Pease help me edit my w2k boot ini

How can I get a dual boot choice between w2k and my old 98lite installation on the other HD?

Here's my current boot ini:
-----------------------------------------

[boot loader]
timeout=7
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

-----------------------------------------
I never got any boot strap choices durring the install. I chose advanced so I could have all the options to control the installation. Yeah, right!


Thanx in advance,

Partition Magic would help You ,sorry dont know how to compile ini file, but Power Quest part Magic 8.0 will let You dual boot and even copy files in between partition IE FAT32 and NTSF

if all your drives are IDE it should be like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(whichever disk 98 is on starting from 0)partition(whichever partition 98 is on starting from one)\WINDOWS= "Windows 98 SE"]

oh sorry, you need to add that entry under the [operating systems] thing, and youll probably want to increase the timeout unless you use Win2k more than 75% of the time sometimes i wont pay attention and it will boot an OS i didnt want it too

I can help you write the boot.ini file, but I need to know the specifics of the drives and the OS.

The coding for the boot.ini requires knowing which disk(primary master, secondary master, etc...) also knowing which partiton(if the HDD is partitioned) and also which of the two OS's you want to make the default

that is if you want to write out the boot.ini file if 2k is anything like XP, try this:

1. Start
2. Right-Click my computer
3. Select Properties
4. Select the Advanced Tab
5. Under Start-up and Recovery click the Settings button
see if you have choices in the drop down menu, if not then there is an edit button and from there we can edit boot.ini to see both OS's

Let me know if you need more help

ronin1967 said:

I can help you write the boot.ini file, but I need to know the specifics of the drives and the OS.

The coding for the boot.ini requires knowing which disk(primary master, secondary master, etc...) also knowing which partiton(if the HDD is partitioned) and also which of the two OS's you want to make the default

that is if you want to write out the boot.ini file if 2k is anything like XP, try this:

1. Start
2. Right-Click my computer
3. Select Properties
4. Select the Advanced Tab
5. Under Start-up and Recovery click the Settings button
see if you have choices in the drop down menu, if not then there is an edit button and from there we can edit boot.ini to see both OS's

Let me know if you need more help

Click to expand...

I don't see any edit button.
The only choice is 'Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional"/fastdetect' the last line in the current boot ini.

The master 80Gb is where w2k is on the primary partition (NTFS) and three additional logical drives. 8+8+32+32

The 'Microsoft Windows 98 second edition' aka '98lite' is on the other slave 30Gb HD in the primary partition with four additional logical drives. 13+0.5+5+0.5+10

I only want to get into 98lite occasionally for the games that don't like w2k and comparison pourposes.

I'm also putting Linux on that second 8Gb partition of the master HD after I get the w2k dual boot loader working. Since I'm inside of my 8.4Gb BIOS limit, I shouldn't have any problems with any Linux distro booting.

funnyperson1 said:

if all your drives are IDE it should be like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(whichever disk 98 is on starting from 0)partition(whichever partition 98 is on starting from one)\WINDOWS= "Windows 98 SE"]

oh sorry, you need to add that entry under the [operating systems] thing, and youll probably want to increase the timeout unless you use Win2k more than 75% of the time sometimes i wont pay attention and it will boot an OS i didnt want it too

Click to expand...

--------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=7
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS= "Windows 98 SE"]
--------------------------------------------
Does this look like it'll work?

Does multi(0) mean no multi OS?
If so shouldn't it be (1) for yes?

What's disk vs rdisk?

boot loader]
timeout=7
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows 98SE"

multi(x): indicates the disk controller to use, the first being 0, the second being 1, and so on. In the special case that the disk controller is a scsi controller without the BIOS enabled, this will be scsi(x) instead of multi(x).

disk(x): indicates which disk to use on the controller indicated in the previous component. This component will always be 0 if the controller is multi(x). In the case of a SCSI controller without the BIOS enabled, the disk(x) will indicate the SCSI address of the disk to boot to.

rdisk(x): indicates which disk to use on the controller indicated in the multi(x) component. This component will always be 0 if the controller is scsi(x).

partition(x): indicates which partition to use on the disk indicated by one of the previous two components of the path. In this case 0 is a reserved entry and is not valid. The first partition on the disk would then be 1, the second would be 2, and so on.

\directory: indicates which directory the NT system file are located in. By default, this is \WINNT

C:\ = 98
I:\ = w2k

So the NT boot loader doesn't need the full line for 98 like it does for w2k because once the IDE controller gets that first location address, it just goes off the assigned logical drive letters loaded by the NT boot system?

Edit: Oops! C:\="Microsoft Windows 98SE" line didn't work.

I got this when I tried:

Microsoft Windows 98SE I/O error accessing bootsector file multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\BOOTSECT.DOS

i had that problem too when installing over 98, dont know how to fix it

C:\WINDOWS\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

C:\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

\\C:\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

C:\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(0)\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(0)\WIN="Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition"

And some others I can't remember.

About two dozen reboots in all.

The closest one I think we came was the C:\= because it was looking for a DOS bootloader while everything else I tried either had a hardware configuration error or said the w2k system32\ntoskernel was missing. Yeah Duh...

I remember reading somewhere that the HD number is changed somewhere in the bootloader so it won't be bootable without changing the MBR/boot sector back to a bootable configuration.

Can I go back into w2k setup on the CD and fix it from there?

Anyway, anyone with a working w2k/w9x dual boot system with an OS on separate HDs please show me the way. Thanx again.