Vista Dual Boot Installation Procedure

I have the problem that he addresses here. I have a XP Home edition on my E:
drive. Vista x64 Premium full install OEM version is installed on my G:
drive. I get the /ntldr error message and could not get into XP anymore so I
did FIXMBR and FIXBOOT using the XP CD. I can now access XP but not Vista. My
Vista install is so buggy that I cannot install VistaBootPro. Vista is only
stable in Safe mode for me. I was thinking that maybe Vista is looking for
the XP on the wrong drive. It says that the /ntldr is on the D: drive, but in
XP it is the E: drive. My Vista installation is on the G: drive, which Vista
calls the C: drive. I am going to try his method tonite and see if I can
finally dual-boot while I continue my fruitless attempts to get Vista to not
give me a BSOD every time I boot up!


"Dale M. White" wrote:

> I believe that is the normal, espeically for people who have Full install
> License versus the upgrade License. I believe Carl's method addresses the
> Upgrade option people and maybe for people who run into some kind of bug in
> which it doesn't work normal.
>
> Last night I installed Vista on my Laptop, which has 1 HD and 2 partitions.
> XP on the first and loaded Vista to the 2nd. Everything worked fine and I
> have working dual boot. My installs were Full not upgrades
>
>
> "MGbassace" <> wrote in message
> news:5C779A0E-5B4B-4DCB-93BF-...
> > Now I am confused, I managed to get Vista Home Premium to dual boot with
> > XP
> > Home. XP home install on 1 hard drive C: and vista install to other hard
> > drive d:
> > Boot menu offers 1). Previous version of Windows. 2). Windows Vista
> > Premium.
> > Didnt do any of what you were mentioning i just put the DVD in and
> > installed
> > to different partion.
> > Martin
> >
> > "Carl F" wrote:
> >
> >> Oops! The thread I reference is one I created on the afternoon of
> >> 02/07/07 Carl F
> >>
> >> Carl F wrote:
> >> > Observations and speculations by the author of this procedure
> >> >
> >> > The procedure in this thread is a list of the steps I performed to
> >> > get a valid dual boot system. It is probably not the most efficient
> >> > procedure.
> >> >
> >> > Logical observations (some untested):
> >> > 1. The XP installation was fine before installing Vista
> >> > 2. The Vista installation was fine after installation
> >> > 3. The load error "/ntldr not found" was caused by an incorrect
> >> > bcdfile
> >> > 4. It was not necessary to "fix" a functional XP
> >> > 5. If XP was not "fixed", Vista would not be broken
> >> > 6. After Vista installation a user could go directly to the
> >> > VisatBootPro part of the procedure to correct the boot problem
> >> >
> >> > Speculations (Since I don't have access to the OS code):
> >> > 1. A windows OS may may installed in any primary petition
> >> > 2. There may be 2 primary petitions on each disk drive.
> >> > 3. There may be (C: thru Z 24 disk drives or 24 primary petitions on
> >> > a computer.
> >> > 4. Prior to installing Vista there may be 24 Windows OSs or OS
> >> > residues
> >> > on a computer.
> >> > 5. Without user input, Vista installation must poll all primary
> >> > petitions and determine which to insert in the bcdfile. This is
> >> > difficult to do successfully.
> >> > 6. I have also observed hibernation file references in the bcdfile.
> >> > 7. Given the above, I suspect the Vista OS insertion logic has a bug
> >> > 8. As a workaround solution, I recommend every primary petition which
> >> > MAY have an unwanted OS or a residue OS be reformatted before
> >> > installing
> >> > Vista. Be careful you don't remove desired data or program files.
> >> > 9. It may also be desirable to search for and remove all hibernation
> >> > files.
> >>
>
>
>

Just found the problem. Since my installation of XP wasn't a dual-boot to
begin with I did not have NTLDR, NTDETECT.EXE or Boot.ini in my root
directory on the E: drive. Once I moved the files I was able to dual-boot.
Now to try and get Vista x64 to run outside of safe mode!


"TomKo" wrote:

> I have the problem that he addresses here. I have a XP Home edition on my E:
> drive. Vista x64 Premium full install OEM version is installed on my G:
> drive. I get the /ntldr error message and could not get into XP anymore so I
> did FIXMBR and FIXBOOT using the XP CD. I can now access XP but not Vista. My
> Vista install is so buggy that I cannot install VistaBootPro. Vista is only
> stable in Safe mode for me. I was thinking that maybe Vista is looking for
> the XP on the wrong drive. It says that the /ntldr is on the D: drive, but in
> XP it is the E: drive. My Vista installation is on the G: drive, which Vista
> calls the C: drive. I am going to try his method tonite and see if I can
> finally dual-boot while I continue my fruitless attempts to get Vista to not
> give me a BSOD every time I boot up!
>
>
> "Dale M. White" wrote:
>
> > I believe that is the normal, espeically for people who have Full install
> > License versus the upgrade License. I believe Carl's method addresses the
> > Upgrade option people and maybe for people who run into some kind of bug in
> > which it doesn't work normal.
> >
> > Last night I installed Vista on my Laptop, which has 1 HD and 2 partitions.
> > XP on the first and loaded Vista to the 2nd. Everything worked fine and I
> > have working dual boot. My installs were Full not upgrades
> >
> >
> > "MGbassace" <> wrote in message
> > news:5C779A0E-5B4B-4DCB-93BF-...
> > > Now I am confused, I managed to get Vista Home Premium to dual boot with
> > > XP
> > > Home. XP home install on 1 hard drive C: and vista install to other hard
> > > drive d:
> > > Boot menu offers 1). Previous version of Windows. 2). Windows Vista
> > > Premium.
> > > Didnt do any of what you were mentioning i just put the DVD in and
> > > installed
> > > to different partion.
> > > Martin
> > >
> > > "Carl F" wrote:
> > >
> > >> Oops! The thread I reference is one I created on the afternoon of
> > >> 02/07/07 Carl F
> > >>
> > >> Carl F wrote:
> > >> > Observations and speculations by the author of this procedure
> > >> >
> > >> > The procedure in this thread is a list of the steps I performed to
> > >> > get a valid dual boot system. It is probably not the most efficient
> > >> > procedure.
> > >> >
> > >> > Logical observations (some untested):
> > >> > 1. The XP installation was fine before installing Vista
> > >> > 2. The Vista installation was fine after installation
> > >> > 3. The load error "/ntldr not found" was caused by an incorrect
> > >> > bcdfile
> > >> > 4. It was not necessary to "fix" a functional XP
> > >> > 5. If XP was not "fixed", Vista would not be broken
> > >> > 6. After Vista installation a user could go directly to the
> > >> > VisatBootPro part of the procedure to correct the boot problem
> > >> >
> > >> > Speculations (Since I don't have access to the OS code):
> > >> > 1. A windows OS may may installed in any primary petition
> > >> > 2. There may be 2 primary petitions on each disk drive.
> > >> > 3. There may be (C: thru Z 24 disk drives or 24 primary petitions on
> > >> > a computer.
> > >> > 4. Prior to installing Vista there may be 24 Windows OSs or OS
> > >> > residues
> > >> > on a computer.
> > >> > 5. Without user input, Vista installation must poll all primary
> > >> > petitions and determine which to insert in the bcdfile. This is
> > >> > difficult to do successfully.
> > >> > 6. I have also observed hibernation file references in the bcdfile.
> > >> > 7. Given the above, I suspect the Vista OS insertion logic has a bug
> > >> > 8. As a workaround solution, I recommend every primary petition which
> > >> > MAY have an unwanted OS or a residue OS be reformatted before
> > >> > installing
> > >> > Vista. Be careful you don't remove desired data or program files.
> > >> > 9. It may also be desirable to search for and remove all hibernation
> > >> > files.
> > >>
> >
> >
> >

"Carl F" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Observations and speculations by the author of this procedure
>
> The procedure in this thread is a list of the steps I performed to
> get a valid dual boot system. It is probably not the most efficient
> procedure.
>
> Logical observations (some untested):
> 1. The XP installation was fine before installing Vista
> 2. The Vista installation was fine after installation
> 3. The load error "/ntldr not found" was caused by an incorrect bcdfile
> 4. It was not necessary to "fix" a functional XP
> 5. If XP was not "fixed", Vista would not be broken
> 6. After Vista installation a user could go directly to the VisatBootPro
> part of the procedure to correct the boot problem
>
> Speculations (Since I don't have access to the OS code):
> 1. A windows OS may may installed in any primary petition

Note: It's partition not "petition". The windows installation can be on ony
partition, doesn't have to be primary. The files needed for booting have to
be on the active primary partition on the first drive in the boot order.

> 2. There may be 2 primary petitions on each disk drive.

There can be up to 4 primary partitions on a hard drive, one of which can be
an extended partition.

> 3. There may be (C: thru Z 24 disk drives or 24 primary petitions on a
> computer.

If there are 6 hard drives.

> 4. Prior to installing Vista there may be 24 Windows OSs or OS residues
> on a computer.
> 5. Without user input, Vista installation must poll all primary petitions
> and determine which to insert in the bcdfile. This is difficult to do
> successfully.
> 6. I have also observed hibernation file references in the bcdfile.
> 7. Given the above, I suspect the Vista OS insertion logic has a bug
> 8. As a workaround solution, I recommend every primary petition which MAY
> have an unwanted OS or a residue OS be reformatted before installing
> Vista. Be careful you don't remove desired data or program files.
> 9. It may also be desirable to search for and remove all hibernation
> files.

--
Rock [MVP - User/Shell]

By the way, both my XP Pro and Vista Ultimate versions are full version
i.e. Microsoft got a lot of bucks.

Did you try and repair your Vista using the repair mode after booting
from the DVD?

XP Fixboot and Fixmbr are expected to do exactly what they did for you:
Replace the Vista boot with the XP boot which uses in boot.ini file



TomKo wrote:
> I have the problem that he addresses here. I have a XP Home edition on my E:
> drive. Vista x64 Premium full install OEM version is installed on my G:
> drive. I get the /ntldr error message and could not get into XP anymore so I
> did FIXMBR and FIXBOOT using the XP CD. I can now access XP but not Vista. My
> Vista install is so buggy that I cannot install VistaBootPro. Vista is only
> stable in Safe mode for me. I was thinking that maybe Vista is looking for
> the XP on the wrong drive. It says that the /ntldr is on the D: drive, but in
> XP it is the E: drive. My Vista installation is on the G: drive, which Vista
> calls the C: drive. I am going to try his method tonite and see if I can
> finally dual-boot while I continue my fruitless attempts to get Vista to not
> give me a BSOD every time I boot up!
>
>
> "Dale M. White" wrote:
>
>> I believe that is the normal, espeically for people who have Full install
>> License versus the upgrade License. I believe Carl's method addresses the
>> Upgrade option people and maybe for people who run into some kind of bug in
>> which it doesn't work normal.
>>
>> Last night I installed Vista on my Laptop, which has 1 HD and 2 partitions.
>> XP on the first and loaded Vista to the 2nd. Everything worked fine and I
>> have working dual boot. My installs were Full not upgrades
>>
>>
>> "MGbassace" <> wrote in message
>> news:5C779A0E-5B4B-4DCB-93BF-...
>>> Now I am confused, I managed to get Vista Home Premium to dual boot with
>>> XP
>>> Home. XP home install on 1 hard drive C: and vista install to other hard
>>> drive d:
>>> Boot menu offers 1). Previous version of Windows. 2). Windows Vista
>>> Premium.
>>> Didnt do any of what you were mentioning i just put the DVD in and
>>> installed
>>> to different partion.
>>> Martin
>>>
>>> "Carl F" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Oops! The thread I reference is one I created on the afternoon of
>>>> 02/07/07 Carl F
>>>>
>>>> Carl F wrote:
>>>>> Observations and speculations by the author of this procedure
>>>>>
>>>>> The procedure in this thread is a list of the steps I performed to
>>>>> get a valid dual boot system. It is probably not the most efficient
>>>>> procedure.
>>>>>
>>>>> Logical observations (some untested):
>>>>> 1. The XP installation was fine before installing Vista
>>>>> 2. The Vista installation was fine after installation
>>>>> 3. The load error "/ntldr not found" was caused by an incorrect
>>>>> bcdfile
>>>>> 4. It was not necessary to "fix" a functional XP
>>>>> 5. If XP was not "fixed", Vista would not be broken
>>>>> 6. After Vista installation a user could go directly to the
>>>>> VisatBootPro part of the procedure to correct the boot problem
>>>>>
>>>>> Speculations (Since I don't have access to the OS code):
>>>>> 1. A windows OS may may installed in any primary petition
>>>>> 2. There may be 2 primary petitions on each disk drive.
>>>>> 3. There may be (C: thru Z 24 disk drives or 24 primary petitions on
>>>>> a computer.
>>>>> 4. Prior to installing Vista there may be 24 Windows OSs or OS
>>>>> residues
>>>>> on a computer.
>>>>> 5. Without user input, Vista installation must poll all primary
>>>>> petitions and determine which to insert in the bcdfile. This is
>>>>> difficult to do successfully.
>>>>> 6. I have also observed hibernation file references in the bcdfile.
>>>>> 7. Given the above, I suspect the Vista OS insertion logic has a bug
>>>>> 8. As a workaround solution, I recommend every primary petition which
>>>>> MAY have an unwanted OS or a residue OS be reformatted before
>>>>> installing
>>>>> Vista. Be careful you don't remove desired data or program files.
>>>>> 9. It may also be desirable to search for and remove all hibernation
>>>>> files.
>>
>>