[SOLVED] Windows FLP (Trimmed XP) Dual-boot calamity.

[i430VX]

So I have a Dell dimension L667r, and It has Win95C on one disk (the original disk) and one day i was bored and put in a second HDD and installed Windows Fundamentals for legacy PCs on the new disk on a FAT32 partition. I do not have an option to choose the OS when the PC starts. The windows 95 drive and it's files are intact. Removing the WinFLP drive and starting the system results in an error, obviously added by the WinFLP installation that reads something like "Windows couldn't find the boot disk blah blah blah.) While experimenting, removing the Windows 95 drive and applying power gives an error message that says something along the lines of "INVALID DISK. INSERT BOOT DISKETTE INTO DRIVE A" However, with both disks hooked up, the system boots into Windows FLP (and nothing else) just fine.

I'm generally more or less knowledgeable about computers, but mucking around with the bootloader is out of my field of expertise.

Any suggestions?
 

[jaclaz]

Well, don't remove the WinFlp Disk.

Now, seriously, it should be easy to fix, once we understand how it is setup.

What do you mean that "you do not have an option to choose the OS"?

You made a dual boot that was actually a single boot of just WINFLP?

What happened (more or less).

You had a single disk, let's call it "first disk".

The system booted as follows:

BIOS->First Disk->MBR->Active partition (on first disk)->PBR (on first disk active partition)->IO.SYS(on first disk active partition)

then you added the other disk (let's call it second disk) and you installed the WINFLP (that may well - unlike "normal" XP provide NOT an option to keep a previousOS bootable), then likely the sytem started booting as follows:

 BIOS->First Disk->MBR->Active partition (on first disk)->PBR (on first disk active partition)->NTLDR(on first disk active partition)-> BOOT.INI (on first disk active partition) -> NTDETECT.COM (on first disk active partition)-> Windows WINFLP (on a partition on second disk)

 

All the "issue" is then most probably in the contents of BOOT.INI (that has only one OS line in it, the one pointing to the WINFLP installation, and thus you have no booting choices). 

It can easily be fixed, the easiest tool would be either grub4dos or bootpart, the latter probably better specifically:

http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm

Your next step should be to open the C:\BOOT.INI file (you may need to select in Explorer to show hidden and system files) in NOTEPAD and posting its contents (just to make sure that the previous hypothesis of how your setup is made is correct).

Then, it depends on what you actually want to obtain as result:
1) boot BOTH (i.e. have a dual boot choice) the Windows 95 on first disk and the WINFLP on second disk
2) boot ONLY the WINFLOP (BUT be able to boot it also when the first disk is removed)
3) boot ONLY the Windows 95 (AND be able to boot it when the second disk is removed)
4) somethign else (please describe)

jaclaz

 

[i430VX]

So what happened is that I just installed Windows FLP on a seperate HDD to Windows 95. Unlike every other time ive done this (which was a dual boot between vanilla XP and 7, so a little different), I didn't get the usual prompt at startup that said: "Please select the OS to start:" and the OS choices. When i installed WinFLP I don't get this prompt at startup. 

I will post the boot.ini contents in a few hours, currently i'm not at home.

I would like to obtain 1) boot BOTH (i.e. have a dual boot choice) the Windows 95 on first disk and the WINFLP on second disk 

Edited October 3, 2017 by i430VX
More clear

[i430VX]

contents of c:/boot.ini:

Quote

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs" /fastdetect

 

[i430VX]

Fixed! Followed instructions on bootpart website, I now can dualboot.

Thanks Jaclaz!

[jaclaz]

18 hours ago, i430VX said:

So what happened is that I just installed Windows FLP on a seperate HDD to Windows 95.

No, you didn't.

You installed the OS on the second disk, but maintained the boot disk the first one. and this is the reason why you needed (and still need) both disks to be present, i.e. you installed the WINFLP on BOTH disks.

The install routine of WINFLP overwrote the PBR code on the first (Win95) disk with one chainloading NTLDR, the files NTLDR, NTEDETECT.COM and BOOT.INI are on that first disk, and BTW very likely your windows XP (winflp) install is on drive letter D: - or however not C: .

The normal XP installation would have done exactly the same thing, BUT it would have also automatically added an entry in the BOOT.INI pointing to a (copy of) Win95 bootsector (whcih is what you just did through the use of bootpart).

14 hours ago, i430VX said:

Fixed! Followed instructions on bootpart website, I now can dualboot.

Thanks Jaclaz!

Good.

BUT, now that you have solved that, a good idea might be to have a copy of those files on the (active) partition on second disk (the reference rdisk in BOOT.INI will need to be changed, so that if - for any reason - the first disk gets damaged or removed, you have the possibility of booting the second disk (and WINFLP) "by itself".

In other words even if now it works "as it should", it is a good idea to make the second disk "self-standing", you never know when and if it may become of use.

jaclaz

[i430VX]

14 hours ago, jaclaz said:

No, you didn't.

You installed the OS on the second disk, but maintained the boot disk the first one. and this is the reason why you needed (and still need) both disks to be present, i.e. you installed the WINFLP on BOTH disks.

 

Yes, I was referring to the OS files, and not the boot area, guess I did not convey that point very well.

Quote

BUT, now that you have solved that, a good idea might be to have a copy of those files on the (active) partition on second disk (the reference rdisk in BOOT.INI will need to be changed, so that if - for any reason - the first disk gets damaged or removed, you have the possibility of booting the second disk (and WINFLP) "by itself"

Thanks for the tip, will do that.

Edited October 5, 2017 by i430VX
aye aye cap'n! (wrong case i)