Boot help needed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vic
  • Start date Start date
V

Vic

I have three HD's on the PC

1. Primary (master)
2. Secondary (master)
3. extended

removed HD 1 and setup #2 as primary master (W2K is not installed on this drive)

Reinstalled drive #1 and returned PC to it's original configuration. Tried to boot, ng! The PC will not boot from Drive #1 anymore!
Don't understand why. It appears W2K's files for dual boot are there. furthermore I did not touch this drive (which also contains
W2K on a different partition)!

Can someone please explain what happened ... and how I can get it to boot again?

Thanks,
Vic
 
More details are needed. Are these physical disks or simply partitions? What
drive controller? If IDE what is connected to primary channel? and secondary
channel? From your details it appears you took a drive out changed the
jumpers on another drive, changed the jumpers back, put the drive back. You
didn't tell us why and what was done while the drive was removed. Also tell
us what happens now when you try to boot. Please be specific.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I have three HD's on the PC
|
| 1. Primary (master)
| 2. Secondary (master)
| 3. extended
|
| removed HD 1 and setup #2 as primary master (W2K is not installed on this
drive)
|
| Reinstalled drive #1 and returned PC to it's original configuration. Tried
to boot, ng! The PC will not boot from Drive #1 anymore!
| Don't understand why. It appears W2K's files for dual boot are there.
furthermore I did not touch this drive (which also contains
| W2K on a different partition)!
|
| Can someone please explain what happened ... and how I can get it to boot
again?
|
| Thanks,
| Vic
|
|
 
Dave,

The disks (HD's) are three PHYSICAL hard drives partitioned 'a' - 'm'.

1. IDE on primary controller, primary drive (IDE 0)
2. IDE on secondary controller, primary drive (IDE 1)
3. IDE on secondary controller, extended drive (IDE 1) as slave

I did not change any jumpers because two of the drives ( 'c' & 'd' ) are primary drives (thus no need to change jumpers). So drive
'c' (from which W2k boots) was removed. Nothing has been deleted on that drive (which contains the boot sector and partition with
the W2K files).

When I boot now, the computer goes through its routine normally UNTIL it starts to check the boot drive; then it says "Verifying DMI
Pool Data .....", and stalls, no HD LED indicator (hard drive light is NOT on).

Apparently the BIOS is checking the boot drive and not seeing something it wants to see. I checked the drive with W98SE 'fdisk' and
it shows the partition (512meg - 16bit) as ACTIVE. I can see files (ntdetect.com, boot.ini etc)

I'm stumped ... don't know W2K much at all to know how to fix it. I did see on an earlier thread there are files called 'fixboot' &
'fixmbr' but I don't know where they are or EXACTLY what they do. From the sounds of it I need fixboot.

Can you help?

TIA,
Vic
 
You'll probably want to check the drive cables, jumper placement, etc. and
or reseat everything. The hang is caused by no-responsive or possibly failed
hardware.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Dave,
|
| The disks (HD's) are three PHYSICAL hard drives partitioned 'a' - 'm'.
|
| 1. IDE on primary controller, primary drive (IDE 0)
| 2. IDE on secondary controller, primary drive (IDE 1)
| 3. IDE on secondary controller, extended drive (IDE 1) as slave
|
| I did not change any jumpers because two of the drives ( 'c' & 'd' ) are
primary drives (thus no need to change jumpers). So drive
| 'c' (from which W2k boots) was removed. Nothing has been deleted on that
drive (which contains the boot sector and partition with
| the W2K files).
|
| When I boot now, the computer goes through its routine normally UNTIL it
starts to check the boot drive; then it says "Verifying DMI
| Pool Data .....", and stalls, no HD LED indicator (hard drive light is NOT
on).
|
| Apparently the BIOS is checking the boot drive and not seeing something it
wants to see. I checked the drive with W98SE 'fdisk' and
| it shows the partition (512meg - 16bit) as ACTIVE. I can see files
(ntdetect.com, boot.ini etc)
|
| I'm stumped ... don't know W2K much at all to know how to fix it. I did
see on an earlier thread there are files called 'fixboot' &
| 'fixmbr' but I don't know where they are or EXACTLY what they do. From the
sounds of it I need fixboot.
|
| Can you help?
|
| TIA,
| Vic
 
Dave, it's not the 'hardware'!

I can boot from the CD right to the W2K installation, but it will not boot from the HD as described in previous posts. The problem
is with the boot loader. Something got corrupted that's why it stalls verifying the DMI Pool Data... don't know how. Wonder if it
had something with the active partition being changed to the other HD?

What I need to know is how to get the boot loader working again!

Any ideas, anybody?

TIA,
Vic
___
 
You can start the recovery console and from a command prompt issue the
command;
fixboot
to repair the bootsector.

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 Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk,
fixboot,and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Dave, it's not the 'hardware'!
|
| I can boot from the CD right to the W2K installation, but it will not boot
from the HD as described in previous posts. The problem
| is with the boot loader. Something got corrupted that's why it stalls
verifying the DMI Pool Data... don't know how. Wonder if it
| had something with the active partition being changed to the other HD?
|
| What I need to know is how to get the boot loader working again!
|
| Any ideas, anybody?
|
| TIA,
| Vic
 
Finally!

Had to go about it the hard way:

fixboot did not work
sys c: (DOS) did not work
fdisk /mbr (DOS) did not work
format c: /s (DOS - actually Win98 boot disk) and FINALLY it would boot
fixboot WORKED!
restored c: drive files from backup and we're back in business after HOURS of work!

Thanks for your helpful information re: repair console. I made the disks from the CD ... funny though, the fixboot didn't work until
AFTER reformatting! The disk passed EVERY integrity check too, including W2K check disk, Norton Disk Doctor, I'm too tired to
remember if there was another!

Anyway, it works!
Thanks
Vic
 
For the next time this may help.

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=287553

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Finally!
|
| Had to go about it the hard way:
|
| fixboot did not work
| sys c: (DOS) did not work
| fdisk /mbr (DOS) did not work
| format c: /s (DOS - actually Win98 boot disk) and FINALLY it would boot
| fixboot WORKED!
| restored c: drive files from backup and we're back in business after HOURS
of work!
|
| Thanks for your helpful information re: repair console. I made the disks
from the CD ... funny though, the fixboot didn't work until
| AFTER reformatting! The disk passed EVERY integrity check too, including
W2K check disk, Norton Disk Doctor, I'm too tired to
| remember if there was another!
|
| Anyway, it works!
| Thanks
| Vic
 
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