Dual boot win98 and XP but W in98 won't :(

  • Thread starter Thread starter dadiOH
  • Start date Start date
D

dadiOH

My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and wierd BSOD
messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem was a poorly seated
RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a "no
system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and transfering the
system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP, it just boots directly
into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from the WinXP recovery consol but
then I'm back to the "no system" error if I try to boot Win98.

I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
instead of fixboot
you might try
bootcfg /rebuild.

it will scan for all
installed o.s.'s, then
ask you for the line
number and description
to insert on a rebuilt
boot menu.

sometimes, the line
numbers and descriptions
are not as you want to
seem them on the boot
menu.

however, after the boot
menu is rebuilt, you can
edit it via the desktop.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 
dadiOH said:
My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and wierd
BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem was a poorly
seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a "no
system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and transfering the
system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP, it just boots directly
into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from the WinXP recovery consol but
then I'm back to the "no system" error if I try to boot Win98.

I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.
Click to expand...

It's a loooooooooong time since someone asked this type of question,
probably because Win98 is getting very long in the tooth. Anyway, after
searching my memory banks intensively I recalled that bootpart.exe
(http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/bootpart.htm) will fix
this problem.
 
Let's have a look at the contents of the boot.ini file. Also, confirm
the presence of the Bootsect.dos file in the root folder of the Windows
98 partition.

John
 
dadiOH,
as "db" says ; use the command " bootcfg /rebuild " after
first doing what you did before (i.e. running the command " fixboot "
from the RC).

There should be a [hidden] file secreted on your Win'98 partition,
called bootsect.dos and what the " bootcfg /rebuild " command will
do is 'rebuild' your 'boot.ini' file in your Win XP's root directory
to include the item :

X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"

....where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
 
As far as I know the Bootcfg command will not detect or add Windows 9x
installations to the boot.ini file. The boot.ini entry to boot Windows
9x operating systems is simply:

C:\="Descriptive text here"

John

Tim said:
dadiOH,
as "db" says ; use the command " bootcfg /rebuild " after
first doing what you did before (i.e. running the command " fixboot "
from the RC).

There should be a [hidden] file secreted on your Win'98 partition,
called bootsect.dos and what the " bootcfg /rebuild " command will
do is 'rebuild' your 'boot.ini' file in your Win XP's root directory
to include the item :

X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"

...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




dadiOH said:
My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and wierd
BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem was a
poorly seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a
"no system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and
transfering the system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP, it
just boots directly into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from the
WinXP recovery consol but then I'm back to the "no system" error if I
try to boot Win98.

I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Is that right?.... I didn't know for sure, I would have thought that it
would have, that's pretty pointless of XP then isn't it?

The OP can just 'manually'. re-write the boot.ini file then, no?

Just add the (last Win98) line to the bottom of your bot.ini file :



[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP"
X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"



...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.
....and the path to the bootsect.dos file must be accurate.



Would that not work?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




John John - MVP said:
As far as I know the Bootcfg command will not detect or add Windows 9x
installations to the boot.ini file. The boot.ini entry to boot
Windows 9x operating systems is simply:

C:\="Descriptive text here"

John

Tim said:
dadiOH,
as "db" says ; use the command " bootcfg /rebuild "
after first doing what you did before (i.e. running the command "
fixboot " from the RC).

There should be a [hidden] file secreted on your Win'98 partition,
called bootsect.dos and what the " bootcfg /rebuild " command
will do is 'rebuild' your 'boot.ini' file in your Win XP's root
directory to include the item :

X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"

...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




dadiOH said:
My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and
wierd BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem
was a poorly seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a
"no system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and
transfering the system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP,
it just boots directly into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from
the WinXP recovery consol but then I'm back to the "no system" error
if I try to boot Win98.

I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
The bootcfg command will detect Windows NT/2000/XP installations only.
The bootsect.dos file is usually always in the root folder of the active
partition and C:\= automatically instructs ntldr to load the
bootsect.dos file, the fully qualified path to the file is not usually
required. The boot.ini file would usually look something 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"
/fastdetect
C:\="Windows 98"

John

Tim said:
Is that right?.... I didn't know for sure, I would have thought that it
would have, that's pretty pointless of XP then isn't it?

The OP can just 'manually'. re-write the boot.ini file then, no?

Just add the (last Win98) line to the bottom of your bot.ini file :



[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP"
X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"



...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.
...and the path to the bootsect.dos file must be accurate.



Would that not work?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




John John - MVP said:
As far as I know the Bootcfg command will not detect or add Windows 9x
installations to the boot.ini file. The boot.ini entry to boot
Windows 9x operating systems is simply:

C:\="Descriptive text here"

John

Tim said:
dadiOH,
as "db" says ; use the command " bootcfg /rebuild "
after first doing what you did before (i.e. running the command "
fixboot " from the RC).

There should be a [hidden] file secreted on your Win'98 partition,
called bootsect.dos and what the " bootcfg /rebuild " command
will do is 'rebuild' your 'boot.ini' file in your Win XP's root
directory to include the item :

X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"

...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and
wierd BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem
was a poorly seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a
"no system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and
transfering the system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP,
it just boots directly into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from
the WinXP recovery consol but then I'm back to the "no system" error
if I try to boot Win98.

I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
BTW I know that you CAN include the filename (bootsect.dos), as per my
example, but does it not matter whether it is included or not?


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




John John - MVP said:
The bootcfg command will detect Windows NT/2000/XP installations only.
The bootsect.dos file is usually always in the root folder of the
active partition and C:\= automatically instructs ntldr to load the
bootsect.dos file, the fully qualified path to the file is not usually
required. The boot.ini file would usually look something 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"
/fastdetect
C:\="Windows 98"

John

Tim said:
Is that right?.... I didn't know for sure, I would have thought that
it would have, that's pretty pointless of XP then isn't it?

The OP can just 'manually'. re-write the boot.ini file then, no?

Just add the (last Win98) line to the bottom of your bot.ini file :



[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP"
X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"



...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.
...and the path to the bootsect.dos file must be accurate.



Would that not work?

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




John John - MVP said:
As far as I know the Bootcfg command will not detect or add Windows
9x installations to the boot.ini file. The boot.ini entry to boot
Windows 9x operating systems is simply:

C:\="Descriptive text here"

John

Tim Meddick wrote:
dadiOH,
as "db" says ; use the command " bootcfg /rebuild "
after first doing what you did before (i.e. running the command "
fixboot " from the RC).

There should be a [hidden] file secreted on your Win'98 partition,
called bootsect.dos and what the " bootcfg /rebuild " command
will do is 'rebuild' your 'boot.ini' file in your Win XP's root
directory to include the item :

X:\WINDOWS\BOOTSECT.DOS="Microsoft Windows 98"

...where X: stands for your Win'98 partition's drive letter.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and
wierd BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem
was a poorly seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives
a "no system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and
transfering the system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor
XP, it just boots directly into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT
from the WinXP recovery consol but then I'm back to the "no
system" error if I try to boot Win98.

I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
dadiOH said:
My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and
wierd BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem
was a poorly seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a
"no system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and
transfering the system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP,
it just boots directly into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from
the WinXP recovery consol but then I'm back to the "no system" error
if I try to boot Win98.
I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.
Click to expand...

Thanks, all, for your timely and helpful replies.

It would appear that the problem lies with bootsect.dos. I'll get on it
later today...expecting success but if not I'll be back.

dadiOH

PS - There is NP with boot.ini. It is...

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP Main - Bitsy" /fastdetect
/NoExecute=OptOut
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP Basic - Cassie" =optin
/fastdetect
C:\="Windows 98"

Nothing out of the ordinary. Yes, there are two XP installs - each on a
physical drive - but that causes no problems. The second XP is a minimal
install - no sound/video/etc drivers, only 2-3 programs - in case the main
one craps out as it recently did. I find it handy...I can boot to it and
make/restore images, poke around on the other drive, etc. That is also the
main reason I keep a Win98 on her machine too...if *both* XP installs turn
toes up I can restore them from Win98. No, I can't see the XP NTFS drives
from there but my trusty Paragon Hard Drive Manager can :)

The descriptive names - Bitsy & Cassie - are just drive labels. I label all
my drives since it can be hard to keep track of which drive is which with
just drive letters as those letters depend upon drive boot order and change
when boot order is changed. The only problem with the labels is that they
are names of current and past pets (in my computer too) and there are more
pets than drives :(
 
dadiOH said:
Thanks, all, for your timely and helpful replies.

It would appear that the problem lies with bootsect.dos. I'll get on
it later today...expecting success but if not I'll be back.

dadiOH
Click to expand...

OK, I'm back. I was going to start a new thread with, "OK, I give up, MS
won" as the subject but since I'm giving up I won't; instead, I'll explain
what I tried in case someone has new ideas.
_____________________

With the boot drive having SYS C: I have used the XP repair consol to
FIXBOOT and/or FIXMBR in all permutations; i.e., both singly in different
order and both together in different order. All result in XP being able to
boot boot but not Win98 (which is on the primary partition, XP is on an
extended one).

Again with the boot drive having SYS C:, I have dumped the boot sector and
made it into a new bootsect.dos. After doing FIXBOOT, things got a tad
further along...got an error message from the boot menu when selecting Win98
that bootsect.dos couldn't be found. I tried modifying boot.ini to point
directly to it...
C:\bootsect.dos = "Windows98"
which resulted in the same error.

I also did bootcfg /rebuild from the repair consol. All it did was add more
entries for XP to the existing boot.ini.
___________________

I suspect an "over the top" reinstall of XP would fix things but I'm not
going to do that...I've had too many problems with it hanging and *really*
messing me up. Often hangs at about 23 minutes IIRC, the log says it can't
compile some dll. Why it is trying to compile a dll escapes me, surely it
is already compiled.

I may just dump Win98 entirely from her computer but kinda hate to do so;
for auld lang syne, if nothing else. She has two physical drives, each with
Win98 on the single primary partition and XP on the extended one so I could
SYS C: one of them and change boot order in BIOS should it ever be necessary
to boot Win98; a PITA, I'd rather not. I'd *rather* fix the problem - I
hate being thwarted - but I've already spent way too much time trying. I
haven't yet tried bootpart.exe but may; I didn't try it yet because it
seemed to me that my problem should be fixable without it.
________________

Oh yeah, one new problem/irritation. Somewhere along the line XP added a
new choice to its boot menu. That choice reads...

Windows (default)

and it *is* the default. If that entry was actually in boot.ini it would be
simple to edit out but it is *NOT* in boot.ini.

Any ideas about that?


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
dadiOH said:
OK, I'm back. I was going to start a new thread with, "OK, I give up, MS
won" as the subject but since I'm giving up I won't; instead, I'll
explain what I tried in case someone has new ideas.
_____________________

With the boot drive having SYS C: I have used the XP repair consol to
FIXBOOT and/or FIXMBR in all permutations; i.e., both singly in different
order and both together in different order. All result in XP being able
to boot boot but not Win98 (which is on the primary partition, XP is on an
extended one).

Again with the boot drive having SYS C:, I have dumped the boot sector and
made it into a new bootsect.dos. After doing FIXBOOT, things got a tad
further along...got an error message from the boot menu when selecting
Win98 that bootsect.dos couldn't be found. I tried modifying boot.ini to
point directly to it...
C:\bootsect.dos = "Windows98"
which resulted in the same error.

I also did bootcfg /rebuild from the repair consol. All it did was add
more entries for XP to the existing boot.ini.
___________________

I suspect an "over the top" reinstall of XP would fix things but I'm not
going to do that...I've had too many problems with it hanging and *really*
messing me up. Often hangs at about 23 minutes IIRC, the log says it
can't compile some dll. Why it is trying to compile a dll escapes me,
surely it is already compiled.

I may just dump Win98 entirely from her computer but kinda hate to do so;
for auld lang syne, if nothing else. She has two physical drives, each
with Win98 on the single primary partition and XP on the extended one so I
could SYS C: one of them and change boot order in BIOS should it ever be
necessary to boot Win98; a PITA, I'd rather not. I'd *rather* fix the
problem - I hate being thwarted - but I've already spent way too much time
trying. I haven't yet tried bootpart.exe but may; I didn't try it yet
because it seemed to me that my problem should be fixable without it.
________________

Oh yeah, one new problem/irritation. Somewhere along the line XP added a
new choice to its boot menu. That choice reads...

Windows (default)

and it *is* the default. If that entry was actually in boot.ini it would
be simple to edit out but it is *NOT* in boot.ini.

Any ideas about that?
Click to expand...

I've used bootpart.exe (see my first reply) on numerous machines and it's
never failed me. Admittedly it takes a little patience to work out how it
works but feel free to ask if you have a problem.
 
Pegasus said:
I've used bootpart.exe (see my first reply) on numerous machines and
it's never failed me. Admittedly it takes a little patience to work
out how it works but feel free to ask if you have a problem.
Click to expand...

When it refers to "Win95", may "Win98" be freely substituted?

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
The important thing is the DOS version when you refer to Bootpart.exe
writing a bootsector file.

Since Win95 and Win98 both use the same OEM string - Yes they can be
both read as the same.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
 
dadiOH said:
My wife's dual boot computer started acting up with assorted and
wierd BSOD messages. After much fiddling I got it fixed...problem
was a poorly seated RAM stick and - maybe - a bum IDE cable.

The new problem is that it won't boot Win98; trying to do so gives a
"no system" error. I can fix that by booting a W98 floppy and
transfering the system (SYS C:) but then I have no boot menufor XP,
it just boots directly into Win98. I can fix that via FIXBOOT from
the WinXP recovery consol but then I'm back to the "no system" error
if I try to boot Win98.
I haven't a clue as to what is going on or how to fix it and would
appreciate knowledgeable help.
Click to expand...
_________________

The problem was bootsect.dos.

I fixed it by using (sort of) btsect25.zip. The zip has a text file of info
(which is also a menu for the BAT), a BAT and a SCR. One uses it by making
a floppy boot disk which must contain attrib.exe, choice.com, debug.exe and
sys.com.

After booting from the floppy, one runs the BAT and it does several
things...mainly, backs up existing bootsect.dos and NT boot files then
patches bootsect.dos with the handful of bytes in the SCR files via DEBUG.

I say I "sort of" used it because it just wouldn't go all the way, always
bombed with a syntax error when making/patching bootsect.dos. I got around
that problem by just invoking the SCR file with DEBUG myself.

After using the XP repair consol to FIXBOOT the machine will once again boot
either into Win98 or XP. I'm happy and thank you all for your input.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
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