Problem booting back into Win2K after running Knoppix
I've run Knoppix for the first time on my Win2K machine. Now I can't boot back into Win2K (only Safe Mode works).
Has anyone else had a similar problem and knows of a fix?
Symptoms:
1) POST completes.
2) See large Windows 2000 screen with scrolling bar.
3) See Windows 2000 desktop with dialog "Windows is starting up...".
4) Computer reboots!
Attempted Fixes:
1) Run ChkDsk /r to check and repair all disks in Recovery Console.
2) Enable boot logging. Examing C:\WINNT\ntbtlog.txt. Shows "Loaded driver \??\C:\WINNT\System32\vsdatant.sys" as the last line. This is the ZoneAlarm device driver.
3) Reinstalled ZoneAlarm with "Clean Install" option.
Thoughts:
1) I haven't run FixMBR from the Recovery Console because I don't think the MBR is corrupt (or wouldn't be loading Win2K as far as it does).
2) I'm thinking of just reformatting and reinstalling Win2K along with a real Linux distro (I'm also interested in creating an LFS system).
Any thoughts or similar problems?
Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Markus: Thanks for the tips
I don't think I have any viruses. My system is pretty clean and I keep track on all open ports, etc. ZoneAlarm was working flawlessly before I tried Knoppix. If its a virus, then it either came from Knoppix or was delivered while running Knoppix. Also, I didn't install Knoppix, I just ran it from the CD ISO. Does the Knoppix base present any exploitable interfaces?
My drives are NTFS. I didn't write to them or change their configuration while running Knoppix. I did view them in the Knoppix GUI file explorer.
Basically, I was interested in seeing what a Linux OS would look like. Got the Knoppix ISO, burned it, and rebooted. It booted just fine! Played around for about 10 minutes. Ejected the CD and rebooted to find Win2K busted.
Well, I'm generally an optimist so it seems like a good time to reinstall Win2K and then look into dual booting into Linux and (hopefully) my own LinuxFromScratch system.