Win2k Registry File Merge Fail

[bevills1]

Moving a hard drive from 1 PC to another Win2k gives Inaccessible_Boot_Device error on startup. I tried the third solution under "Specific trouble shooting procedures" at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822052 because that solution is shown for the exact same startup error I get. When I get to the point to merge the file created from instructions, I get "Can not merge file. This is not a registry file, and only registry files may be added" error message. Is there another way to create a file that may be merged, or is this possibly a Win2k problem Microsoft never fixed? Is there any other way to fix this problem?

[Nelson37]

Been a long time since I messed with Win2k but IIRC that error was related to a change in how the two PC recognized the hard drive. IDE mode or drive sector layout. Try toggling mode in BIOS.

One option would be to put it back in the original PC and delete all the hardware in Device Manager, let the new one re-create it.

To fix this with a Registry merge you would need to have a working registry for the new PC.

[bevills1]

I finally got the registry file to merge, but it failed to fix the problem. To delete all hardware in Device Manager, would I right click each one and select uninstall? I'm still not sure that would work since the PC from which the drive is being moved has VIA chipset while the PC to which the drive is being moved has NVIDIA chipset, and I fear it still may not recognize the drive on the NVIDIA PC,


Unless there's a solution to this boot problem, I may be relegated to doing a Win2k repair install. Unfortunately that would mean no updates beyond SP4 and no IE6 updates since Microsoft discontinued support for Win2k and IE6. If anyone has any other ideas how to get fix the boot problem, please let me know.

[Nelson37]

We used to just delete them all, so incorrect drivers would not be used and/or not conflict with new ones.

If it won't boot on an nvidia chipset, having VIA drivers in there won't help that any, Unless they happen to be compatible for some strange reason. That may be the base reason for the boot device error.

Don't recall if W2k asks for alternate drivers at setup or if you have to slipstream them onto the disk.

Honestly, why would you spend any time or effort on this? Linux would probably be more useful.

[nic2k4]

Unless there's a solution to this boot problem, I may be relegated to doing a Win2k repair install. Unfortunately that would mean no updates beyond SP4 and no IE6 updates since Microsoft discontinued support for Win2k and IE6. If anyone has any other ideas how to get fix the boot problem, please let me know.

I do believe your problem is caused by the chipset drivers and deleting them in device manager should work, but it should be specified that you should boot in safe mode to do that and start with the less major drivers like serial ports, USB... Keep the drive controller, video adapter and AGP port for last. If any drivers can be removed from add programs in the control panel, use that first (like the VIA all in one driver).

If you need to re-install get the unofficial service pack 5 (includes SP4 and update rollup 1). Then get and install update rollup 2 and unofficial update rollup, in that order.