My daughter is running two copies of windows 2000 on two different partitions on the same harddrive. Don't ask my why...a long story. Recently she had a problem with the first installation. She erased and formatted the first one because it would not boot up some of the times with a lot of bsod items. The second partition runs flawless which makes me believe there is no hardware problem. could it be that she formatted the first one and that screwed up the booting process. Mind you it will boot sometimes. I looked on her second windows and it had all the files in c: root that was on the first...could that be the cause of the problem or is she gonna have to reformat and install the first one?

I am beginning to think you have these backwards. C: would be the first install. D: would be the 2nd install. This makes more sense since you write "Mind you it will boot sometimes." She formatted the d: install which means the boot loader files on c: as well as the master boot pointer are good. Otherwise she could not boot if c: was missing these files and format had wiped the master boot record. I would say its time for a repair install of W2K. here is a guide http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2... Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search

Could you furnish us with your “boot.ini” file (without the quotes)? On my computer, it is a hidden file on my C:\ drive. CoffeeBreak

I will rewrite these lines and correct the mistakes: "I looked on her second windows (d:\root) and it had all the boot files that were in c:\root...could that be the cause of the problem or is she gonna have to reformat and install the first one (c:\root) which is the bad partition?" I have added another windows partition to my computer to see what everything looks like and my d:\root does not have any boot files and works perfectly. That is why I was wondering if that maybe was the cause of her problem. Here is the boot.ini files: [boot loader] timeout=5 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Sally's 1 Windows" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Sally's 2 Windows" /fastdetect

Thank you for your reply. You stated I have added another windows partition to my computer to see what everything looks like and my d:\root does not have any boot files and works perfectly.” I am assuming that my computer in this case is yours and not your daughter’s. I have reviewed the boot.ini file, you have a “Multi” syntax system as opposed to a “Scsi” or a “Signature” syntax type. The partition setting required a number. All partitions that are in use receive a number. Primary partitions are numbered before logical drives. The first valid number for a partition is 1. Therefore, the C drive is number 1 and the D drive is number 2. The boot.ini indicates that partition 1 (C Drive) is the default. It would have been first on the menu (to select the operating system to start). You stated in the original post that “She erased and formatted the first one because it would not boot up some of the times with a lot of bsod items.” I am still assuming that your daughter formatted her C drive. If that is true, then the C:\root does not have any boot files (boot.ini, ntdetect.com, ntldr. etc.) “The Multi syntax instructs Windows 2000 Professional to rely on the system BIOS to load system files. This means that Ntldr is using interrupt (INT) 13 BIOS calls to find and load Ntoskrnl.exe and any other files it needs to start the system.” Again, assuming the C drive was formatted, Windows is presently installed on the D drive and you have no boot files on the C Drive. If this is so, the boot.ini file needs to be changed. The default needs to be changed to partition 2, Sally’s 2 Windows needs to be changed to partition 2, and the line for Sally’s 1 Windows needs to be deleted. This still does not put any boot files on the C:\Root. You might try copying them from some other computer, but what about BIOS (INT) l3. The following is from Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit: Replacing the MBR with the Recovery Console - You can also use the Recovery Console to rewrite the MBR to resolve a corrupted MBR on a startup disk. To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000 Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy Disks. If you do not have Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the CD, use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the setup disks. For information about creating the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks, see Windows 2000 Professional Help. Start the computer and enter Windows 2000 Setup, Press ENTER at the Setup Notification screen to go to the Welcome to Setup screen, Press R to repair a Windows 2000 installation, and the press C to use the Recovery Console. The recovery Console displays all valid installation of Windows 2000 on the computer. To access the hard disk, press the number key representing the Windows 2000 installation that you want to repair (typically represent as 1:C:\WINNT), and then press ENTER. Note - If you press ENTER without typing a number, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer The Recovery Console then prompts you for the Administrator password. To replace the MBR, at the Recovery Console command prompt, type: fixmbr Verify if you want to proceed. Depending upon the location and the cause of the corruption within the damaged MBR, this operation can cause the data on the hard disk to become inaccessible. Press Y to proceed, or N to cancel Important - Running Fixmbr overwrite only the master boot code, leaving the existing partition table intact. If the corruption in the MBR affects the partition table, running Fixmbr might not resolve the problem. CoffeeBreak

Quote: "I am still assuming that your daughter formatted her C drive. If that is true, then the C:\root does not have any boot files (boot.ini, ntdetect.com, ntldr. etc.)". She reloaded windows on c: and there are boot files on both c and d. That is one thing I didn't understand and both drives have windows installed. If she runs the fixmbr will it effect the d: drive? She doesn't want to lose that drive for sure. Let me recap: She has her hd partitioned for two drives, c and d. She loaded windows on both partitions. The computer booted and ran flawless for a long time from c and d. Her son used the computer one day and after that it started giving her these bsod.....some times but not all times. Since d: drive was working, she used it when she wanted to get on the internet or just work on the computer. She decided to go ahead and format c: and reinstall windows but after that she STILL gets the errors on booting to c: but NOT d: So that is where she is now. Are the boot file on d: being used or can she just remove them? I told her she could rename them to .old and see if everything will boot as she could go back and rename them if that should not work since she can boot SOMETIMES from c: I hope I am not confusing you.

The first thing I would do is to check that both boot.ini files are the same. One may have on partition (1) “Sally’s 1 Windows” and the other may have “Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional.” I would think that both would need to be the same. “If she runs the fixmbr will it effect the D: drive?” From my last post, “The recovery Console displays all valid installation of Windows 2000 on the computer. To access the hard disk, press the number key representing the Windows 2000 installation that you want to repair (typically represent as 1:C:\WINNT), and then press ENTER.” Therefore, be sure to use the number for the C drive. “but after that she STILL gets the errors on booting to c: NOT d:.” What are the error messages? Are they the same every time? For the time being, leave the boot files on drive D. Delete them first, and you may not be able to boot to any thing. “and there are boot files on both c: and d:. That is one thing I didn’t understand” I am also at a loss as to why this is happening! If you are able to boot the computer, the MBR is probably not the problem. CoffeeBreak