packman

Pezo, To date, on my PC, I've never run WinXP as the system partition, because WinXP has been a recent addition. So, what Ghost images I do have of WinXP are ones where WinXP is not the system partition. So, if I were to try to restore one of those XP images to the C partition, I'm wondering whether I could ever then get the C partition to boot, quite apart from the fact that F would also contain WinXP and therefore might possibly cause a problem. I could format F before, I suppose, but then I want to avoid that, if at all possible. (Mind you, I could make another image of WinXP, before; I make the images to an external drive). The thing is that, if I can't get WinXP in C to then boot, I won't be able to make any changes with the bootloader files and with boot.ini, to complete the exercise. Do you agree, or am I missing a trick here, somewhere? I still keep wondering about 'Mark Partition as Active', in Disk Management. Know what that does, and whether it could be of use here?

Okay, so we have: C: Win2K (primary,system) D: logical E: logical F: WinXP (primary) Would there be any way of simply swapping Win2K and WinXP around? In other words, of putting WinXP on C (making it the system) and Win2K on F? This would need to be done without use of a third-party utility and without losing WinXP.

Actually, I've now managed to restore (using Ghost) the dualboot setup I originally had and so I can now boot into either WinXP or Win2K. Interestingly, when I look at boot.ini now, it has the line: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect I presume that that variation is to give the user a choice of selecting either operating system when the menu's displayed? Actually, having restored to my more recent Win2K doesn't actually solve the original problem. But I've learnt a fair bit along the way. It rather looks as though my eventual formatting of Win2K and reinstalling it from scratch will render the same tricky result, ie. that although Win2K will then boot, WinXP won't - because Win2K, being the system partition, will not then contain the requisite boot.ini. It looks like the only way I'll be able to manually edit the boot.ini, when the time comes, is to uncover it in Win2K, double-click to open the file in Notepad and then edit it there. I've a few misgivings about that but I suppose I can now spend some time finding out exactly how to do it. I've not edited files like that for decades and can't recall all of the rules.

Have just discovered that bootcfg can only be run in WinXP.

Thanks for the advice. I'm more inclined to modify the boot.ini myself, as it's not clear to me as to how exactly you're supposed to run FixBoot. For example, do I ignore the current Win2K Recovery Console that I see when the machine boots up? Do I instead boot with the Win2k CD or the WinXP CD and, from that, choose Repair Console? And what commands/changes would I make in that? If I decide to modify Boot.ini, how exactly do I do that? Boot.ini can be viewed in Notepad. So, do I just click on Edit, at the top? Win2K is on C:\, WinXP is actually on F:\. There are two logical partitions, D and E, in between. I'd like to keep it like that. So, I'm not 100% certain of the required syntax for modifying the boot.ini. Would WinXP be regarded as being on partition (2) or partition (4)? Here's my stab at what the modified boot.ini would be. This assumes I'd make WinXP the default OS, rather than WinXP:- [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Recovery Console" /cmdcons To change the default OS, would I have to use 'rem' followed by a space, before the existing line? POSTSCRIPT: I've just found something on the Web that suggests that, if I can boot with the system partition (which I can), I could go to Start/Run and then type bootcfg /add Apparently, that causes the system to look for other bootable OSs on the same physical disc and adss them to the boot.ini. Is bootcfg /add known to work?

Ugh! I think that, by restoring an earlier image of Win2K, I may have broken a rule that says that you must always install Win2K BEFORE WinXP - or is that only in the case where you don't then copy WinXP's ntldr and ntdetect.com files across to Win2K? Either way, the boot files are now obviously wrong, because the menu at bootup is not showing Windows XP at all and I can't therefore boot into WinXP. Is there any way of correcting this? If I were to restore a WinXP image I made just a day or two ago, would that put matters right, or are the affected boot file(s)actually in a reserved, different part of the hard drive, and therefore not restorable? Incidentally, there's a 'Make Partition Active' setting in Win2K's Disk Management window (when you right-click on that partition) and at present the WinXP partition is non-active. Does this influence this problem? Oh and it's Windows 2K's Command Console that's showing at present in the boot menu, alongside 2K itself. I've just looked at the boot.ini file in Win2K's root and it says: [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Recovery Console" /cmdcons Is it possible to actually edit this, to put matters right? If so, how, exactly? Or do I have to somehow do it using the Command Console?

HELP, it's gone wrong! I decided that, rather than format the root (boot) partition and reinstall Win2K into it, I'd try restoring an earlier image of it. That went okay and it booted the earlier Win2K to screen. I then ran the WinXP installation CD and copied the WinXP versions of ntldr and ntdetect.com to the root of Win2K. But when I then rebooted, I didn't get the full menu of Win2K and WinXP. I only got Win2K and its Command Console. How do I regain WinXP? Clearly, the boot.ini file isn't right, now. I vaguely recall that you can use the Command Console to fix the bootfile. Can someone remind me how to do that? Remember that, at present, I'm only able to boot into Win2K. I want to get it so that I see the dualboot menu at startup and that WinXP is the default OS. Actually, the earlier image of Win2K turned out not to be of much use, so later I'll do what I originally intended and completely format the Win2K partition and reinstall Win2K.

I'm wondering what QoS does, under WinXP Home. Anyone know? You can find this setting at both: Tools/Internet Options/Connections tab/Settings/Properties/Networking tab and Control Panel/Network Connections/Local Area Connection. Right-click on LA Connection and select Properties. Scroll through the box there. It's obviously a Quality of Service option and, in WinXP Home, it's simply checkable or non-checkable. But what would you sacrifice if you didn't opt to check this entry? I gather that, in WinXP Pro, the QoS option opens out into further settings and that using some of those settings can sometimes improve browsing speed.

What do you mean by ".....I would not recommend you do this, as ......"? Do you mean "I would not recommend you use QoS", or do you mean "I would recommend you do NOT use QoS"?

Actually, I think there IS a problem here and that is that, irrespective of whichever radical changes I now make to Win2K - either formatting and reinstalling it, or restoring to an earlier version of it that doesn't contain the requisite WinXP boot files - when Win2K then attempts to boot, it will fail, won't it (because it simply won't have, at that stage, the required boot file versions)? I was hitherto thinking that, with the Win2K Setup completed, it would boot immediately to screen, regardless. But I think it will go instead to the boot menu again, but then fail to actually boot. Surely, the method I should use should be to ensure that the boot menu is set to default to WinXP instead and so, when Win2K exits its Setup, I should instead let WinXP boot. Then, in WinXP, I should use Windows Explorer to access the root folder of Win2K, use the WinXP installation CD, and transfer the ntldr and ntdetect files across. Then restart the PC and select to boot into Win2K. Do you agree? As for why I'm dual-booting with Win2K and WinXP, well, I'm (as it were) migrating off of Win2K on to WinXP, having been a Win2K devotee for several years. Really, the main reason why I've recently introduced XP on to my system is that some of my more-recent applications have neither installed properly nor function at best under Win2K, despite the applications being claimed to be also Win2K-compatible. Not only are application-writers making less and less provision for Win2K but also Microsoft themselves are waning in their support for Win2K - even though, historically, Win2K is only about 18 months older than WinXP. So, I've kinda been forced to make the change to WinXP. There are a myriad of other reasons also why I want to keep Win2K for a while yet, but these are very much down to backup design, personal preferences, and niggling differences between the two OSs, and I don't really want to go into all of that in this particular Topic.

As of today (25th Jan 2007), am I correct in thinking that Microsoft's Defender is now completely out of beta testing and is now a fully-fledged add-on? How reliable is it, working under WinXP? IE6 SP1 surely already includes anti-popup, so why is it also included in Defender?

As long as the new Win2K will boot to screen at the end of the Win2K Setup, it won't be necessary to run the Recovery Console. Instead, all I'd need to do is copy the ntldr and ntdetect.com files from the XP installation CD across into the root of 2K, to replace 2K's versions. I suspect that that's the equivalent of running the Console.

I'm trying to run a Disk Cleanup on a Win2K partition (My Computer, rt-click and choose Properties of the partition, click Disk Cleanup button). But having clicked on the button, the initial analysis by Windows of the amount of files that could be ditched seems to take for ever and, having tried it three times, I've had to cancel the initial analysis and therefore the cleanup, as the hard drive just seems to be constantly frantically reorganising files in order to do the calculations. Is there a known issue of this in Win2K, as the same operation on a WinXP partition on the same hard drive runs troublefree? Both partitions are NTFS. Admittedly, the used degree of the Win2K partition is 6.6GB. But the initial analysis on the 2.6GB WinXP partition took about 5 secs, whereas the Win2k analysis runs for more than 5 mins and it continues to run and run. My Win2K partition runs Norton Ghost 2003, though obviously no images are stored in that particular partition (only the referred virtual partition, VIRTPART.DAT). Is it therefore wise to do a disk cleanup on a partition that runs Ghost?

You're wrong, Dosfreak. It's official. If you read the KB article, you'll see that Microsoft have declared this a genuine problem in Windows 2000. I applied the remedy described in Microsoft's KB article - modifying a Registry key - and it worked. QED.

Yesterday, I finally found the answer. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886219. This is a bug affecting Win2K, including two Server editions. A Registry amendment is required. This is simple to do and completely cures the problem. I now have a cleaned-up partition.

Yes, I'm running two partitions on the same hard drive but, for doing Disk Cleanup, I'm booting into each respective OS. So, I'm already doing what you're suggesting. Under Win2K, the initial assessment of files just runs and runs.

But I've not opted to compress files! I'm just wanting to know why that assessment seems to be unending, in Win2K. Until it ends, I can't select any of the options it then presents and therefore the cleanup cannot proceed. Is it simply that I'm not waiting long enough for 6.6GB of files to be assessed, or is there, in fact, an issue with this in Win2K? I had a look at that KB article but I'm not sure that that applies here, as I've not opted to compress the drive. Or am I confusing compression of the drive with compression of individual files? The assessing process is not stopping, it's going on for ever!

I'm thinking of downloading and using iTunes on my WinXP Home machine. Given that the download also includes an automatic install of Quicktime, is there likely to be any clash of Quicktime with Windows Media Player 9 that's embedded in WinXP? I suspect that the installing (unavoidable) of Quicktime will make Quicktime automatically the default player and that WMP9 may well then be locked out. But would there still be some way of switching between Quicktime and WMP9?

Peterh, I've now answered my own question, having now downloaded and installed iTunes/QuickTime on to my WinXP machine. You can switch between the iTunes player (QT) and WMP via the Program Default settings in Add/Remove Programs. Just been configuring QT. Is it necessary to register QT (there's a registration tab in QT's Preferences), or do you need to do that only if you're interested in getting info about QT Pro?

So, will I be able to switch between Windows Media Player 9 and Quicktime, or will it be the case that once I've allowed Quicktime to be the default player, I'll be stuck with it?

I'd like some feedback from anyone who's using a Microsoft mouse that employs Intellipoint software newer than v4.1. It seems that, since Intellipoint v.4.1, Microsoft have released several alternative versions - 5.1, 5.2, 6.0, etc. But what I'm needing to know is whether any of these more recent versions include a feature for setting the ACCELERATION of the mouse pointer, AS WELL AS the speed of the pointer. I use a MS Optical Mouse Blue (corded) and have just changed from using Win2K to WinXP but am sorely disappointed that, under WinXP, the ACCELERATION feature is unavailable, rendering the movement of the pointer, even when set at maximum speed, sluggish and reminiscent of the old ball-type mouse. It beggars belief as to why MS have done this. I'm therefore looking for a version of Intellipoint software that I can download from somewhere on MS's site where the Acceleration feature, under WinXP, has been restored.

What I meant by my posting is whether anyone was using a newer version of Intellipoint under WinXP. If so, they could look in the Pointer Settings and tell me whether there's an acceleration feature there. Microsoft have produced several revisions of the Intellipoint software since v4.1, so I'll need to make certain that any replacement version that I'll use will have that.

I've recently returned to using Internet Explorer 6, after having used Firefox for a long time. In IE, however, my username and password at websites like this are not being remembered. I've searched around the Security and Privacy tabs and settings in OE and IE but still haven't managed to find the key setting(s) that will enable the sites to set their cookies and therefore allow my usernames and passwords to be remembered by them. Can someone advise me where the crucial settings are located? OS is WinXP.

Update: From further tests I've run, it seems that cookies are properly held at some websites but not at others. I've noticed in particular that whilst usernames or e-mail addresses are properly retained at some websites, passwords are not, even though I've opted at those websites for the password to be also remembered. I can remain logged in at the website for the online session but if I come out of Internet Explorer and then go back on and go back to the website, I have to log in all over again. Could it be that some websites are using out-of-date SSL protocols? Actually, one of the websites where my password is not being retained is the Microsoft ID Passport (for Community Tech groups).

No, that doesn't work. Anyone else any suggestions?