Windows 95 Setup Modifies the Boot Sector of All Drives

• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

After you set up Windows 95 on your computer, you can no longer boot from a different physical hard disk.

CAUSE

The Windows 95 Setup program checks all the hard disks in your computer to make sure that only one contains 80h in the DriveNumber field of the boot sector. If more than one hard disk contains 80h in the DriveNumber field, Setup changes the boot sector of all the hard disks so that only drive C contains 80h in the DriveNumber field. Setup makes this change so that Windows 95 can find the boot disk when you start the computer and recognize the other drives.

WORKAROUND

You can use either of the following methods to correct the DriveNumber field:

• Use the FDISK program that is included with Windows 95 to set the primary active partition.
• Use a disk editor to change a disk's DriveNumber field so that you can boot from that hard disk.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

When the Windows 95 Setup program finds more than one hard disk in a computer, it sets the DriveNumber field of all disks other than the boot disk (usually drive C) to 81h, even if you had the DriveNumber field of other disks set to 80h so the computer could be booted from them.