Install Windows 2000 after Windows XP is Installed

Install Windows 2000 after Windows XP is Installed<= /span>

The stan= dard procedure for dual booting Windows operating systems is to install the olde= st version first followed by the newest operating system. That's good advice a= nd makes for the most trouble free installation, but for those who already hav= e XP installed and want to add Windows 2000, the following instructions will get= the job done.

Important Notes Relating to This Proced= ure - Read Before Proceeding

- Th= is procedure was tested on a box using FAT32 drives with a clean XP Pro installation.
- XP and W2000 were installed using Microsoft CD's, not branded computer seller versions.
- No applications other than the operating systems were installed. Cable access available.
- Read the entire article before you make a decision whether or not your situation and skill level makes this a viable operation. There are many variables which can impact successful completion.

This procedure is divided into two parts; Windows 2000 and Win= dows XP

Windows 2000 Procedur= es

· Boot the system using a Windows 98/Me startup diskette. It's necessary that the diskette contain drivers supporti= ng your CD ROM drive.

· Insert the W2000 CD into the CD ROM drive. <= /p>

· From the A: prompt, type X:\I386\WINNT.EXE (X is the letter of your CD ROM drive. Watch the boot process to see what letter is assigned to= the CD ROM when using the startup diskette)

· Select the partition where W2000 will be installed. This mu= st be a different partition from the one where Windows XP is installed. Either select a different partition, or create a new partition in the drive free space.

· Allow the W2000 installation to complete and the system will b= oot to W2000. If the boot into W2000 fails, remove the startup diskette from th= e A: drive and restart the computer.

The seco= nd part of the procedure is replacing the NTLDR and NTDETECT files that were changed during the W2000 installation, allowing both operating systems to be booted. This involves altering the system, hidden, and read-only file attributes to allow the replacement files to be copied to the C: drive.

A questi= on that is often asked is what are the NTLDR and NTDETECT files? NTLDR is a file that is pointed to by the boot record= of the computer. The NTLDR file then looks to the boot.ini file and loads the available operating system choices. Once you select one of the Windo= ws operating systems displayed, it runs the NTDETECT.COM file where control is passed to the osloader.exe file and the operating system of choice is loade= d. When W2000 is loaded after WinXP has been insta= lled, both NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM are overwritten which makes the steps below necessary to restore the files from the Windows XP CD.

Windows XP Procedures=

· Boot the system using the Windows XP CD ROM. Adjust the settin= gs in the BIOS if the system does not boot from the CD.

· When the prompt appears asking whether to Setup or Repair, sel= ect Repair. The Recovery Console will appear. Additional Recovery Console information is on the next page.

· Type FIXBOOT

· Type CD\

· Type ATTRIB -H NTLDR

· Type ATTRIB -S NTLDR

· Type ATTRIB -R NTLDR

· Type ATTRIB -H NTDETECT.COM

· Type ATTRIB -S NTDETECT.COM

· Type ATTRIB -R NTDETECT.COM

· Type COPY X:\I386\NTLDR C:\ (X =3D the drive where the XP CD R= OM is located)

· Type COPY X:\I386\NTDETECT.COM C:\ (X =3D the drive where the = XP CD ROM is located)

· Type EXIT

The syst= em will reboot and you should have access to either W2000 or WinXP. Again, understand that a single mistake can leave your system unusable. Be aware and willing to run that risk before using the above procedure.

Recovery Console

Windows = XP includes the Recovery Console that was first introduced in Windows 2000. The Recovery Console allows access to XP installations on FAT, FAT32 and NTFS volumes which are inaccessible via safe mode. The console may be used in two ways. It can be installed to a hard disk as a boot menu option or started f= rom the Windows XP CD used for setup. The Administrator password is required to access the installation. Three incorrect password entries forces a reboot.

Installing the Recovery Console

As discu= ssed above, the Recovery Console may be installed to hard disk or started from t= he XP Installation CD. The procedure below illustrates installing the console = as a boot menu option. This will require ~7MB of disk space. I feel this is the preferred option as immediate access to the Recovery Console is available, eliminating the need for access to the Windows XP Setup CD.

Step by Step Recovery Co= nsole Installation

Insert t= he Windows Setup CD. If AutoRun is enabled, close = the XP Setup screen that appears after inserting the CD.

Click [S= tart] [Run] and type in G:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons.= In this example, G:/ is the CD Drive= . Click [OK] to c= ontinue. The Windows Setup message box will open.

In the W= indows Setup message box, click [Yes] to confirm Recovery Console installation.

Recovery Console setup will next attempt to acess the In= ternet and perform a Dynamic Update to the installation files. If you don’t = wish to perform the update, press [Esc] to interrupt the Dynamic Update process = and use the existing setup files.

Once the Dynamic Update is completed, the Microsoft Windows XP Professional Setup sc= reen shown above will track the installation progress of Recovery Console as the files are copied and system files updated to place the Recovery Console on = the Boot Menu.

Upon completion of the Recovery Console install, the dialog box above is display= ed to confirm a successful installation. Click [OK] and restart the computer. = Note the instruction regarding HELP availability for the Recovery Console at the command prompt.

Removing the Recovery Co= nsole

Restart your computer, click Start, click My Computer, and then double-click the hard disk on which you installed the Recovery Console= .
On the Tools menu, click Folder Options<= /span>, and then click the View tab.
Click Show hidden files and folders, click to clear the <= span style=3D'font-family:Tahoma'>Hide protected operating system files check box, and then click O= K.
At the root folder, delete the Cmdcons folder and the Cmldr file.
At the root folder, right-click the Boot.ini file, and then click Properties.
Click to clear the Read-only check box, and = then click OK. <= o:p>
WARNING<= span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>: Modifying the Boot.ini= file incorrectly may prevent your computer from restarting. Be sure to dele= te only the entry for the Recovery Console. Also, it is recommended that = you change the attribute for the Boot.ini file back to a read-only state a= fter you complete this procedure. Open the Boot.ini file in Microsoft Windo= ws Notepad, and remove the entry for the Recovery Console. It looks simil= ar to this:

C:\cmdcons\bootse= ct.dat=3D"Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons<= /strong>

Save the file and close it.

Recovery Console Passwor= d

On many XP installations you can't start the Recovery Console because it won't recogni= ze your password. This registry edit causes the Recovery Console not to ask fo= r a password. This works for both XP Home and XP Professional.

Start | Run | Regedit
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Setup\RecoveryConsole
Set the DWORD Security Value to 1
Exit Registry and Reboot

Thanks to Bob W for sending me this registry edit.

Recovery Console Commands
Commands with descriptions available at the command prompt for use with the Recovery Console.

Command

Command Description

Attrib

Change file and directory attributes.

Batch

Execute specified text file (batch) commands.

Bootcfg

Configure boot file (boot.ini) settings.

ChDir (Cd)<= o:p>

Change/display the current directory.

Chkdsk

Check a disk for errors. Report capability.

Cls

Clear the screen.

Copy

Copy a file. Change file location= or name.

Delete (Del)

Delete files.

Dir

Display a list of subdirectories and files.

Disable

Disable a device driver or system service.=

Diskpart

Manage disk partitions.

Enable

Enable device driver or system service.

Exit

Exit Recovery Console and reboot.

Expand

Extract files from a compressed file format.

Fixboot

Write a new boot sector to a selected partition.<= /span>

Fixmbr

Repair the Master Boot Record (MBR).

Format

Format a disk partition.

Help

Display a list of Recovery Console commands.

Listsvc

Display available drivers and system services.

Logon

Log off and on to another Windows installation.

Map

Display drive letter mapping.

Mkdir (Md)

Create a directory.

More

Display (scroll) a text file.

Net Use

Connect drive letter to a network share.

Rename (Ren)

Rename files.

Rmdir (Rd)

Delete directory.

Set

Display/set environment variables.

Systemroot

Switch from current directory to system root directory.=

Type

Display a text file.

Command	Command Description
Attrib	Change file and directory attributes.
Batch	Execute specified text file (batch) commands.
Bootcfg	Configure boot file (boot.ini) settings.
ChDir (Cd)<= o:p>	Change/display the current directory.
Chkdsk	Check a disk for errors. Report capability.
Cls	Clear the screen.
Copy	Copy a file. Change file location= or name.
Delete (Del)	Delete files.
Dir	Display a list of subdirectories and files.
Disable	Disable a device driver or system service.=
Diskpart	Manage disk partitions.
Enable	Enable device driver or system service.
Exit	Exit Recovery Console and reboot.
Expand	Extract files from a compressed file format.
Fixboot	Write a new boot sector to a selected partition.<= /span>
Fixmbr	Repair the Master Boot Record (MBR).
Format	Format a disk partition.
Help	Display a list of Recovery Console commands.
Listsvc	Display available drivers and system services.
Logon	Log off and on to another Windows installation.
Map	Display drive letter mapping.
Mkdir (Md)	Create a directory.
More	Display (scroll) a text file.
Net Use	Connect drive letter to a network share.
Rename (Ren)	Rename files.
Rmdir (Rd)	Delete directory.
Set	Display/set environment variables.
Systemroot	Switch from current directory to system root directory.=
Type	Display a text file.