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Greetings All. Installing win2k on a wd 40 g hdd. it's a dual boot setup ...on win me is on d drive...trying to put win2k on c. the drive test ok. MB is an Abit kt7. when win2k begins installation it reads canot write to boot sector is the disk formatted. it is. I had this problems on other systems with different hdd. Sometimes it comes down to replacing a HDD, which i dont want to do. I even did a zero fill...no luck. Any suggestions
The only thing that springs to mind is FDISKing the bastard and starting absolutely from scratch. NT4 had a quirk, which was it wouldn't format a large disk ( I can't remember the figure: 4GB?) but it would install into any sized partition. You had to format the drive as FAT32, and then, once NT had recognised it, it would happily reformat the whole thing NTFS. I'm not 100% on whether 2000 has this same quirk, but I guess you'll soon find out. :)
Try putting ME on C: and then W2K on D: and you should have no problems.
Does this help?
Installing more than one operating system on your computer
You can install more than one operating system on your computer and choose which operating system you want to use every time you start your computer. This is called a dual-boot or multiple-boot configuration. Windows 2000 supports multiple booting with MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 3.51, and Windows NT 4.0.
Each operating system must be installed on a separate volume on your computer so each installation can retain its own files and configuration information. In addition, you must ensure that the boot volume is formatted with the correct file system. If you want to install Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 with Windows 95 or Windows 98, the boot volume must be formatted as FAT, not NTFS. Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 will support FAT32 volumes.
However, if you format a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 volume with any file system other than NTFS, you will lose all NTFS-specific features. In Windows 2000 this includes some security features, encrypting file system (EFS) settings, disk quotas, and Remote Storage. Likewise, Windows 95 and Windows 98 cannot recognize an NTFS partition and will identify it as unknown. Therefore, if you format a Windows 98 partition as FAT, and a Windows 2000 partition as NTFS, any files on the NTFS partition will be unavailable if you try to access them while running Windows 98.
Each operating system is treated as a separate entity. Any programs and drivers you want to use must be installed under each operating system. For example, if you want to use Microsoft Word on the same computer under both Windows 98 and Windows 2000, you must start Windows 98 and install Microsoft Word. Then, you must restart your computer under Windows 2000 and install Microsoft Word again.
Important
Before creating a multiple-boot configuration with Windows 2000 and another operating system, such as MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, review the following precautions:
Windows 2000 must be installed on a separate volume. Microsoft does not support installing multiple operating systems on the same volume.
If you have only one volume on your computer you must reformat and repartition your hard drive before you begin creating a multiple-boot configuration, unless you are simply installing another copy of Windows 2000.
If you intend to create a dual-boot system with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 as the only installed operating systems, you must ensure that you have installed Service Pack 4 for Windows NT 4.0. Windows 2000 will automatically upgrade any NTFS partitions it finds on your system to NTFS 5. However, Windows NT 4.0 requires Service Pack 4 to be able to read and write files on an NTFS 5 volume.
You cannot install both Windows 95 and Windows 98 in a multiple-boot configuration. Windows 98 is intended as an upgrade to Windows 95 and will try to use the same boot file.
You must install Windows 2000 only after installing MS-DOS or Windows 95 to prevent MS-DOS or Windows 95 from overwriting the Windows 2000 boot sector and the Windows 2000 startup files.
Do not install Windows 2000 on a compressed drive that was not compressed using the NTFS compression utility.
You must use a different computer name for each operating system if the computer is on a Windows 2000 secure domain.
How to create a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and Windows 2000
You will be less likely to encounter problems installing a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and Windows 2000 if you install these operating systems in the following order: MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then Windows 2000.
You must reformat and repartition your hard drive if:
You have only one volume.
The boot volume is formatted as NTFS.
If you have Windows 2000 installed on a volume formatted as FAT, and you have another free volume formatted at FAT or FAT32, you can install Windows 98 to the free volume without reformatting your hard drive.
After ensuring that your hard drive is formatted with the correct file system, do one of the following:
If you want a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98, and Windows 2000, install MS-DOS, then Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then Windows 2000.
If you want a dual-boot system with only Windows 95 or Windows 98, install Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then install Windows 2000.
How to create a multiple-boot system with Windows NT 4.0
Warning
If you are installing Windows 2000 with Windows NT 4.0 on a volume using NTFS, you must ensure that you have installed Service Pack 4 for Windows NT 4.0. Windows 2000 includes several new features for the NTFS file system that Windows NT 4.0 cannot interpret correctly. Service Pack 4 contains updates that enable Windows NT 4.0 to be able to read and write files on an NTFS 5 volume.
Using a multiple-boot system with both Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 is not recommended as a long-term solution. The NTFS update in Service Pack 4 for Windows NT 4.0 is provided only to help you evaluate and upgrade to Windows 2000.
You must reformat and repartition your hard drive if you have only one volume on your hard drive.
After ensuring that your hard drive is formatted with the correct file system, install Windows NT 4.0, and then install Windows 2000.
Notes
If you have more than one operating system on your computer, you can set the operating system you want to use as the default when you start your computer. For more information, see Related Topics .
Windows 95 or Windows 98 may reconfigure hardware settings the first time you use them. This can cause configuration problems when you start Windows 2000.
Additional information on setting up a multiple-boot configuration is available. If you are using Windows 2000 Professional, see the Windows 2000 Professional Getting Started online book. If you are using Windows 2000 Server, see Deciding whether a computer will contain more than one operating system.