Re: lost cluster at io.sys file stopping boot

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: Dave Patrick (mail_at_NoSpam.DSPatrick.com)
Date: 06/29/04 

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 11:48:43 -0600

"Licensed to Quill" wrote:
<snip>
| I did go into the backup utility and make something called an ERD to which
I
| copied various files such as boot,ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com, bootsect.dos
| which is supposed to get me into Windows 2000 (I suspected that was too
| easy) and in fact all it did was to give me a mysterious error message
| telling me that the NTOSKRNL.exe file couldnt be found in the windows
2000
| > \system32\ directory which I don't beleive.
* The ERD is not a bootable disk. End of story.

But I suppose it is pretty
| predicatable if you try to repair an installation without those setup
| floppies.
* It wouldn't make any difference. Even if you have setup floppies they're
not good for anything without the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Repairing
with a restore CD-Rom won't be possible.

(not sure what the > sign was all about AND I am pretty sure that
| the file is there and probably exists in backup form as well, knowing
| Windows 2000. But the computer probably just wasnt looking in the right
| place for it for some reason (probably connected to my trying to repair an
| installation without those floppies again).
|
| Would it make any difference if I chaznged whatever is in the boot.ini
file
| if the 2000 installation uses a WINDOWS directory as oppose to a WINNT
| directory (which is as used in the system from which the ERD was made)?
This
| installation was an upgrade from a 98 installation which used the 98
| directories or am I still barking up the wrong tree without those setup
| floppies?
* Doubtful that the old '\windows' directory is used any more. Try creating
a boot floppy. For a floppy to successfully boot Windows 2000 the disk must
contain the "NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on a Windows 2000 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. Edit the boot.ini to give it a
correct ARC path for the machine you wish to boot. Something like this.

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows 2000" /fastdetect

(assumes Windows 2000 installed on the first partition of drive 0)

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