Dual Boot and BSOD

M

Menace

Member
Wanted to start learning Windows 7 but still leave our XP home machine functional for the rest of the family.
1. Bought and installed a second HD.
2. Installed Windows 7 Pro on the new drive.
3. There was never an indication or questions involving the original drive with XP on it.
4. After the final installation reboot, the dual boot screen appeared.
5. After choosing to boot into the old version, I get the blue screen of death.
6. I've downloaded and installed EasyBCD 1.7.2 but don't fully understand how to use it or if it will help me fix my problem.
Looking for insight or knowledge that might help.
Thanks,
Dennis
 
Hey Dennis,

Get EasyBCD beta from here. Reconfigure boot.ini by doing the following:
EasyBCD > Tools > Autoconfigure Boot.ini
 
Justin,
I tried the Autoconfigure Boot.ini. Now when I try to boot into XP from the Dual Boot Menu, I get the following message.
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows Root>Ysystem32Yntoskrnl.exe.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

(where the Y is a symbol that looks like a Y with 2 dashes through it)

Terry,
When I disconnect the W7 HDD, I still get the Dual Boot Menu and when I choose XP, I get the same message as above.

Is there any way to see the XP HDD from Win7 so I can copy some of my critical files over to the new HDD?
 
That means W7 installed its boot files on the XP HDD (by design), giving you an automatic dual-boot, but the BSOD shows that something has happened to damage XP (it's getting further than the boot process).
The ntoskrnl message after running Easy2 is telling you that the XP boot.ini is wrong, which should definitely not be the case if Easy2 created it. Did you use the latest build (presently 82). Some of the builds preceding it picked up an unintentional problem in that area which 82 fixed.
Please post Disk Management and display settings info as described at the end of the sticky thread, and using tools/edit legacy entries from Easy2 find boot.ini and post the contents here too.
 
Geeeezzz, you guys are incredible! Thank you very much for your help.

My entire XP HDD is backed upon an HP MediaSmart Home Server. Last night I tried using the supplied PC restore disk, to restore the XP drive back to pre-me-messing-around. I ran into problems there also (my luck), but there were recommendations to reset the server, which I haven't done yet.

If I can return the system to pre-Win7 leaving the Win7 HDD disconnected is there an easier way just to bring 7 back online and recreate a new boot menu?

Addendum:

Sorry Terry, I didn't answer your questions. Yes, it is Build 82 and later today I will digest the Sticky Thread and post the information requested.

Also, if you are truely a "Baker of fine scones" then you have my complete trust and absolute admiration!!!
 
Last edited:
Terry,
Here are the files that you requested. Hope they help!
1. Disk Management Screen attached.
2. When using Tools> Edit Legacy Entries I get the following message:
Easy BCD can't find boot.ini, please locate it manually in the next screen, or press cancel.
The next screen does not show the XP drive at all
3. Bootloader settings:
Overview:
There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.
Default: Windows 7
Timeout: 30 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
BCD ID: {5699214c-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR

Detailed:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {56992149-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
resumeobject {56992148-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
displayorder {56992149-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
{5699214c-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {56992149-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
recoverysequence {5699214a-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {56992148-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
nx OptIn
bootlog Yes
Real-mode Boot Sector
---------------------
identifier {5699214c-2ae6-11df-97f1-90bd0013d542}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1
path \NTLDR
description Microsoft Windows
 

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Your problem is that there's no "system".
The W7 install has put its boot files in the OEM partition, which hasn't a Windows-compatible filetype, and cannot therefore be accessed by EasyBCD.
Use EasyBCD 2.0 / Diagnostics / Change boot drive and point it at C:
That will copy all the boot files into W7.
Then change your BIOS boot sequence to put W7 before the other HDD.
Reboot and add the XP entry again, letting it auto-configure.
If you ever need to access the OEM recovery for XP in the future, disconnect W7 and boot from the old HDD.
 
Terry,
What you are saying makes sense, but I'm having some problems executing your instructions.
1. When I do the Change boot drive and point it at C: I get the attached exception notice. When I select continue, nothing happens.
2. I'm also having rediculous issues getting into my Bios. Appearently, Sony's key combination only works on their keyboard. I trashed that when I went to a wireless one. I am able to get to a change boot order screen, but the Win7 HDD is not on the list.

I'll let you know what happens if I can find a keyboard.
Dennis

Is there any way to assign a drive letter to the WinXP drive just so I can access some data until I can get it working properly?
 

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Right click the partition in DM and give both anonymous partitions a letter. See if the change boot drive responds. (it seems to have the same problem as auto-configure, unable to access the File System).
Alternative approach is to temporarily disconnect XP, and follow the link in CG's post #7. Boot the W7 DVD and run startup repair 3 times.
That will recreate the boot files on the W7 partition.
Keep W7 first in the BIOS boot sequence and then add an XP entry after reconnecting the XP HDD.
 
IT'S FIXED :happy:
First I found out that my wireless keyboard has an "F Lock" key. Using that with the F2 allowed me access to the bios. But that and several other things still didn't help.

The final solution was to restore the original XP drive from my server backup, by downloading the latest restore CD iso file. I didn't want to take a chance on restoring directly to the original drive, so I created a new partition on the Win7 drive, and restored to that. Then disconnected the old HDD and ran Easy 2.0 and I had a perfectly functioning Dual Boot System, on one drive.

After verifying that all was well, I deleted the old drive, reformatted and restored my old system to it. Deleted the extra partition on the Win7 HDD and ran Easy again. All was well, two drives, two OS's, and all of my data back. Now I'm going to force a complete backup onto the server of the whole system.

Last and most important, I'm amazed by people like you and the others who spend their own time and resources to save people from themselves, not just a few people but the whole darn world!! I can't thank you guys enough for spending your time on me. A donation (small though it may be) is coming.

Sincerely,
Dennis Goff
Across the Pond
 
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