Abit BE6-II FAQ

Windows 2000 Installation

This first method describes installation as a dual boot system with Win98 and the HDD on IDE 3 or 4. It should be much the same as simply upgrading the existing system. The second method describes installing in an empty partition using Partition & Boot Magic. That's when I had trouble... The third method is a contribution from Simon Slater. Thanks Simon!

Have the latest HPT controller Win2000 drivers handy on a floppy. To allow Win2000 to configure the dual booting details follow the instruction manual and use "Advanced Options" to choose the partition to install in. Otherwise it will upgrade your current system. When the process starts and the computer reboots, the installation screen gave me very little time to press F6 for the option of installing SCSI device drivers. If you don't catch it an error message will pop up that says "duh, I can't find it George...". Reboot if needed and have your finger ready. After that it was all downhill.

My second computer is not a BE6-II, but the installation should be similar except for the HPT driver install. I decided to use Partition Magic 4 and Boot Magic because I had some trouble on the BE6-II computer with Mplayer's Quake 3 Arena server deciding to use the Mplayer files on the other OS's partition. By the way, Win2000 plays Q3A just fine with a TNT2 vid card. :) Using Partition Magic to hide the W2K partition fixed it.

If using Partition/Boot Magic, create a primary partition in Partition Magic, set it as active, and add it to the bootable OS list in Boot Magic. Reboot.

Now is when I had trouble. Neither a Win 2000 or Win98 boot disk worked. There was an error message with the W2K #1 disk before the installation started. The Win98 boot disk allowed me access to the CD but the W2K installation program stated that it wasn't allowed to run in a DOS environment. Sigh.

The problem was fixed by going into the BIOS and setting the "First Boot Device" to the CD. Bingo. Be sure to set it back when it reboots. After that the install went smoothly.

Although I describe using Partition/Boot Magic, the second method should be similar to starting with a fresh HDD.

Good luck,
Jeff

From: Simon Slater

I would like to tell you how I managed to install Win2k on my system.

This Installation for Win2k is for upgrading from Win9x.

Firstly download the HPT366 Drivers for Windows 2000 and unzip to a blank floppy.

Then within WIn9x copy the Win2k directory ..\i386\ preferably to a partitioned drive other then C: (though it will suffice.)

Then reboot to DOS and install SMARTDRV.EXE to help with the windows 2000 installation.

Then goto the \i386 directory (whatever drive it resides on) and run WINNT.

When installing Win2k it will ask you to add any other devices and to press F6 a while later it will prompt you for the device driver. You then place your unarchive drivers that are on the floppy and select enter. Windows 2000 finds your HPT366 controller drivers and installs them. Obviously if you have other devices to add do it then.

Then carry on with your Win2000 installation as planned.

I installed WIn2000 with no problems at all using this proceedure.

Installation Precautions

From: David Jordan

It is a good idea with W2K to install the Recovery Console as one of your start up Operating System Options as this allows you to use the Console to recover problems without having to reboot off the CD-ROM.

To do this load up your W2K CD-ROM and type x:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons (where x is your CD-ROM drive letter.)

This will install the console and then on start-up give you the option to go to the Console or normally boot W2K.

In the case of the failed registry hive this would allow you to boot to the console, cd to the registry backup folder (created as part of building an Emergency Repair Disk) and copy the relevant registry file into place.

From: Microsoft

SYMPTOMS
When you restart your Windows 2000-based computer, you may receive the following error message:

Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

CAUSE
The System hive in the registry is damaged or missing.

RESOLUTION
Use the Repair Console tool to replace the backup copy of the System hive from the repair folder. If you do not have the Repair Console tool installed, you can run it form the Emergency Repair process:

Start the computer by using the Windows 2000 CD-ROM or the Startup disk.

When you see the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R for "repair."

Press C to run the Recovery Console tool.

Select the installation that you want to repair.

Type the administrator password. If this is a domain controller, you need to supply the password for Directory Services Restore Mode.

For additional information about the Recovery Console tool, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q239803 How to Change the Recovery Console Administrator Password
Q223301 Protection of the Administrator Account in the Offline SAM

After you log on to the Recovery Console tool, type the following commands:
cd system32\config
ren system system.old
ren system.alt systemalt.old
After you type the commands, copy the backup of the System hive from either the %SystemRoot%\Repair folder or the %SystemRoot%\Repair\Regback folder if you run the Emergency Repair Disk Wizard from Windows 2000 Backup and Recovery tools.

IMPORTANT: You need to restore the most recent copy of the System hive. Any programs that run as a service or hardware device drivers that you installed since you last ran the Emergency Repair Disk need to be re-installed.

To copy the default System hive, type:
copy c:\winnt\repair\system' to copy the default system hive
To copy the System hive that was backed up the last time that you ran the Emergency Repair Disk Wizard, type:
copy c:\winnt\repair\regback\system
After you do this, type exit at the command prompt. This restarts your computer.