D4\/!d Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 I want to tidy up the position after having dualboot setup :) I used to have a dualboot setup with Win98SE and XP Pro. I have two hard drives. The C:drive had win98. The D:drive has XP.I no longer use win98, and I have removed it and everything else from the c:drive. Everything, that is, except those three key files: NTDetect.com, boot.ini, and ntldr. They sit happily on their own in the c:drive.I have left things like this for some months, however now I want make the drive with XP my c:drive and free up the other hard disc that used to have win98 (I might replace it latter for a larger disc)Now how do I do this?Has anyone ever done this exercise themselves. How did it go. How did you achieve it. And did it work???One idea I have is to copy those three key files into the root of the D:drive, and then get Partition Magic's Drive Mapper to cause drive letters to change.Firstly by changing c:drive to something like n:drive, and then changing d:drive to c. How risky is that. Or perhaps there is a recommended way to do it. (Google didn't come up with the answer)What do you folk think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Are the three files an integral part of running XP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted September 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Hello catgate, I dunno about XP itself. I understood they were needed to boot the machine. Do you know different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 They are VITAL components of WindowsXP. They cannot be deleted.On Intel-based computers, the system BIOS controls the initial operating system boot process. After the initial Power On Self Test (POST) when hardware components are initialized, the system BIOS identifies the boot device. Typically, this is a floppy disk or a hard disk. In the case of the hard disk, the BIOS reads the first physical sector on the disk, called the Master Boot Sector, and loads an image of it into memory. The BIOS then transfers execution to that image of the Master Boot Sector.The Master Boot Record contains the partition table and a small amount of executable code. The executable code examines the partition table and identifies the active (or bootable) partition. The Master Boot Record then finds the active partition's starting location on the disk and loads an image of its first sector, called the Boot Sector, into memory. The Master Boot Record then transfers execution to that Boot Sector image.Whereas the Master Boot Record is generally operating system independent, the Boot Sector of the active partition is dependent on both the operating system and the file system. In the case of Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server, the Boot Sector is responsible for locating the executable file, NTLDR, which continues the boot process. The only disk services available to the Boot Sector code at this stage of system boot up are provided by the BIOS INT 13 interface. The Boot Sector code must be able to find NTLDR and file system data structures such as the root directoryShort form - If you delete them, Windows will not boot. You will have to re-install Windows to have it all on the same drive. As for making your XP Drive, C:\. You should be able to do this via the Disk Managment console.Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management (Local)You can change drive letters from here. Select the disk you wish to change, and go to Action > Change Drive Letter.I believe you will have problems moving a "Boot Partition" which is where the Windows folder resides, or the "System Partition" which is where the Master Boot Record is (MBR). One of them cannot be moved, and you will get an error when you try to change it. Sorry I cannot remember which one.Yes I realize the Boot Partition should be the one containing the MBR, and the System the one to contain Windows, but Microsoft decided to be different.... go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Hello catgate, I dunno about XP itself. I understood they were needed to boot the machine. Do you know different?What I know, as fact, about XP would not cover the back of a postage stamp. I was just curious...some would say peculiar. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason.b.c Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 They are VITAL components of WindowsXP. They cannot be deleted.Yes they can , Just go ahead and delete them..What you will have to do is remove the C: drive ( the one that had 98 installed in it ) and the D: drive ( XP drive ) , Leave the old 98 drive out and change the jumper on the XP drive to MASTER , Now put it back in making sure you connect it to the end of the cable ( not the second or "middle" plug ) , Then you'll need your XP install disk ( i hope you've got it ) , Turn the computer back on and insert the disk in the CD drive so you can boot from that instead , Then you'll need to use the "R" option to repair the system..What your looking for is a "DOS-Like" promt where you would type FIXMBR and press enter... That should do it , It should replace the missing files ( the three you mentioned ) NTDetect.com, boot.ini, and NTLDR.exe.... NTLDR.exe is the bootloader , NTDetect.com is what looks for the NTkernal , and i believe boot.ini is what defines what and wich system boots up and in what order and from wich drive ( booting device )..Short form - If you delete them, Windows will not boot. You will have to re-install Windows to have it all on the same drive. As for making your XP Drive, C:\. You should be able to do this via the Disk Managment console.I believe you will have problems moving a "Boot Partition" which is where the Windows folder resides, or the "System Partition" which is where the Master Boot Record is (MBR). One of them cannot be moved, and you will get an error when you try to change it. Sorry I cannot remember which one.Here, Read through this stuff...http://www.xmission.com/~comphope/issues/ch000465.htmhttp://www.tinyempire.com/shortnotes/files/ntldr_missing.htmAnd the google search i did to find out...After your all done and you've verified that XP will still boot up you replace the old 98 drive and do whatever you want with it , Just make sure you set it as a slave drive ( no jumper installed on it )......Hope this helps.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted September 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 Wow..!! Thanks jason.b.c. :0 I am going to study this carefully before I do anything. B) Many thanks for doing the research for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 They are VITAL components of WindowsXP. They cannot be deleted.Yes they can , Just go ahead and delete them..Well, ok. They CAN be deleted, but not from within Windows.Thanks for clearing my other comments up Jason :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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