second HDD with Win2K Server

[patchem]

Hi Guys,

I have a Win2K Server installed on a 20GB HDD.
I have another 6GB HDD with just data on it. It was attached on another computer. This disk has no OS, just Data on NTFS.
I removed the 6GB HDD and attached it to the Win2K server computer. Both HDD are on the same Bus. The 6 GB hard disk with only data on it is the slave.

Now, when I boot up, the BIOS shows both the HDD but at startup it says NTLDR missing which means that it's probably trying to boot from the 6GB HDD. Is it possible to eidt the boot.ini so that it boots from the Win2K server?

When the 6GB HDD is attached to the other computer that is running Windows XP, it boots fine.

I was wondering it just may not be possible to attach some HDD and expect Windows to boot from the Primary Master.

Is there a solution to this?

I have also tried Cable Select on both the HDDs.

Thanks for your help.

PatchIT

 

[NetIntruder]

Boot to the recovery console and edit the Boot.ini file.
Look at which disk it is attempting to boot to.

~Intruder~

"The Less You Do, The Less Can Go Wrong"

 

[Jpoandl]

In your bios, you should be able to set the Primary boot device. Make sure that your 6GB drive is selected.

If you don't have this option, you can modify your boot.ini to point to the proper drive:

The line in the boot.ini is should look similar to this one:

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

If you have added another partition, you will only have to edit the partition number:

Sample Boot.ini File
This is a sample of a default Boot.ini file from a Windows XP Professional computer.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

This is a sample of the above Boot.ini file after adding another partition running Windows 2000 Professional.

[boot loader]
timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect


If you added a whole new physical drive, you will want to edit the disk number. Here are some details about the boot.ini file that you might find useful:

http://windows.about.com/library/weekly/aa032099.htm

Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003

If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out

http://www.NJCOMPUTERNETWORKS.com

(Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)

 

[fs483]

Euh, maybe it's just a jumper in the wrong position ? Make sure your 20GB HD is master and your 6GB HD is slave. If the cable has something printed on it like Drive 0 and Drive 1 then you have to set your (both) HD jumpers to cable select and make sure your 20GB HD is on the Drive 0 connector. BTW I hate cable select !!!!

 

[patchem]

Thanks for your replies!

Heres what I experimented with (3 seperate HDDs):
The 20GB has Win2K Server
The 6 GB has only Data
The 4.3 GB has WindowsXP

Heres what I wanted and didn't work b4:
Win2K(Master) to boot while Data(Slave) is connected. It said NTLDR missing because it was trying to boot from Data(Slave) first.

What I did:
Instead of the 6GB(Data) I connected the XP(Slave) with the Win2K(Master) HDD and changed the my boot.ini file on both the OS to look like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Server" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows xp Pro" /fastdetect

Although XP was Slave, it always detected it first and never detected Win2K first.(wierd). But that didn't really matter as the boot.ini in XP gave me the option to boot from Win2K or XP.

Then I connected XP(Slave) with Data(Master) and it detects XP drive first! showing the options at startup and I loaded XP and could browse Data.

Realising it works with the Data drive in this fashion I finally connected Win2k(Slave) with Data(Master) and it detects Win2K! to give the options @ startup. I could boot with Win2K and can now see the Data drive installed.

When I say a HD is Slave that means at startup it shows the HD as Slave.

Patchem