2 HARD DRIVES HOOKED UP. NEED TO TAKE 1 OUT BUT!!!!

[Gecko]

Ok that makes a little more sense now, before we go any further I want to make absolutely sure!
So I'm going to have you locate some files and folders on the two drives.
These files and folders will be in the root of the drive like this C:\file.name and D:\folder name

First go to My Computer->Tools/View->Folder Options->View tab and make sure that Show hidden files and folders is enabled.
Also make sure that Display the contents of System Folders' is checked. Remember to reset these when done you have finished this.

Please go to the disk manager again this time I want you to right click on drive 0 and select Open you will need to do the same for drive 1.

I need to know what drive (0 or 1) you find each of the following files at the root level:
ntldr
boot.ini
COMMAND.COM
CONFIG.SYS

I need to know what drive (0 or 1) you find the following folders at the root level:
My Documents
Documents and Settings

Please structure your reply as the example below, so there is no chance of a misunderstanding:
ntldr = drive 0
COMMAND.COM = drive 1

[SALINAS4U]

i have worked on what you ask for 2 days now. the first part i was able to follow. show hidden files and folders was already enabled. i clicked on "display the contents of system folders"
then i went back to disk manager and right cliclicked on each drive. after that i was confused after i opened each one. they each had my documents but talking of root levels really confused me because i seen nothing like that. disc c (0) had documents and settingd and d (1) did not. other than that i am at a loss as what to look for.

[Gecko]

SALINAS4U,

I'm sorry if my instructions about the root level were a little confusing.
Let's see if I can clarify it a little better.

After you right click on disk 0 from the disk management window and select "Open" the window that opens up will be the root of disk 0. This is where you said you found the "Documents and Settings" folder on your disk 0.
This is also where you should see the files ntldr and boot.ini., in the same open window.
You should be able to see these files without opening any other folders, thus staying in the root of the disk 0.

After you right click on disk 1 from the disk management window and select "Open" the window that opens up will be the root of disk 1. This is where you should find the files COMMAND.COM and CONFIG.SYS
You should be able to see these files without opening any other folders, thus staying in the root of the disk 1.

As I said earlier I want to make absolutely sure that we know what hard drive has windows 98 on it and what hard drive has windows xp on it.

Once we know for sure which drive has what OS on it I will have you backup your boot.ini file so we can get restore it if we need to. Then I will have you edit your boot.ini file. This is the file that is currently stopping the system from booting with only one hard drive installed.

[SALINAS4U]

when i open the C(0) FILE, there are lots of files. none say ROOT Anything. BUT but when i run my cursor over them it tells me what is in them. ONE FILE CALLED "INETPUB" says there is some root files in it. but 2 of those are empty.
in the d(1) there is nothing like that. but there is 1 called win98 undo
did not see anything in either one that was even remotely close to the
ntldr and boot.ini. that you spoke of. there are pages (not files) that say config in both drives.

[Gecko]

SALINAS4U,

OK lets try a program that will list what files are in a folder.

Please download extract it and install Folder List.
Open Folder List, at the top left "Select Drive" make sure C: drive is selected
Now in "Select Directory" double click the folder C:\ , next click "New List".
Copy and paste the contents of the notepad window into wordpad or a new notepad noting that it was from drive C:\.

Now "Select Drive" D: and then again double click the C:\ folder, this time click "Add to List".
Copy and paste the contents of the notepad window into your wordpad or new notepad noting that it was from drive D:\.
Now copy and paste everything into your reply to this thread.

[SALINAS4U]

the only part of that i was able to understand was download Folder List.zip ... i got that done and saved it to the c file. after that i was lost again . did not see anything that said select drive. or select directory.. guess i don't know where to go to find these things.

[Gecko]

SALINAS4U,

Did you install the program Folder List?
It must be installed not just extracted from the zip.

Open the file folderlist.zip and then drag the file FolderListSetup.exe to your desktop or where ever.
Now click on the file FolderListSetup.exe this will install Folder List.

Once it is installed and you start Folder List it will look like this:



And this image shows where and what to do to make a list.

[SALINAS4U]

i guess i must be doing it wrong. the first time i saved it to the c folder. the second time i just opened it . the next time i tried downloading it and moved it to my desk top but at no time can i open it and find what you are showing. everytime i try to open it, tries to re install itself...

[Gecko]

SALINAS4U,

Once Folder List is installed you will have to manually start it does not start on it's own.

Please click "Start" point to "All Programs" point to "FolderList" now click on "FolderList.exe"

If you selected to not install shortcuts then it can be started from here:

C:\Program Files\Folder List\FolderList.exe

Or you can copy (Ctrl + C) the above path then click Start > Run and paste it into the box (Ctrl +V) and press enter.

[SALINAS4U]

i apologize for taking so long to get back to you. i never could get the file to open to what i needed. so i gave up...i went into BIOS and made the slave drive the master drive and then formatted them. i then redownloaded windows and my internet provider and have plenty of space left again...
thank you for all the help and trying to save my files. i actually didn't lose anything important.