Boot problems - "Error loading operating system"

I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am getting
an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to boot into
Windows.

I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not solved
the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to, not
knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been entering the
command at C: prompt or c:\windows

Can anyone help please?

TIA

Andrew Stucken

What was the other Operating System ? How many physical disks does
your system have in it ?

The key thing at this point is to go SLOWLY and do not randomly do
operations to the PC.

"Andrew Stucken" <Andrew Stucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EB305BF9-81D7-471E-88CF-E03F029CF1AE@microsoft.com...
>I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am
>getting
> an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to boot into
> Windows.
>
> I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not
> solved
> the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to, not
> knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been entering the
> command at C: prompt or c:\windows
>
> Can anyone help please?
>
> TIA
>
> Andrew Stucken

"Andrew Stucken" <Andrew Stucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EB305BF9-81D7-471E-88CF-E03F029CF1AE@microsoft.com...
>I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am
>getting
> an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to boot into
> Windows.
>
> I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not
> solved
> the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to, not
> knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been entering the
> command at C: prompt or c:\windows
>
> Can anyone help please?
>
> TIA
>
> Andrew Stucken

What is this "other OS"?

Try booting the machine with a WinXP floppy boot disk. You
can make it like so:
- Format a diskette on some WinXP/2000 PC.
- Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD to it:
* ntldr
* ntdetect.com
- Using a text editor, create the file a:\boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
- Boot the machine with this diskette and try all four options.
If none work, report what you see on the screen.

To answer the questions, I have one physical hard disk, paritioned into two
partitions: one containing Windows and oen not/

The other OS is Ubuntu 'Gutsy Gibbon'.

I will try to find a machine with a floppy drive. BTW can I use a USB drive
instead?




"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Andrew Stucken" <Andrew Stucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:EB305BF9-81D7-471E-88CF-E03F029CF1AE@microsoft.com...
> >I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am
> >getting
> > an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to boot into
> > Windows.
> >
> > I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not
> > solved
> > the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to, not
> > knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been entering the
> > command at C: prompt or c:\windows
> >
> > Can anyone help please?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> > Andrew Stucken
>
> What is this "other OS"?
>
> Try booting the machine with a WinXP floppy boot disk. You
> can make it like so:
> - Format a diskette on some WinXP/2000 PC.
> - Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD to it:
> * ntldr
> * ntdetect.com
> - Using a text editor, create the file a:\boot.ini:
> [boot loader]
> timeout=15
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /fastdetect
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /fastdetect
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /fastdetect
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /fastdetect
> - Boot the machine with this diskette and try all four options.
> If none work, report what you see on the screen.
>
>
>

You can use a USB flash disk, provided that you can
convince your BIOS to boot off it. Alternatively you
can temporarily rip a floppy disk drive out of some other
machine and connect it to your machine, or burn a
bootable CD on the other machine.


"Andrew Stucken" <AndrewStucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:870739BF-BB4C-4B0C-89CB-6E3AB3D26DF0@microsoft.com...
> To answer the questions, I have one physical hard disk, paritioned into
> two
> partitions: one containing Windows and oen not/
>
> The other OS is Ubuntu 'Gutsy Gibbon'.
>
> I will try to find a machine with a floppy drive. BTW can I use a USB
> drive
> instead?
>
>
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Andrew Stucken" <Andrew Stucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> message
>> news:EB305BF9-81D7-471E-88CF-E03F029CF1AE@microsoft.com...
>> >I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am
>> >getting
>> > an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to boot
>> > into
>> > Windows.
>> >
>> > I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not
>> > solved
>> > the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to, not
>> > knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been entering
>> > the
>> > command at C: prompt or c:\windows
>> >
>> > Can anyone help please?
>> >
>> > TIA
>> >
>> > Andrew Stucken
>>
>> What is this "other OS"?
>>
>> Try booting the machine with a WinXP floppy boot disk. You
>> can make it like so:
>> - Format a diskette on some WinXP/2000 PC.
>> - Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD to it:
>> * ntldr
>> * ntdetect.com
>> - Using a text editor, create the file a:\boot.ini:
>> [boot loader]
>> timeout=15
>> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
>> [operating systems]
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
>> Professional" /fastdetect
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
>> Professional" /fastdetect
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
>> Professional" /fastdetect
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
>> Professional" /fastdetect
>> - Boot the machine with this diskette and try all four options.
>> If none work, report what you see on the screen.
>>
>>
>>

I bought an external floppy drive, created a boot disk as instructed - and it
worked!!

I booted straight into my existing Windows installation. Thankyou, this has
really solved a headache.

Is it possible to now set up booting straight from the hard disk , please?



"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

> You can use a USB flash disk, provided that you can
> convince your BIOS to boot off it. Alternatively you
> can temporarily rip a floppy disk drive out of some other
> machine and connect it to your machine, or burn a
> bootable CD on the other machine.
>
>
> "Andrew Stucken" <AndrewStucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:870739BF-BB4C-4B0C-89CB-6E3AB3D26DF0@microsoft.com...
> > To answer the questions, I have one physical hard disk, paritioned into
> > two
> > partitions: one containing Windows and oen not/
> >
> > The other OS is Ubuntu 'Gutsy Gibbon'.
> >
> > I will try to find a machine with a floppy drive. BTW can I use a USB
> > drive
> > instead?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "Andrew Stucken" <Andrew Stucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> >> message
> >> news:EB305BF9-81D7-471E-88CF-E03F029CF1AE@microsoft.com...
> >> >I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am
> >> >getting
> >> > an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to boot
> >> > into
> >> > Windows.
> >> >
> >> > I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not
> >> > solved
> >> > the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to, not
> >> > knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been entering
> >> > the
> >> > command at C: prompt or c:\windows
> >> >
> >> > Can anyone help please?
> >> >
> >> > TIA
> >> >
> >> > Andrew Stucken
> >>
> >> What is this "other OS"?
> >>
> >> Try booting the machine with a WinXP floppy boot disk. You
> >> can make it like so:
> >> - Format a diskette on some WinXP/2000 PC.
> >> - Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD to it:
> >> * ntldr
> >> * ntdetect.com
> >> - Using a text editor, create the file a:\boot.ini:
> >> [boot loader]
> >> timeout=15
> >> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
> >> [operating systems]
> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
> >> Professional" /fastdetect
> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
> >> Professional" /fastdetect
> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
> >> Professional" /fastdetect
> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
> >> Professional" /fastdetect
> >> - Boot the machine with this diskette and try all four options.
> >> If none work, report what you see on the screen.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Congratulations! Your report confirms that there is nothing
wrong with Windows itself, only with the boot environment.

You should now adjust the hidden file c:\boot.ini to reflect
the boot line that was successful when booting from the
floppy disk (Item 1, 2, 3 or 4).

You should also click Start / Run / diskmgmt.msc so that
you can mark your primary partition as "active".


"Andrew Stucken" <AndrewStucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:674D214C-3168-4DF4-BD52-23F6CFBB5BCD@microsoft.com...
>I bought an external floppy drive, created a boot disk as instructed - and
>it
> worked!!
>
> I booted straight into my existing Windows installation. Thankyou, this
> has
> really solved a headache.
>
> Is it possible to now set up booting straight from the hard disk , please?
>
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
>> You can use a USB flash disk, provided that you can
>> convince your BIOS to boot off it. Alternatively you
>> can temporarily rip a floppy disk drive out of some other
>> machine and connect it to your machine, or burn a
>> bootable CD on the other machine.
>>
>>
>> "Andrew Stucken" <AndrewStucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> message
>> news:870739BF-BB4C-4B0C-89CB-6E3AB3D26DF0@microsoft.com...
>> > To answer the questions, I have one physical hard disk, paritioned into
>> > two
>> > partitions: one containing Windows and oen not/
>> >
>> > The other OS is Ubuntu 'Gutsy Gibbon'.
>> >
>> > I will try to find a machine with a floppy drive. BTW can I use a USB
>> > drive
>> > instead?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >> "Andrew Stucken" <Andrew Stucken@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> >> message
>> >> news:EB305BF9-81D7-471E-88CF-E03F029CF1AE@microsoft.com...
>> >> >I installed another OS hoping to dual boot with Windows and now I am
>> >> >getting
>> >> > an error message: "Error Loading Operating System" when I try to
>> >> > boot
>> >> > into
>> >> > Windows.
>> >> >
>> >> > I have used the fixmbr command in XP Recovery Console but it has not
>> >> > solved
>> >> > the problem. When I was asked which installation I wanted to go to,
>> >> > not
>> >> > knowing what to put, I hit '1' and Enter. Should I have been
>> >> > entering
>> >> > the
>> >> > command at C: prompt or c:\windows
>> >> >
>> >> > Can anyone help please?
>> >> >
>> >> > TIA
>> >> >
>> >> > Andrew Stucken
>> >>
>> >> What is this "other OS"?
>> >>
>> >> Try booting the machine with a WinXP floppy boot disk. You
>> >> can make it like so:
>> >> - Format a diskette on some WinXP/2000 PC.
>> >> - Copy these files from the i386 folder of your WinXP CD to it:
>> >> * ntldr
>> >> * ntdetect.com
>> >> - Using a text editor, create the file a:\boot.ini:
>> >> [boot loader]
>> >> timeout=15
>> >> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
>> >> [operating systems]
>> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
>> >> Professional" /fastdetect
>> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
>> >> Professional" /fastdetect
>> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
>> >> Professional" /fastdetect
>> >> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
>> >> Professional" /fastdetect
>> >> - Boot the machine with this diskette and try all four options.
>> >> If none work, report what you see on the screen.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>