cant boot please help!!!!!!!!!!!

[meaty]

I recently set my system up for duel boot with 98se & win2k pro. I have been runnin it for a couple a days & all of a sudden when I try to boot it says DRIVE NOT READY
INSERT BOOT DISKETTE IN A:
PRESS ANY KEY WHEN READY?????

So I put a bottable disk in & it load the diagnostic tools & gets me to the A: prompt etc..

It happend the other night & somehow I got the O.S. back on? Whats going on here, I spent soo much time installing both O.S.'s the other day.
I dont want to reformat, I know there's a way past it.
Would someone PLEASE HELP !!! I have never used win2k before so maybe its something there, or maybe its a bios issue? Here is my system:

T-bird 700@850 1.80vcore
Asus k7m
pc133 128mb (crucial)
prophet geforce ddr-dvi
mx400
Maxtor HD (7200 ult66)
hi val 50x rom
Usb zip250


O and both are clean install's

 

[meaty]

1 more thing , its a 10gig H.D. half 98se other half 2k

 

[meaty]

please help!!!

 

[KGB]

Try not overclocking and see if your problem goes away.

 

[CyBOrz PaCe]

Just a thought... you running virus protection?

Boot Sector viruses can cause problems/symptoms just like that.

CyBOrz

 

[Slikkster]

Did you partition this drive so that it has more than one partition?
In other words, even though it's one drive, did you partition it so it is both a C: drive and a D: drive?

The problem with running Windows 2000 and Windows 98 on the SAME physical drive with ONE partition is that they both use the same directory structure. That is to say, both will install their files to the c:\program files folder. You can see what a mess that can turn out to be because each operating system will place files in some of the various program folders in the C:\Program Files folder. That's a recipe for disaster.

If you want to run them both from one drive, partition it so that you can place Win2K on the D: partition. That way, it's program files will go to d:\Program Files vs. C:\Program Files.

You didn't mention whether you could see the hard drive after booting with the floppy. Did you try entering "C:" (no quotes) at the A: prompt? Did it see the drive? If not, you've got other problems other than an operating system thing. If you can see the C: drive, do this:

Pull out the floppy. Reboot. Go into the Bios. Set your bios to boot from the CDROM first (vs. the a: or c: drives). Now, put the Windows 2000 CD in the CDROM. When it loads up, choose the repair option, which should be by tapping the letter "R" when prompted.