NOW that we're all back at work, cna i get some serious help to a a major issue?

[ArkAoss]

I have installed windows 2000 pro on a multipartition multi os system. it has 5 os's bootable by diffent means, but i was using 2000 as the main deal. I installed an old version of adaptec ezcd creator, and then found out that, it is a known problem that the adaptec drivers don't work with windows 2k. I had a preexisting problem with it not restarting. . . but i got into win2k, safe mode moved all important data off of the ntfs partions, and uninstalled adaptec, but i told it (stupidly) to leave the offending driver files, Now i can not get it to boot to the cdrom or safe mode, or any mode, for windows 2000, i cant boot into windows 2000 reinstall mode without it locking up either. i'd like to know if any one knows of another os that i could install from 98 to access the partition and recover win 2k, i liked it alot. i think i might be able to pull my self out of the flames by manually deleting those drivers. . maybe, but there where other issues. . maybe i should nuke it and reinstall both, but i really really do not want to have to do that.. . I will be working on this tonight, so please if you can be available to help a little later, please hang around, or drop me a line. . pm

 

[MetalCat]

I'd SuSe 7.0 or put the drive(s) in another machine and access it that way.

or

bootdisk.com

might help

 

[Maverick]

bootdisk.com is a good site...they may have the recovery disk that you're looking for.

Personally I've found Win2k to be very fickle about drivers and such. Its definitely better than NT4 was, but not by much. I'm currently running a dual boot system right now but I've found WinME to like my hardware better than 2k does, so I use ME most of the time. I think I'd have a dedicated server machine that I never mess around with if I was running just Win2k. Its just too sensitive to software and driver changes. I once killed a 2k install by trying to get ACPI to work. Good luck.

 

[ArkAoss]

well ill try the win2k boot disk that might be what i need, thanks, ill let you know if it works in a little bit

 

[Radboy]

this may not help this time, but this is a classic case where an imaging utility like Ghost or Drive Image would make all ur probs go away easily.

 

[ArkAoss]

i know rad boy i know, if some one would shoot me, i have ghost 2001 and i should have been making backups every step of the way till it was fully operational, but i didn't. . . gotta go do somthing , will be back with update in an hour or so

 

[Danlz]

Seems MetalCat has an easy solution: put the drive in another machine as slave, then do the cleanup/install, or hook up a bootable drive as master and then cleanup/install.

 

[ArkAoss]

i dont have another nt machine, i have other bootable 98 partitions, if i could whipe out all the files it put on the first partition, i could get back in business. all the bootloader files, actaully, i have a whole additional drive, with partition magic 5 on it, ill whipe out the 98 and the ntfs, and go to town. .