After formatting the Vista partition, I lost my boot sector, and had to
install XP on the formatted partition to recover a boot sector, which I
edited so that it would boot the other XP install. Now the other XP
install(the one I was forced to install) seems to have gained some unwanted
authority, sort of speaking. For instance, I now can't create planned
tasks in the built-in [u]Taskmanager[/]. Some applications have also been
affected by me having to XP installs, so I'm thinking about moving the boot
sector and formatting the partition with the second, unwanted XP install.
Maybe I'll just delete/format both the installs and start with blank sheets,
but this is not the preferred option.

How can I move the boot sector between partitions, and make my computer
automatically read from that partition instead of the partition where the
boot sector used to be? What is the best solution for my problem?
--
I know how to ride a bicycle!

"bronze00" <bronze00@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0AC40E73-6EB0-4436-815B-4847618D7CCF@microsoft.com...
> After formatting the Vista partition, I lost my boot sector, and had to
> install XP on the formatted partition to recover a boot sector, which I
> edited so that it would boot the other XP install. Now the other XP
> install(the one I was forced to install) seems to have gained some
unwanted
> authority, sort of speaking. For instance, I now can't create planned
> tasks in the built-in [u]Taskmanager[/]. Some applications have also
been
> affected by me having to XP installs, so I'm thinking about moving the
boot
> sector and formatting the partition with the second, unwanted XP install.
> Maybe I'll just delete/format both the installs and start with blank
sheets,
> but this is not the preferred option.
>
> How can I move the boot sector between partitions, and make my computer
> automatically read from that partition instead of the partition where the
> boot sector used to be? What is the best solution for my problem?
> --
> I know how to ride a bicycle!

Since I am rather confused by your questions, here is a general
explanation of the WinXP boot process.

At boot time the system executes some code that resides in the
Master Boot Record (MBR) of the primary master disk. You
can restore the MBR by booting into the Recovery Console,
using your WinXP CD, and executing this command: fixmbr.

The code in the MBR causes the boot process to execute the
WinXP boot files ntldr and ntdetect.com. These files must reside
in the root directory of the active partition of the primary master
disk.

The above boot files read the contents of boot.ini which resides
in the same place. Boot.ini has some text lines that tell Windows
where to find your current Windows installation. Executing the
command fixboot from the Recovery Console will fix most boot
problems.

The above explanation should enable you to restore your system's
boot capability. BTW, if you want to experiment with new OSs
then it is a good idea to use a test disk. Disks are cheap and you
avoid the risk of ruining your existing installation!

> "bronze00" <bronze00@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:0AC40E73-6EB0-4436-815B-4847618D7CCF@microsoft.com...
> > After formatting the Vista partition, I lost my boot sector, and had to
> > install XP on the formatted partition to recover a boot sector, which I
> > edited so that it would boot the other XP install. Now the other XP
> > install(the one I was forced to install) seems to have gained some
> unwanted
> > authority, sort of speaking. For instance, I now can't create planned
> > tasks in the built-in [u]Taskmanager[/]. Some applications have also
> been
> > affected by me having to XP installs, so I'm thinking about moving the
> boot
> > sector and formatting the partition with the second, unwanted XP install.
> > Maybe I'll just delete/format both the installs and start with blank
> sheets,
> > but this is not the preferred option.
> >
> > How can I move the boot sector between partitions, and make my computer
> > automatically read from that partition instead of the partition where the
> > boot sector used to be? What is the best solution for my problem?
> > --
> > I know how to ride a bicycle!
>
> Since I am rather confused by your questions, here is a general
> explanation of the WinXP boot process.
>
> At boot time the system executes some code that resides in the
> Master Boot Record (MBR) of the primary master disk. You
> can restore the MBR by booting into the Recovery Console,
> using your WinXP CD, and executing this command: fixmbr.
>
> The code in the MBR causes the boot process to execute the
> WinXP boot files ntldr and ntdetect.com. These files must reside
> in the root directory of the active partition of the primary master
> disk.
>
> The above boot files read the contents of boot.ini which resides
> in the same place. Boot.ini has some text lines that tell Windows
> where to find your current Windows installation. Executing the
> command fixboot from the Recovery Console will fix most boot
> problems.
>
> The above explanation should enable you to restore your system's
> boot capability. BTW, if you want to experiment with new OSs
> then it is a good idea to use a test disk. Disks are cheap and you
> avoid the risk of ruining your existing installation!
>
>
>

Thanks for the quick response. However, this did not help me in any way:

1. I tried using fixmbr, but the recovery console only gave me error message
in return.

2. These files are lying in D:\ (where the second XP install is). I want
these files to be on C:\, so that I can format D:\ without worries.

3. I know about the boot.ini. I installed the second XP install in order to
be able to add the old XP install into it. At the moment boot.ini contains
two installs of XP. The old, preferred install is set to default, with a 3
second delay time.

I hope this made thing a bit clearer to you...

Conclusion: I need to move the boot sector (ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini)
over to C:\ .

See below.

"bronze00" <bronze00@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DD2EE4FB-CEBA-460C-AF11-0653259EBC44@microsoft.com...
> > "bronze00" <bronze00@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:0AC40E73-6EB0-4436-815B-4847618D7CCF@microsoft.com...
> > > After formatting the Vista partition, I lost my boot sector, and had
to
> > > install XP on the formatted partition to recover a boot sector, which
I
> > > edited so that it would boot the other XP install. Now the other XP
> > > install(the one I was forced to install) seems to have gained some
> > unwanted
> > > authority, sort of speaking. For instance, I now can't create
planned
> > > tasks in the built-in [u]Taskmanager[/]. Some applications have
also
> > been
> > > affected by me having to XP installs, so I'm thinking about moving the
> > boot
> > > sector and formatting the partition with the second, unwanted XP
install.
> > > Maybe I'll just delete/format both the installs and start with blank
> > sheets,
> > > but this is not the preferred option.
> > >
> > > How can I move the boot sector between partitions, and make my
computer
> > > automatically read from that partition instead of the partition where
the
> > > boot sector used to be? What is the best solution for my
problem?
> > > --
> > > I know how to ride a bicycle!
> >
> > Since I am rather confused by your questions, here is a general
> > explanation of the WinXP boot process.
> >
> > At boot time the system executes some code that resides in the
> > Master Boot Record (MBR) of the primary master disk. You
> > can restore the MBR by booting into the Recovery Console,
> > using your WinXP CD, and executing this command: fixmbr.
> >
> > The code in the MBR causes the boot process to execute the
> > WinXP boot files ntldr and ntdetect.com. These files must reside
> > in the root directory of the active partition of the primary master
> > disk.
> >
> > The above boot files read the contents of boot.ini which resides
> > in the same place. Boot.ini has some text lines that tell Windows
> > where to find your current Windows installation. Executing the
> > command fixboot from the Recovery Console will fix most boot
> > problems.
> >
> > The above explanation should enable you to restore your system's
> > boot capability. BTW, if you want to experiment with new OSs
> > then it is a good idea to use a test disk. Disks are cheap and you
> > avoid the risk of ruining your existing installation!
> >
> >
> >
>
> Thanks for the quick response. However, this did not help me in any way:
>
> 1. I tried using fixmbr, but the recovery console only gave me error
message
> in return.

*** What message?

> 2. These files are lying in D:\ (where the second XP install is). I want
> these files to be on C:\, so that I can format D:\ without worries.

*** Which files?

> 3. I know about the boot.ini. I installed the second XP install in order
to
> be able to add the old XP install into it. At the moment boot.ini
contains
> two installs of XP. The old, preferred install is set to default, with a 3
> second delay time.

*** What does boot.ini look like? Where does it reside?

> I hope this made thing a bit clearer to you...

*** Not really . . .

> Conclusion: I need to move the boot sector (ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini)
> over to C:\ .

*** ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini are files. They are not the "boot
sector".
*** Why don't you just manually copy them to C:\?

> > 1. I tried using fixmbr, but the recovery console only gave me error
> message
> > in return.
>
> *** What message?
>
> > 2. These files are lying in D:\ (where the second XP install is). I want
> > these files to be on C:\, so that I can format D:\ without worries.
>
> *** Which files?
>
> > 3. I know about the boot.ini. I installed the second XP install in order
> to
> > be able to add the old XP install into it. At the moment boot.ini
> contains
> > two installs of XP. The old, preferred install is set to default, with a 3
> > second delay time.
>
> *** What does boot.ini look like? Where does it reside?
>
> > I hope this made thing a bit clearer to you...
>
> *** Not really . . .
>
> > Conclusion: I need to move the boot sector (ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini)
> > over to C:\ .
>
> *** ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini are files. They are not the "boot
> sector".
> *** Why don't you just manually copy them to C:\?
>

Haha, I replied in the same order you wrote your paragraphs. If you look
back on your own reply, you might understand what I'm talking about.

> *** What message?

Something like "failed to fix MBR".

> *** Which files?

ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini

> *** What does boot.ini look like? Where does it reside?

Boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windo ws XP Professional"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

It resides: Partition D:\
I want it to be here: Partition C:\

> *** ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini are files. They are not the "boot
> sector".

Well, I understand that, but as far as I understand, they control the boot
sequence. I am sorry for my lack of proper designations.

> *** Why don't you just manually copy them to C:\?

I could, but I don't see the point. The boot sequence would still be
controlled by boot.ini on D:\ ? If i copy them to C:\ , and delete the ones
on D:\ - I don't think these would be autodetected.

I hope THIS made things a bit clearer.

"bronze00" <bronze00@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AFC1DFED-529D-45A4-964F-4E984D35F182@microsoft.com...
>
> > > 1. I tried using fixmbr, but the recovery console only gave me error
> > message
> > > in return.
> >
> > *** What message?
> >
> > > 2. These files are lying in D:\ (where the second XP install is). I
want
> > > these files to be on C:\, so that I can format D:\ without worries.
> >
> > *** Which files?
> >
> > > 3. I know about the boot.ini. I installed the second XP install in
order
> > to
> > > be able to add the old XP install into it. At the moment boot.ini
> > contains
> > > two installs of XP. The old, preferred install is set to default, with
a 3
> > > second delay time.
> >
> > *** What does boot.ini look like? Where does it reside?
> >
> > > I hope this made thing a bit clearer to you...
> >
> > *** Not really . . .
> >
> > > Conclusion: I need to move the boot sector (ntldr, ntdetect.com,
boot.ini)
> > > over to C:\ .
> >
> > *** ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini are files. They are not the "boot
> > sector".
> > *** Why don't you just manually copy them to C:\?
> >
>
> Haha, I replied in the same order you wrote your paragraphs. If you look
> back on your own reply, you might understand what I'm talking about.
>
> > *** What message?
>
> Something like "failed to fix MBR".
>
> > *** Which files?
>
> ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini
>
> > *** What does boot.ini look like? Where does it reside?
>
> Boot.ini:
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=3
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
> Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windo ws XP Professional"
> /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> It resides: Partition D:\
> I want it to be here: Partition C:\
>
> > *** ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini are files. They are not the "boot
> > sector".
>
> Well, I understand that, but as far as I understand, they control the boot
> sequence. I am sorry for my lack of proper designations.
>
> > *** Why don't you just manually copy them to C:\?
>
> I could, but I don't see the point. The boot sequence would still be
> controlled by boot.ini on D:\ ? If i copy them to C:\ , and delete the
ones
> on D:\ - I don't think these would be autodetected.
>
> I hope THIS made things a bit clearer.

As I said in my first reply, the files that reside on the active
partition on your primary master disk are used in the boot
process. Which is your active partition? If you don't know
then you can boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk
(www.bootdisk.com) and run fdisk.exe. It will tell you.

The point of copying the boot files to C:\ is to fix your boot
process. If it makes no difference to the boot process then
it certainly won't do any harm either. Create two boot.ini files
like so:

C:\boot.ini
========
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="WinXP 1 Drive C"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="WinXP 2 Drive C"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

D:\boot.ini
========
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="WinXP 1 Drive D"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="WinXP 2 Drive D"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

When you boot then you will see which of the two boot.ini
files is invoked. Nice'n'easy!