7 and XP not playing nice....

DazzaJay

DazzaJay

Member
ok, First, i started with Dual Booting XPx64 and XPx86 just using boot.ini - this worked perfectly...
Code: 
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
XPx64 was assigned to C:\ and XPx86 was on E:\

i then installed 7 over my C:\ (replacing XPx64 with 7x64)

no now i have C:\ 7x64 and E:\ XPx86
after dicking about i discovered that Microsoft are jerks and removed any easy way to Dual Boot. which is when a friend told me about your site.

i have installed and told it where everything is..... XP wont boot.
t_drives2.jpg

Code: 
There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows 7
Timeout: 10 seconds
EasyBCD Boot Device: C:\

Entry #1
Name: Windows 7
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID: {d5408071-4b9c-11e1-8553-d0617445e186}
Drive: E:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\easyldr1

it just throws an error at \NST\easyldr1 (i can get the full error if needed)
but either way, it wont load XP.
 
but when it's on Auto, it selects C:\ which is where 7 is, not where XP is.
so, what your saying is, if i leave it on auto detect, it will show C:\ in the app, but properly boot XP from E:\ ?
 
It doesn't think XP's on C. It thinks that the files which boot XP are on the "system" disk which is the proper place for them.
Those files are what points to XP not the BCD.
The Vista/7/8 boot manager points directly to Vista/7/8 boot loaders in the BCD, but it does not boot legacy systems. It chains to a copy of the legacy bootloader, which needs to be on the same partition as all the other boot files. That's what the BCD has to point to.
The reason why EasyBCD has "auto-configure" is precisely because huge numbers of new dual-booters kept making the identical mistake when trying to set it up manually without appreciating how the boot process works.
 
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