Two W2000 Boots. How Get Rid of One?

[W. Watson]

When W2000 comes up there are two identical choices for it. The boot is very
slow after the choice but finally succeeds. Is there some way of getting rid
of one of them or do I need to start over?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When W2000 comes up there are two identical choices for it. The boot is very
slow after the choice but finally succeeds. Is there some way of getting rid
of one of them or do I need to start over?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
--
"Predictions are hard to make. Especially
about the future. -- Yogi Berra

Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

Presumably one of your two installations is fine and the
other is slow. If both are slow then your best bet might
be to back up your data files, then do a fresh installation
onto a formatted disk.

Let's call the two Windows installations Good and Bad.
Here is the recipe to remove Bad:
1. Launch Bad.
2. Start a Command Prompt (Start / Run / cmd {OK}.
3. Type this command:
set systemroot
Make a note of the folder name.
4. Launch Good.
5. Using Explorer, rename the folder you memorised in
Step 3 to c:\Windows.bad (for example).
6. Click start / run / notepad.exe c:\boot.ini {OK}
7. Remove the line that refers to the folder you memorised
in Step 3, then save and close the file.
8. Wait a week.
9. If all is well, delete the folder you renamed in Step 5.

 

[W. Watson]

Presumably one of your two installations is fine and the
other is slow. If both are slow then your best bet might
be to back up your data files, then do a fresh installation
onto a formatted disk.

Let's call the two Windows installations Good and Bad.
Here is the recipe to remove Bad:
1. Launch Bad.
2. Start a Command Prompt (Start / Run / cmd {OK}.
3. Type this command:
set systemroot
Make a note of the folder name.
4. Launch Good.
5. Using Explorer, rename the folder you memorised in
Step 3 to c:\Windows.bad (for example).
6. Click start / run / notepad.exe c:\boot.ini {OK}
7. Remove the line that refers to the folder you memorised
in Step 3, then save and close the file.
8. Wait a week.
9. If all is well, delete the folder you renamed in Step 5.

Good. Thanks. I'll try it out.


Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

 

[W. Watson]

Good. Thanks. I'll try it out.

Well, a slight anomaly occured. After making the changes (C:/winnt to
winnt.bad), and the ini file, my boot went to default (Win 2000). The other
choice was Win2000 Professional. I just went for the default and got the
msg: could not start or missing <win 2000 root? system32/ntoskrnl.exe.
Re-install a copy. I then selected Win2000 Professional and got under way
properly. I must need to adjust something, I would think.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Well, a slight anomaly occured. After making the changes (C:/winnt to
winnt.bad), and the ini file, my boot went to default (Win 2000). The other
choice was Win2000 Professional. I just went for the default and got the
msg: could not start or missing <win 2000 root? system32/ntoskrnl.exe.
Re-install a copy. I then selected Win2000 Professional and got under way
properly. I must need to adjust something, I would think.

The file boot.ini says in its "Default" line which folder it uses
to boot Windows. You renamed this folder, hence it will no
longer work!

If this makes no sense to you, post the contents of c:\boot.ini,
and tell us what folders you have for your Windows installations.

 

[nesredep egrob]

Well, a slight anomaly occured. After making the changes (C:/winnt to
winnt.bad), and the ini file, my boot went to default (Win 2000). The other
choice was Win2000 Professional. I just went for the default and got the
msg: could not start or missing <win 2000 root? system32/ntoskrnl.exe.
Re-install a copy. I then selected Win2000 Professional and got under way
properly. I must need to adjust something, I would think.

Well I have not given up. This morning I set the computer to copy
files from USB to a folder on internal drive.

The time reported and the time taken do not quite compare. To start it
was reported that the copying would take 6 minutes for 3 +GB. I
thought a little optimistic but the progrees bar went along nicely at
a good speed. At the end of its journey the display changed to report
2309122 minutes left - quite a shock.
I deduced that it would be best to leave the latest images of the
first disk on the second disk and obviously visa versa.

That was wrong - I started again with Acronis Boot and it informed me
that it would delete the partition for C: and copy to that again. I
waited a few minutes or maybe 15 - I am patient, and at that rate soon
will be one.
The display has suddenly changed to say that it has 2 days to run and
that is just a 3.7GB image.

I am getting emotional - don't know wether to laugh or cry

Borge

PS I shall leave the computer on for 2 day to see what happens.

B. Pedersen Latitude -31,48.21 Longitude 115,47.40

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Well I have not given up. This morning I set the computer to copy
files from USB to a folder on internal drive.

The time reported and the time taken do not quite compare. To start it
was reported that the copying would take 6 minutes for 3 +GB. I
thought a little optimistic but the progrees bar went along nicely at
a good speed. At the end of its journey the display changed to report
2309122 minutes left - quite a shock.
I deduced that it would be best to leave the latest images of the
first disk on the second disk and obviously visa versa.

That was wrong - I started again with Acronis Boot and it informed me
that it would delete the partition for C: and copy to that again. I
waited a few minutes or maybe 15 - I am patient, and at that rate soon
will be one.
The display has suddenly changed to say that it has 2 days to run and
that is just a 3.7GB image.

I am getting emotional - don't know wether to laugh or cry

Borge

PS I shall leave the computer on for 2 day to see what happens.

B. Pedersen Latitude -31,48.21 Longitude 115,47.40

I think you got your latitude and longitude wrong with this post.

 

[Bob I]

I always got a chuckle reading the obviously bogus time estimates for
gigabyte sized data moves and copies.

 

[W. Watson]

The file boot.ini says in its "Default" line which folder it uses
to boot Windows. You renamed this folder, hence it will no
longer work!

If this makes no sense to you, post the contents of c:\boot.ini,
and tell us what folders you have for your Windows installations.

I don't believe I renamed it; however, I'll check. The computer is a mile
away, so my responses may take a few hours today. I did save the orginal as
boot.ini.org.


Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

 

[W. Watson]

I always got a chuckle reading the obviously bogus time estimates for
gigabyte sized data moves and copies.

nesredep egrob wrote:
.... snip

This could get confusing. It looks like two of us simultaneously trying to
solve a similar problem. It would be good I believe to start a new thread;
however, maybe I'm missing something.


Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

 

[W. Watson]

I don't believe I renamed it; however, I'll check. The computer is a
mile away, so my responses may take a few hours today. I did save the
orginal as boot.ini.org.

OK, here's boot.ini
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines got split in this msg.
The problem is that I renamed WINNT to WINNT.slow. so WinNT no longer exists.

Here's boot.ini.old
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines of muli lines got split in this msg.

Should I put WINNT.slow back to WINNT?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I don't believe I renamed it; however, I'll check. The computer is a
mile away, so my responses may take a few hours today. I did save the
orginal as boot.ini.org.

OK, here's boot.ini
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines got split in this msg.
The problem is that I renamed WINNT to WINNT.slow. so WinNT no longer exists.

Here's boot.ini.old
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines of muli lines got split in this msg.

Should I put WINNT.slow back to WINNT?

No, you should adjust boot.ini so that it reflects the real world!

[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 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

 

[W. Watson]

W. Watson wrote:

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:




W. Watson wrote:



Pegasus (MVP) wrote:






When W2000 comes up there are two identical choices for it. The

boot

is


very



slow after the choice but finally succeeds. Is there some way of


getting


rid



of one of them or do I need to start over?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
--
"Predictions are hard to make. Especially
about the future. -- Yogi Berra

Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

Presumably one of your two installations is fine and the
other is slow. If both are slow then your best bet might
be to back up your data files, then do a fresh installation
onto a formatted disk.

Let's call the two Windows installations Good and Bad.
Here is the recipe to remove Bad:
1. Launch Bad.
2. Start a Command Prompt (Start / Run / cmd {OK}.
3. Type this command:
set systemroot
Make a note of the folder name.
4. Launch Good.
5. Using Explorer, rename the folder you memorised in
Step 3 to c:\Windows.bad (for example).
6. Click start / run / notepad.exe c:\boot.ini {OK}
7. Remove the line that refers to the folder you memorised
in Step 3, then save and close the file.
8. Wait a week.
9. If all is well, delete the folder you renamed in Step 5.



Good. Thanks. I'll try it out.


Well, a slight anomaly occured. After making the changes (C:/winnt to
winnt.bad), and the ini file, my boot went to default (Win 2000). The


other


choice was Win2000 Professional. I just went for the default and got

the

msg: could not start or missing <win 2000 root? system32/ntoskrnl.exe.
Re-install a copy. I then selected Win2000 Professional and got under
way
properly. I must need to adjust something, I would think.



The file boot.ini says in its "Default" line which folder it uses
to boot Windows. You renamed this folder, hence it will no
longer work!

If this makes no sense to you, post the contents of c:\boot.ini,
and tell us what folders you have for your Windows installations.



I don't believe I renamed it; however, I'll check. The computer is a
mile away, so my responses may take a few hours today. I did save the
orginal as boot.ini.org.

OK, here's boot.ini
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines got split in this msg.
The problem is that I renamed WINNT to WINNT.slow. so WinNT no longer
exists.

Here's boot.ini.old
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines of muli lines got split in this msg.

Should I put WINNT.slow back to WINNT?

No, you should adjust boot.ini so that it reflects the real world!

[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 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

But what is the real world? C:/Windows


Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

W. Watson wrote:


Pegasus (MVP) wrote:




W. Watson wrote:



Pegasus (MVP) wrote:






When W2000 comes up there are two identical choices for it. The
boot


is


very



slow after the choice but finally succeeds. Is there some way of


getting


rid



of one of them or do I need to start over?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
--
"Predictions are hard to make. Especially
about the future. -- Yogi Berra

Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

Presumably one of your two installations is fine and the
other is slow. If both are slow then your best bet might
be to back up your data files, then do a fresh installation
onto a formatted disk.

Let's call the two Windows installations Good and Bad.
Here is the recipe to remove Bad:
1. Launch Bad.
2. Start a Command Prompt (Start / Run / cmd {OK}.
3. Type this command:
set systemroot
Make a note of the folder name.
4. Launch Good.
5. Using Explorer, rename the folder you memorised in
Step 3 to c:\Windows.bad (for example).
6. Click start / run / notepad.exe c:\boot.ini {OK}
7. Remove the line that refers to the folder you memorised
in Step 3, then save and close the file.
8. Wait a week.
9. If all is well, delete the folder you renamed in Step 5.



Good. Thanks. I'll try it out.


Well, a slight anomaly occured. After making the changes (C:/winnt to
winnt.bad), and the ini file, my boot went to default (Win 2000). The


other


choice was Win2000 Professional. I just went for the default and got
the

msg: could not start or missing <win 2000 root? system32/ntoskrnl.exe.
Re-install a copy. I then selected Win2000 Professional and got under
way
properly. I must need to adjust something, I would think.



The file boot.ini says in its "Default" line which folder it uses
to boot Windows. You renamed this folder, hence it will no
longer work!

If this makes no sense to you, post the contents of c:\boot.ini,
and tell us what folders you have for your Windows installations.



I don't believe I renamed it; however, I'll check. The computer is a
mile away, so my responses may take a few hours today. I did save the
orginal as boot.ini.org.

OK, here's boot.ini
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines got split in this msg.
The problem is that I renamed WINNT to WINNT.slow. so WinNT no longer
exists.

Here's boot.ini.old
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines of muli lines got split in this msg.

Should I put WINNT.slow back to WINNT?

No, you should adjust boot.ini so that it reflects the real world!

[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 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

But what is the real world? C:/Windows

It's your machine, hence you must know what the real world
is! Have a look on your hard disk to see where in which folder
Windows resides, then adjust boot.ini accordingly. I gave you
the "Set SystemRoot" in my very first reply - use it!

 

[W. Watson]

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

W. Watson wrote:



Pegasus (MVP) wrote:






W. Watson wrote:




Pegasus (MVP) wrote:








When W2000 comes up there are two identical choices for it. The

boot


is



very




slow after the choice but finally succeeds. Is there some way of


getting



rid




of one of them or do I need to start over?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City,

CA)

(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
--
"Predictions are hard to make. Especially
about the future. -- Yogi Berra

Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

Presumably one of your two installations is fine and the
other is slow. If both are slow then your best bet might
be to back up your data files, then do a fresh installation
onto a formatted disk.

Let's call the two Windows installations Good and Bad.
Here is the recipe to remove Bad:
1. Launch Bad.
2. Start a Command Prompt (Start / Run / cmd {OK}.
3. Type this command:
set systemroot
Make a note of the folder name.
4. Launch Good.
5. Using Explorer, rename the folder you memorised in
Step 3 to c:\Windows.bad (for example).
6. Click start / run / notepad.exe c:\boot.ini {OK}
7. Remove the line that refers to the folder you memorised
in Step 3, then save and close the file.
8. Wait a week.
9. If all is well, delete the folder you renamed in Step 5.



Good. Thanks. I'll try it out.


Well, a slight anomaly occured. After making the changes (C:/winnt to
winnt.bad), and the ini file, my boot went to default (Win 2000). The


other



choice was Win2000 Professional. I just went for the default and got

the


msg: could not start or missing <win 2000 root?

system32/ntoskrnl.exe.

Re-install a copy. I then selected Win2000 Professional and got under
way
properly. I must need to adjust something, I would think.



The file boot.ini says in its "Default" line which folder it uses
to boot Windows. You renamed this folder, hence it will no
longer work!

If this makes no sense to you, post the contents of c:\boot.ini,
and tell us what folders you have for your Windows installations.



I don't believe I renamed it; however, I'll check. The computer is a
mile away, so my responses may take a few hours today. I did save the
orginal as boot.ini.org.

OK, here's boot.ini
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines got split in this msg.
The problem is that I renamed WINNT to WINNT.slow. so WinNT no longer

exists.


Here's boot.ini.old
============
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
============
Last two lines of muli lines got split in this msg.

Should I put WINNT.slow back to WINNT?


No, you should adjust boot.ini so that it reflects the real world!

[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 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

But what is the real world? C:/Windows

It's your machine, hence you must know what the real world
is! Have a look on your hard disk to see where in which folder
Windows resides, then adjust boot.ini accordingly. I gave you
the "Set SystemRoot" in my very first reply - use it!

That's certainly arguable, but, as you might expect, it's now working just
fine. When someone makes a statement with such certainty, I can't help
quoting the film actor Spencer Tracy when he posed a puzzle to Katheryn
Hepburn in the movie "Desk Set", and then remarked, "Don't assume."

Thanks for the help. Cheers.


Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet