Chromedome2000
Member
Hi everybody, first time posting here, hope this isn't a stupid question! I previously had a dual-boot system with Vista 64 and XP 32 on separate discs. I used a previous version of EasyBCD to accomplish this but can't remember how I did it. Recently I installed Win 7 64 to the Vista 64 disc replacing Vista (did not upgrade, did a clean install). I disconnected the XP disc while doing so. Following the Win 7 installation I reconnected the XP disc and of course cannot boot into XP unless I change the boot order in BIOS to the XP disc. When booting from the XP disc I get the option of booting to Vista but it fails to start Win 7 when I try booting to the Vista opton. Following is the boot.ini file from my XP disc.
;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[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 Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT
As my backups are on my XP disc (plus I need XP to use some older hardware and programs) I need to be cautious when setting up dual-booting again. In Win 7 Disk Management, Disk 0 shows up as (D Healthy (Active, Primary Partition) and contains my XP installation. Disk 1 shows up as (C Healthy (System, Boot, Page, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) and contains my Win 7 installation.
Should I run EasyBCD from my Win 7 or XP installation and what steps do I need to take? I'm thinking I should run it from XP and allow it to automatically find my Win 7 installation but need to know before I undertake this task because I really don't want to screw things up! Sorry if this is a stupid question but I want to be cautious and not lose either installation. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[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 Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT
As my backups are on my XP disc (plus I need XP to use some older hardware and programs) I need to be cautious when setting up dual-booting again. In Win 7 Disk Management, Disk 0 shows up as (D Healthy (Active, Primary Partition) and contains my XP installation. Disk 1 shows up as (C Healthy (System, Boot, Page, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) and contains my Win 7 installation.
Should I run EasyBCD from my Win 7 or XP installation and what steps do I need to take? I'm thinking I should run it from XP and allow it to automatically find my Win 7 installation but need to know before I undertake this task because I really don't want to screw things up! Sorry if this is a stupid question but I want to be cautious and not lose either installation. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.