Creating a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition

ID: Q119467

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server version 4.0a

SUMMARY

This article describes how to create a Windows NT boot disk to access a drive with a faulty boot sequence on an Intel x86-processor-based computer.

NOTE: The procedure for RISC-based computers is different and not documented in this article.

This Windows NT boot disk can access a drive that has the Windows NT file system (NTFS) or File allocation table (FAT) file system installed. The procedures in this article can be useful to work around the following boot problems:

Corrupted boot sector.

Corrupted master boot record (MBR).

Virus infections.

Missing or corrupt NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM.

Incorrect NTBOOTDD.SYS driver.

This boot disk can also be used to boot from the shadow of a broken mirror, although you may need to change the BOOT.INI to do that.

This Windows NT boot disk cannot be used for the following problems:

Incorrect or corrupt device drivers that have been installed into the Windows NT System directory.

Boot problems that occur after the OSLOADER screen.

To work around or fix these problems, run the Emergency Repair disk, load the last known good control set, or reinstall Windows NT, if necessary.

How to Create a Windows NT Boot Floppy

The Windows NT floppy disk must include the files NTLDR (or SETUPLDR.BIN in Windows NT 3.5), NTDETECT.COM, BOOT.INI, and the correct device driver for your hard drive.

NOTE: The NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI files usually have their file attributes set to System, Hidden, and Read-Only. You do not need to reset these attributes for this disk to work properly. For more information on the structure of the BOOT.INI file, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q102873
TITLE: BOOT.INI and ARC Path Naming Conventions and Usage

To create a Windows NT boot floppy disk, use the appropriate method:

If You Do Not Have Access to a Computer Running Windows NT

Create a copy of the first Windows NT Setup disk using the DISKCOPY command, and then delete all files on the new disk.

Copy the NTDETECT.COM and NTLDR files from the i386 folder on the CD-ROM to the new disk.

Rename the NTLDR file to SETUPLDR.BIN.

Create a BOOT.INI file.

The following is an example that works for a single partition SCSI drive with Windows NT installed under \WINNT, however, the exact value in the [operating systems] section depends upon the configuration of the Windows NT System you want to boot:
```
      [boot loader]
      timeout=30
      Default= scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt

      [operating systems]
      scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt="Windows NT" 
```
If your computer boots from an IDE, EIDE, or ESDI hard drive, replace the scsi(0) with multi(0). If you are running Windows NT 3.5 or 3.51 and your system boots from the first or second SCSI drive, then you can also replace scsi(0) with multi(0).

If you are using scsi(x) in the Boot.ini, copy the correct device driver for the SCSI controller in use on the computer, and then rename it to NTBOOTDD.SYS. If you are using multi(x) in the Boot.ini, you do not need to do this.

Start your computer using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows NT.

If You Have Access to a Computer Running Windows NT

Format a floppy disk using the Windows NT format utility.

Copy NTLDR from the Windows NT Setup CD-ROM, Windows NT Setup floppy disk, or from a computer running the same version of Windows NT as the computer you want to access with the boot floppy. You may need to expand this file from NTLDR._ to NTLDR by using the following command line:

EXPAND NTLDR._ NTLDR

Copy the NTDETECT.COM file to the disk.

Create a BOOT.INI file or copy one from a running Windows NT computer and modify it to match the computer you are trying to access. Below is an example which will work for a single partition SCSI drive with Windows NT installed under \WINNT, however, the exact value in the [operating systems] section depends upon the configuration of the Windows NT computer you are trying to access:
```
      [boot loader]
      timeout=30
      Default= scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt

      [operating systems]
      scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt="Windows NT" 
```
If your computer starts from an IDE, EIDE, or ESDI hard drive, replace the scsi(0) with multi(0). If you are running Windows NT 3.5 or 3.51 and your computer starts from the first or second SCSI drive, then you can also replace scsi(0) with multi(0).

If you are using scsi(x) in the Boot.ini, copy the correct device driver for the SCSI controller in use on the computer and rename it to NTBOOTDD.SYS. If you are using multi(x) in the Boot.ini, you do not need to do this.

Start using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows NT.

If You Have Windows NT Version 3.51

Format a blank 3.5" 1.44mb floppy disk under Windows NT 3.51.

Copy NTDETECT.COM and NTLDR to the new disk.

Create a BOOT.INI file with the following lines: (This example is for a single partition SCSI drive with Windows NT installed in the default directory, C:\WINNT35.)


     [boot loader]
     timeout=30
     Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt35

     [operating systems]
     multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt35="Windows NT 3.51"

Boot from the floppy disk and log on to Windows NT.

Troubleshooting

You may encounter one or more of the following problems when you attempt to start your computer using your Windows NT boot floppy disk:

If the path pointing to the system files is incorrect or includes the drive letter, you may receive the following error message:

Windows NT could not start because of the following ARC firmware boot configuration problem: Did not properly generate ARC name for HAL and system paths. Please check the Windows NT (TM) documentation about ARC configuration options and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed.

If an incorrect SCSI driver has been selected or the NTBOOTDD.SYS file does not exist, you may receive the following message:

Windows NT could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware. Please check the Windows NT (TM) documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed.

Additional query words: repair tshoot smallbiz


Keywords          : kbsetup SBS ntfilesys 
Version           : 3.1 3.5 3.51 4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: February 5, 1999