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nearly 2 operating systems on one disk

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7 replies

by kernow_boy 1 view

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My hard disk with Win98 has been accidentally overwritten with the start of NTserver. Now my machine boots to the the screen where you choose the operating system. NT does not boot, as it is not properly installed.
However if i start the boot process choose win98 and let that start to boot (it never finishes booting, then recycle the power I can boot into Win98 safe mode.
Any ideas how I can remove this unwanted version of NTserver without completely reloading my system. i.e. which filesneed deleting ect

Thanks in anticipation

7 replies

by hazzard_005

Check and see if you have all the NT boot files.

NTldr
ntdetect.com
Boot.ini

Remove these and you should not get the nt portion to boot. You may also need to reload the boot files for 98 but seeing how it is booting to safe mode I'm not sure if you will need to.

Try from safe mode to create a boot disk. Make sure that you have sys.com on the disk. Boot to it. type sys a:\ c: {C being your boot drive}

That should recreate the 98 boot files if they were deleted with the Nt installation process.

Hope this helps.

by qballrail

When NT Server was installed, the Master Boot Record was over-written, that's where your boot menu is saved. To resolve this, run your W98 setup disk, but no format. Install to the same directory as you originally did on initial setup of W98, let it run setup completely. At worst, it will over-write mainly Windows files and registry but your saved documents will remain intact. You might have to reinstall some programs due to registry over-write, but maybe not. I've followed this procedure with mixed results, sometimes I have to reinstall some programs, othertimes not. The MBR will be restored and you shouldn't have to hassle with the boot menu any more. Also, delete the WinNT directory from a Command prompt.

The reason NT won't boot is because there is no ntldr to begin with.

Hope this helps and good luck!

by espet

Reboot with a win98 boot disk. At the command prompt type fdisk /mbr. This will rewrite your mbr and win 98 will boot properly. Manually delete the nt partition using fdisk. Hope that helps.

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