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Dual Boot Trouble Shooting Guide / Vista Running
This is a short add on guide for trouble shooting your dual boot with Vista running and XP installed.
Software required for this guide: VistaBootPro
Below is how to locate the ntldr, NTDETECT, and boot.ini while in Vista.
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on "Organize" and then click on "Folder and Search Options"
3. Then click on the "View" tab
4. In the list under "Advanced Settings" you need to find "Hide protected operating system files" and uncheck it and then click "Ok"
5. Once back into My Computer open your XP (or Vista) drive and you will now see more "protected" files
6. Select the three files in question and right click and then select "Copy"
7. Go back and open your Vista (or XP) drive and right click and then select paste
VistaBootPRO v.3.1 Method
8. Open VistaBootPRO and go to the "System Bootloader" screen
9. Select to "Reinstall the Vista Bootloader" and then click on Install Bootloader
End v.3.1
VistaBootPRO v.3.3 Method
8. Open VistaBootPRO and go to the "System Bootloader" screen
9. Select "Windows Vista Bootloader"
10. Select "All Drives"
Note: Before continuing quit any I/O sensitive applications.
11. Select Force Install and then click on "Install Bootloader"
End v.3.3
10. Once done exit VistaBootPRO and reboot your system
Drive letters were not included due to the different configurations.
If it is still not booting then your boot.ini can be incorrect. Below is a typical boot.ini.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT
The major components of the boot.ini are rdisk(#) and partition(#). Do not change disk(#) unless you are running SCSI drives. When you open Disk Manager, you will see your hard drives listed a Disk 0, Disk 1 and so on depending on how many hard drives you have. The boot.ini rdisk(#) should point to the disk with XP on it associated with the Disk Manager. The boot.ini partition(#) should point to the partition XP is on. The first section of a hard drive is partition 1 and so on. Remember; rdisk(#) can have a 0 such as rdisk(0). On the other hand, partition(#) will always have a 1 or greater. Below you will see my hard drive configuration.
Folks, the basic principle is that all the boot system files for both operating system need to be on the drive/partition tagged "System" in Disk Management (right click My Computer or Computer>Manage). The boot system files for Vista are the folder Boot (and contents) and bootmgr and for XP NTDETECT.COM, ntldr and boot.ini. Boot.ini needs to be pointing to the correct drive/partition. It doesn't hurt to have all these files on both operating system root drive/partitions as this has been known to fix the issue for some or other reason.
Once you have those all on the "System" drive/partition you can Install the Vista bootloader from the System Bootloader page of VistaBootPRO, or run Diagnostics from the Diagnostics menu item and then go to the Manage OS Entries page and if the entries there don't look right and don't work when you reboot and test them, then either the boot.ini is incorrect or the drive letter assigned to the entries is incorrect.
Do not change the drive letters in Computer or Disk Management as that will more than likely cause your systme to be unbootable for that OS.
You can also run a Startup repair by booting to the Vista DVD and selecting Repair my computer at the Install now setup screen.
If all else fails then try to rebuild the BCD by running these commands from the command prompt after booting to the Vista DVD and selecting the command prompt at the same place you would run a startup repair:
Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd
The /RebuildBcd option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista. Additionally, this option lets you select the installations that you want to add to the BCD store. Use this option when you must completely rebuild the BCD.
Note If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the command prompt:
• bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
• c:
• cd boot
• attrib bcd -s -h -r
• ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
• bootrec /RebuildBcd
Unplugged XP Drive for Vista Setup: Can't Dual Boot to XP
So…you unplugged your Windows XP hard drive before Windows Vista setup, so that you didn’t fubar your XP installation. Both XP and Vista boot fine when you change the boot drive order in the BIOS, effectively changing the Windows system drive each time, but that gets a bit tiresome.
Windows XP needs the following files to be on the system drive for it to be able to boot;
boot.ini
NTDETECT.COM
ntldr
and Windows Vista needs these files to be on the system drive for it to be able to boot;
Boot (folder and contents, most importantly the BCD store)
bootmgr
To sort this out, follow the steps below:
1. Plug both drives in and set the Windows XP drive to be the boot drive in the BIOS. This will make it the system drive and although it doesn’t really matter whether the XP or Vista drive is the system drive, it tends to be easier to manage and control booting, from Windows XP.
2. Open Disk Management (right click My Computer>Manage) and go to Disk Management to check that your XP drive is your system drive, although the fact that you were able to boot to XP should already confirm that.
3. Open Windows Explorer and make sure you set Folder Options in Control Panel to be able to see hidden files and files and unhide protected operating system files. You’ll find folder options in the same place in Vista if you select Classic View for Control Panel.
4. Copy the folder Boot and the file bootmgr from your Vista installation drive and paste it to your XP installation drive.
Disk Management
Files to be copied
Files copied
5. Download and install VistaBootPRO and then open it to the Bootloader tab. Select “Reinstall the Vista bootloader” and press Apply.
Reinstall the Vista booloader
6. Now go to the Manage OS Entries tab and select “Add new operating system entry”and make sure you select “Windows Legacy”, give the entry a name like “Windows XP”, select the drive letter you have ntldr on as the drive letter and press Apply (This drive letter must also be your system drive which is set to boot in the BIOS). You can now choose which entry you want to be the default to which the system will boot by default.
Add new XP entry
Reboot and choose which Operating System you want to boot to.
source
http://www.vistabootpro.org/
