Boot Trouble!! (WNT)

[RJ100]

Hello all: Just wondering if any one can assist us with this issue? We went to my computer on the desktop..right clicked...properties..start-up...
dropdown menu did read "windows NT workstation"
We changed it to "microsoft windows" and rebooted
Now all we get is C prompt. What to type to get back to desktop so we can change it back to
NT workstation?? Thanks, any help would be
really appreciated!! Ray.

I think I posted in the wrong area, please move if
necessary.. Thanks again...Ray<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by RJ100 on 05/16/03 15:24.</FONT></P>

[Andy-S]

When you are at the C: type edit boot.ini and change the timeout value to 10.

This will give you the choice of Windows or Windows NT on boot up. Select NT and then change the default back to Windows NT.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

Thanks for that Andy
We'll try that and get right back to you.

[RJ100]

alright when i put "edit boot.ini" into the command prompt it dsiplays:

Bad Command or file name

then takes me back to the "C:\&gt;" prompt.

[Andy-S]

Do you have NT on a FAT partition or a NTFS partition?

If it is FAT then type dir /s boot.ini to see if the file is found.

If not type attrib boot.ini and post the results.



Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

when i type dir /s boot.ini it says: "Invalid Switch - /"

then when i put in attrib boot.ini it says again: "Bad command or file name"

[Andy-S]

Do you know if the NT partition is NTFS or FAT?

If it is FAT download a W98 SE OEM bootdisk from here: <a target="_blank" href=http://www.bootdisk.com>www.bootdisk.com</a> and then try the same commands as earlier from the A:

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

i'm not sure if it is fat, but since i never changed those settings im guessing it is.

the computer does not have a functional A: Drive, but i do have knoppix which is able to connect to the internet on that computer. would i be able to get that file from knoppix and put it onto my hard drive?

[Andy-S]

When you are at the C: and you type DIR what folders are listed? Is there one called WINNT?

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

yes, there is.

i can type "cd winnt" to get into it, but i wouldn't have any idea where to go from there.

[Andy-S]

That's okay that means that it's FAT.

Type this at the C:\

attrib -r -s -h boot.ini

Then type edit boot.ini. What happens?

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

it says: "Bad command or file name"

[Andy-S]

When you type attrib or edit?

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

either way it displays: "Bad command or file name"

[Andy-S]

I may be confusing this with the autologon option but I believe there may be a way to override the default setting in boot.ini by pressing esc, F8 or spacebar during the boot process.

Try a few reboots and see if any of these methods displays the boot selection menu.



Cheers
Andy

[Andy-S]

Try this:

During boot, before the boot menu would appear, press and hold down the DOWN ARROW key.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

ok, when i press "f8" during startup, it takes me to a screen labled "Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu"

the odd thing is i have win nt 4.0 installed...

[RJ100]

when i hold down the down arrow key, it beeps simultaneously until i let go then brings me to the command prompt.

[Andy-S]

Try holding it down after POST has completed i.e. the memory count.

Also in the Windows 98 menu what options are available?

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

the options are:

1. Normal
2. Logged (\Bootlog.txt)
3. Safe Mode
4. Step-by-step confirmation
5. command prompt only
6. Safe mode command prompt only

[Andy-S]

Select 1 and see if it boots to Windows 98. If it does we can edit the boot.ini file in explorer.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

It flashes the Windows 98 startup screen for about a milisecond then takes me back to the command prompt.

[Andy-S]

As you don't have a floppy drive to run the utilities off then you need to retry holding down the down arrow. Try it a few different times during different parts of the boot process.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

alright, thanx alot for the info, i don't seem to be getting anywhere with the down arrow, but i'll keep trying.

thanks again.

[Andy-S]

If you had a floppy drive it would be simple to fix.

You can try this as a last resort tonight.

Copy the text in bold to notepad and save as C:\boot.ini

[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 NT Version 4.00"
C:\="Windows 98"



It's getting pretty late here so I'm going to call it a night. I'll check again in the morning. Maybe I'll get a brainwave during the night.

Let me know if you get any success.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

Thanks so much again Andy!! Will try this as soon as my son returns from work today

Take care, Ray

Just to let you know, I, Ray posted the first two posts and then my son took over the keyboard last night. He will most likely post next.
Also we were talking last night and we thought we would just format C: and install win98. At the command prompt you can't even do that. Strange.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by RJ100 on 05/17/03 11:19.</FONT></P>

[RJ100]

ok, i have gotten edit to work in dos now, and i enter all the info you gave me into an edit file. the problem is when i try to save it as "C:\boot.ini" it says "path/file access error"

[Andy-S]

Okay, if edit is working see if you can get attrib to work. Go to C:\windows and type:

attrib -r -s -h C:\boot.ini

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

when i try "attrib -r -s -h C:\boot.ini" it displays "This program cannot be run in DOS"

[Andy-S]

Can you access the C:\boot.ini file in edit?

Cheers
Andy

[Andy-S]

The attrib command should run in DOS. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you the one from the W98 boot disk.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

i can't access boot.ini in edit because it dosen't recognize it as a valid text file, i think.

[RJ100]

wait, im sorry, i just realized that if i typed in boot.ini i can open it. i'm in it now and awaiting instruction.

[Andy-S]

I just reread one of your previous posts when you said that you had knoppix on the computer. Can you access the boot.ini file from knoppix?

Cheers
Andy

[Andy-S]

Forget my previous message. In boot.ini where it says timeout=0 change it to timeout=10 and reboot. You should see the boot selection menu and select NT.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

ok, i tried saving it with the timeout value changed, but it displays "Path/File access error"

[Andy-S]

Just change the boot.ini as in my previous post.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

ok, i tried saving it with the timeout value changed, but it displays "Path/File access error"

sorry about the confusion =\

[Andy-S]

Looks like the timeline is screwed up with these posts /images/forums/icons/smile.gif. What are you using to edit the file?


Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

we are just using the default DOS edit console. it comesup when we type "edit" in "C:\winnt\system32&gt;"
it dosen't seem to work anywhere else.

[Andy-S]

So when you type edit the edit window appears and you can navigate to C:\boot.ini and open the file and modify the contents but can't save the file back to C:

I've sent you the W98 version of edit. Give it a try.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

the only problem for that is that i have no method of getting the files onto that computer.

[Andy-S]

I think the simplest thing to do would be to put the NT CD in the CD drive, navigate to the i386 folder, run winnt.exe and re-install NT in the same folder as it was previously.

What you really need to do is fix your floppy drive problem to help with troubleshooting in the future.

Cheers
Andy

[Andy-S]

Just thought of something. As you have two PC's, unplug the drive from the failing PC and plug it into the other PC. Just remove the cables from the CD drive and plug them in to the hard drive.

You can edit the boot.ini file on there and then put the drive back.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

alright then, thank you. i'll have to ask to get the origional nt cd. we didn't have it to begin with, hense us asking on here before going to drastic measures and re-installing nt.

thanks alot for your help though andy. :)

[Andy-S]

Ray,

Did you get any resolution to this?

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

Hello Andy, how are you doing?
We are in the process of getting a external floppy drive to hook up. So we can uplaod the files we got from you onto the NT machine. We were also interested in just scrubbing the hard drive and reloading win98se instead of NT but there again we still need the floppy to do it. One other suggestion we obtained was to burn the floppy files to a cd-rom and boot that way, but we can't config the bios to boot from cd-rom. Sooner or later, you jump through enough hoops, results are bound to happen. Take care Andy, and bye for now.
Feel free to post back.

[Andy-S]

Ray,

Let me know when you get the floppy and I'll help you go through the recovery process.

Cheers
Andy

[RJ100]

Hey Andy, Well we borrowed a floppy from a friend and were going to install, but......., The pins at the back didn't match exactly. This PC we have is made by Dell so it has a pin missing, same goes for the plug-in. The one we borrowed has all the pins configured or whatever. I just wanted to break one off but common knowledge said no-no.
Do you have any idea what the differences are in the pin configurations? I think now we have to look for a matching floppy or I wonder if we can get a floppy that will work off one the USB ports? Boy I tell ya one little miss click and all this happens!!
[20-20 hindsight.. I'll never do that again]

Talk to you later, Ray