x-post trimmed to 24hshd from
24hoursupport.helpdesk,microsoft.public.win2000.ge neral

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:18:53 -0600, rosalind8109@ wrote:

If you can't find it are you really going to edit it, seems a bit odd.

Depends what you mean, in relation on how your system is setup.

Win NT OS use System and Boot to identify partitions. If you have a
single default partition, common usage C: it's called System. On System
both the startup files and \Windows are in the same place.

boot.ini sits on the System partition, while the OS is on Boot, if you
have say C: and D: , having selected D: to install \Windows it's called
Boot.

Check in Disk Management, you will see which partition is which.

Also as mentioned in 24HSHD, but not for a while IIRC,
http://groups.google.com/group/24hou...elpdesk/topics
links to boot.ini articles,

Even trying this helps, 2 seconds later.
http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+boot.ini

1st 2 hits,

How to edit the Boot.ini file in Windows XP
How to view and manually configure the Boot.ini file in Windows XP from
within the Startup and Recovery dialog.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022 - Similar pages

How To Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows 2000
This step-by-step article describes how to edit the Boot.ini file in a
Windows 2000 environment. NTLDR displays the bootstrap loader screen,
where you can ...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311578 - Similar pages
[ More results from support.microsoft.com ]

Read the bit about making a copy of boot.ini and where the original is
stored.

Me

rosalind8109@nospamrodadrunner.net wrote:

You can do it without a reinstall but the first thing would be for you
to tell us which DOS version you plan on installing and for you to find
out whether or not it has support for FAT32. Only Windows 95B/OSR2 and
later supports FAT32. This might be easier to do if Windows 2000 is on
an NTFS partition as DOS won't see it and install to the second
partition without much fuss. If the first partition is FAT32 then you
might have to temporarily hide the Windows 2000 partition install
Windows 9x.

You have the general gist of it but the Windows 2000 Recovery Console
doesn't include the bootcfg utility, that is no big deal you can simply
edit the boot.ini file manually. Create an Emergency Repair Disk for
your Windows 2000 installation and you will be able to use it to repair
the boot environment after you install Windows 9x.

To install Windows 9x boot the computer with a W9x startup floppy (or
boot to DOS with the cd) and use the sys command on the desired
partition then restart the pc and install Windows 9x. Once done use the
Recovery Console or your ERD to fix the boot sector. In order to be
able to boot Windows 9x the you will need a bootsect.dat file in the
root of the Windows 9x partition and this line in the [operating
systems] section of the boot.ini file:

c:\="Microsoft DOS"

John

x-post trimmed to 24HSHD from
24hoursupport.helpdesk,microsoft.public.win2000.ge neral

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 03:45:30 -0600, rosalind8109@ wrote:

<snip>

True, you would need to Ghost both partitions.

Run DOS in a virtual server from WIndows?

Yes, always older -> newer OS.

Never looked at that, I always did it the other way :-) in OS date
order.

You may find 1 of the partition managers may help. I think BootMagic
(now defunct, was in Partition Magic) let you create several primary
active partitions, each 1 hidden. The boot menu made the appropriate
bootable partition visible (to boot from) and hid the others. This way
you only needed a small initial 200MB partition for the boot menu app.
I would like to think Acronis, Paragon tools would do the same thing.

www.google.com boot manager

I used to use this,
http://www.ranish.com/part/
but the last stable version is dated 2002.

SourceForge.net: Smart BootManager
Smart BootManager is an os independent BootManager which has easy to use
interface and many other features. The main goals of SBM are to be
absolutely OS ...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/ - 28k - Cached - Similar pages


Could be, will also depend on size of partitions. If C is too big with
regards to cylinders, DOS most likely wouldn't see the space on D
anyway.

Besides backing up several times and making sure you can recover from a
backup is the way to go.

What I usually do is,

C: Primary / Active 800MB or 1.6GB - DOS, Windows (System)
D: Windows maybe 5GB (Boot)
E: Windows (another version) 5GB (Boot)
Program Files(multiple) and Data partitions as needed.

Me

rosalind8109@nospamrodadrunner.net wrote:

Fdisk cannot non-destructively convert logical partitions into primary
partitions. Fdisk cannot create more than 1 primary partition on a hard
disk unless you use third party tools to hide existing primary
partitions to fool fdisk into thinking that no primary partitions exist
on the disk. The only way to accomplish what you want is to use third
party tools or blow away all the partitions and rebuild the disk from
scratch and use something other that fdisk to create the primary partitions.

If your intention is to blow away all the partitions then you don't need
third party tools to do this. Simply boot the computer with your
Windows 2000 cd and when you get to the screen asking you on which disk
and partition you want to install Windows delete all the existing
partitions and create a single new one of the desired size. You can
just leave the rest of the disk unpartitioned for the time being, you
will be able to create new primary or logical partitions with the
built-in Windows 2000 disk management tool after Windows is installed.
To open and use the Disk Management tool enter the Diskmgmt.msc
command in the Start Menu \ Run box.

***IMPORTANT!*** After you delete and create new partitions at the
disk/partition selection screen, exit the Windows 2000 setup program and
start the setup routine again! If you do not, your Windows installation
may end up with a drive letter assignment other than "C"! Exiting and
restarting the setup after the deletion and creation of new partitions
avoids this potential drive letter assignment mix ups. After you
restart the setup program, at the partition selection screen do a FULL
NTFS format of the partition. Do not use the FAT32 file system unless
you absolutely have no choice and do not skip this in favour of a
FAT32>NTFS conversion at a later time, it is best to immediately format
using the NTFS file system.

In another post you mention "I've read it's good if your OS is not on
the C: partition for security purposes". You can file that in the
"Urban Myths" category. The most important security step that you can
take is to use the NTFS file system and properly secure the installation
with robust permissions and strong user passwords. You should also
apply all the available security updates and patches and use a properly
configured firewall.

John