OS/2 Boot Manager fix for Windows 2000

The release of Windows 2000 has brought troubles to many that use the Boot Manager that comes with OS/2 Warp. Those who have installed Windows 2000 on a partition selectable by Boot Manager have found that Windows 2000, upon boot, corrupts the Boot Manager partition.

This problem has been traced to the actions of a single installable file: FASTFAT.SYS. This driver is the Windows FAT file system driver, and after Windows 2000 release candidate 2, FASTFAT.SYS will, upon loading, corrupt OS/2 Boot Manager partitions. Fortunately, there is a fairly simple fix.

The Fix:

1. Obtain a FASTFAT.SYS file from Windows 2000, prior to release candidate 2. I have provided this here (shift-click on the link if you have difficulty saving to a local drive).
2. Replace the FASTFAT.SYS file in your current Windows 2000 system. This file is located in two places - \WINNT\SYSTEM\DRIVERS\FASTFAT.SYS and \WINNT\SYSTEM\DLLCACHE\FASTFAT.SYS . In some installations of Windows 2000, the DLLCACHE subdirectory is hidden; accessing it via a Command Prompt is recommended. It is also recommended that you rename the current FASTFAT.SYS to something else (such as FASTFAT.BAK) in case of unforseen system problems with this fix, and then copying over the new FASTFAT.SYS to BOTH locations. If you encounter any GUI-based error messages, press "cancel" to continue the file replacement procedure.
3. Boot from OS/2 Boot/Install floppies.
4. Delete old Boot Manager Partition.
5. Add Boot Manager Partition.
6. Add system partitions to Boot Manager menu, as appropriate. Save.
7. Reboot.

Many Thanks to Steve Dale and Bob Bencivenga for pointing me in the right direction, and giving me all the information on this fix.