Question:
I have a dual core, dual processor Opteron computer. I set it up for xp x64
and win2k. I had problems with xp x64 a long time ago, so I stopped using it.
Now, I bought a new copy of xp x64, and want to be able to dual boot xp x64
and win2k. I can only do this using floppies, however. The only version of
windows that I can boot is determined by the version of ntldr and
ntdetect.com. If I put the xp x64 version of ntldr and ntdetect.com into c:\,
then my boot.ini allows me to boot into xp x64. If I put the old versions of
ntldr and ntdetect.com, connected with win2k, into c:\, then I can boot
win2k. But, no matter what I do, I cannot boot either win2k or xp x64, unless
I use a floppy disk. If I put the old, win2k versions, of ntldr and
ntdetect.com on a floppy, along with a copy of boot.ini, I can boot into
win2k. If I put a new copy of ntldr and ntdetect.com onto a floppy with the
same version of boot.ini, I can boot into xp x64. But, no matter what I do, I
cannot boot into one operating system or the other. I can only boot into the
system that has the appropriate version of ntldr and ntdetect.com loaded into
either the c:\ drive or the floppy disk.
What is wrong??? I cannot figure out what the problem is. I've even tried
fixmbr, but that does not help. I can only boot into the operating system
whose ntldr and ntdetect.com is on the floppy or c:\
Answer:
After all the things you tried in your thread a couple of weeks ago, I'm
about out of ideas. But I still have one: Repair install (also known as
in-place upgrade), as described in this KB article:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341
It was written for 32-bit WinXP and I can't find a similar KB for WinXP x64.
Since there was no 64-bit predecessor version of Windows, and hardware
issues prevent "upgrading" from 32-bit anything to 64-bit anything, WinXP
x64 comes in a "full" version only, with no upgrade version. You will have
to modify the instructions in KB 315341 to try this.
The crux of your problem MAY BE your SCSI hard drive and its host adapter.
I can't find where you've ever told us much about your hardware. What make
and model are your SCSI host adapter and your SCSI HDs? How are they cabled
and terminated? (I retired my last SCSI HD a year or two ago and my memory
of SCSI is fading fast, but someone here will recognize what you post about
this.)
During the very early part of Setup, as it is detecting your hardware, it
invites you to press if we need to install drivers for SCSI or other
mass storage devices. Then, after it installs a lot of other files, it
stops with on-screen instructions for installing drivers from a floppy. I'm
no techie, so I don't understand exactly how, but Setup then incorporates
those drivers into the boot-up files. What do you have on the floppy that
you used at this point? Did you use the same drivers when you installed
WinXP x64 as when you installed Win2K? (When I got Vista RTM last November,
I installed it on my Athlon 64 3200+ system. But then I upgraded my
mobo/chipset/CPU to Athlon 64 X2 in December and had to clean install Vista
again to incorporate the dual-core chipset drivers.)
If it were my system, I would first make sure that Win2K boots cleanly from
Drive C:. I would visit the Adaptec (or whatever) website and make sure
that I had the latest BIOS for my host adapter downloaded and installed, and
the latest drivers for it downloaded and on a floppy. Then I would insert
the WinXP x64 CD-ROM into the CD drive and reboot from it and run Setup,
pressing and installing those latest drivers from the floppy. (If this
doesn't work with only the latest drivers, I would also put the latest Win2K
drivers on that floppy; Setup does allow the installation of more than one
driver from the single floppy so I would install both sets if necessary.) I
would first try to repair install WinXP x64; if that did not work, I would
reinstall it from scratch. Sure, it will take some time, but not as long as
the two weeks you've been fighting the problem already.
WinXP x64 Setup should detect the existing Win2K installation and
incorporate drivers that will work with both Windows versions. And it
should automatically create the dual-boot menu, of course.
Well, I tried that, too, and no good. There can't be anything wrong with my
scsi drivers, because I never change them, and I checked to make sure that I
have the latest versions. I really think that I have the wrong versions of
ntldr and/or ntdetect.com for a dual boot with xp x64 professional and win2k
sp4.
I loaded Fedora core 6, today, and after many reloads and reformats of the
partition where I put it, and many fix mbr, and fdisk /mbr, I finally got
grub to work. It will boot Fedora. If I select "other" it goes into the
Windows dual book screen where I can select either win2k or win xp prof x64.
But, only xp x64 will boot. If I select win2k, I get an error that there is
an error in winnt/system32/config/system .
Now, however, if I boot off a floppy, using the exact same boot.ini, but
with the old versions of ntldr and ntdetect.com, I get that menu, and if I
select win2k, it boots right into win2k. On the other hand, if I select xp
x64, I get an error message.
Now, if I make another boot floppy, still using the exact same boot.ini, but
replacing the old ntldr and ntdetect.com with the newer versions (which is
the same as what I have in my c:\ location, and try to boot off the floppy, I
can successfully boot into xp x64, but I get the same error message if I try
to boot win2k that I get if I try to perform a normal "dual boot" in windows
as mentioned above.
Furthermore, if I go into c:\ and put the old versions of ntdetect.com and
ntldr in place of the newer ones (which is the same as the last mentioned
floppy setup) and try to boot, then I can successfully boot win2k, but I get
an error message if I try to boot into xp x64.
Using grub, I can only get whatever I would get if I did not use grub and
just used the windows dual boot (except, of course, for the additional choice
of Linux).
There has to be something wrong with the versions of ntldr and/or
ntdetect.com that I am trying to use. I wonder if a newer version should have
been provided during an update, and every time I try to do a recovery I am
just putting the older version that came on the cd back in, while I need a
later version to accommodate an update, or something like that. Officially, I
am running windows xp professional x64 verson 2003 sp1.
I am not sure what is on the disk, itself, but it is dated copyright 2005.
Where can I get the correct versions of ntldr and/or ntdetect.com. I am
convinced that has to be the problem
