I currently have a dual boot system with 98 on C hard drive and Xp pro on D hard drive presumably set up the MS way by installing 98 first and Xp next taking control of the dual boot. I would like to use a boot manager to control which os to boot from. How do I "break" the link between 98 and XP.
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How do I remove MS dual boot and use a boot manager 98and XP
- Thread starter Atmos5
- Start date
Hello
I'm not sure quite what you mean by "break the link between 98 and XP" but if you want to use a third party boot manager instead of the WinXP built in one, just follow its instructions. A dual boot 98 and XP setup is quite common and anything should be able to handle it.
John
I'm not sure quite what you mean by "break the link between 98 and XP" but if you want to use a third party boot manager instead of the WinXP built in one, just follow its instructions. A dual boot 98 and XP setup is quite common and anything should be able to handle it.
John
I have the same puzzle as John, but it is possible that all you may need to do is use bootcfg under the Recovery Console:
- Thread starter
- #4
Ok the problem is this:-98 and Xp are both already installed each on seperate hard drives. I have tried both boot-us and GAG and I can only ever boot to the screen that gives me the choice between Xp and 98 which is what I had before trying a boot manager. I want to use a boot manager to boot to either 98 or xp. Perhaps I am missing something in the setting up of either of these boot managers for already existing operating systems in dual boot?
I installed win2000 to another hard drive (I disconnected the 98 and Xp hard drive when installing so as to keep it totally seperate) and using GAG or boot-us I now can boot to 2000 or to the choice between 98 and XP which is a kind of 2 stage way of getting to XP or 98.
sorry if Im not explaining things well.
I installed win2000 to another hard drive (I disconnected the 98 and Xp hard drive when installing so as to keep it totally seperate) and using GAG or boot-us I now can boot to 2000 or to the choice between 98 and XP which is a kind of 2 stage way of getting to XP or 98.
sorry if Im not explaining things well.
- Thread starter
- #5
I have just repeated the boot up using boot-us so that perhaps I can explain better.
First I am running boot-us.exe from floppy to try it out before installing on hard drive.
Start pc as normal, when it gets to Verifying DMI Pool Data the boot manager loads from floppy. I then get the boot-us 2.0 screen offering me the choice of:-
Windows NT Disk 1 37.2GB FAT32 LBA
Windows XP Disk 2 37.2GB NTFS 3.1
Windows XP Disk 3 112GB NTFS 3.1
Diskette A boot from diskette
If I choose Disk 1 which has 98 on it I get sent to the "Please select the operating system to start
Microsoft Xp
Microsoft windows (98)"
I can chose which one and each boots normally. This is the same as before using a boot manager.
If I choose disk 2 which has XP on it then the next screeen is "NTLDR is missing press Ctrl + Alt +Del to restart"
If I choose Disk 3 which had 2000 installed on it (see the previous post) it boots straight to 2000 no problems.
So how do I get to boot straignt to the XP or 98 in the same way as I can to 2000?
First I am running boot-us.exe from floppy to try it out before installing on hard drive.
Start pc as normal, when it gets to Verifying DMI Pool Data the boot manager loads from floppy. I then get the boot-us 2.0 screen offering me the choice of:-
Windows NT Disk 1 37.2GB FAT32 LBA
Windows XP Disk 2 37.2GB NTFS 3.1
Windows XP Disk 3 112GB NTFS 3.1
Diskette A boot from diskette
If I choose Disk 1 which has 98 on it I get sent to the "Please select the operating system to start
Microsoft Xp
Microsoft windows (98)"
I can chose which one and each boots normally. This is the same as before using a boot manager.
If I choose disk 2 which has XP on it then the next screeen is "NTLDR is missing press Ctrl + Alt +Del to restart"
If I choose Disk 3 which had 2000 installed on it (see the previous post) it boots straight to 2000 no problems.
So how do I get to boot straignt to the XP or 98 in the same way as I can to 2000?
Did you try using Recovery Console and the bootcfg command I suggested earlier?
With all of this boot helpers loaded, it makes me slightly squeemish to offer any advice.
Use the Recovery Console:
Then do:
bootcfg /Rebuild
fixboot
See my earlier note:
It may be necessary to fix the MBR, but do not start with that unless absolutely necessary. The instructions are in the link for using Recovery Console.
If it really is a mess in your MBR, consider using the Clean option of Diskpart:
With all of this boot helpers loaded, it makes me slightly squeemish to offer any advice.
Use the Recovery Console:
Then do:
bootcfg /Rebuild
fixboot
See my earlier note:
It may be necessary to fix the MBR, but do not start with that unless absolutely necessary. The instructions are in the link for using Recovery Console.
If it really is a mess in your MBR, consider using the Clean option of Diskpart:
Atmos5 - you need to create a boot sector on the XP disk (for XP) & then best recreate a proper 98 boot sector on the 98 disk (currently its got an XP one, that is controlling the M$ dual boot).
To do this:-
1. Copy the files ntldr, ntdetect.com & boot.ini from root of C: to root of XP install (you've got 3 disks - so i don't know if that's disk 2 or disk 3 - I presume one is for data only?). Edit the copied boot.ini to remove the C:\="Microsoft Windows" entry. So should have something like:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
(assuming XP on disk 2)
2. run recovery console & fixboot x:, where x: is XP drive as seen from recovery console.
3. Reboot & try boot-us again - it should now boot the XP installation directly. If it doesn't (I think it will, but...), you may need to experiment with boot.ini on XP - eg try:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
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
Once this is working ok, you can restore the 98 boot sector if you wish - boot from 98 boot floppy and run sys C: from the A: prompt. Alternatively, you could continue to use the XP boot loader - just remove the XP entry and it will boot directly into 98 when you select entry from boot-us menu:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=C:[operating systems]
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
You can also edit what boot-us puts on its menu (eg, remove second XP if its only data & not bootable).
PS. Creating a 'rescue' XP boot floppy is a good idea - just copy ntldr, ntdetect.com & boot.ini from root of C: to newly formatted floppy. Will boot both 98 & XP - particularly will boot XP even if you corrupt/damage the hard drive boot sector(s).
To do this:-
1. Copy the files ntldr, ntdetect.com & boot.ini from root of C: to root of XP install (you've got 3 disks - so i don't know if that's disk 2 or disk 3 - I presume one is for data only?). Edit the copied boot.ini to remove the C:\="Microsoft Windows" entry. So should have something like:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
(assuming XP on disk 2)
2. run recovery console & fixboot x:, where x: is XP drive as seen from recovery console.
3. Reboot & try boot-us again - it should now boot the XP installation directly. If it doesn't (I think it will, but...), you may need to experiment with boot.ini on XP - eg try:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
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
Once this is working ok, you can restore the 98 boot sector if you wish - boot from 98 boot floppy and run sys C: from the A: prompt. Alternatively, you could continue to use the XP boot loader - just remove the XP entry and it will boot directly into 98 when you select entry from boot-us menu:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=C:[operating systems]
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
You can also edit what boot-us puts on its menu (eg, remove second XP if its only data & not bootable).
PS. Creating a 'rescue' XP boot floppy is a good idea - just copy ntldr, ntdetect.com & boot.ini from root of C: to newly formatted floppy. Will boot both 98 & XP - particularly will boot XP even if you corrupt/damage the hard drive boot sector(s).
To add to wolluf's excellent advice:
And this is a must read/download:
And this is a must read/download:
- Thread starter
- #9
bcastner: I shall look over the links you provided however I am not sure that my MBR is a mess. I have never had a problem booting to either 98 or XP and the boot managers I have tried (GAG and boot-us) have been from floppy so no change to MBR
- Thread starter
- #11
Aha now we're getting to it. Thanks for the advice everyone .I shall be tackling it tomorrow after reading all the links provided. Yes the 3rd hard drive is going to be for video capture/editing. I just stuck 2000 on it to try the boot managers out on a clean install. I shall be repartitioning one of the hard drives to accommodate 2000 and probably Linux soonish.
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