Boot Up Problem

[yobobyo]

Hi, my friend had the brilliant idea of installing win2k to a laptop hard drive via usb and my winxp desktop. Now my machine (the desktop) will not boot up. The computer displays the dual boot option to choose win xp or win2k, the problem is that win2k was for the laptop drive, which is no longer in my computer. The win2k isntallation never finished because of a hardware failure in the laptop drive. and when it displays the boot option for win2k and xp, choosing either option will try to boot up win 2k, which the computer can't find, an error is displayed. all my files are intact, I jsut need to fix the boot record.

Any one have any ideas?

reformat is my last resort.

 

[Ste]

Try fixmbr from the recovery console. However, I would just slave the drive in another computer, back up your data and reformat using the XP disc you have.

 

[Osiris]

a windows repair might also work

 

[yobobyo]

thanks for replying.

fixmbr and fixboot did nothing.

what do you mean by windows repair?

 

[yobobyo]

btw, here's the error:

Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair the file by starting Windows 2000
Setup using the original setup floppy disk or CD-ROM
Select 'r' at the first screen to repair.

 

[Osiris]

Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, read this Warning#2!
Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

 

[yobobyo]

sounds like I'll get somewhere this time, I'll try it and post my progress. Thanks.

 

[Osiris]

if that dont work, id just reinstall

 

[yobobyo]

yeah it didn't help, I'm reformatting. thanks for everyones help.

 

[Osiris]

dont let him back on there