Microsoft KB Archive/93535

= Windows NT Boots, but Looks for Wrong Boot Directory =

Article ID: 93535

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1

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This article was previously published under Q93535



SUMMARY
Windows NT may boot successfully, but look for the wrong boot directory. One possible cause of this problem is installing over an earlier installation of Windows NT. The BOOT.INI file isn't correctly updated during the subsequent installation; certain releases marked the BOOT.INI read-only.

Another cause might be an unsupported partitioning scheme, such as a MOST partition. When Windows NT encounters an unknown partition type, the numbering of logical partitions may be off by one.

Installing Over a Prior Installation
If you are going to install over a previous installation, make sure that the BOOT.INI file is not read-only so that Setup can modify it.

NOTE: Windows NT is not an upgrade. Installing Windows NT over a previous installation will erase any customizations you have made.

If you inver a previous installation, make sure that the BOOT.INI file contains references to the correct directory (for example, C:\WINNT rather than C:\NT).

Installing With a Different Partitioning Scheme
If you have installed NT on a machine with a different partitioning scheme, try changing the boot partition specified in the BOOT.INI file.

Settings for GUI Installation
The GUI installation program creates a different BOOT.INI file, containing SCSI syntax. Before the SCSI syntax can be used, the appropriate miniport driver must be copied from C:\NT\SYSTEM\DRIVERS to C:\NTBOOTDD.SYS. (See below for a detailed explanation of the SCSI syntax and for descriptions of the miniport drivers.)

NOTE: The GUI installation program copies the driver and changes these settings automatically. When you change SCSI adapters, run the Windows NT Setup, choose Add/Remove SCSI Adapters from the Options menu, and add the new adapter. Do this BEFORE physically removing the old SCSI adapter or you won't be able to start Windows NT. [multiboot] timeout = 30 default = scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt

[operating systems] scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt = &quot;Windows NT&quot; /NODEBUG c:\ = &quot;MS-DOS&quot; The SCSI syntax is as follows scsi(w)disk(x)rdisk(y)partition(z)\winnt where:


 * &quot;w&quot; is the SCSI controller number; numbering starts at 0 (only one SCSI controller number is supported at this time).
 * &quot;x&quot; is the SCSI ID number, 0 to 7. Some controllers reserve IDs 0 and 1 for BIOS support for hard drives and ID 2 for a CD-ROM drive. This is not a requirement for Windows NT.
 * &quot;y&quot; is the SCSI Logical Unit number (up to 255 units are supported).
 * &quot;z&quot; is the partition (0 would specify the whole logical unit).

The following are some of the common miniport drivers included:   Driver                 Controller AHA154X               Adaptec 154x/164x AHA174X               Adaptec 174x SPARROW               Adaptec 151x/152x/AIC 6260/6360 BUSLOGIC              BusLogic Family DPTSCSI               DPT 20xx FD16_700              Future Domain 16xx FD7000EX              Future Domain / Western Digital 7000EX FD8XX                 Future Domain 8xx NCR53C9X              NCR 53c9 NCRC700               NCR c700 NCRC710               NCR c710 OLISCSI               Olivetti SPOCK                 IBM PS/2 T128                  Trantor t128 T13B                  Trantor t130b ULTRA14F              UltraStor 14f, 34f ULTRA24F              UltraStor 24f ULTRA124              UltraStor 124f WD33C93               Western Digital 33c93 NOTE: If you are moving your Windows NT installation from one of the first two drives in the system to a third or later drive you will need to change the ARC path from a multi notation to scsi notation. In this case it may also be necessary to create an NTBOOTDD.SYS file in the root of drive C.

Additional query words: prodnt

Keywords: kbsetup KB93535

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