multi boot options

[robbiehall]

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

[BlackTower]

Run the recovery console and try replacing that file.

[robbiehall]

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

Cheers
Rob

[robbiehall]

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
===============
CESKTOP2 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

[robbiehall]

===============
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