Installing Windows NT with IBM OS/2 2.1 Boot Manager Present (103509)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
This article was previously published under Q103509

SYMPTOMS

After a Windows NT Setup message appears indicating Setup has detected a Boot Manager partition, the text mode portion of Windows NT setup completes. After Setup reboots your computer, the machine boots from the operating system on drive C. You cannot continue installing Windows NT.

CAUSE

Installing Windows NT when the IBM OS/2 2.1 Boot Manager partition is active corrupts the Boot Manager partition. Setup fails because it does not copy the proper files to drive C.

RESOLUTION

  1. Install IBM OS/2 2.1 and create a 100 megabyte partition for OS/2.
  2. Install IBM OS/2 2.1 Boot Manager at the end of the first partition.
  3. After installing IBM OS/2 2.1 create the partition you want to use for Windows NT.
  4. Make the unformatted partition active.
  5. Insert the Windows NT Setup diskette into drive A and restart the computer.

    When the system boots the following message appears:

    Setup has found Boot Manager on your system and must disable it to complete Windows NT installation. Boot Manager will not be destroyed, un-installed, or otherwise altered by this operation. You can re-enable Boot Manager from Windows NT after setup is complete by using Disk Administrator to mark the Boot Manager Partition active. Refer to your system guide for more information about Disk Administrator.

    When Windows NT Setup has completed the installation it restarts your computer. Windows NT should boot.
  6. Re-enable IBM OS/2 2.1 Boot Manager. To do this, start Windows NT Disk Administrator, mark the Boot Manager partition as active, and then restart the computer.
  7. Choose to boot from OS/2.
  8. Run OS/2 FDISK and select Add to Boot Manager.
  9. Add the Windows NT partition to the IBM OS/2 2.1 Boot Manager.
You should be able to boot both Windows NT and IBM OS/2 2.1.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE PROBLEM

  1. Starting with a disk that has no partitions defined, setup a 100 megabyte C partition for OS/2. Install OS/2 on and enable Boot Manager. If you have a 200 megabyte drive, you will have a 1 megabyte partition for Boot Manager, a 100 megabyte partition for OS/2, and a 99 megabyte unformatted partitioned.
  2. Add the OS/2 partition to the Boot Manager menu using FDISKPM.
  3. Create a file allocation table (FAT) partition using all of the unused space on the drive.

    You should now have the following partitions:

    Boot manager
    C: partition with OS/2 installed
    D: partition formatted with Fat

  4. Use FDISKPM to ensure that the Boot Manager partition is the active partition.
  5. Install Windows NT onto drive D.

    Windows NT Setup detects the Boot Manager partition and displays a message indicating that Setup has detected the Boot Manager partition. The message says that Setup will disable the partition during installation and reactivate it after Setup is complete.
  6. Proceed through the text-mode portion of Setup.
The computer boots OS/2 2.1 from the active partition C. Since that partition contains Boot Manager, you receive and error message indication NTLDR cannot be found.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/3/2003
Keywords:kbsetup KB103509
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.