Hardware

Ask something
Question Locked

Floppy boot problem in Winxp sp2

0 helpful
13 replies

by myown25789

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

My PC has the following configurations.

-AMD ATHLON 64 4200
-1 GB RAM
-One IDE hard disk 80 gb
-One SATA hard disk 80 gb
-Windows xp sp2 on IDE HD
-All partitions NTFS

My problem is:

1. I created a ms-dos bootable floppy by right-clicking A: in my computer and then formatting it with the option "create an ms-dos boot floppy". When I tried to boot with this floppy, the following screen appears.

"Type the name of the command interpreter, e.g. c:\windows\command.com".
A>_

I checked the floppy, command.com is very much there on the floppy.

2. I copied the NTLDR, NEDETECT.COM and BOOT.INI from my PC to a formatted floppy and tried to boot from it. The following screen appeared.

NTLDR is not found at /disk0/rdisk0/partition1... etc., whereas this is the exact location where NTLDR is on my PC. I have confirmed the location from boot.ini in C:\.

3. I am able to boot into dos mode from a WINDOWS98 CD.

4. Earlier I was able to save my MBR on a floppy by using Ranish Partition Manager. Now I am no longer able to do so, because of the above problem.

Can any one please help me out?

With love to all and a load of thanks in advance,

R Subudhi,
Bhubaneswar, India

13 replies

by maniacman

It would also help if he got right to the point instead of rambling on about his PC config and whatnot. This guy is every PC Support tech's worst nightmare because he expects help when he can't actually explain what the problem is in the first place.

by thumbsup2

If you can't say something nice, then keep your trap shut. That isn't a very professional answer to someone with a problem and we would all appreciate it if you would stop trying to give us all a bad reputation!

Besides, he's not EVERY PC Support Tech's worst nightmare. Maybe yours because you need someone who knows what the problem is before he asks the question. But, he's not mine and I would appreciate it if you do not include me in your assumptions.

In fact, he's better than most who ask for help on this forum. We almost ALWAYS ask for system specs with this type of problem. He has provided details and expects us to ask intelligent questions to lead him in the right direction. If he KNEW what the problem was, he COULD be a Support Tech himself.

Now, to the problem.... he has created a DOS boot floppy and really wants to create an XP boot floppy.

Microsoft provides a detailed explanation on how to do so.

by myown25789

If you don't have the common sense to read the heading of a post (in my case, it was "Floppy boot problem in windows xp" - not being able to boot into PC with a floppy), you need not post such abusive reply to a post.

At any rate, I certainly did not invite a self-proclaimed Super Tech Specialist like you to extend help!

by myown25789

My problem is,

i) how can I boot my PC with a Dos-bootbale floppy, so that I can save the MBR to a floppy using any third party disk/partition manager?

ii) How can I boot my PC into Windows XP with a floppy, in case NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM in the boot drive (C:\) gets corrupted?

I have tried both the methods of creating a boot floppy, but have not been successful. Pl refer to my first post for the details.

Thank you for your reply.

Subudhi/India

by thumbsup2

i) Usually, the 3rd party disk/partition manager programs have their own utiltiy to create the bootable floppy that they will require.

ii) You can't boot INTO WinXP using a floppy. The floppy loads itself, not WinXP. You can, however, create a bootable floppy that is used to start the WinXP setup. From there, you MAY have access to the command prompt loaded on the floppy which might be able to read the NTFS file system and allow you to copy portions of the system. The only way to create that kind of floppy is to download it from Microsoft.

by maniacman

but I still don't understand what he's trying to accomplish.

by thumbsup2

You didn't say why it is that you're trying to create a DOS boot floppy. You also said earlier you could save the MBR on a floppy, but didn't say why you would want to do that now. Booting to DOS won't be able to read either of the XP drives (NTFS file system), so we're not exactly sure what it is you're trying to accomplish. but here are a couple of things to check.

(1) The config.sys and autoexec.bat files on the bootable floppy must have the files needed on the floppy and the path to the files indicating they're ON the floppy and not pointing to the hard drive.

(2) Windows98 CD won't boot to DOS either. You need a Win98 Boot floppy.

Now, if what you're trying to do is to wipe the drive and start over with a clean install of XP and you can not boot to the XP CD, here's the link at Microsoft to create an XP boot floppy.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310994/en-us

Note: This will NOT give you the opportunity to save your data from the hard drive.

If this is not what you're looking for, then please be more specific about what the problem seems to be. Why do you need to boot to DOS?

by myown25789

Many thanks for the trouble you took in replying to my post.

Thing is I have already gone through Microsoft's detailed article providing guidelines for creating a bootable floppy and I have already mentioned this in my first post itself.

The first method suggested was to (I am repeating what I have already mentioned in my post) "right-click Floppy drive icon in My Computer, select Format, choose the option Create an MS-Dos bootable floppy". The blank floppy kept in the floppy drive will then be formatted by the system and necessary files will be copied to it so that the floppy thus created can be used to boot the PC.

I am also aware of the fact that the files written unto the floppy in the above process are files that were available in Windows ME to create a boot floppy.

I am also aware that if you boot into your PC with a Dos bootable floppy, you can't access your NTFS partitions. In fact, I don't need to. I need to boot for a different purpose, that is to save the MBR of both the hard disks unto a floppy by using Ranish Partition Manager.

Problem is when I am trying to boot from a floppy created in the above process, a message pops up after POST, "Please type the name of the command operator, such as C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM...". Below this line, I find "A>" exactly in this way, and not "A:\>" as it should be. If I type any other command at A> prompt, the earlier message is only repeated, i.e., "Type the name of ....".

The reason of the message is understandable. Command.com file on the floppy(I checked, the file is very much there on the floppy) is not being recognised by the program. Why, I can't fathom out.

However, it was possible to boot my PC from a Windows 98 CD. But then the problem was, Windows 98 CD is creating a RAM DRIVE to load the necessary DOS files, and assigning it the drive letter A:. Floppy drive is being assigned the letter B:. Fine. But Ranish Partition Manager is not being able to write any thing to B: drive.

Then I also tried to boot my PC from a floppy with NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI as suggested by Microsoft in the article you have suggested, and was not successful. I have already told in my first post, the problems I faced.

To sum up, I HAVE TRIED BOTH THE METHODS FOR BOOTING INTO A PC FROM A BOOTABLE FLOPPY, BUT AM NOT BEING ABLE TO.

If any body can kindly analyse the error messages and guide as to what is wrong, why I am not being able to, I shall really be grateful.

People with rude and know-all attitude like Maniacman, better keep away.

Thank you again.

by bizzo

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
This site has a lot of boot disk images that you may be able to make use of. About half way down the page there is a link to NTFS boot disks and CDs.

If you need access to your system but are unable to boot normally, hence the need for a boot disk, then you may be able to make use of the Knoppix boot CD/DVD. It's free, boots to a linux os from the CD, and does give you access to your NTFS system.
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

by myown25789

Many many thanks Bizzo for your kind reply.

I have already visited bootdisk.com and also ultimatebootcd.com, another useful site suggested by them. I have already downloaded the iso file for ultimate boot cd and created a boot cd.

I am able to boot into my PC from this ultimate boot cd created. But the problem with this boot cd is that you can't have access to your floppy drive after you boot. What it is doing, it is assigning itself a drive letter T: and creating a RAM drive at A: with some files there. From this, I guessed it may be possible to use my floppy drive by accesssing B:. When I typed B: at the command prompt and pressed "Enter", it asked me to insert a new floppy to B:. Keeping a floppy in the drive, I pressed Enter, and it showed B:\> prompt, but did not actually access the floppy. "Dir" command at B: prompt showed the files that were in A: RAM drive, but not the files of the floppy.

My purpose is to save MBR of both my hard disks to a floppy through Ranish Partition Manager. I can do so only if I can boot to the PC through DOS. Then I could run Part.exe from the floppy and by using the option "Save MBR to floppy", I could save the MBR.

You could ask why I want to save the MBR. I have found out that saving MBR helps in an emergency when for some reasons you want to undo changes made to your boot record/boot partition.

Thing is I was able to do it earlier. But don't know why I am not being able to do so any more.

Thank you again.

by rahouseholder

I suggest you download the image for creating a Windows 98 boot disk from Bootdisk.com. It has saved me a number of times when I needed to boot to dos and didn't need access to my NTFS partitions.
There is also a version that does not create a ram drive...

This discussion is closed to new replies.