XP/VISTA Dual Boot Question

I have been dual booting XP PRO for some time, with my main operating
system on drive 1 (Primary Master) and my gaming system on drive 2
(Primary Slave). I control which system to boot up by the simple
modification of boot.ini thus:

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW s
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional DISK 1" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional DISK 2"=optin /fastdetect

And it has worked flawlessly.

Now I have bought VISTA Ultimate, removed my two XP drives, and have a
beginning VISTA system up and running on a separate drive1 by itself
(Primary Master). My plan now is to do a similar dual boot scenario,
mixing my XP gaming drive as drive 1 with my new VISTA drive as drive
2. I figured I had to choose this order because I discovered that
VISTA has no boot.ini file (?or does it?), and so will have to choose
system selection from the XP drive's boot.ini file.

When I tried it, booting from the XP drive worked fine. However, when
I tried to boot from the VISTA drive, the bootup hung with a blank,
black screen.

So I figure I can't do what I am trying to do.

How about it?

Thanks

-SUPERBOY

install vistaboot pro (free)
on XP or Vista, and you can repair and edit the vista bootloader

http://www.vistabootpro.org/


<> wrote in message
news:...
>I have been dual booting XP PRO for some time, with my main operating
> system on drive 1 (Primary Master) and my gaming system on drive 2
> (Primary Slave). I control which system to boot up by the simple
> modification of boot.ini thus:
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=10
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW s
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
> Professional DISK 1" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
> Professional DISK 2"=optin /fastdetect
>
> And it has worked flawlessly.
>
> Now I have bought VISTA Ultimate, removed my two XP drives, and have a
> beginning VISTA system up and running on a separate drive1 by itself
> (Primary Master). My plan now is to do a similar dual boot scenario,
> mixing my XP gaming drive as drive 1 with my new VISTA drive as drive
> 2. I figured I had to choose this order because I discovered that
> VISTA has no boot.ini file (?or does it?), and so will have to choose
> system selection from the XP drive's boot.ini file.
>
> When I tried it, booting from the XP drive worked fine. However, when
> I tried to boot from the VISTA drive, the bootup hung with a blank,
> black screen.
>
> So I figure I can't do what I am trying to do.
>
> How about it?
>
> Thanks
>
> -SUPERBOY

<> wrote in message
news:...
> When I tried it, booting from the XP drive worked fine. However, when
> I tried to boot from the VISTA drive, the bootup hung with a blank,
> black screen.

You should have left the XP drive you wanted to keep in the system when you
installed Vista. Vista would have detected XP and added it to the Vista
boot menu automatically.

However, at this point you can either use your BIOS to select your boot
drive (this is what I do), or you can install VistaBootPro or EasyBCD.
Both are free utilites that you install in Vista that allow you to
add/remove/edit boot entries for other OSes. I have used both of these
utils, and each has advantages over the other, depending on what OSes you
want to boot. Both allow easy addition of Windows OSes, but EasyBCD is
easier to use if you want to boot Linux or OS X.

its not a real problem..

I have to deal with such problems all the time


he can always repair the vista bootloader by booting with the vista dvd and
selecting repair

the dvd will scan all disks, find all the windows installations on the
drives, and create a new bootloader and install it on the first partition of
the first drive




"Bob Campbell" <> wrote in message
news:...
> <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> When I tried it, booting from the XP drive worked fine. However, when
>> I tried to boot from the VISTA drive, the bootup hung with a blank,
>> black screen.
>
> You should have left the XP drive you wanted to keep in the system when
> you installed Vista. Vista would have detected XP and added it to the
> Vista boot menu automatically.
>
> However, at this point you can either use your BIOS to select your boot
> drive (this is what I do), or you can install VistaBootPro or EasyBCD.
> Both are free utilites that you install in Vista that allow you to
> add/remove/edit boot entries for other OSes. I have used both of these
> utils, and each has advantages over the other, depending on what OSes you
> want to boot. Both allow easy addition of Windows OSes, but EasyBCD is
> easier to use if you want to boot Linux or OS X.

"On the Bridge! (An MVP upgrade)" <On@the,bridge> wrote in message
news:...
> its not a real problem..

I never said it was.........

> he can always repair the vista bootloader by booting with the vista dvd
> and selecting repair

Yeah I forgot about that one. I've done that MANY times in my
experimenting with OS X!

On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:13:22 -0400, "Bob Campbell" <>
wrote:

>You should have left the XP drive you wanted to keep in the system when you
>installed Vista. Vista would have detected XP and added it to the Vista
>boot menu automatically.

I agree, now. But I did not know that, and now I have to two OS's
created separately - Vista on C drive and XP on E drive.
As was pointed out, changing the BIOS to select the desired boot drive
should work, and in fact it does. I can do that. Both drives do boot
just fine.

>
>However, at this point you can either use your BIOS to select your boot
>drive (this is what I do), or you can install VistaBootPro or EasyBCD.
>Both are free utilites that you install in Vista that allow you to
>add/remove/edit boot entries for other OSes. I have used both of these
>utils, and each has advantages over the other, depending on what OSes you
>want to boot. Both allow easy addition of Windows OSes, but EasyBCD is
>easier to use if you want to boot Linux or OS X.

I do want to try to make either VISTABOOTPRO or EASYBCD work, if only
to learn how to do it that way. I downloaded VISTABOOTPRO v3.3 and
EASYBCD v1.7.1. I tried each one separately, and can get NEITHER to
work. So I must be doing something wrong.

With EASYBCD, my first screen shows:
There is one entry in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
Default OS: Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

I chose 'Add/Remove entries'm thinking to add XP. Under 'Windows'
tab, I selected 'Type' and chose 'Windows NT,2k, XP,2k3'. I changed
the 'Name' from 'Microsoft Windows' to simple 'XP'. For some reason,
'Drive' is gray'ed out. So I can't choose 'E' like I think I should.
Leaving it gray'ed 'C', I clicked on 'Add Entry' - nothing happened,
but when I select 'View Settings' I now get:

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
Default OS: Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry #2

Name: xp
BCD ID: {7a912b63-f69c-11dc-af7a-bb11938bc00f}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR

I don't think Entry #2 is right. It should say E:\ I would think.
Anyway, at next boot, I can still choose to boot to Vista, but booting
to XP blanks the screen and does nothing.

So, what am I missing please? VISTABOOTPRO performs just about the
same for me.

Thanks for your time.
-SUPERBOY

Now, instead of the back screen when I select SP in the boot, I get an
error message, saying that /NTLDR is missing or corrupt.
I quickly add this in case it is important to my problem
Thanks



On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:13:22 -0400, "Bob Campbell" <>
wrote:

>You should have left the XP drive you wanted to keep in the system when you
>installed Vista. Vista would have detected XP and added it to the Vista
>boot menu automatically.

I agree, now. But I did not know that, and now I have to two OS's
created separately - Vista on C drive and XP on E drive.
As was pointed out, changing the BIOS to select the desired boot drive
should work, and in fact it does. I can do that. Both drives do boot
just fine.

>
>However, at this point you can either use your BIOS to select your boot
>drive (this is what I do), or you can install VistaBootPro or EasyBCD.
>Both are free utilites that you install in Vista that allow you to
>add/remove/edit boot entries for other OSes. I have used both of these
>utils, and each has advantages over the other, depending on what OSes you
>want to boot. Both allow easy addition of Windows OSes, but EasyBCD is
>easier to use if you want to boot Linux or OS X.

I do want to try to make either VISTABOOTPRO or EASYBCD work, if only
to learn how to do it that way. I downloaded VISTABOOTPRO v3.3 and
EASYBCD v1.7.1. I tried each one separately, and can get NEITHER to
work. So I must be doing something wrong.

With EASYBCD, my first screen shows:
There is one entry in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
Default OS: Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

I chose 'Add/Remove entries'm thinking to add XP. Under 'Windows'
tab, I selected 'Type' and chose 'Windows NT,2k, XP,2k3'. I changed
the 'Name' from 'Microsoft Windows' to simple 'XP'. For some reason,
'Drive' is gray'ed out. So I can't choose 'E' like I think I should.
Leaving it gray'ed 'C', I clicked on 'Add Entry' - nothing happened,
but when I select 'View Settings' I now get:

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
Default OS: Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry #2

Name: xp
BCD ID: {7a912b63-f69c-11dc-af7a-bb11938bc00f}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR

I don't think Entry #2 is right. It should say E:\ I would think.
Anyway, at next boot, I can still choose to boot to Vista, but booting
to XP blanks the screen and does nothing.

So, what am I missing please? VISTABOOTPRO performs just about the
same for me.

Thanks for your time.
-SUPERBOY

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:37:06 GMT, wrote:

>On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:13:22 -0400, "Bob Campbell" <>
>wrote:
>
>>You should have left the XP drive you wanted to keep in the system when you
>>installed Vista. Vista would have detected XP and added it to the Vista
>>boot menu automatically.
>
>I agree, now. But I did not know that, and now I have to two OS's
>created separately - Vista on C drive and XP on E drive.
>As was pointed out, changing the BIOS to select the desired boot drive
>should work, and in fact it does. I can do that. Both drives do boot
>just fine.
>
>>
>>However, at this point you can either use your BIOS to select your boot
>>drive (this is what I do), or you can install VistaBootPro or EasyBCD.
>>Both are free utilites that you install in Vista that allow you to
>>add/remove/edit boot entries for other OSes. I have used both of these
>>utils, and each has advantages over the other, depending on what OSes you
>>want to boot. Both allow easy addition of Windows OSes, but EasyBCD is
>>easier to use if you want to boot Linux or OS X.
>
>I do want to try to make either VISTABOOTPRO or EASYBCD work, if only
>to learn how to do it that way. I downloaded VISTABOOTPRO v3.3 and
>EASYBCD v1.7.1. I tried each one separately, and can get NEITHER to
>work. So I must be doing something wrong.
>
>With EASYBCD, my first screen shows:
>There is one entry in the Vista Bootloader.
>Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
>Default OS: Windows Vista
>
>Entry #1
>
>Name: Windows Vista
>BCD ID: {current}
>Drive: C:\
>Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
>Windows Directory: \Windows
>
>I chose 'Add/Remove entries'm thinking to add XP. Under 'Windows'
>tab, I selected 'Type' and chose 'Windows NT,2k, XP,2k3'. I changed
>the 'Name' from 'Microsoft Windows' to simple 'XP'. For some reason,
>'Drive' is gray'ed out. So I can't choose 'E' like I think I should.
>Leaving it gray'ed 'C', I clicked on 'Add Entry' - nothing happened,
>but when I select 'View Settings' I now get:
>
>There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
>Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
>Default OS: Windows Vista
>
>Entry #1
>
>Name: Windows Vista
>BCD ID: {current}
>Drive: C:\
>Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
>Windows Directory: \Windows
>
>Entry #2
>
>Name: xp
>BCD ID: {7a912b63-f69c-11dc-af7a-bb11938bc00f}
>Drive: C:\
>Bootloader Path: \NTLDR
>
>I don't think Entry #2 is right. It should say E:\ I would think.
>Anyway, at next boot, I can still choose to boot to Vista, but booting
>to XP blanks the screen and does nothing.
>
>So, what am I missing please? VISTABOOTPRO performs just about the
>same for me.

If the C:\ in BCD cannot be changed to E:\,
copy hidden files ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini from the Windows
XP drive to C:\.
Edit boot.ini, changing rdisk(0) to rdisk(1).

>
>Thanks for your time.
>-SUPERBOY
>

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:07:47 -0700, andy
<bogusaddress@bogusaddress.123> wrote:


>If the C:\ in BCD cannot be changed to E:\,
>copy hidden files ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini from the Windows
>XP drive to C:\.
>Edit boot.ini, changing rdisk(0) to rdisk(1).

I did all that - VISTA still boots up fine. When I select XP in the
boot up choices, now I immediately get an error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or is
corrupt

<windows root>\system32\hal.dll

Now what????

Thanks

-SUPERBOY

You only want the one entry in your boot.ini that relates to the XP drive
you have currently installed.

<> wrote in message
news:...
> On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:07:47 -0700, andy
> <bogusaddress@bogusaddress.123> wrote:
>
>
>>If the C:\ in BCD cannot be changed to E:\,
>>copy hidden files ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini from the Windows
>>XP drive to C:\.
>>Edit boot.ini, changing rdisk(0) to rdisk(1).
>
> I did all that - VISTA still boots up fine. When I select XP in the
> boot up choices, now I immediately get an error message:
>
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or is
> corrupt
>
> <windows root>\system32\hal.dll
>
> Now what????
>
> Thanks
>
> -SUPERBOY