save what you need to your other drive.