Question : Problem: Larger HD boot problems

I am having problems booting a computer that has a DFI CS65-EC motherboard and 128MB memory; it is on a network of about 40 computers.  Recently the original 20GB drive, which ran Windows2000, would not boot (just stopped at blue screen) and finally was not even accessible when I tried using it as a secondary drive (BIOS could not even detect it).  This computer has had a lot of problems lately due to its user installing incorrectly and even removing the 'Everyone' share on all folders; he had access to Admin password and I changed this too late. The HD issue is not the problem now, it is with the PC.  It will not boot any larger HD, (tried three different ones that ran Win2000 and were the same as original), but will boot smaller 6GB drive running NT.

The HD is recognized by BIOS, does the posttest, starts to load Win2000, but after it partially loads at the Win screen--the blue screen appears.
The STOP message is:  0X0000007B (0XE041F84C, 0XC0000034, 0X00000000) Inaccessible_Boot_Device. STOP: 0x000007B (0xED41F84C, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000) Inaccessible_Boot_Device
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen restart your computer. If this screen appears again follow these steps (have tried some suggestions they give but does not help).

Things tried: reset  BIOS hard drive settings; set BIOS to default settings and booted; changed 3volt battery; changed power supply; removed network card; disconnected all power cables/connections to hardware except for hard drive and tried booting.
Could the user have changed settings somewhere(person says they did nothing), is there any connection with the two different operating systems when booting?
Any help is appreciated

Answer : Problem: Larger HD boot problems

With XP sometimes you can run the Repair to get past this but with Win2000 this generally doesn't work but...

Differences Between Manual and Fast Repair in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;238359

or

http://www.jsiinc.com/subh/tip3900/rh3920.htm

"3920 » How do I perform an in-place upgrade of Windows 2000?

If a repair does NOT cause your computer to operate normally, you may wish to try an in-place upgrade, a last resort before reinstalling. The in-place upgrade takes the same time as a reinstall.

To perform an in-place upgrade:

1. Boot the CD-ROM (or boot disks).

2. Press Enter to install a copy of Windows 2000.

3. Accept the License Agreement.

4. If setup does NOT detect a your installation, an in-place upgrade is NOT possible.

5. When prompted to repair the existing installation, press R. Setup will perform an in-place upgrade"
-------------------

http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBJ/tip4500/rh4508.htm

"4508 » What does a Windows 2000 in-place upgrade change and not change?

I described performing an in-place upgrade in tip 3920 » How do I perform an in-place upgrade of Windows 2000?

When you perform an in-place upgrade:

1. Service Packs, hotfixes, and IE upgrades are rolled back.

2. Default registry values are restored.

3. Default permissions are reapplied.

4. COM and WFP are reregistered.

5. Plug and Play devices and the HAL are re-enumerated.

6. Drive letters are changed based upon the current drive and partitions. See Q2324048 - How Windows 2000 Assigns, Reserves, and Stores Drive Letters.

The following is NOT changed:

1. Installed components and programs.

2. Passwords.

3. Third-party registry entries.

4. The computer's role.

NOTE: If you upgraded your computer from Windows NT 4.0, profiles were stored at %SystemRoot%\Profiles. The in-place upgrade creates a \Documents and Settings folder and changes the registry profile to point to it. To fix the problem, use the Registry Editor to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList. For each user, there will be a SID sub-key and a Value Name of ProfileImagePath. Change the string value to point to %SystemRoot%\Profiles\rName>."