[Lyndis]

Ok, so I wanted to dual boot Windows XP and Windows 7 because there were a few games I really liked whom's anti-hack programs refused to tolerate Windows 7.

I seperated a 60 gig partition and booted XP from the disk to format the partition and put XP on it. But now after installation, my computer simply goes to XP instead of a menu asking me which OS I want to use when booted up.

Terrified that It'd somehow deleted Windows 7 I checked my computer. Windows XP is on G:\ Windows 7 appears to have been moved from C:\ to D:\ but otherwise appears to be completely there.

It seems that EVERYTHING to make Windows 7 run is in D:\
... So it seemed to me like maybe I could fix it, and not have to rip my hair out over this.

So basically I want to fix it so that I can choose between which OS I want to use on bootup.

[TheOutcaste]

Welcome to TSG!

Boot with the Win7 DVD, choose language etc, click Next.
Click Repair your Computer
Choose Use Recovery Tools, it will scan for Win7 installations.
Click Startup Repair

HTH

Jerry

[ANDI-R]

but you have to to install a boot manager like paragon,boot magic....
because your vista boot.ini is placed in mbr and seven is innactive but if you install a boot manager it will be placed in mbr and other two boot file of your o.systems will bw placed in vbr

[TheOutcaste]

No need for a boot manager, Win7s boot manager can handle it just fine.
Vista isn't even part of this scenario, and doesn't even use a boot.ini file. The boot.ini file is never placed in the MBR.
Anytime you re-install an older OS in a Dual Boot setup, you lose the newer OS. The older one doesn't know about an OS released after it was, so it overwrites the bootloader of the newer OS

[Lyndis]

Hello and thank you for your' response!

I first tried a boot manager. However I found myself dealing with rather confusing and as a result doubtful choices.

In the end I settled on Boot Manager US because it was one of the few that did not require it to be burned or put on a floppy disk. However this caused it to fail to boot up altogether, and so luckily there was an uninstall option straight in the boot manager.

On the other hand, I put the Windows 7 DVD in afterward and the repair fully restored my Windows 7 installation.

Now however it appears I cannot boot into XP. (This is progress however, since I only need XP for a very few games that have not added compatibility in their anti-hack programs for Windows 7.)

The next step is to make both XP and Windows 7 available.
Windows 7 is back on C:\
Windows XP is still on G:\

Windows 7 has it's own boot manager? I didn't know that and don't know where to find it.

[TheOutcaste]

I'd hoped the repair would have picked up the XP install.
Just need to follow the last steps of this post for adding XP to the boot menu. Last stickey at the top of this forum. Steps are the same for Vista and Win7, so where this says vista, substitute Win7
Boot to Win7 then open a command prompt
click Start, type cmd. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER, or when Command Prompt appears in the list, right click, then click Run as Administrator

This should open a Command Promt that says Administrator:Command Prompt in the Title bar. The prompt should show C:\Windows\System32>

If not type the following, then press enter:
CD /D %systemroot%\System32

Type the following lines, press enter after each one:
Bcdedit /create {ntldr} /D "Windows XP"
Bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=C:
Bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
Bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast

Reboot, and Windows XP will appear on the list. You can type any description you want

The drive letters may appear different to each OS. When booted to Win7, Win7 will be on Drive C:. When booted to XP, Win7 may be on drive D:

HTH

Jerry

[Lyndis]

Although the commands seemingly completed successfully, there was no change in the bootup process.

[Lyndis]

Update: I got Windows XP to appear on the Boot Manager, but it refuses to start. I tried going into the Windows XP install disk repair console, but it only shows E:\ and D:\ ....

I get the following error when I select XP Windows 7 boots fine still.

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.

File: \NTLDR
Status: 0xc000000f
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

[TheOutcaste]

When booted to Win7, which drive is the ntldr file on?
It's a hidden file, so be sure the system is set to display them
Should be on the root of whatever drive it is on.
If it's actually on the G: partition instead of C: with the Win7 files, we need to change the drive letter in this line:
Bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=C:

Jerry

[Lyndis]

I can't find the folder and I have hidden files shown in either drives.

[jrbuergel]

NTLDR is the XP boot file, not a folder, and in folder options also select show system files as well as the hidden files. Then just have a copy of both the ntldr and the boot.ini files on both root drives, so on your C and G partitions, ( to be safe and sure ). Also this handy Vista program called EasyBCD, may also work with windows 7 boot manager and can be found here; http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

[Lyndis]

I see boot.ini, NTDETECT, ntldr and some other files in C:\ under windows XP. I used EasyBCD 2.0 beta to get back into XP. However this dissables Windows 7. C:\ does not have an OS on it under XP.

[Lyndis]

I tried copying the 3 files into the other 2 drives. But now my XP partition is completely corrupt. It's... showing really odd strings with odd seemingly random background colors followed by a restart at bootup. Windows 7 has been unaffected however.

I tried removing the files but no luck. I'm afraid I'm going to be forced to remove XP/Reinstall XP.

Is there anyway I could perhaps try to make the install work correctly from the ground this time?

[jrbuergel]

You can use that EasyBCD to repair the Vista/7 boot manager on your master boot record, and then use it to add XP to the boot list. Also can you give more details on your computer hardware with this dual boot attempt, such as the CPU, memory, hard drive type, video card, etc? Since the XP took drive letter G, your PC must have a digital media card reader in it, right ? That odd display issue may be from your video card device driver needing updating or re-install. Does this computer have a SATA type hard drive, or a standard IDE, this is vital due to the need to configure your BIOS SATA settings as plain IDE and not that AHCI because XP does not have SATA drivers included during the install.

[Lyndis]

My XP worked fine fresh from install, and fine after being fully updated to SP3. I can safely say that I corrupted the boot by inserting those 3 files, and that somehow it's done damage that can't be undone by removing the 3 files that caused it. I believe I'm using a SATA drive, though it doesn't matter because my hard drive clearly had a driver during install.

I have a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with Update Rollup 2
DVD.

EasyBCD does not correctly add Windows XP to the boot menu as was described a few posts up.

Update: I got Windows XP to appear on the Boot Manager, but it refuses to start. I tried going into the Windows XP install disk repair console, but it only shows E:\ and D:\ ....

I get the following error when I select XP. Windows 7 boots fine still.

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.

File: \NTLDR
Status: 0xc000000f
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

I hear that people have a lot less trouble if they install XP before Windows 7. However I don't want to lose all my stuff on Windows 7.