"Ian D" <taurus@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uw%231kCf7IHA.3724@xxxxxx
Quote:
>
> "gecko" <alpha@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:nk3i84t9vu9qpc95m6qcq0pqbao436qb13@xxxxxx Quote:
>>I am having trouble creating a dual boot with Vista Ultimate as
>> primary boot and XP as secondary.
>> That is, I have Vista Ultimate on c drive and XP PRO SP2 on D drive.
>>
>> I used VistaBoot Pro V3.2 (probably a demo) in Vista to create the
>> following:
>>
>> There is currently 2 OS(s) installed on your system.
>> The current boot timeout is: 30
>>
>> Default OS: VISTA
>>
>> Entry 1
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Name: VISTA
>> BCD ID: {current}
>> Boot Drive: C:
>> Windows Drive: C:
>> System Bootloader: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
>> Windows Directory: \Windows
>>
>> Entry 2
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Name: XP
>> BCD ID: {ntldr}
>> Boot Drive: D:
>> System Bootloader: \ntldr
>>
>> When I boot up, I get a menu asking me to choose between 'VISTA' and
>> 'XP', which I deem to be correct.
>> The default is Vista. If I choose the Vista option, or choose it by
>> default, Vista comes up fine, with the XP drive as d drive.
>> If I choose the XP option, I get an error saying:
>>
>> Invalid boot.ini file
>> Booting from c:\windows
>>
>> AND IT JUST HANGS AT THAT POINT WITH A BLACK SCREEN!
>>
>>
>> On d drive (in XP), I have the boot.ini (which I believe was created
>> when XP was installed in the first place):
>>
>> [boot loader]
>> timeout=30
>> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
>> [operating systems]
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP"
>> /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>>
>> I am getting frustrated, trying to get this dual boot to work. I hope
>> I have explained things carefully and correctly.
>>
>> Can anyone advise? I am hoping some minor correction of an oversight
>> will make things go. Yes, I have read many of the blogs on this
>> subject, both via Google and these news groups. I am ready to quit.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> -GECKO
>
> Copies of the following XP files should also be in the root of your Vista
> boot drive (C
: boot.ini, ntldr, ndetect.com. I assume C: and D: are two
> partitions on the same hard drive. If they are separate HDs, rdisk should
> be (1) and partition should be (0) in both lines of boot.ini.
> ---
This is true. The documentation (for bcdedit) is vague and makes it look as
if d:\ntldr will work, but it doesn't. You have to have c:\ntldr and files
it depends on, on the boot drive/partition. XP boot.ini does not depend on
drive letters, but rather rdisk and partition values.
Other ways that I have seen suggested are (1) change the active partition in
DOS fdisk or a similar utility, boot XP, change it back, boot Vista, etc.
and (2) change the boot drive in BIOS setup. Both have the advantage of
keeping system drives separate, no need for XP files on Vista partition and
vice versa, but they don't give you a boot time menu.
This is from bcdedit, but gecko's entry for XP should look something like
this instead of what he has now.
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3
Saludos,
Earle