Also keep these files which should be where the boot.ini file is
C:\cmldr
C:\NTDETECT.COM
C:\ntldr
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Going to ghost Winxp on 3 OS system or repartition with Partition Magic
Hello everybody, my turn to ask a question.
I have a PC with a HDD that is partitioned 3 times. C-win98, D-w2k, E-winxpPRO. I use it for support. I have since setup other machines with 98 and 2k for support and wish to remove 98 and 2k from my primary machine.
My question is can it be done without having to reinstall Winxp and assoc. programs?
The modified boot.ini resides on the C partition.
If I ghost the E partition and fdisk and format this drive and reinstall the image, will it work?
Or, if I use Partition Magic, would I need to run that from the C-win98 or E-winxp OS?
Would I need to save and modify the boot.ini and copy it back in to the NEW C partition for Winxp Image to run?
System Specs:
Epox 8k3A+
AMD 2400+
1G pc2700
ATI AGP AIW Pro
3- 40G Maxtor ata133
2- 80G Maxtor ata133
DVD ROM
CD-R-RW
Creative Sound Blaster PRO
Realtek 10/100 NIC
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Answers
If you use PM then you need version 8. Then remove Win98 from C by deleting it and but retain the files I mentioned. Then us PM to move the WinXP to the C partition but do the drive letter and boot.ini changes first. Then delete the Win2000. Now if all partitions aren't the same file system then use PM to convert the other now empty partiions to the the file system that XP is using and if it is NTFS then I think you need to make sure the cluste size mathces that of the XP partiton. Alhouhg PM may just merge the partitions without having to go through with all of this.
Well this comes from PM8 help
About Merge
You can use Merge to join two FAT, FAT32, or NTFS partitions that are adjacent to each other on a hard disk. This is useful if you have reached the maximum number of partitions on your disk, but you do not want to delete a partition. It is also useful if you want to combine FAT partitions and convert them to one large FAT32 or NTFS partition. There can be unallocated space between the two partitions you want to merge.
Important: Merging partitions may take a long time (possibly hours), depending on the partition sizes and amount of data they contain. If you want to check whether your machine is still operating, you can press the NumLock key and see if the light toggles. It may take a few seconds to register activation of the NumLock key on your keyboard. If you plan to merge partitions, you may want to schedule it for a time when you will not need to use your system for an extended period of time. If you shut down or turn off your computer while PartitionMagic is still working, it will cause corruption to the file system, which will result in data loss. Do not shut down the system until after the operation is complete.
You can merge left to right or right to left, with one exception. You cannot merge a primary partition at the beginning of your hard disk into a logical partition; however, you can merge a logical partition into a primary partition.
Please note the following important points about Merge:
· You cannot merge a FAT/FAT32 partition with an NTFS partition.
· If you merge two partitions and then want them separate again, you can use the Split operation to "undo" the merge.
· Do not merge two operating system partitions.
· If you are using Windows NT 4.0, you should not merge two FAT partitions that will result in a FAT32 partition. Only Windows 95b or later, Windows 98/Me/2000/XP can access FAT32 partitions.
· If you plan to merge two adjacent NTFS partitions, they must be the same version type and have the same cluster size. If the cluster sizes are different, you will not be able to merge the partitions. See "Converting FAT/FAT32 Partitions to 4K Aligned" in the "
About Convert Help topic.
· If you have one empty partition and one that contains data, it is better to delete the empty partition and resize the other one larger than it is to merge the two partitions.
Copyright © 1994-2002 PowerQuest Corporation. All rights reserved.
Thank you, but this is basic info that I have done before, creating and merging partitions.
My question is will this also work when there are other OSs installed on those partitions. What do I do with those. I do not want the OS and data on the C and D partitions to end up in the new partition along with winxp. Have you done this before, or are you like me, trial and see?
So what has happened so far is I formated the D- W2k partition with PM. Removed the refernence to the Windows 2000 in the boot.ini. So far so good. Then I merged the empty D partition with the E-winxp and when it rebooted I got an 2003 error, windows (system root)\system32\hal.dll is deleted or corrupted, need to reinstall that file.
When I boot to C-win98 okay, I search for that file in the Winxp partition and it is there. So how do I repair/replace that file now?
Original working boot.ini before anything was done. I made a copy of it before I changed it
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdi
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
C:\="Microsoft Windows98"
--------------------------
boot.ini after I deleted the line for Windows 2000 and did the merge thing in PM
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdi
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
C:\="Microsoft Windows98"
Ya I know, but its the journey through the maze that counts.
I have a good backup so if I need to start from scratch, its not a big deal.
But like I said before, how I am I going to learn if I don't try.
I'm going to ghost the win98 partition and the winxp partition. Then see if I can get it back together.
You know the same thing happens say, when I had to reinstall the w2k os when it broke and then when I tried to boot to winxp it won't. I would then have to reinstall winxp to get the boot order or what ever fixed. What file/files are corrupt and is there a way to maually fix that? Just a thought.
I have not try it with fat32, I remember when we setup a Lab image (Winxp NTFS), Norton Ghost v6.5 could not handle it, end up have to use Ghost 7.5,
and it work fine.
For Fat32, I thinks you might be able to use Ghost 6.5, (I have not tested it!),
have a look at the following page for more infor about Ghoust WinXP:
http://oldlook.experts-exc
http://www.webtree.ca/newl
Alrighty now!
Crazyone thanks for the Recovery Console commands, tried them but it didn't work. Had to do a Windows repair from the XP CD. Do you have a reference link for XP recovery console commands and how to use them?
Yuzh, I used Ghost 2003(not sure which version that is) and it ghosted alright for me.
I got the D partition with W2k removed and merged with the winxp parttion with some difficulty.
Partition Magic would give me an error#2003 which I found out was caused by Winxp system restore being on. When I shut that off then PMver6 would run the merge. But then I would got another error#625-batch structure has changed. I had to do a WindowsXP repair from the CD again to get it going. All this time I could still boot to the C partition with win98 without any problems. The only two programs that I had to uninstall and reinstall were my antivirus and firewall programs, everything else seems to be okay. I also use Registry First Aid as my registry cleaner and it cleaned out about a 1000 invalid entries after the work I have done so far.
Yes it would be easier and quicker to fdisk, format and reinstall XP on to the primary partition but I just want to see what happens in this process.
My next challenge is to see if I can get dump the Win98 OS and merge XP onto the primary partition on the primary drive. Crazyone has suggested some files to keep on the primary partition while do this, but Partition Magic wants to put one partition in a folder on the merging partition. So I'm not sure how to keep those files there in the root.
Any suggestion anybody.
Bill
Yes yuzh, I also worked in such a place for a couple of years as a contractor. I was involved in upgrading 2000 desktops and we would multicast the machines either in my lab or on the floor. It was a wonderful experience.
I am laid off now for almost a year and having difficulties finding a job here. Unemployment is the highest in my state with a lot of technical people looking for jobs. That is why I spend my time here, keeping my troubleshooting up and learning new things from the other Experts here. This is a wonderful forum.
I will let you and crazyone know how my little project goes and will award points for your help when finished.
I think that's the limit of M$. Since this question is about M$, I did not tell you the other
old tools (30+ years old) can handle the job.
UNIX/Linux "dd" command can do "phtocopy" of two identical HDs. (It is a real image
copy program, well that's anther OSs)
Any way, in the real world, most of the Labs, standard office PC, the harddisk only has one OS install, and ghost can handle all these M$ PCs (but not UNIX !)
Have a nice weekend, cheers!
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by: CrazyOnePosted on 2003-10-07 at 12:34:21ID: 9508527
The boot.ini would need to be changed so it the partition parameter is 1
Do this to change the boot drive letter
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWAR
change the value from "C:\Winnt\System32\userini
HOW TO: Change the System/Boot Drive Letter in Windows
http://support.microsoft.c
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
This article was previously published under Q223188
IN THIS TASK
SUMMARY
Changing the System/Boot Drive Letter
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SUMMARY
This article describes how to change the system or boot drive letter in Windows. For the most part, this is not recommended, especially if the drive letter is the same as when Windows was installed. The only time that you may want to do this is when the drive letters get changed without any user intervention. This may happen when you break a mirror volume or there is a drive configuration change. This should be a rare occurrence and you should change the drive letters back to match the initial installation. NOTE: Please be aware of the following issue related to drive letters:
249321 Unable to Log on if the Boot Partition Drive Letter Has Changed
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To change or swap drive letters on volumes that cannot otherwise be changed using the Disk Management snap-in, use the following steps.
NOTE: In these steps, drive D refers to the (wrong) drive letter assigned to a volume, and drive C refers to the (new) drive letter you want to change to, or to assign to the volume.
This procedure swaps drive letters for drives C and D. If you do not need to swap drive letters, simply name the \DosDevice\letter: value to any new drive letter not in use.
back to the top
Changing the System/Boot Drive Letter
Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.
Log on as an Administrator.
Start Regedt32.exe.
Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\
Click MountedDevices.
On the Security menu, click Permissions.
Check to make sure Administrators have full control. Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\
Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look for "\DosDevices\C:".
Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.
NOTE: You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.
Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:". (This will free up drive letter C: to be used later.)
Find the drive letter you want changed. Look for "\DosDevices\D:".
Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".
Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
Restart the computer.
back to the top
Last Reviewed: 5/14/2003
COPYRIGHT NOTICE. Copyright 2002 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington 98052-6399 U.S.A. All rights reserved.
END ARTICLE