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Comment:
I was gonna format & start from scratch, but decided to play around to see what I could do. I had been running WinME on my Duron system, but now that I've built an new XP1800+ system running XP Pro, I decided to experiment with the old one.
1st, I tried upgrading ME to XP Pro (FAT 32)...it worked, but had some probs...actually, ME had been giving me probs anyway, so this may have just carried over.
Next, I installed XP Pro again, this time on the D: partition...so I had a dual boot with two installs of XP Pro. The 2nd installation works well.
Then, I decided to format the C: partition. This time, I installed Win98SE. That works well, but I've lost the option to dual boot...it boots directly to Win98SE.
Is there a simple way to bring back that dual boot option? or will I have to format D: & do a fresh install of XP Pro?
Thanks in advance....
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Hi
When you formatted your C drive you got rid of several files that are required by XP to boot. I would do a fresh install of XP on the D drive.
DMK
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Restore ME/XP Bootfiles. For 98 just substitute 98 where you see ME
Here's how to do it.
Boot up into ME. Insert your XP disk into CD-ROM but do not load Just exit the XP setup and leave the disk in the drive. Next use Explorer to locate the following files in the I386 folder of the XP CD:
NTLDR and NTDETECT.Copy these two files to the root directory of your C drive.
Next you will need to create a file called READ.SCR using notepad and save this file also in root of C drive.and run debug command in MS DOS to create a new bootsect.dos file. the contents of READ.SCR as follows:
L 100 N 0 1
N C:\BOOTSECT.DOS
R BX
0
R CX
200
W
QN in the first row is replaced by number corresponding to drive letter of the dos partition where ME is loaded. 2=C 3=D 4=E.
In my case 2.
To run the program open MSDOS and type:
debug read.scr
press enter.
To verify the success check the C root directory and you should have a new file called BOOTSECT.DOS
Lastly you need a new BOOT.INI file. Copy the following into notepad and save it as BOOT.INI also in the root directory of your C drive:[boot loader]
timeout=30
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" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows ME"If this Boot.ini file does not work for you then there's another way to recreate the file. After completing all the other steps except the Boot.ini file restart your system with the XP disk in. when prompted press R for recovery. Setup will detect your existing XP install and you should log in using admin password. Once logged in type FIXBOOT press enter, answer Y.
Then type FIXMBR press enter, answer Y.
Remove XP CD, reboot. Your dualboot options should be restored.
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OK...I did what you said, now I have the dualboot option screen back again, but when I select an OS & hit enter, it just reboots.
Now I can't even boot into Win98.Any suggestions?
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OK...I retraced my steps & must have done something wrong the 1st time. Now I can boot into WinXP, but when I choose Win98, it say's I'm missing C:\system32\hal.dll
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Hven't had that problem myself but there's lots of other posts about that issue. Use the search function above and I'm sure you'll find the answer. or try a google search under HAL.DLL There's thousands of references to it.
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hello
reboot with win98 bootdisk in drive at the a:sys c: click enter reboot should now beable to boot to 98 and xp.
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OK, I used the 98 bootdisk & typed a:\sys C:\ [enter]...now it boots directly to Win98...the dualboot option is gone again. I booted off the XP CD, went to recovery console & typed FIXBOOT, rebooted, & the dualboot options are back. When I select XP Pro, I can boot to it...if I select 98, I'm told hal.dll is missing or corrupted...so I guess I'm back to square one.
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Hey Richard, what am I supposed to do with DEBUG? There seems to be something missing. If I type debug read.scr, I just get a blinking cursor...I know that there are several command letters that I can use from there, but which one? I just typed "Q" to quit debug & I checked my C: directory, no BOOTSECT.DOS was created?
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I'm not sure what might be going wrong. You need to be sure that the READ.SCR file is located on the root of C for it to work and you also have to be at C:/ prompt in MSDOS to run the debug command. I think that MSDOS defaults to C:/Windows when you open it and you need to navigate to the root directory in order to run debug. I know just enough DOS to get myself into trouble so I hope if this doesn't work someone who knows more than two commands might come to the rescue.
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Go to this link and click on xp tips. there is a link to dual boot with 98 and xp. http://www.dougknox.com/
Follow the instructions. This should fix your problem.
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