It is curious isn't it.

I did successfully open the BOOT.INI file in notepad as you suggested but the result was not what I expected. On my work laptop, the file looked exactly the same as yours. On the new HDD it was as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[operating systems]
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Windows XP Installation/Upgrade"

The C: drive on the desktop also has a BOOT.INI that looks correct. The one on the new drive appears to have incorrect or missing lines under the [operating systems] section.

I have reread the article you posted before, and whilst it explains the lines, I am no clearer as to why that might be happening.

If it thought it was a slave (back to my earlier concerns about where to place the drive) then it might not expect an OS and therefore not need those entries?

I could be wrong - but
 

There may be some significance in the entry that says "upgrade"

I know that it is just a description in the boot.ini file, however, it indicates to me that the XP install CD is not a full install?????

In which case the upgrade is relying on a previous install to take care of the boot.

The install on my dual boot - the boot.ini says only "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" - this was performed from an OEM WinXP Pro CD.

The WinXP Pro is on partiton(3) of rdisk(0) - my XP Home is on partition(1) of rdisk(0)

Did you try editing boot.ini?

(funny the use of the "k" in the labels disk and rdisk - I though disk was short for diskette???? an HDD is a Hard Disc Drive - but I guess we speak English as opposed to the strange dialect that we have to live with!)
Martin

One more find!
 

Doing a final poke around I came across:

Simple "ntldr is missing" fix with boot floppy, CD-R, or USB flash

It even mentions the "<Windows Root>\system32\hal.dll was missing or corrupt" message that I was getting way back!

Martin

Sorry Martin, I am sure I replied earlier...but it's not there:confused:

Anyway, I can edit the BOOT.ini in notepad as you suggest and looking at your latest post, I could change the attributes. However looking at the file it throws up another interesting point.

It appears to be missing some lines:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
C:\ = "Microsoft Windows"
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT = "Windows XP Installation/Upgrade"

Where are the ARC path lines?

Could it be back to the point I raised before about the position of the drive on IDE channel 1 or thinking it was a slave?

Master and Slave
 

Red,

As far as I understand the IDE identification of master and slave relates to the position of the jumpers on the drive.

When a drive is transferred to a laptop from a desktop it then becomes the Master (as it is the only drive and there are no jumpers to set - unlike an IDE drive in a desktop).

There only remains to determine the partition on which the boot manager resides. In my case the boot is on partition(1) [not partition(0) - this is where the recovery partition resides].

Setting the boot.ini to look at the appropriate partition (the one that contains the boot manager) is a matter of determining whether it is (0) or (1) - I think that it would be (0) in your case.

The boot disc would be disk(0), rdisk(0) and the partition(TBA) - and this would be in the default line of boot.ini

I am still not sure about the upgrade/full install issue.

Martin

I doubt it is a boot.ini issue, this file (if it even exists) is created during the installation, and it sounds like you are still not even getting through the entire installation.


*Assuming you are still using my tutorial as a guide to install XP*
This may be an odd thing to try, but MS has known issues with the NT filesystem and large files on the root drive, they are documented in many places, including: Windows may not start and you may receive an "NTLDR is missing" error message if Windows is not up-to-date and there are too many files in the root folder
and the .cab files which are compressed collections of the Windows OS are fairly large, especially for the FAT32 filesystem which this process requires.

Format the drive as usual, create 2 active partitions, 1 for DOS small and on the front of the drive, a 2nd larger after DOS (DOS must be first it may not boot elsewhere on the drive) for XP.
Then add an extended partition on the end, doens't need to be huge, but large enough to hold the i386 folder. Separating the install folder and installation partition may help. Especially if the i386 partition is on a non active partition.

I recently ran this process on my laptop again, and found that it is much more consistent with these settings. Separating the OS is useful should you ever need to reformat and install, as you will not need to remove the hard drive, all the files and DOS will already be on the drive :)

Forgive me if i missed it in all the previous posts, but have you tried starting the installation from another computer?
Use the desktop to start XP installing, when it attempts to reboot for the first time, hold you power button so that it will not restart, and place the drive back in the other computer, when it starts it should continue the installation process, thus setting up your proper hardware devices.

**The NTLDR missing is a common error, and rarely does it have to do with a missing file, unfortunately this is one of MS blanket errors that appears for one of a many possible reasons...

Hi Guys, thanks for the responses.

Unfortunately, it is a busy Laptop so I had to put the old drive back in again and let my Daughter take for a couple of weeks.

When she gets back I'll try the suggestions. I am getting a bit concerned about continually taking it out and putting it back, the cables and pins are fairly flimsy. I have already had to replace the power button cable and the touch pad cable. They are ok now but the ribbon from the back of the HDD is the one that worries me.

Still, I'll be brave and keep trying when I get it back.

Cheers!

I fully agree! As I have said elsewhere - it is too easy to stray from the original problem!