Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

Clone your original OS for a dual-boot system

A nice option that lets you retain your existing OS and applications while still upgrading to Windows 2000 is to clone your existing OS to a new folder or partition and upgrade the copy. Your original installation remains as-is, and you end up with a Windows 2000 installation that incorporates all your application and customized OS settings. You can upgrade Windows 9x or Windows NT Workstation to Windows 2000 Professional, or upgrade Windows NT Server to Windows 2000 Server.

Both of the next two procedures require that you replace several instances of a given string in the registry. For example, you need to change all instances of C:\Windows in the Windows 9x registry to C:\Win9x , and in the Windows NT registry, from C:\Winnt to C:\Win2k . Although you can make the changes manually, it’s impractical to do so because there are so many. Instead, you should use a third-party utility that enables global search-and-replace in the registry. There are a handful of utilities that provide that capability, and a search on the Internet or popular download sites should turn up at least one or two. The one used in this example is Registry Toolkit from Funduc Software, Inc. (http://www.funduc.com), which is licensed as shareware with a nominal fee.

Tip

You can also clone your operating system from one drive to another using a third-party utility such as PowerQuest’s DriveCopy (http://www.powerquest.com).

Cloning Windows 9x

Cloning Windows 9x to a new folder is relatively easy—you can do it from within Windows using the xcopy32 command. Getting everything to work properly afterwards, however, takes a little planning and attention to detail. Don’t skip any of the steps in the following procedure:

Warning

Note that the following steps for cloning Windows 9x will not work if you boot your computer to a DOS environment. You must be working within Windows for xcopy32 to be able to clone your installation.

1. Create a bootable Windows 9x diskette if you don’t already have one. Don’t skip this step—if you have a problem booting the system after making the changes in this procedure, you’ll need the bootable diskette to fix the problem.

2. Back up your system in case you experience problems with this process. At a minimum, back up your data.

3. Create a directory called Win9x to contain your cloned copy of Windows 9x (or a different folder name of your choosing—Win9x is used in this example).

4. Boot the system to Windows and open a DOS prompt (Start → Programs → MS-DOS Prompt). At the DOS prompt type the following command:

                        xcopy32 C:\Windows C:\Win9x /h /i /c /k /e /r /y

   If Windows is installed in a folder other than C:\Windows, change the command accordingly to specify the correct source location for the xcopy32 command.

   Tip

   For a description of the switches referenced in the previous xcopy32 command example, type xcopy32 /? at the console prompt.

5. After the files are copied, open My Computer and configure folder options to show all files. Look in the root folder for the following files: io.sys , msdos.sys , autoexec.bat , and config.sys . Create the folder \Win9x\Bootfiles and copy these four files to that directory.

6. Right-click the copy of msdos.sys in the root folder and remove the read-only attribute to make the file editable.

7. Open msdos.sys in Notepad and change the values of WinDir and WinBootDir to both point to C:\Win9x, then save the file.

8. Restart the system to boot your cloned copy of Windows in the \Win9x folder.

9. Perform a global search and replace in the registry, replacing all instances of C:\Windows with C:\Win9x. This “refocuses” the registry to the current Windows folder, which is \Win9x.

10. Modify the copy of msdos.sys in the root folder again to restore the values of WinDir and WinBootDir to C:\Windows.

11. Restart the system to boot the copy of Windows in \Windows.

12. Insert the Windows 2000 CD and perform an upgrade. This will upgrade the copy of Windows 9x in the \Windows folder to Windows 2000. Do not upgrade the disk to NTFS!

13. Make backup copies of autoexec.bat and config.sys in \Windows\Bootfiles, and then restore your original autoexec.bat and config.sys files from the \Win9x\Bootfiles folder to the root folder.

14. Modify autoexec.bat and config.sys in the root folder to change references, if any, of C:\Windows to C:\Win9x. This includes changing the PATH statement (if any) to remove references to C:\Windows.

15. Modify autoexec.bat to include the win command as the last line of the file. If you omit this step, a DOS command prompt boots when you select the Windows 9x boot option, and you can enter win at the command prompt to start Windows.

16. Change the properties of boot.ini in the root folder to remove the read-only attribute to make it editable.

17. In the [operating systems] section, add the following line:

                         C:\="Windows 9x"

    Save the file and replace the read-only attribute.

18. Configure the folder options again and select the Hide Protected Operating System Files option.

19. Restart the computer and test to verify that you can start Windows 9x. Review shortcuts in the Start menu and on the desktop for references to C:\Windows, replacing them with references to C:\Win9x. (The MS-DOS Prompt object in the Start menu is a good example, as are the shortcuts in the Accessories menu.)

20. Restart again to test Windows 2000.

Cloning Windows NT

You can clone Windows NT just as you can Windows 9x, although the process is a little different:

1. Boot your current installation of NT and execute rdisk/s to update the repair data and update the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). This is a precautionary measure only but one you should do any time you begin modifying your NT environment.

2. Perform a full backup of your system just in case problems arise during this process. At a minimum, back up your data.

3. Create a directory called Win2k to contain Windows 2000 (or a different folder name of your choosing—Win2k is used in this example).

4. Boot the system and open a console prompt. At the command prompt type the following command:

                        xcopy C:\Winnt C:\Win2k /h /i /c /k /e /r

   If Windows NT is installed in a folder other than C:\Winnt, change the command accordingly to specify the correct source location for the xcopy command.

5. Open My Computer and locate the file boot.ini in the root folder of the boot drive. Change the file’s properties to remove the read-only attribute. (You might need to configure folder options to show all files if boot.ini doesn’t appear in the folder.)

6. Open boot.ini in Notepad and in the [operating systems] section, select and copy the line that defines your Windows NT installation, such as,

   multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Winnt="Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 
   Version 4.0"

7. Insert a new line in the [operating systems] section and paste the copied line into the file at that point.

8. Modify the inserted line to reference the \Win2k folder rather than the \Winnt folder, and name it “Windows 2000.” This will give you a menu option to boot the copy of NT in the \Win2k folder.

9. Save the file and restore the read-only attribute.

10. Holding down the Shift key to prevent an autorun, insert the Windows 2000 CD. Open a console prompt and change to the \i386 folder on the CD.

11. Execute the following command to install the Windows 2000 Recovery Console:

                         winnt32 /cmdcons

12. After the Recovery Console is installed, restart the system and boot the option “Microsoft Windows 2000 Recovery Console.”

13. When prompted to select the installation for logon, select the backup copy stored in \Win2k. Since xcopy did not copy the Security Account Manager (SAM), you won’t be prompted to provide an administrator password.

14. Change to the \Winnt\System32\config folder, then use the copy command to copy all of the files in the folder to \Win2K\System32\config. Since copy doesn’t support wildcards in the Recovery Console you’ll have to copy the files one at a time. (This step copies the registry from your \Winnt installation to the \Win2k installation.)

15. Restart the system and select the option “Windows 2000.” This will boot the cloned copy of Windows NT in the \Win2k folder.

16. Log on as administrator, then perform a global search and replace in the registry, changing all instances of C:\Winnt to C:\Win2k.

17. Review all shortcuts on the Start menu and desktop, changing references to C:\Winnt to C:\Win2k.

18. Restart the system and select the option “Windows 2000” to boot the cloned copy of Windows NT. Insert the Windows 2000 CD and perform an upgrade.

19. Upon successful completion of the upgrade, test both operating systems to verify that you can boot both and that both work properly.