helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp

Guest · Jun 26, 2004

Help!!
I have been operating with 2 primary FAT32 parttions using both win98 and wnixp in each fo these partions as operating systems. As my HHD was getting too full I decided to reformat my win98 drive, as I was not using win98 much, to FAT32 Primary Partition with a view to using this drive as backup and storing files not being used regularly. I cannot get the win-xp loading now and when I start the computer it asks me for a system dics. Can any one guide whether how can I get the system to start with win-xp. I have checked that all the files in Drive C (win xp) drive are intact.
Thank you.

R. C. White · Jun 26, 2004

Hi, Haroon.

First, a couple of Netiquette points:

1. A subject line like "helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp" is not likely to
generate many responses, except from a guy like me who tries to read all
posts. Something like "Can't boot WinXP after formatting drive" would do a
better job of interesting readers who might be able to help with your
problem.

2. Posting a second message 1 minute after the first just wastes bandwidth
and does not increase your chances of getting help. We all are volunteers
here. Nobody pays us a salary to answer questions. None of us knows
everything, and you may need to wait at least a few minutes for someone who
knows about YOUR problem to come along. We are not all in one big room; we
are in our own homes or offices around the world - just like you. And, just
like you, we sometimes take coffee breaks, or turn off our computers and
sleep at night, or even go on vacation. But we WANT to help; just give us
some time. ;<)

Now, to your problem: You gave us a lot of good information, but you left
out some key details.

HOW were you dual-booting before? Were you using the method built into
WinXP? Or did you use Boot Magic or some other third-party boot loader?
The Microsoft way is the only one that I'm familiar with, but others know
about the other methods.

Which partition did you reformat? Drive C:? Normally, when using
Microsoft's multiple-boot arrangement, that's where the "system files" for
ALL Windows installations are kept, no matter where the rest of Windows is
installed. You did say that WinXP is on Drive C:, so that may not be the
problem in your case, but we need to confirm that.

HOW did you reformat your Win98 drive? Did you boot from an MS-DOS floppy
and use Format.com? Or did you use WinXP's Disk Management? Or some other
method?

You said, "when I start the computer it asks me for a system dics". How are
you starting the computer, and what is the exact error message? I've never
seen WinXP ask for a "system disk"; that message must be coming from the
BIOS, not from Windows. It sounds like the message that you might get if
you've left a non-boot floppy in Drive A: and your computer is trying to
boot from that.

Have you tried booting from the WinXP CD-ROM and using the Repair options
there, including the Recovery Console? Do you even have a full WinXP
CD-ROM? You haven't told us the make and model of your computer, or which
version of Windows (if any) was pre-installed on it. Many OEMs customize
Windows before sale, and many of them include only a crippled CD with the
computer.

Several of us (including myself) have been dual-booting for years and can
probably help you if we know more about your system. But it will probably
take us more than 1 minute. ;<}

RC

Tom · Jun 26, 2004

<snipped>

R.C.

He clearly stated that he had the OSes on two primary partitions, which
means Windows does not give the option to dual-boot (IOWs, select the OS
during the Windows boot process).

nos1eep · Jun 26, 2004

R. C. White said:
Hi, Haroon.

First, a couple of Netiquette points:

<snip the rude rambling>

<flips Haroon off>

He reformatted the boot sector.

-nos1eep

Miss Perspicacia Tick · Jun 26, 2004

<snip the rude rambling>

And could you please enlighten both RC - and myself - as to what, exactly,
was "rude" about his post?! He made two valid points of netiquette, neither
of which could possibly - by any stretch of the imagination - be described
as "rude". If you want the perfect definition of "rude", may I suggest you
avail yourself of the nearest mirror?!

<flips Haroon off>

This statement shows you didn't read RC's post *AT ALL*.

He reformatted the boot sector.

No he didn't. He formatted the boot *PARTITION*. If you don't know the
difference between a 'sector' and a 'partition', may I suggest you refrain
from insulting an MVP?!

Moron.

nos1eep · Jun 26, 2004

Miss Perspicacia Tick said:
<snip the rude rambling>

And could you please enlighten both RC - and myself - as to what, exactly,
was "rude" about his post?! He made two valid points of netiquette, neither
of which could possibly - by any stretch of the imagination - be described
as "rude". If you want the perfect definition of "rude", may I suggest you
avail yourself of the nearest mirror?!

Maybe not quite rude, but certainly rambling. I will admit that I have
issues with accountants and anal retentive people that must have everthing
in the perfect order before they will offer solid advice.

This statement shows you didn't read RC's post *AT ALL*.

No he didn't. He formatted the boot *PARTITION*. If you don't know the
difference between a 'sector' and a 'partition', may I suggest you refrain
from insulting an MVP?!

Moron.

Whatever! My advice will fix his box, so what is your point? And why are
you involving yourself. STFU and killfile me so that you will not be
insulted by my presence.

-nos1eep

-nos1eep

David Candy · Jun 26, 2004

I don't doubt that you are right. But on the evidence presented you cannot reach that conclusion. You're guessing at what he has not said. On the evidence it should be working.

Two primary partitions implies 2 hard drives, not that this is terribly important. XP is on C: (wierd eh, one would expect 98), all files are intact on C. Therefore the boot order has not changed and the system drive (the drive with boot files, the boot drive is where windows directory is) has not been touched. Therefore he is not saying something.

Miss Perspicacia Tick · Jun 26, 2004

nos1eep said:
Maybe not quite rude, but certainly rambling. I will admit that I have
issues with accountants and anal retentive people that must have
everthing in the perfect order before they will offer solid advice.

He wasn't being "anally retentive" - he was offering good and sound advice.
Suggest you read - and inwardly digest - the following

How to Compose a Good Newsgroup Post

How to Act Smart on Usenet

Getting Your Post Noticed - and Answered
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/Mar01/Mar27pmvp.asp

Many - myself included - won't bother answering posts with nondescript
subjects - "Hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp" tells nobody anything! How
is someone supposed to know whether they can assist or not. People's time is
limited and they won't want to bother reading on when they can't tell from
the subject.

Whatever! My advice will fix his box, so what is your point? And why
are you involving yourself. STFU and killfile me so that you will not
be insulted by my presence.

-nos1eep

-nos1eep

What "advice"?! You didn't give him any! The sum total of your post was a
couple of rude wisecracks at RC White, followed by "he formatted the boot
sector", which is an incorrect statement - it certainly isn't any kind of
advice. The only person who has offered any advice in this thread is RC and
he was spot on!

Jim Macklin · Jun 26, 2004

Billy · Jun 26, 2004

Miss Perspicacia Tick said:
He wasn't being "anally retentive" - he was offering good and sound
advice.
Suggest you read - and inwardly digest - the following

How to Compose a Good Newsgroup Post

How to Act Smart on Usenet

Getting Your Post Noticed - and Answered
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/Mar01/Mar27pmvp.asp

Many - myself included - won't bother answering posts with nondescript
subjects - "Hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp" tells nobody anything!
How
is someone supposed to know whether they can assist or not. People's time
is
limited and they won't want to bother reading on when they can't tell from
the subject.

You stupid fùçking çùnt! Your logic is non-existent as you complain how you
(and the fact that you speak for others that mostly will disagree and ignore
you) will not answer post with some acceptable descriptive problem reference
in the subject line, that fits your rigorous billing.

You surely spent the time to tongue ream the anùs of the OP while sùçking
the testicles of RC as you proclaim his glory, and the defeat of the OP by
not abiding to him an answer to his quandary.

Miss Perspicacia Tick · Jun 26, 2004

Jim said:
YOU DID ANSWER IT THOUGH.

James, your caps-lock is stuck! ;o) I know I answered it, well I didn't I
answered 'nos1eep'. I couldn't help the OP, but I certainly wasn't going to
let 'haroon' get away with insulting R.C. when he *did* help"

nos1eep · Jun 26, 2004

THIS ADVICE:

From: "nos1eep" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics
References: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 08:14:57 -0500
Lines: 21
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1409
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1409

haroon said:
Help!!
I have been operating with 2 primary FAT32 parttions using both win98 and

wnixp in each fo these partions as operating systems. As my HHD was getting
too full I decided to reformat my win98 drive, as I was not using win98
much, to FAT32 Primary Partition with a view to using this drive as backup
and storing files not being used regularly. I cannot get the win-xp loading
now and when I start the computer it asks me for a system dics. Can any one
guide whether how can I get the system to start with win-xp. I have checked
that all the files in Drive C (win xp) drive are intact.

Thank you.

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm see "How to repair boot
sector"

-nos1eep

Jim Macklin · Jun 27, 2004

Actually, my caps lock key is disabled, I held the shift key
down so I could shout at you.

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.

message | Jim Macklin wrote:
| > YOU DID ANSWER IT THOUGH.
|
| James, your caps-lock is stuck! ;o) I know I answered it,
well I didn't I
| answered 'nos1eep'. I couldn't help the OP, but I
certainly wasn't going to
| let 'haroon' get away with insulting R.C. when he *did*
help"
|
|
|

Star Fleet Admiral Q · Jun 27, 2004

Actually, you can have more than one "Primary" partition (up to 4 I
believe) on a single hard drive (although MS limits its partitioning
software to only 1 Primary Partition per hard drive), but you can only
have one "Active" Primary partition at a given time.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your service
--------------------------------------------------------
I don't doubt that you are right. But on the evidence presented you
cannot reach that conclusion. You're guessing at what he has not said.
On the evidence it should be working.

Two primary partitions implies 2 hard drives, not that this is
terribly important. XP is on C: (wierd eh, one would expect 98), all
files are intact on C. Therefore the boot order has not changed and
the system drive (the drive with boot files, the boot drive is where
windows directory is) has not been touched. Therefore he is not saying
something.

Guest · Jun 27, 2004

My first posting and it seems I have started ww2. Thanks for informing about the netiquette and suggestions. The postings were duplicated in error although I had posted on different groups board as I was unsure of the right group to use for my problem. I have tried the suggestions offered without success.
Thanks for your help any ways.

R. C. White · Jun 27, 2004

Hi, Haroon.

Thanks for the post back. And welcome to the (sometimes exciting) world of
newsgroups - also known as Discussion Groups.

My first comments were meant to be more informative than critical. In the
text-only world of newsgroups, it's had to convey inflection, tone of voice,
etc., and often when I read my own posts later, they don't sound like they
did when I wrote them. Emoticons (like ;<) - look at it sideways to see a
Smiley - and there are dozens of them) help some, but what helps most is to
remember what I said earlier: most of us are here because we WANT to HELP,
not to criticize.

To correct at least one erroneous factual comment in this thread: Each hard
drive can be divided into 1 to 4 partitions. All of these can be primary
partitions, or ONE can be an extended partition. The extended partition can
be subdivided into one or more (as many as you want until you run out of
English alphabet letters) logical drives. Each primary partition and each
logical drive can be referred to as a volume. Each volume is assigned a
"drive" letter and each is formatted independently of all the others.
MS-DOS and Win9x/ME can read and write only volumes formatted with some
version of FAT; those OSes cannot even SEE a volume formatted NTFS.
Win2K/XP and later can mix and match FAT and NTFS volumes without
restriction.

ONE of the primary partitions on EACH hard drive can be marked Active
(bootable) at any one time. Only the Active primary partition on the first
HD seen at boot-up can be used as the boot device for that session. Newer
BIOSes often let us set the second or other HD as the boot drive; others
always boot from the Master HD on the Primary IDE channel. Some third-party
boot managers let us designate which HD will be the boot device.
Microsoft's built-in multi-boot system (in WinNT4/2K/XP and later) always
start from the boot drive designated in the BIOS; the Active primary
partition on that HD becomes the "system partition" and MUST contain the few
"system files" for all the Windows versions installed. All the WinNT-based
Windows versions usually use just 3 system files: NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and
Boot.ini, and all these must be in the Root of the system partition, almost
always C:\. (Many users who installed WinXP on a new HD while the old HD -
with an Active primary partition - plugged in as slave or secondary have
been startled to find that the first partition on the first HD is NOT C:,
but F: or some other unexpected letter!) Win9x/ME's system files (io.sys
and msdos.sys) must be in C:\, and C: must be FAT, since Win9x/ME can't read
NTFS; if Win9x/ME's boot folder is on a volume other than C:, that volume
also must be FAT, of course, as well as any other volume that you want to
access from Win9x/ME.

While the few small "system files" must be in C:\ (typically), most of
WinXP's GB or so of files go into the "boot folder" (\Windows, by default)
in any volume on any HD in your computer. It's entirely OK to install WinXP
(or Win9x/ME) on the second primary partition on your third HD (for
example); the entries in C:\boot.ini will point to that volume and C:\NTLDR
and C:\NTDETECT.COM will have no trouble finding it there, regardless of the
drive letter.

"Drive letters" are not permanently assigned. The BIOS starts from scratch
and assigns letters to the volumes it finds each time it reboots. What is
Drive D: this morning might be E: or X: this afternoon if the
drive/partition lineup has changed. And Drive D: may be a primary partition
on the second HD or it may be the second primary partition on the first HD.
The letter assignment sequence is hardcoded into the computer's BIOS but,
thankfully, is standardized for x86 computers. WinXP can reassign letters
after it loads. It has its own algorithm that it will use unless you
specifically assign letters using Disk Management; then it will attempt to
use your assignments on each reboot. The BIOS and WinXP don't always agree
which letter applies to which volume.

As you may have noted, Haroon, my posts tend to be long-winded. I've
learned that, too often, any part of the explanation that I try to abridge
or omit turns out to be exactly the sticking point that is bothering the
poster with the problem. Also, as you see from this thread, you and I are
not the only people in this conversation. Several have posted here, but
dozens or hundreds of others probably have read it without posting; we call
them "lurkers" and, in newsgroups, that is a GOOD word. But those of us who
post explanations have to anticipate that some lurkers will misunderstand
what we say unless we broaden the context. The hard part is knowing when to
stop broadening - and that's my weakness. :^{

I'm glad your problem is fixed. Come back when we can help again. Or when
you want to read about other users' problems - and fixes for them. We can
learn a lot just by lurking. And some day, you'll see someone with a
problem that you know how to fix. You'll post the answer. The original
poster (OP) will post back saying, "Haroon, you're a GENIUS!" And then
you'll be hooked, just like so many of us who try to help here. ;<)

RC

PCyr · Jul 20, 2004

Miss Perspicacia Tick (a.k.a Amethyst, Cassandra, and many other aliases),
your posts are extremely rude, and counter-productive.

1) This is a Microsoft newsgroup designed to help people with questions
about Microsoft products.
2) People have a right to ask questions and make mistakes.
3) This is not English class. (Especially since you make MANY spelling and
grammar errors yourself)
4) Not everyone here speaks fluent English
5) If someone isn't following USENET etiquette, politely inform them of
their error if you expect them to listen. Calling them a moron is just
going to cause them to label you as a jacka**, and they will not listen.
6) This is a newsgroup to help
(http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=help) people, not criticise them
and be demeaning towards them.
7) If they post something off-topic, politely ask them to post in the
correct newsgroup.
8) If someone posts an incorrect solution, politely correct them.

-Being rude and demeaning as you are, only makes yourself appear
unintelligent, immature, insecure, and just plain isn't nice.

-If you are as intelligent as you try to appear to be, you would understand
that attacking people, is a very inferior thing to do. Are you so insecure
in life that you have to resort to attacking people about trivial things in
a Microsoft newsgroup? Are you so insecure that you can't stop and say to
yourself, "OK, this person just did something wrong. Why did they do it?
Was it on purpose?" and then respond politely. Are you so insecure that you
have to attack people who already are struggling with computer, and belittle
them even more, thus making yourself feel like some wolf that's establishing
its dominance? Are you so insecure that you have to act like some wild
animal, and belittle people, to make yourself feel dominant and superior?

Why do you feel the need to insult people? Nothing good comes of it. There
is no need for it. If you can think of a single reason for why we should
insult people, please tell us.

helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp

Guest

R. C. White

Tom

nos1eep

Miss Perspicacia Tick

nos1eep

David Candy

Miss Perspicacia Tick

Jim Macklin

Billy

Miss Perspicacia Tick

nos1eep

Jim Macklin

Star Fleet Admiral Q

Guest

R. C. White

PCyr