adding dos to boot.ini

[prx984]

i need to know how to add an MS-DOS boot partition to the boot.ini loader in windows XP.

i want to have it so that when my computer is booting, it shows a list of operating systems for 3 seconds, allowing me to choose to boot to a dos prompt and start a restore of my drive (just incase it needs to be reloaded on the go).

so far, i have the boot.ini file like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=3
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" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
D:\ = "Restore Windows XP"

anyone know how to do this?

[T D]

I tried. Dual booting MSDOS and XP might be an idea. Or you could format a floppy disk as a MSDOS startup disk. But that won't go to ur harddrive but a floppy disk.

[prx984]

i sysed my d drive (which is the backup partition, 7.4gb) and copied all the files i needed onto it to restore the backup file, then included it in the list of operating systems. thats all i did, i know im missing something because i have found so many ways to do it on the net, but they dont explain in very well for a person like me to understand it. im not dumb when it comes to computers and stuff, its just all this talk about bootsectors and suff, goes beyond what i know in this department.

iv had a dual boot setup with 98/xp and that worked quite well, but now, id like to just have one main partition for XP and then one backup to have an image of XP on. that way, if im on the road with my laptop and it decides to do something dumb, i just bootup into the restore partition and restore. 20 minutes later, im going again.

thanks for the reply, T D.

[jftuga]

You could try this free boot manager, xosl. It works great. Uncompress all of the files onto a bootable floppy disk. Boot from that floppy and run sbminst.exe.

http://www.ranish.com/part/xosl.htm

You can tell the boot manager to run XP by default, but thenhave the option of running DOS. With that same boot floppy, you could run sys a: c: (or whatever your hard drive letter is) to make it bootable.

-John

[prx984]

hey thanks, that worked for me

did you check this thing out on ranish's home site? beerbox

i couldnt stop laughing as i was reading that

[Takeshi]

Would you mind telling us how you launch the restore process once you boot into MS-DOS?

[prx984]

Would you mind telling us how you launch the restore process once you boot into MS-DOS?

nope, sure thing.

heres what i did.

I had my 40gb drive dual partitioned like this:

Primary : 30gb (NTFS)

Secondary: 8gb (FAT32)

The primary I had XP loaded on, and the secondary is a backup partition for multiple files and the actual backup file. Then I downloaded SavePart from here. After getting that, I extracted the files to a bootable floppy disk. You don't need NTFS reading capability here.

I ran the program SavePart and followed the onscreen stuff. Really, you can almost just keep pushing enter until it starts to backup.

Now, when I want to start the restore, I boot into dos (either a boot floppy or boot.ini) and start savepart.exe, but instead of going into the backup portion of the program, I go into restore. Then it allows you to select the backup file I made on the secondary drive and begin restoring it. Then it restores itself back to a fresh install and I'm happy.

If you need anymore help, let me know, I'll be glad to help anyone.

-cygnus

[Takeshi]

Many thanks! Much appreciated. I haven't heard of this util before. Will look into it further.

One quickie:

Does it restore automatically to the correct target partition, or do you have to specify where (like in Ghost)?

[prx984]

Many thanks! Much appreciated. I haven't heard of this util before. Will look into it further.

hey no problem, glad i could help

One quickie:

Does it restore automatically to the correct target partition, or do you have to specify where (like in Ghost)?

you have to specify the target partition, but it automatically highlights the right one anyway.

[03GrandAmGT]

did you check this thing out on ranish's home site? beerbox

i couldnt stop laughing as i was reading that

I saw that awhile back, and couldn't stop laughing. Only one problem, who likes warm beer??

jd

[prx984]

lol warm beer is nasty. the only time beer should ever be warm is.... wait... beer should never be warm!