[Kotjze]

I originally had XP Home installed but I wanted to boot both XP and Vista, so I created a second partition and installed Vista Ultimate on the second. It seemed to work ok; I was able to choose between Vista and XP when I turned the computer on. After a while I realized some programs just wouldn't run under Vista, so I went to boot XP. I select it from Vista's boot menu and it starts to load; I see the Windows XP logo and the little loading bar, but after that it's just ablack screen where the keyboard/mouse does nothing. Everything on the XP partition is still accessible from Vista, but it just won't boot completely. I've searched Google and I can't find someone with this specific problem, so I'm hoping someone here can help me.

[Rollin' Rog]

I don't have a really knowledgeable answer for you. But try preparing the type of "bootdisk" described in this article and see if XP will boot.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314503

I'm afraid, however, if you run the "fixmbr" command on a dual boot system, you would lose the Vista partition. I just don't know. You might be better off to try to reinstall XP on the XP partition.

I hope I don't run into that problem, since I am planning to do something similar.

[Kotjze]

Update:

I figured I'd just try to get rid of Vista and keep my XP installation to see if I oculd get it to boot. I also found out that the XP installation will boot ONLY IN SAFE MODE. Right now i am in safe mode with networking. Starting Windows normally just gives me the Windows logo and then the blank screen. Also, even though I have uninstalled Vista, I still have the vista boot loader, but I cna't figure out how to get rid of that. I've tried using the recovery console with fixmbr, but the boot loader doe'sn't go away. :s It's frustrating that I can access everything only in safe mode. I don't understand why it won't boot normally. This topic has pretty much changed from Vista-based to XP-based help ¬¬ ...

[Rollin' Rog]

Run msconfig in XP and select the "boot.ini" tab. Have it check for valid boot paths -- it will prompt you to delete any that are not valid.

Also, you may be able to do a "system restore" in XP -- have you tried that? Most problems that are not resolved by it are hardware issues.

Also, when booting to Safe Mode, verify whether the same problem occurs in both the "built-in" Admin account and your normal Admin account. If you are able to get there in the built-in account, but not in your normal account -- there is some damage to the profile.

And of course there is "clean boot" troubleshooting:

CLEAN BOOT TROUBLESHOOTING technique XP

First, restart in Safe Mode (tap the f8 key promptly on startup and choose the Safe Mode option from the boot menu).

In Safe Mode –

Run msconfig and select the "Services" tab. Check "Hide Microsoft Services" and then disable the rest. Also uncheck "load startup group" on the general page.

See this link for detailed information:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;310353

Now restart and test the issue at hand

If no problems, run msconfig and recheck half the disabled items on the Services tab. Test again. If the problem recurs, UNcheck half the items you just checked to narrow down the culprit.

If the problem didn't occur, check the other half, so all the Services are enabled -- proceed to do this on the startup tab as well.

Get the idea? You want to isolate the problem to a specific startup if possible.

Note: if you already have items unchecked under msconfig > startups and are in “selective” startup mode – you should note what these are before beginning. They will need to be de-selected again.

[Kotjze]

I checked the boot paths, it was ok. I already tried a system restore, that didn't fix it. I'm able to log in safe mode with both Admin and my account. I unchecked all the non-Microsoft items under Services and rebooted, but I still get the blank screen after the Windows XP logo.

[Rollin' Rog]

When you say you are getting the "boot loader" do you mean you are being prompted to select which installation to boot from, and the old Vista path is still there?

Msconfig should have fixed that, but you can do it manually by checking and editing the boot.ini file. This is available through sysdm.cpl > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Edit.

When you are in Safe Mode, if you run eventvwr.msc and look at the systems and applications log -- what repeating errors are you seeing there? Ignore ones about DCOM and the service control manager -- some will always appear after Safe Mode boots.

In the Applications log, look especially for "winlogon" issues.

I'd also suggest simplifying the hardware setup as much as possible.

[Kotjze]

Yes, when I installed Vista, because I still had XP it put the boot loader there to pick XP or Vista. Even though I formatted the Vista partition, it still shows up in the boot loader, but picking Vista just gives errors. When I edit the boot.ini, only the XP Home installation is listed, but when I turn the laptop on, I can still choose between the two.

As for the logs in eventvwr.msc, in the System log, the repeating errors come from Service Control Manager and DCOM. In the Application log, there were no errors recently.

[tlund_99]

When dual booting Vista & XP,they are booting from C:\Boot folder.Boot.ini is ignored.I have installed Vista in a dual boot setup several times with Vista RC1.Before uninstalling Vista in a dual boot setup you need to diable the Vista bootloader.I used Vista Boot Pro from www.pro-networking.org It has a function to disable the Vista bootloader.I'm not sure it will work after Vista has been removed

[Kotjze]

I can't install Vista Boot Pro because I'm running in Safe Mode.

[tlund_99]

Unfortunately you can't delete the "Boot" folder,nor can you rename it or move it or anything.Perhaps you could reinstall Vista in a dual boot setup and start all over and then use Vista Boot Pro