Windows XP and Windows 98 1

[Gabarit]

Hi,

I installed 98 on a machine then installed XP on another partition. I got the option to select an OS to boot to. I had to re-install 98 on the same parition where it was . Now when I boot , the PC boots into 98 without giving me the option to choose an OS. I looked for boot.ini and can't find it anywhere !

Any help would be appreciated..

 

[Snickle]

Boot.ini is a hidden, system file in the root of C:\. When you re-installed Win98 it rebuilt the MBR [Master Boot Record] and in the process lost the ability to choose the OS to boot to. There's a few other files needed. You might try running the Recovery Console from the WinXP CD or at worst you may have to re-install WinXP.

 

[ceigl]

gabarit, you can also install proggies like "BootManager" so you have the opportunity of choosing which OS you'd like to boot with

 

[smah]

Boot your computer with XP cd and enter the Recovery Console. Use the 'fixboot' command

 

[wolluf]

You could do a repair reinstall of XP.

What has happened is the 98 install has overwritten the XP boot sector (NOT the MBR). This also contained the files ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini & bootsect.dos (this last is a copy of the original win98 boot sector, and is needed for XP boot loader to be able to boot 98).

An alternative is to rebuild the XP boot sector.
ntldr & ntdetect.com are on the XP install disk in \i386
You can create a boot.ini in notepad - should look like this:-

[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 98"

All 3 files should be copied to root of C:
To recreate bootsect.dos and run fixboot to put boot sector back, see this page

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm.