XP boot issue help needed

[joseg]

I have a weird setup on my XP Pro PC and would appreciate any help in fixing it.

I have an IDE drive that contains the boot.ini and associated files. It does not contain anything of great interest otherwise. It has a single partition and appears as C:

I have a SATA drive (E:, F:,G: )which contains the \WINDOWS directory and all the apps. It has 3 partitions, the first of which (E: ) is termed a boot partition by EASEUS Partition master, but it will not boot without the C: drive present.

My question is: How do I make the E: partition truly a boot partition so I can remove the C: drive?

The boot.ini file on C: has this content:
------
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

------

I don't want to mess up drive E: or lose any data on it.

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by joseg

I have a weird setup on my XP Pro PC and would appreciate any help in fixing it.

I have an IDE drive that contains the boot.ini and associated files. It does not contain anything of great interest otherwise. It has a single partition and appears as C:

I have a SATA drive (E:, F:,G: )which contains the \WINDOWS directory and all the apps. It has 3 partitions, the first of which (E: ) is termed a boot partition by EASEUS Partition master, but it will not boot without the C: drive present.

My question is: How do I make the E: partition truly a boot partition so I can remove the C: drive?

The boot.ini file on C: has this content:
------
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

------

I don't want to mess up drive E: or lose any data on it.

It seems you cant boot to windows because your MBR (Master Boot Record) can't not find the C drive that contains your Boot.ini
I would try EASEUS and try to create a boot MBR on your Sata drive directing it to the windows partition containing your boot.ini. I have used Paragon for this purpose and it worked ok just be very careful when doing something like this.

Cheers
Wdhpr

[joseg]

The system boots fine, but needs that C: drive in place.

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by joseg

The system boots fine, but needs that C: drive in place.

Question
Have you changed your BIOS settings?
Try changing your BIOS settings to direct the computer to your SATA drive. Boot your computer while tapping on your F10 key (works for my computer). This should take you to your BIOS settings. Change your primary boot drive to your SATA drive.

Check this website for more specific information on changing your bios settings.

Cheers
Wdhpr