ARC Path to Windows NT System Files Changes

ID: Q102877

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

SUMMARY

When you are using Disk Administrator in Windows NT or the Disk Management Console in Windows 2000 to create new partitions on a hard disk drive that has Windows NT on it, under certain circumstances, the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) path to the Windows NT files changes. When this happens, a dialog box appears when you exit Disk Administrator warning that the Boot.ini needs to be changed to reflect the new path. You need to edit the Boot.ini file before clicking OK because the next option restarts the system. In Windows 2000, you will receive a message before you create the partition indicating that the partition number will change and that the Boot.ini must be modified. After the partition is created another message will tell you the current partition number and the value to which it must be changed. In Windows 2000 it is not necessary to make the changes prior to clicking OK because the system will not restart automatically at this time, however you must make the changes to the Boot.ini prior to restarting.

MORE INFORMATION

This situation occurs only with a system that has a drive configuration similar to the following:


    ---------------------------------
    |  c:   |   d:   |  free space  |
    ---------------------------------

Further, Windows NT must be located on drive d: and and that drive must a logical drive in an extended partition. Also, it is assumed that the free space is not part of the extended partition. In this situation, any new partition created in this space (which would have to be created as a primary partition, because an extended partition already exists) causes the ARC path to the extended partition to change, because the ARC specifications count primary drives before those in extended partitions. When the warning dialog box appears, do not click OK in the dialog box. Use Task Switch (by pressing either ALT+TAB or CTRL+ESC) to switch to a text editor. Edit the Boot.ini file to reflect the new path to the Windows NT files. This involves editing a line similar to the following:

scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(X)\winnt

Change partition(X) to partition(X+1) to correctly modify the ARC path to the Windows NT files.

If you have already restarted the computer without editing the Boot.ini file, the startup will fail because the system is unable to find the Windows NT files. To correct this problem, use one of the following procedures:

If your c: drive is FAT:

1. Restart the computer into MS-DOS from the multiboot screen, or with a startup disk.

2. At the prompt, type:
attrib -r -s -h boot.ini

3. At the prompt, type:
edit boot.ini

4. Change partition(x) to partition(x+1)

5. Save the file and quit the editor.

6. Restart the computer.

If your c: drive is not FAT:

1. Go to another computer running Windows NT and format a floppy disk. It will now have the Windows NT boot sector on it.

2. Copy the following files onto the disk:
```
       - Ntldr
       - Ntdetect.com
       - Boot.ini
       - Ntbootdd.sys (if present - required if ARC path starts with SCSI) 
```
3. Edit the Boot.ini file (on the floppy disk) and change the ARC path so that it points to the Windows NT files.

4. Use the startup disk to restart the computer unable to start Windows NT.

5. Follow steps 2 through 6 of the above option to edit the Boot.ini file on the hard disk drive.

For more information on the ARC path structure and the Boot.ini file, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

arc and boot

Additional query words: prodnt

Keywords : kbsetup ntsetup ntgeneral
Version : :; WINDOWS:2000; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type :