Re: lost cluster at io.sys file stopping boot

From: Dave Patrick (mail_at_NoSpam.DSPatrick.com)
Date: 06/26/04 

Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 08:45:47 -0600

AFAIK there is no 'io.sys' used in Windows 2000 Certainly not part of the
boot sector.

You can start the recovery console and from a command prompt issue the
command;
fixboot
to repair the bootsector.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer:
%systemroot% and %windir%

Or try creating a boot floppy. For the floppy to successfully boot Windows
2000 the disk must contain the "NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on an NT
machine, not a DOS/Win9x, so the NT boot sector gets written to the floppy),
then copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to it; and possibly
ntbootdd.sys. Edit the boot.ini to give it a correct ARC path for the
machine you wish to boot. 

-- 
Regards,
Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
"Licensed to Quill" <fountainpen@amexol.net> wrote in message 
news:OT76xg4WEHA.1152@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
| (SEE OTHER THREADS, -  or don't bother as this is reasonably
| self-explanatory)
|
| I think I have traced the problem I was having to what Norton Disc Doctor
| told me was a lost cluster in the io.sys file which seems bad enough
| (curiously it reported what it thinks is a corrupted io.sys file as a
| non-critical error which is a bit mysterious?).  It surely would cause the
| system to not boot? (the mobo manufacturer claims that windows 2000 is
| designed to work equally with all sorts of different disc controllers and
| that updating some controller driver is never the cause of a non-boot
| problem)
|
| What I was wondering is whether I can merely copy an io.sys backup file to
| the root or if there is some more full method of making the disc bootable
| again which I need to use (such as running SFC /scannow from a Windows 98
| boot disc, as suggested elsewhere, presumably checking the boot files?). 
Is
| there a way of running setup from the i386 directory on a CD to reinstall
| just the boot files and/or check all files including the boot files in
| WIndows 2000?
|
| FP
|
|

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