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I have multiple partitions on my desktop for a number of Windows versions as well as three Linux distros. My Win2000 is :F, and I have a legacy install of Win95 on :C...but yesterday when I tried booting up Win2000 (after several years) a BIOS intercept said startup files were corrupted and I needed to insert the install CD for repair. (NBD, I still have it.)
Question is, will inserting the CD repair the corrupted install on :F or try to overwrite :C and install there, instead?
Hey...long time no see.... Here's a pretty good article:
How to repair Windows XP/2000 if you are unable to boot into Windows
https://www.techspot.com/community/t...-windows.8356/
Step 1: Determine the problem
First, figure out what CAUSED the problem. Often times, when Windows is rendered unbootable, there is a good reason. This can often be due to hardware failure (bad hard disk, memory or CPU for example). In these cases, the system repair function will not work. System repair will only repair your software.
Hey! Hope all's well.
I haven't run/used 2k since 2k but this page seems to indicate that the install media will see the 2k partition(s) no matter which one it's installed on.
https://superuser.com/questions/4306...-clean-install
You can always boot to it and exit without doing anything if it looks dicey.
Hi guys, sorry it took me two weeks to get back to y'all, but I owed y'all the courtesy of a reply. Truthfully, I never had to wrestle with a DOS-based system (Mistake Edition excepted) more than I had to do so with this NT-based one. I eliminated the HDD as a problem since every other OS (including the Linux Red Hat distro) on it worked fine. I then tried to do a repair from the 2000 disc, no joy. The disc didn't detect the OS, but saw 46MB of something...popcorn, maybe. The emergency 4-disc repair floppy set I had collecting dust wouldn't load, either. I created a new set, they did nothing either. Went to another OS and looked this up in Computer\System\C: and the OS couldn't be opened. I finally got into the file system through the Administrator account, moved the few things I wanted to save to a flash drive, had yet another highball and am now reinstalling 2000 clean.
All this to try and recover a customer's install! I'm afraid to ask the old geezer why he sticks with it, but I know he's got a number of other boxes networked to it. Thank God he's in no hurry. I dunno whether the OS in question is Win2K Server, but for its age and his needs it's a nice OS. I retired, more or less, 12 years ago but still do favors for friends. Besides, I got a charge of playing with floppies again. Warren even has two boxes with ZIP drives, and my old work box can handle those too. I just wonder what the heck he's using for an AV - then again, the OS is so old hackers may not even bother with it now.
I think a dinner for four at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse will be a proper fee. :)
I hope the clean install goes well. I would hate to have to be messing Win2k at this point in time. Unless he is using it to control some critical ancient hardware that should be featured on the Antiques Roadshow, an upgrade to something more modern would be something to consider. If he is using it for critical hardware, he may be in big time trouble when that hardware eventually fails.
You're absolutely right—continuing to use Windows 2000 can be quite risky, especially as hardware ages and becomes increasingly difficult to replace. While it’s understandable that some legacy systems might still rely on it due to compatibility issues with specialized hardware, it's definitely worth exploring upgrade options or even virtualization solutions. Running the old system in a virtual machine could offer a temporary fix while transitioning to more modern hardware and software. It's better to address the issue proactively than to face a sudden failure down the road.