multi boot options

I have a feeling this has been addressed b4, but what might be preventing me from choosing Windows 98 or XP Home instead of W2K? (oh and I haven't tried the Redhat install for a year or so) from my multiboot menu ??
You may remember I had to reinstall and repair W2K after loading SP4.....
During that I ran fdisk /mbr - and in the process broke one of my golden rules of only doing one thing at once. I was impatient ......

All I get is a message reporting:

For W98
'Invalid system disk, replace the disk and then press any key'

|For XP
'Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt :\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMd
Startup option for windows 2000, press F8. You can attempt to repair this file by starting W2K setup using the original setup floppy disk or CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the 1st screen to start repair.

What am I going to have to do?
I have a backup of the W98 partition on a W2K partition used for backups, but the XP will need another activation code if I reinstall?
Or is it more simple ?????
Each OS has worked at some stage, just that I use W2K by default.

Cheers
Rob

Run the recovery console and try replacing that file.

Am going to try Acronis True Image, burn copies of my partitions to CDR and copy the lot on to reformatted disks.

Cheers
Rob

Here is my disk info from Partitionmagic:
PowerQuest PartitionInfo 7.0 -- Windows NT/2000 Version
Date Generated: 10/27/03 11:27:06es): 154,472,448
===============
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 1: 2650 Cylinders, 240 Heads, 63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect StartSect NumSects
===============
DESKTOP2 0 0 80 0 1 1 0B 456 239 63 63 6,909,777
0 1 00 457 0 1 0F 1023 239 63 6,909,840 33,158,160
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 1 00 457 0 1 0F 2649 239 63 6909840 33158160
6,909,840 0 00 457 1 1 0B 989 239 63 6,909,903 8,058,897
6,909,840 1 00 990 0 1 05 992 239 63 14,968,800 45,360
14,968,800 0 00 990 1 1 83 992 239 63 14,968,863 45,297
14,968,800 1 00 993 0 1 05 1023 239 63 15,014,160 24,932,880
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
14968800 1 00 993 0 1 05 2641 239 63 15014160 24932880
15,014,160 0 00 993 1 1 83 1023 239 63 15,014,223 24,932,817
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
15014160 0 00 993 1 1 83 2641 239 63 15014223 24932817
15,014,160 1 00 1023 0 1 05 1023 239 63 39,947,040 120,960
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
15014160 1 00 2642 0 1 05 2649 239 63 39947040 120960
SWAPSPACE2 39,947,040 0 00 1023 1 1 82 1023 239 63 39,947,103 120,897
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
39947040 0 00 2642 1 1 82 2649 239 63 39947103 120897
===============
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 2494 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63 Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect StartSect NumSects
===============
0 0 00 0 1 1 17 990 254 63 63 15,920,352
0 1 00 991 0 1 0F 1023 254 63 15,920,415 18,442,620
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
0 1 00 991 0 1 0F 2138 254 63 15920415 18442620
15,920,415 0 00 991 1 1 07 1023 254 63 15,920,478 18,442,557
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are:
15920415 0 00 991 1 1 07 2138 254 63 15920478 18442557
===============
Partition Information for Disk 1: 19,564.5 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect TotalSects UsedSects FreeSects
===============
C:DESKTOP2 FAT32 Pri,Boot 3,373.9 0 0 63 6,909,777 6,909,777 0
ExtendedX Pri 16,190.5 0 1 6,909,840 33,158,160 33,158,160 0
EPBR Log 3,935.0 None -- 6,909,840 8,058,960 8,058,960 0
E: FAT32 Log 3,935.0 6,909,840 0 6,909,903 8,058,897 8,058,897 0
EPBR Log 22.1 6,909,840 1 14,968,800 45,360 45,360 0
Linux Ext2 Log 22.1 14,968,800 0 14,968,863 45,297 45,297 0
EPBR Log 12,174.3 14,968,800 1 15,014,160 24,932,880 24,932,880 0
Linux Ext2 Log 12,174.2 15,014,160 0 15,014,223 24,932,817 24,932,817 0
EPBR Log 59.1 15,014,160 1 39,947,040 120,960 120,960 0
*:SWAPSPACE2 Linux Swap Log 59.0 39,947,040 0 39,947,103 120,897 120,897 0
===============
Partition Information for Disk 2: 19,563.5 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect TotalSects UsedSects FreeSects
===============
D: Hidden NTFS Pri 7,773.6 0 0 63 15,920,352 15,920,352 0
ExtendedX Pri 9,005.2 0 1 15,920,415 18,442,620 18,442,620 0
EPBR Log 9,005.2 None -- 15,920,415 18,442,620 18,442,620 0
H: NTFS Log 9,005.2 15,920,415 0 15,920,478 18,442,557 18,442,557 0
Unallocated Pri 2,784.7 None -- 34,363,035 5,703,075 0 5,703,075
===============
Boot Record for drive C: (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 63, Type: FAT32)
===============
1. Jump: EB 58 90
2. OEM Name: MSWIN4.1
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 32
6. Number of FAT's: 2
7. Reserved: 0x0000
8. Reserved: 0x0000
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 240 (0xF0)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Big Total Sectors: 6909777 (0x696F51)
15. Big Sectors per FAT: 6738
16. Extended Flags: 0x0000
17. FS Version: 0
18. First Cluster of Root: 2 (0x2)
19. FS Info Sector: 1
20. Backup Boot Sector: 6
21. Reserved: 000000000000000000000000
22. Drive ID: 0x80
23. Reserved for NT: 0x00
24. Extended Boot Sig: 0x29
25. Serial Number: 0x1B2500EC
26. Volume Name: DESKTOP2
27. File System Type: FAT32
28. Boot Signature: 0xAA55
===============
Boot Record for drive E: (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 6,909,903, Type: FAT32)
===============
1. Jump: EB 3C 90
2. OEM Name: MSWIN4.1
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 32
6. Number of FAT's: 2
7. Reserved: 0x0000
8. Reserved: 0x0000
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 240 (0xF0)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Big Total Sectors: 8058897 (0x7AF811)
15. Big Sectors per FAT: 7858
16. Extended Flags: 0x0000
17. FS Version: 0
18. First Cluster of Root: 652 (0x28C)
19. FS Info Sector: 1
20. Backup Boot Sector: 6
21. Reserved: F6F6F6F6F6F6F6F6F6F6F6F6
22. Drive ID: 0x80
23. Reserved for NT: 0x00
24. Extended Boot Sig: 0x29
25. Serial Number: 0x3B78ED63
26. Volume Name:
27. File System Type: FAT32
28. Boot Signature: 0xAA55
===============
Boot Record for drive *: (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 14,968,863, Type: Ext-2)
===============
Ext-2 file system super block:
1. Inodes count: 5664
2. Blocks count: 22648
3. Reserved blocks count: 1132
4. Free blocks count: 19449
5. First data block: 1
6. Logical block size: 0
7. Logical fragment size: 0
8. Blocks/group: 8192
9. Fragments/group: 8192
10. Inodes/group: 1888
11. Mount time: 0x3C048F52
12. Last write time: 0x3C048F58
13. Mount count: 5
14. Max. mount count: 20
15. Magic number: EF53
16. State: 0x0001
17. Error behavior: 0x0001
18. Minor revision level: 0
19. Last check time: 0x3C036173
20. Max. time bet. checks: 15552000
21. Creator oper. system: 0
22. Major revision level: 1
23. Reserved block def. UID:0x0000
24. Reserved block def. GID:0x0000

===============
Boot Record for drive *: (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 15,014,223, Type: Ext-2)
===============
Ext-2 file system super block:
1. Inodes count: 1560576
2. Blocks count: 3116602
3. Reserved blocks count: 155830
4. Free blocks count: 2813840
5. First data block: 0
6. Logical block size: 2
7. Logical fragment size: 2
8. Blocks/group: 32768
9. Fragments/group: 32768
10. Inodes/group: 16256
11. Mount time: 0x3C049CC4
12. Last write time: 0x3C049CC4
13. Mount count: 5
14. Max. mount count: 20
15. Magic number: EF53
16. State: 0x0001
17. Error behavior: 0x0001
18. Minor revision level: 0
19. Last check time: 0x3C036171
20. Max. time bet. checks: 15552000
21. Creator oper. system: 0
22. Major revision level: 1
23. Reserved block def. UID:0x0000
24. Reserved block def. GID:0x0000


Does this help????

Cheers
Rob

===============
Boot Record for drive D: (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 63, Type: NTFS)
===============
1. Jump: EB 52 90
2. OEM Name: NTFS
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 1
5. Reserved Sectors: 0
6. Number of FATs: 0
7. Root Dir Entries: 0
8. Total Sectors: 0
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB): 0 (0x0)
15. Unused: 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors: 15920351
17. MFT Start Cluster: 19876
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 5449431
19. Clusters per FRS: 2
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 8
21. Serial Number: 0xEE6CCA5E6CCA2167
22. Checksum: 0 (0x0)
23. Boot Signature: 0xAA55

===============
Boot Record for drive H: (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 15,920,478, Type: NTFS)
===============
1. Jump: EB 52 90
2. OEM Name: NTFS
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 8
5. Reserved Sectors: 0
6. Number of FATs: 0
7. Root Dir Entries: 0
8. Total Sectors: 0
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 15920478 (0xF2ED5E)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB): 0 (0x0)
15. Unused: 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors: 18442556
17. MFT Start Cluster: 786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 1152659
19. Clusters per FRS: 246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number: 0xF454DA1254D9D786
22. Checksum: 0 (0x0)
23. Boot Signature: 0xAA55