Wiping off the Win2K / WinME boot menu

I had a multi-boot machine - I installed Win2K on a seperate HD (which died)
now I have one drive with Windows ME on it. I don't want the "Please select
which version of windows you want to boot into screen" to appear any more
because the default option is win2k and I like to start the machine remotely
using a magic packet.

I've been told inserting a boot disk and typing sys c: will fix this
problem, but I would like clarification of what sys c: will do - I don't
want to reinstall winme. I just want the option screen to go and the default
winme os to load as it does in a normal installation.

Thanks for any help.

Using SYS C: from a Win Me boot floppy will restore the Win Me boot
mechanism and no longer use the Win2K ntldr and boot menu. Once you have
used sys c: you should be able to boot directly into Win Me with no boot
menu. Once you have done this you can safely delete ntldr, ntdetect.com
and boot.ini files from the root of C: as they will no longer be being
used.
--
Mike Maltby



wrote:

I had a multi-boot machine - I installed Win2K on a seperate HD
(which died) now I have one drive with Windows ME on it. I don't want
the "Please select which version of windows you want to boot into
screen" to appear any more because the default option is win2k and I
like to start the machine remotely using a magic packet.

I've been told inserting a boot disk and typing sys c: will fix this
problem, but I would like clarification of what sys c: will do - I
don't want to reinstall winme. I just want the option screen to go
and the default winme os to load as it does in a normal installation.

Thanks for any help.

mechanism and no longer use the Win2K ntldr and boot menu. Once you have
used sys c: you should be able to boot directly into Win Me with no boot
menu.

Thanks Mike, now that I know I won't have to re-install, I'll give it a go.
Cheers.

wrote:

Thanks Mike, now that I know I won't have to re-install, I'll give it
a go. Cheers.

Best of luck, Hopefully all should go well and sys C: be all that is
required.
--
Mike Maltby

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:08:07 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

I had a multi-boot machine - I installed Win2K on a seperate HD (which died)
now I have one drive with Windows ME on it. I don't want the "Please select
which version of windows you want to boot into screen" to appear any more
because the default option is win2k and I like to start the machine remotely
using a magic packet.

What you could do is edit C:\BOOT.INI to make WinME the default boot,
and (if you like) change the timeout pause.

C:\Boot.ini will be hidden etc.

I've been told inserting a boot disk and typing sys c: will fix this
problem, but I would like clarification of what sys c: will do

Here's what's currently happening:
- BIOS runs MBR code
- MBR finds active partition, runs PBR
- PBR code from NT will load C:\NTLDR
- C:\NTLDR processes C:\Boot.ini
- if WinME selected, C:\BOOTSECT.DOS loaded
- C:\BOOTSECT.DOS run as if it was the PBR...
- ...so it loads C:\IO.SYS, and thus WinME

Sys C: will do the following:
- replace PBR withWinME PBR
- create C:\IO.SYS
- create C:\COMMAND.COM
- create C:\D??SPACE.BIN

Here's what will then happen:
- BIOS runs MBR code
- MBR finds active partition, runs PBR
- PBR code from WinME will load C:\IO.SYS
- C:\IO.SYS then loads WinME

Note that Sys C: will not preserve the existing PBR, and thus you
won't have a way to run the NT/Win2000/XP anymore, unless you repair
that. In XP, the Recovery Console's FixBoot will do that; dunno if NT
or Win2000 have a similar facility.

With that in mind, I'd prolly prefer the C:\Boot.ini option. BTW: Be
careful when ;commenting out items there; ; is not seen as a commenbt
character in certain parts of Boot.ini (where the OSs are defined).

Example:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
; Comments here are OK
; This may get DOS mode to boot by default...
; Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO
Default=C:\
;
; Do NOT comment in the next section !!
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO="Microso ft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO="Microso ft Windows XP
Professional No-NX" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO="Microso ft Windows XP
Professional No Parms"
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
C:\ = "Maintenance DOS Mode"



---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
Proverbs Unscrolled #37
"Build it and they will come and break it"
---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

All very educational but pretty irrelevant since the user no longer has a
hard disk or partition containing Win2K. I therefore see little or no
point in retaining ntldr, boot.ini etc and would strongly recommend that
he take the sys c: route rather than continue to encumber his system with
the unnecessary and unwanted NT boot loader.
--
Mike Maltby



cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user) wrote:

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:08:07 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

I had a multi-boot machine - I installed Win2K on a seperate HD
(which died) now I have one drive with Windows ME on it. I don't
want the "Please select which version of windows you want to boot
into screen" to appear any more because the default option is win2k
and I like to start the machine remotely using a magic packet.

What you could do is edit C:\BOOT.INI to make WinME the default boot,
and (if you like) change the timeout pause.

C:\Boot.ini will be hidden etc.

I've been told inserting a boot disk and typing sys c: will fix this
problem, but I would like clarification of what sys c: will do

Here's what's currently happening:
- BIOS runs MBR code
- MBR finds active partition, runs PBR
- PBR code from NT will load C:\NTLDR
- C:\NTLDR processes C:\Boot.ini
- if WinME selected, C:\BOOTSECT.DOS loaded
- C:\BOOTSECT.DOS run as if it was the PBR...
- ...so it loads C:\IO.SYS, and thus WinME

Sys C: will do the following:
- replace PBR withWinME PBR
- create C:\IO.SYS
- create C:\COMMAND.COM
- create C:\D??SPACE.BIN

Here's what will then happen:
- BIOS runs MBR code
- MBR finds active partition, runs PBR
- PBR code from WinME will load C:\IO.SYS
- C:\IO.SYS then loads WinME

Note that Sys C: will not preserve the existing PBR, and thus you
won't have a way to run the NT/Win2000/XP anymore, unless you repair
that. In XP, the Recovery Console's FixBoot will do that; dunno if NT
or Win2000 have a similar facility.

With that in mind, I'd prolly prefer the C:\Boot.ini option. BTW: Be
careful when ;commenting out items there; ; is not seen as a commenbt
character in certain parts of Boot.ini (where the OSs are defined).

Example:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
; Comments here are OK
; This may get DOS mode to boot by default...
; Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO
Default=C:\
;
; Do NOT comment in the next section !!
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO="Microso ft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO="Microso ft Windows XP
Professional No-NX" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\XPPRO="Microso ft Windows XP
Professional No Parms"
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
C:\ = "Maintenance DOS Mode"



---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
Proverbs Unscrolled #37
"Build it and they will come and break it"
---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

All very educational but pretty irrelevant since the user no longer has a
hard disk or partition containing Win2K. I therefore see little or no
point in retaining ntldr, boot.ini etc and would strongly recommend that
he take the sys c: route rather than continue to encumber his system with
the unnecessary and unwanted NT boot loader.

Well I'll tell you what I did in the end - saved feckin around with floppy
disks and rebooting and ensuring floppy drive was in the boot order, etc,
etc (by the way none of my floppy disks worked after all these years and the
boot disk I made was ignored anyway when I did get one to be read properly).

So, forget all that. All I did was:

C:\attrib -r -a -s -h boot.ini

and deleted the irrelevant bits from boot.ini and put the attribs back. Job
done. Didn't even need to reboot. Why couldn't someone have pointed that one
out to me to begin with?!! Hee he.