Jay_Ratansi
asked on
amend XP boot.ini for option to boot from ms-dos
Hi,
On a single HDD, I have 2 partitions as displayed under Disk management:
-Disk0/partition1/MS-DOS_6
-Disk0/partition2/149GB NTFS/Healthy(system) (ie. windows XP)
Drive letters shown in Computer Management:
C: windows xp
E: MS-DOS_6
Active status: C is Active; if I mark ms-dos as Active then it boots straight into ms-dos.
I've tried various entries for ms-dos but doesn't work. The current boot.ini reads:
[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
On an older laptop, I have an entry for ms-dos as follows which worked fine on old laptop:
C:\= "MS DOS"
but this doesn't work on the current laptop.
Thanks in advance,
Jay
On a single HDD, I have 2 partitions as displayed under Disk management:
-Disk0/partition1/MS-DOS_6
-Disk0/partition2/149GB NTFS/Healthy(system) (ie. windows XP)
Drive letters shown in Computer Management:
C: windows xp
E: MS-DOS_6
Active status: C is Active; if I mark ms-dos as Active then it boots straight into ms-dos.
I've tried various entries for ms-dos but doesn't work. The current boot.ini reads:
[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
On an older laptop, I have an entry for ms-dos as follows which worked fine on old laptop:
C:\= "MS DOS"
but this doesn't work on the current laptop.
Thanks in advance,
Jay
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Thanks both for prompt responses.
MASQUERAID>partition numbers start from 1 not zero. .in any case, having changed per your suggestion, windows xp no longer boots. Ms-dos doesn't either. amending boot.ini back to my original.
Thinkpads User> i've restored a ghost image from an older laptop with single HDD & 2 partitions as described earlier. MS-DOS is indeed on a separate FAT partiton and it's the first partition on the drive. If I change that to Active then laptop is able to boot straight into MSDOS so that part is working.
MASQUERAID>partition numbers start from 1 not zero. .in any case, having changed per your suggestion, windows xp no longer boots. Ms-dos doesn't either. amending boot.ini back to my original.
Thinkpads User> i've restored a ghost image from an older laptop with single HDD & 2 partitions as described earlier. MS-DOS is indeed on a separate FAT partiton and it's the first partition on the drive. If I change that to Active then laptop is able to boot straight into MSDOS so that part is working.
SOLUTION
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If you boot to the XP Recovery Console does bootcfg /scan see the FAT partition?
ASKER
Problem resolved. I've checked the old ghost image. A file BOOTSECT.DOS also needs to be in the windows XP partition. The boot.ini is per my original message but with msdos line : C:\= "MS-DOS"
I can now either boot msdos or XP with these residing in own partitions.
BTW msdos/xp is running on a latest Dell laptop with Core i3 cpu. Need to ensure that ATA mode is selected in bios.
Many thanks for you comments.
regds
jay
I can now either boot msdos or XP with these residing in own partitions.
BTW msdos/xp is running on a latest Dell laptop with Core i3 cpu. Need to ensure that ATA mode is selected in bios.
Many thanks for you comments.
regds
jay
Also, and in agreement with aarontomosky, I have a true DOS machine as a virtual machine on my Thinkpad. That works just fine, so a virtual machine may also work well for you. ... Thinkpads_User
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
I've included my own comment as part of solution as this was the case.
Hopefully any future user looking to resolve a similar problem will find alla answers here.
Hopefully any future user looking to resolve a similar problem will find alla answers here.
ASKER
I meant '...all the answers here''
if the DOS partiton is first then try
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdi
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
C:\="MS-DOS"