Windows boot problems

well i've just got a new disk of windows xp pro sp2 and i thought that i would upgrade my current pc from xp sp1 pro
so i ran the install from the cd and everything seemed to install fine
to keep the other os intact i tried to install the new os on a new partition on the c drive (fat 32 system) to do this i put create ntfs partition and installed the os.
trouble is when it come to boot i get the message
"Couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdsik(0)partition(1)"
"NTLDR: Couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)"

i don't really want to format the drive but it is a last resort as there is data that isn't backed up on there.

i really don't know what to do next, any help is appreciated.

Quick question...why didn't you just go to the Microsoft web site and download/install SP2? That would make the most sense to me.

As for your problem, maybe this will help: http://forums.invisionpower.com/lof...hp/t191402.html

i didn't actually know that you could get windows xp sp 2 for free from microsoft if so i wouldn't have done this

but at the moment i can't get either system to boot and it still says the c drive is fat 32 not ntfs which could be a main source of the problem but i don't know if i should try and delete the partition or not

i have tried all the solutions posted no that link to no success so far

This could be an issue with the MBR. If you have access to a Windows 98 boot disk, you could boot from that and enter fdisk /mbr at the command prompt.

The only other thing I can think of would be to reinstall the OS on that partition using the repair option.

However, I don't think deleting the new partition would cause a problem.

I've seen one claim where someone removed their CMOS battery for a short time, put it back and everything was fine. However, I cannot back that up, so that's up to your discretion.

Pulling a cmos battery won't have any effect on partitioning, which is recorded on the disk not in the bios.

You should start by reviewing your partitions using fdisk or similar and verify that the disk partitions are as you expect. Then read up on how NT boot identifies partitions in boot.ini and make sure you're really trying to boot your XP from the correct partition.

Beyond that it sounds like your installation procedure may have screwed up something in your partitions. If you still can't get the system to boot, you could dangle the drive as a 2nd drive on a working computer and see if you can recover that pesky not-backed-up stuff.

You said that the FAT32 partition was the new installation correct? And you're sure you didn't delete the NTFS partition correct? If you have a spare drive, try copying the NTFS partition to it using disk utility software (partition magic, ghost, etc. etc.) and then try to boot to the spare drive. This will ensure that your NTFS partition is intact and alive and well. If it boots to the copy on the spare drive, and you can't get the install correct, then I would delete the FAT32 partition (MAKING SURE THIS IS NOT THE PARTITION WITH THE OLD INSTALL!!) and retry, or as previously mentioned, d/l sp2 from Microsoft and go from there. The FAT32 partition is the one you want to do an fdisk/mbr on, and you need to make sure that that partition is active.

Use your XP CD to boot into the Recovery Console and run the fixboot command. That will autodetect Windows installations and rebuild the boot menus.

On a side note, the MBR is fine. The error is being generated by NTLDR. The MBR must be intact in order for that particular error to occur.

Visit my Troubleshooting Guide at http://guide.nilpo.com for help diagnosing boot issues.