restoring dual boot function after repartiition

Hi Patti, i want to thank you for all your help and persistance with this. I
finally got all the pieces together and its works perfectly now !

My family is very happy that i don't have to spend all my time tinkering
with this anymore.
Thanks again for you input.

"dadswaug" wrote:

Hi Patti,
just gave that a try and no result. Same "invalid system disk" error when i
select W98 from the dual boot selection.

"Patti MacLeod" wrote:

You boot from a WIN98 startup floppy disk that is for the same version of 98
that you have installed on drive D, and key in sys D: at the command prompt.
This should transfer the system files to your D drive.

The example I gave for boot.ini is just that.......an example. If you find
yourself in the position of having to reinstall 98 and then having to repair
the XP boot loader, by all means, use your current boot.ini file as it
points to the correct layout of partitions/OSes.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"dadswaug" wrote in message
news
Hi Patti, thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify a couple of more
things.
You are correct c=XP; d=W98. Both are FAT32.
Two more questions however.
1) Doug Knox's instruction include reloading w98 and then patching the
boot
files. I'm trying to avoid that if possible. Any other work around so i
don't
have to re-install either OS ?
2) your example for the boot loader,,, wouldn't i re-create the current
one
thats in my startup options file in XP ?
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windo ws XP Pro" /fastdetect
/NoExecute=OptIn
C:\ = "Windows 98"

"Patti MacLeod" wrote:

Hi dadswaug,

Assuming, from what you have written, that the C drive contains XP and
the
D drive contains WIN98, and also that XP is on a FAT32 partition, follow
Doug Knox's instructions for installing 98 after XP is installed:
http://dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm

If 98 is on C and XP is on D, and XP is on a FAT32 or an NTFS partition,
a
few extra steps to the above will fix the dual boot:

In addition to creating the READ.SCR file and saving it to the WIN98
startup
floppy disk, you'll need to create a BOOT.INI file (can be done in
Notepad)
and save it to the WIN98 startup disk. The BOOT.INI file should look
something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
C:\=WIN9x or MSDOS
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP
Home"
/fastdetect

After following Steps 1-4, copy the BOOT.INI file to the C: drive.

Continue with Step 5 - 9

Prior to continuing with Step 10 and on, copying the NTLDR and
NTDETECT.COM
files from the i386 folder on the XP install CD to C drive. Now continue
with Step 10, etc.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"dadswaug" wrote in message
...
i have (had) a dual boot option (1-XP Pro;2-W98)working fine until i
adjusted
the partition size of the second (W98SE). Now when i start, selecting
W98
provides a non-system disc error.
Having done this once before, reinstalling W98 over wrote the XP
startup
and
i lost all data, settings, emails, etc in XP.
I am trying to avoid at all costs the possibility of reinstalling
because
i
would have to reload w98 and then XP thus destroying both OS's and
data
again.

Any creative suggestions ?

Hi dg,,
just wanted to pass along my gratitude to yourself and Patti for your
fantastic support in helping to solve my problem.
Finally after a couple of careful attempts and carefully reading, then
re-reading both of your suggestions i was sucessful.
My family is happy to finally see me smiling again!
thank you again for your time and suggestions.
Rob

"dg1261" wrote:


"dadswaug" wrote:
1) y, c is healthy (system)
2) y, boot.ini contains c:\="Windows 98"
3) y, C:\bootsec.dos is present
4) There are only 2 partitions. Originally i had c=20G d=20G
(approx) and then i changed it to c=28G d=12G (approx) after
that,,, "non system disc" error on D (W98).

Okay, the answers yes/yes/yes/yes (that 4th is "yes, C: changed size") mean
I'm going to stick with my original guess that you should try rebuilding
your bootsect.dos file. The explanation behind this phenomenon is on my
webpage at www.goodells.net/multiboot/notes.htm#09. I'm familiar with this
occurring when W98 is on C:, but I suppose it makes sense the same thing
could happen when W98 is on D:, as long as W98 is still trying to boot
through C: to get there.

The technique I use is actually consistent with MVP Doug Knox's technique
(http://dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm, which Patti earlier referred
you to). In essence, you need to temporarily replace the XP boot sector
with a W98 boot sector, capture it anew to the bootsect.dos file, then put
the XP boot sector back.

Step A - restore W98 boot sector:
Boot from W98 boot floppy ("Startup Disk", or download one from
bootdisk.com), and execute the command "sys c:". Note Patti earlier
mentioned "sys d:", but you've confirmed C: is the startup partition for
W98, so that is the one you need to work on.

Step B - capture the boot sector into bootsect.dos:
Refer to Doug's http://dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm, but skip the
section on "Installing Windows 98" and start with the section on "Repairing
the Windows XP Boot Loader". His steps 1-4 will recreate the bootsect.dos
file.

Step C - restore the XP boot sector:
Continue with Doug's page. His steps 5-11 will restore the XP boot sector
that was overwritten in my Step A. You should then be able to boot either
OS.


FTR, MVP Pegasus often recommends another technique that looks to be the
simpler:
1. Get a copy of bootpart.exe from
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...t/bootpart.htm
2. Boot from a W98 boot floppy (aka, "Startup Disk", or download one from
www.bootdisk.com)
3. Run this bootpart.exe command from the DOS prompt to make a Win98 boot
sector file:
bootpart win95 c:\bootsect.dos "Windows 98"

It writes bootsect.dos directly from a file of stock boot sector images,
without resorting to my Step A. And if Step A isn't used, then Step C isn't
needed, either, so it only needs one step instead of three. I haven't used
his technique, so hope I've paraphrased it correctly, but it looks
reasonable and should work.

"dadswaug" wrote:
just wanted to pass along my gratitude to yourself and Patti for your
fantastic support in helping to solve my problem.
Finally after a couple of careful attempts and carefully reading, then
re-reading both of your suggestions i was sucessful.

Thanks. I'm glad you were successful and that we could be of help.

You're very welcome :-)

I'm glad to hear that it works perfectly now!



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"dadswaug" wrote in message
...
Hi Patti, i want to thank you for all your help and persistance with this.
I
finally got all the pieces together and its works perfectly now !

My family is very happy that i don't have to spend all my time tinkering
with this anymore.
Thanks again for you input.

"dadswaug" wrote:

Hi Patti,
just gave that a try and no result. Same "invalid system disk" error
when i
select W98 from the dual boot selection.

"Patti MacLeod" wrote:

You boot from a WIN98 startup floppy disk that is for the same version
of 98
that you have installed on drive D, and key in sys D: at the command
prompt.
This should transfer the system files to your D drive.

The example I gave for boot.ini is just that.......an example. If you
find
yourself in the position of having to reinstall 98 and then having to
repair
the XP boot loader, by all means, use your current boot.ini file as it
points to the correct layout of partitions/OSes.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"dadswaug" wrote in message
news Hi Patti, thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify a couple of more
things.
You are correct c=XP; d=W98. Both are FAT32.
Two more questions however.
1) Doug Knox's instruction include reloading w98 and then patching
the
boot
files. I'm trying to avoid that if possible. Any other work around
so i
don't
have to re-install either OS ?
2) your example for the boot loader,,, wouldn't i re-create the
current
one
thats in my startup options file in XP ?
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windo ws XP Pro"
/fastdetect
/NoExecute=OptIn
C:\ = "Windows 98"

"Patti MacLeod" wrote:

Hi dadswaug,

Assuming, from what you have written, that the C drive contains
XP and
the
D drive contains WIN98, and also that XP is on a FAT32 partition,
follow
Doug Knox's instructions for installing 98 after XP is installed:
http://dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm

If 98 is on C and XP is on D, and XP is on a FAT32 or an NTFS
partition,
a
few extra steps to the above will fix the dual boot:

In addition to creating the READ.SCR file and saving it to the
WIN98
startup
floppy disk, you'll need to create a BOOT.INI file (can be done in
Notepad)
and save it to the WIN98 startup disk. The BOOT.INI file should
look
something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout = 30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
C:\=WIN9x or MSDOS
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows
XP
Home"
/fastdetect

After following Steps 1-4, copy the BOOT.INI file to the C: drive.

Continue with Step 5 - 9

Prior to continuing with Step 10 and on, copying the NTLDR and
NTDETECT.COM
files from the i386 folder on the XP install CD to C drive. Now
continue
with Step 10, etc.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"dadswaug" wrote in message
...
i have (had) a dual boot option (1-XP Pro;2-W98)working fine
until i
adjusted
the partition size of the second (W98SE). Now when i start,
selecting
W98
provides a non-system disc error.
Having done this once before, reinstalling W98 over wrote the XP
startup
and
i lost all data, settings, emails, etc in XP.
I am trying to avoid at all costs the possibility of
reinstalling
because
i
would have to reload w98 and then XP thus destroying both OS's
and
data
again.

Any creative suggestions ?