OS problems...

I just got a new 80 GB HDD and wanted to install win 2000 prof., win Xp and windows 98 on it. It was successful.
But,... After installing win2000 and the necessary software associated with it, i shut down the machine and restarted after connecting another 80 GB HDD and 40GB HDD.
After tht, on starting win2000, it showed the stop error(blue screen). The other OS`s still work, i.e, win98 and win XP. I disconnected the other 2 HDD`s but.. win2000 still does not work.
Wat d`ya think could have happened? How can i fix this problem?
Thanks to anyone who comes to my rescue...

 

In what order did you install Win98,Win2k and WinXP ?
What is written on the blue screen of death (BSOD) ?

 

Hi, I presume you installed the OSs on different partitions. When you installed the new drives did the partition/drives number alter and the MBR is looking for 2000 on a different drive letter. Peace Mal

 

i installed the OS`s in the following order:
Win98. Win2k, WinXP.

The blue Screen shows this message:
STOP : c0000218 <Registry File Failure>
The registry could not load the hive file
SystemRoot\System32\Config\Software
or its log or alt.
It is corrupt, absent or not writeable.

Yup, they were all installed on the same HDD, with Win98 and Win2k on the same partition and Win XP on a different partition.

 

Using a 3rd party boot manager or are you using the WInNT Boot manager ?

Is Win98,WIn2k installed on the primary partition (that is active) and WinXP installed on a logical partition in an extended partition ?

From the BSOD one could try to:

1. Boot from the Win2k CD
2. Select Recovery Console
3. Select to use the Recovery Console on the Win2k Install
4. In the Recovery Console rename the file:
C:\Winnt\System32\Config\Software to C:\Winnt\System32\Config\Software.bak
5. In the Recovery Console copy the file
C:\Winnt\Repair\Software to C:\Winnt\System32\Config\Software
6. Try to boot windows 2000 normally

Another solution is to do a repair install of Win2k. If using the WinNT boot manager, then after repairing boot from the WinXP CD and enter recovery console and do a a fixboot to enable the WinXP bootmanager again.

 

No, i`m not using any third party boot manager. Just the default Win NT Boot manager.

Yes to the second part of the Question. Win 98 and win2k are installed ont eh same active partition. WinXp is installed on the
logical partition in an extended partition.

Lemme try the 2 suggestions. I`ll keep u posted.

 

thanks Snakefoot!
ur suggestion worked. i did wat u said abt going to the recovery console and all tht. and... it worked.
Thanks,... once again.

 

Because you have installed Win2k on a FAT32 partition (To support Win98) where recovery is limited compared to NTFS, then there is a high chance of experiencing this type of BSOD every time your machine is having an abnormal shutdown.

When taking the registry files from the repair folder then you will loose all settings made since you installed. (In this situation you had just done a fresh install so I guessed no important settings would be lost)