B
Bill in Co.
Guest
Re: grub error
Correction:
I meant go over and access (and transfer control) to the C: drive (near the
end of my comments below - and is corrected below).
Bill in Co. wrote:
> OK, thanks for this info, Pegasus. I've still got a bit to learn about
> this.
>
> The reason my Dell computer did NOT boot up on the WinXP boot disk is
> apparently due to the fact that Dell installs two special partitions to
the
> HD (one for its own utilities, and one for its own image recovery (called
> DSR - Dell System Restore).
>
> So I copied the exisitng and good boot.ini file on the C: drive to the
> floppy disk, and that worked. The difference between the more generic
> code given below, and mine, is in this critical line:
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
> Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> So it needed to be told to go to the second partition (which is indeed
where
> the WinXP system is located my Dell computer).
>
> But I'm still trying to figure out a case where this would be of any use.
> Because if the system on C: is so screwed up so that it won't boot up on
C:,
> how is booting to the floppy to then, in turn, go over and transfer to the
C:
> drive (as it seems to do here) of any use? I'm still not understanding
> something. (This seems different than is the case for anything I know
in
> Win98SE and DOS environments).
>
>
> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
>> *** See below.
>>
>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:%237j%23MHOWIHA.4868@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> OK, but I'm evidently still missing something here. (I'm trying this
>>> out
>>> now on a good system just to see). (and I'm coming here as a past
>>> Win98SE/DOS user)
>>>
>>> Given what is quoted below for a basic formatted disk, how does it
manage
>>> to
>>> boot up with no operating system on the floppy? I mean, it just stops
>>> there.
>>
>> *** Which boot disk are you talking about? The WinXP boot disk
>> *** or the Win98 boot disk?
>> *** The WinXP boot disk will boot the machine into Windows XP,
>> *** provided that there is an intact Windows XP installation on the
>> *** hard disk.
>> *** The Win98 boot disk will boot to an "A:\ prompt".
>>
>>> I actually tried it out, and nothing happened except that I was stuck at
>>> the
>>> "a:" prompt, (but this only AFTER I had created a floppy with
command.com
>>> on
>>> it.
>>
>> *** If you download the Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com
>> *** then you get it complete with command.com. And yes, it will
>> *** get you to an "A:\" prompt. At this stage you can start working
>> *** with commands such as fdisk.exe, which would let you replace
>> *** the Grub boot sector with the Windows boot sector.
>>
>>> Otherwise I got the error Invalid System Disk).
>>>
>>> My test prior to that it was just using a basic formatted diskette (with
>>> no
>>> OS on it), and it wouldn't boot, which seems right.
>>
>> *** I said "Use a disk formatted on a WinXP PC, then copy . . ."
>> *** If you stop after the formatting step then you obviously won't
>> *** have a bootable disk.
>>
>>> - Format a diskette on a WinXP PC.
>>> - Copy these files to it from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD:
>>> ntldr and ntdetect.com
>>> - Use notepad.exe to create a:\boot.ini on it, with these lines:
>>>
>>> [boot loader]
>>> timeout=10
>>> 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" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
>>> Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
>>> Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>>>
>>>
>>> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
>>>> The benefit of the WinXP boot disk is that it lets you boot
>>>> a WinXP installation that has a damaged boot environment
>>>> but is otherwise intact.
>>>>
>>>> The benefit of a Win98 boot disk is that it gives you very
>>>> basic access to the hard disk where you can perhaps
>>>> repair the damaged boot environment.
>>>>
>>>> Both disks are useful to have. A Bart PE boot CD is even
>>>> more useful to have but it takes time to make one).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23r$cQqMWIHA.5132@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Well, my system boots up fine now, but I was just wondering if this
method
>>>>> makes a good backup disk to supplement the MSDOS backup one?
>>>>>
>>>>> So if windows didn't boot up, I presume this method would be the first
way
>>>>> to try, and if that fails, maybe you'd need the MSDOS boot disk. Is
>>>>> that
>>>>> correct?
>>>>>
>>>>> cornedbeef007-groups@yahoo.com.au wrote:
>>>>>> On Jan 17, 10:16 am, "Bill in Co." <not_really_h...@earthlink.net>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> Would this also work for WinXP Home (just by changing "Professional"
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> "Home" below)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No need to change "Professional" to "Home". It's only a label for a
>>>>>> human to read.
>>>>>
>>>>> OK. It's just a text label then.
>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm curious as to how it works, if you can't even boot up in WinXP
>>>>>>> normally. Just looking at the lines below, it seems (to me) to just
be
>>>>>>> attempting to access the HD as would normally happen except that it
is
>>>>>>> using a clean version of those two files ntldr and ntdetect.com. So
is
>>>>>>> that basically it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The floppy is running the bootloader, and it uses the info in
boot.ini
>>>>>> file to find/start Windows.
>>>>>> The 3 choices you'll see are only an attempt to cover all bases of
>>>>>> where your particular Windows installation might be.
>>>>>> It's most likely that only 1 will work, depending on what has
happened
>>>>>> to your disk, and whether you've attempted a repair install and
>>>>>> actually ended up with a parallel install.
>>>>>> Make the floppy, and give it a try. You've really got nothing to
lose,
>>>>>> and it just might start Windows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Good Luck.
Correction:
I meant go over and access (and transfer control) to the C: drive (near the
end of my comments below - and is corrected below).
Bill in Co. wrote:
> OK, thanks for this info, Pegasus. I've still got a bit to learn about
> this.
>
> The reason my Dell computer did NOT boot up on the WinXP boot disk is
> apparently due to the fact that Dell installs two special partitions to
the
> HD (one for its own utilities, and one for its own image recovery (called
> DSR - Dell System Restore).
>
> So I copied the exisitng and good boot.ini file on the C: drive to the
> floppy disk, and that worked. The difference between the more generic
> code given below, and mine, is in this critical line:
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
> Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> So it needed to be told to go to the second partition (which is indeed
where
> the WinXP system is located my Dell computer).
>
> But I'm still trying to figure out a case where this would be of any use.
> Because if the system on C: is so screwed up so that it won't boot up on
C:,
> how is booting to the floppy to then, in turn, go over and transfer to the
C:
> drive (as it seems to do here) of any use? I'm still not understanding
> something. (This seems different than is the case for anything I know
in
> Win98SE and DOS environments).
>
>
> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
>> *** See below.
>>
>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:%237j%23MHOWIHA.4868@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> OK, but I'm evidently still missing something here. (I'm trying this
>>> out
>>> now on a good system just to see). (and I'm coming here as a past
>>> Win98SE/DOS user)
>>>
>>> Given what is quoted below for a basic formatted disk, how does it
manage
>>> to
>>> boot up with no operating system on the floppy? I mean, it just stops
>>> there.
>>
>> *** Which boot disk are you talking about? The WinXP boot disk
>> *** or the Win98 boot disk?
>> *** The WinXP boot disk will boot the machine into Windows XP,
>> *** provided that there is an intact Windows XP installation on the
>> *** hard disk.
>> *** The Win98 boot disk will boot to an "A:\ prompt".
>>
>>> I actually tried it out, and nothing happened except that I was stuck at
>>> the
>>> "a:" prompt, (but this only AFTER I had created a floppy with
command.com
>>> on
>>> it.
>>
>> *** If you download the Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com
>> *** then you get it complete with command.com. And yes, it will
>> *** get you to an "A:\" prompt. At this stage you can start working
>> *** with commands such as fdisk.exe, which would let you replace
>> *** the Grub boot sector with the Windows boot sector.
>>
>>> Otherwise I got the error Invalid System Disk).
>>>
>>> My test prior to that it was just using a basic formatted diskette (with
>>> no
>>> OS on it), and it wouldn't boot, which seems right.
>>
>> *** I said "Use a disk formatted on a WinXP PC, then copy . . ."
>> *** If you stop after the formatting step then you obviously won't
>> *** have a bootable disk.
>>
>>> - Format a diskette on a WinXP PC.
>>> - Copy these files to it from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD:
>>> ntldr and ntdetect.com
>>> - Use notepad.exe to create a:\boot.ini on it, with these lines:
>>>
>>> [boot loader]
>>> timeout=10
>>> 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" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
>>> Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
>>> Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>>>
>>>
>>> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
>>>> The benefit of the WinXP boot disk is that it lets you boot
>>>> a WinXP installation that has a damaged boot environment
>>>> but is otherwise intact.
>>>>
>>>> The benefit of a Win98 boot disk is that it gives you very
>>>> basic access to the hard disk where you can perhaps
>>>> repair the damaged boot environment.
>>>>
>>>> Both disks are useful to have. A Bart PE boot CD is even
>>>> more useful to have but it takes time to make one).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23r$cQqMWIHA.5132@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Well, my system boots up fine now, but I was just wondering if this
method
>>>>> makes a good backup disk to supplement the MSDOS backup one?
>>>>>
>>>>> So if windows didn't boot up, I presume this method would be the first
way
>>>>> to try, and if that fails, maybe you'd need the MSDOS boot disk. Is
>>>>> that
>>>>> correct?
>>>>>
>>>>> cornedbeef007-groups@yahoo.com.au wrote:
>>>>>> On Jan 17, 10:16 am, "Bill in Co." <not_really_h...@earthlink.net>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> Would this also work for WinXP Home (just by changing "Professional"
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> "Home" below)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No need to change "Professional" to "Home". It's only a label for a
>>>>>> human to read.
>>>>>
>>>>> OK. It's just a text label then.
>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm curious as to how it works, if you can't even boot up in WinXP
>>>>>>> normally. Just looking at the lines below, it seems (to me) to just
be
>>>>>>> attempting to access the HD as would normally happen except that it
is
>>>>>>> using a clean version of those two files ntldr and ntdetect.com. So
is
>>>>>>> that basically it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The floppy is running the bootloader, and it uses the info in
boot.ini
>>>>>> file to find/start Windows.
>>>>>> The 3 choices you'll see are only an attempt to cover all bases of
>>>>>> where your particular Windows installation might be.
>>>>>> It's most likely that only 1 will work, depending on what has
happened
>>>>>> to your disk, and whether you've attempted a repair install and
>>>>>> actually ended up with a parallel install.
>>>>>> Make the floppy, and give it a try. You've really got nothing to
lose,
>>>>>> and it just might start Windows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Good Luck.
