Cannot dual boot into WinXP

Anyone having problems dual-booting XP do this:

Delete all ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini from all drives
Delete the XP entry in EasyBCD
Readd the XP entry in EasyBCD making sure the autodetection checkbox is ticked
DO NOT modify the XP entry drive in EasyBCD
Reboot to test

If you get the XP not found message, post your bootgrabber.exe /tlist and your bootgrabber.exe /bootcfg outputs
If you get invalid boot.ini after this, post your boot.ini and your bootgrabber.exe /tlist output.

Addendum:

@r3ch4h you should be able to boot into 7, this has nothing to do with the bootmgr configuration.
 
Last edited:
CG.. thanks for looking into this.

I removed the files requested, as well as the entry for WinXP in EasyBCD, but the results were still "no Boot.ini" found.
-The WinXP drive (when set to the primary boot drive) was no longer functional of course after deleting those files.
-I restored an image of the drive to access WinXP again so as to run bootgrabber.exe from the command prompt (I could not run it from my Win7 OS).
-I ran bootgrabber.exe from the command prompt from WinXP
Bellow are the requested. I also included the bootgrabber.exe /bootcfg file.


-=-=-=-=-=-
Boot.ini
-=-=-=-=-=
; This boot.ini was automatically generated by NeoSmart Technologies' BootGrabber.exe
; Use EasyBCD from http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1 to manage your bootloader
[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP on G:\" /fastdetect
-=-=-=-=-=
bootgrabber.exe /tlist
-=-=-=-=-=-
C:\APPLICATIONS\OS\EasyBCD\bin>bootgrabber.exe /tlist
BootGrabber utility.
Copyright NeoSmart Technologies 2009-2011 <http://neosmart.net/>
WARN: Unable to get volume information for \\?\Volume{49129ac1-820c-11e1-b55d-80
6d6172696f}\
WARN: Unable to get volume information for \\?\Volume{49129ac0-820c-11e1-b55d-80
6d6172696f}\
WARN: No active partition detected on disk 1.
WARN: No active partition detected on disk 4.
D0,1,1,0,64023257088,2
P1,E:\,7,64020218368,40025980928,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1),Yes,NTF
S
D1,1,1,0,250059350016,3
P1,D:\,7,250057064448,249891426304,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1),No,NT
FS
D2,1,1,0,250059350016,0
P1,C:\,7,250057064448,241781477376,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1),Yes,N
TFS
D3,1,1,0,74039033856,1
P1,F:\,7,74035713024,65231187968,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1),Yes,NTF
S
D4,1,1,0,2000398934016,-1
P1,I:\,7,2000396289024,1812328796160,Yes,,No,NTFS
C:\APPLICATIONS\OS\EasyBCD\bin>

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
bootgrabber.exe /bootcfg
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
C:\APPLICATIONS\OS\EasyBCD\bin>bootgrabber.exe /bootcfg
BootGrabber utility.
Copyright NeoSmart Technologies 2009-2011 <http://neosmart.net/>
WARN: Unable to get volume information for \\?\Volume{49129ac1-820c-11e1-b55d-80
6d6172696f}\
WARN: Unable to get volume information for \\?\Volume{49129ac0-820c-11e1-b55d-80
6d6172696f}\
WARN: No active partition detected on disk 1.
WARN: No active partition detected on disk 4.
C:\APPLICATIONS\OS\EasyBCD\bin>
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I do not know if you went over my entire thread, but to summarize:

-I was unable to install WinXP to a different drive, as the setup would always fail when WinXP rebooted the system during the install.
-I could only do a fully install by changing the boot order in my Bios (Making the Hard drive that Windows XP was to go on as the 1st drive in the booting order.

Also, I do not know if it is important or not, but I do have a pair of WD Raptors ( 2 x 32GB) set in raid. They are there only for the applications run by Win7 and nothing else.( Both Win7 and XP see this drive).
 
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Your raid is likely responsible. You'll have to manually experiment with different disk(..) values in addition to the usual rdisk and partition.
 
No disrespect intended Mak, just checking in.

Thanks CG.. Back into the rig we go. I'll bring it down to basic configurations, no RAIDs. I'll keep you posted. Did you see anything in the bootgrabber.exe /tlist
that I provided that was a red flag to you?
 
Well, got rid of the raid setup, and the following is the HD order in my Bios:
1st HD (boot) device: SSD 64 BG (Win7 OS)
2nd HD 250 GB (WinXP)
3rd HD 250GB (Application - Win7 Only)
4th HD 80GB (Linux - empty. For future installment)

So.. I basically play around with the Boot.ini file settings ?(found on my Win7 drive, not the one on the WinXP drive)

Below is the bootgrabber.exe /tlist info. after I removed the raid with the above-mentioned set-up (once again, run from the command prompt within WinXP).

C:\APPLICATIONS\OS\EasyBCD\bin>bootgrabber.exe /tlist
BootGrabber utility.
Copyright NeoSmart Technologies 2009-2011 <http://neosmart.net/>
WARN: Unable to get volume information for \\?\Volume{49129ac1-820c-11e1-b55d-80
6d6172696f}\
WARN: Unable to get volume information for \\?\Volume{49129ac0-820c-11e1-b55d-80
6d6172696f}\
WARN: No active partition detected on disk 3.
WARN: No active partition detected on disk 4.
D0,1,1,0,64023257088,1
P1,E:\,7,64020218368,39900712960,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1),Yes,NTF
S
D1,1,1,0,250059350016,0
P1,C:\,7,250057064448,241781510144,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1),Yes,N
TFS
D2,1,1,0,250059350016,2
P1,D:\,7,250057020416,241247768576,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1),Yes,N
TFS
D3,1,1,0,81964302336,3
P1,F:\,7,81961943040,81869520896,Yes,multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(3)partition(1),No,NTFS
D4,1,1,0,2000398934016,-1
P1,I:\,7,2000396289024,1794754306048,Yes,,No,NTFS
C:\APPLICATIONS\OS\EasyBCD\bin>
 
Does EasyBCD succeed in creating a working boot.ini when you delete and re-add the entry, now that the RAID is gone?
 
CG.. yep.. creates a new boot.ini each time I remove the entry and create a new one. As for working.. well, it ain't working that well..Lol. Anywhays, below is it's current content:
-=-=-=-=
boot.ini
-=-=-=-=

; This boot.ini was automatically generated by NeoSmart Technologies' BootGrabber.exe
; Use EasyBCD from http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1 to manage your bootloader
[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP on E:\" /fastdetect


This has nothing to do with the fact that I installed WinXP when it was set as the 1st boot device? I came accross a thread (not sure where) that doing so would make thinks much more difficult ... But then again, I did follow your example and deleted all the ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini files on both OS's/Drives

I'm this close to going back to my Atari ST 520 .. arr.....
 
This is not working out: Am I to change the values just in the Windows XP line (multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP on E:\" /fastdetect) or both?
 
CG.. Just to confirm:
Given that both OS are on seperate hard drives, and each HD only have 1 partition.

I would only change the values in the highlighted entries, correct.?
boot.jpg

And this on the boot.ini drive that EasyBCD creates, not the one created on the Drive which contains the WinXP instalation
 
Yes to the first question. *Probably* yes to the second as well, but perhaps that's the reason EasyBCD's changes aren't taking? Maybe you should try copying EasyBCD's boot.ini over the one in the XP drive.
 
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