Dual Boot XP+Vista. XP skips bootmanager

[zombie_chainsaw]

Hi All,

First I would like to say Great product, wiki's and forum; they have all been very helpful but i'm still having issue getting xp and vista to dual boot.

I started with XP Home installed on a 160gb drive with 3 other partitions. There was 20Gb of empty space left so I installed Vista on to it. It installed fine but when it restarted it booted straight into XP... no bootmanger. XP is installed to C:, vista is on I:

I am able to boot into Vista using the dvd but otherwise it will default to XP without the bootmanager allowing me to choose which OS to use.

I tried using bootsect and the other command tools without an succes. A common error was that the boot files could not be modified because a lock could not be made.

I installed easyBCD but it kept starting with a no valid entries error, it let me recreate the BCD files but comp keeps booting straight into XP. Following one of the guides I repaired the boot manager using the recovery console (it prompted that it was damaged)

I can now edit the bcd from XP and have added an entry for XP but comp still boots straight into XP.

It seems like XP is ignoring the boot manager or the boot sector hasn't been overwritten correctly by vista. Only other thing I can think is that the emtpy space wasnt part of the logical drive and that is causing the problem? Any help is greatly appreaciated. Cheers

easyBCD debug information:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device                  partition=C:
default                 {cf80798c-ce25-11dc-ad7b-990a0ca6534b}
displayorder            {cf80798c-ce25-11dc-ad7b-990a0ca6534b}
                        {cf80798d-ce25-11dc-ad7b-990a0ca6534b}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {cf80798c-ce25-11dc-ad7b-990a0ca6534b}
device                  partition=I:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate (recovered) 
osdevice                partition=I:
systemroot              \Windows

Real-mode Boot Sector
---------------------
identifier              {cf80798d-ce25-11dc-ad7b-990a0ca6534b}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \NTLDR
description             Microsoft Windows XP

 

[mqudsi]

You need to run "Reinstall Vista Bootloader" from the Bootloader Management in EasyBCD.
Bootsect.exe does *not* rewrite the MBR: Bootsect.exe Modifies the Bootsector Not the MBR!! The NeoSmart Files

 

[zombie_chainsaw]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Unfortunatly its still booting straight into XP without going through the boot manager. I ran easyBCD from XP. I get the message "The MBR has been rewritten changes should take place on restart". Then restart but there is no change.

Should I try using the bootrec commands?

 

[mqudsi]

Yeah, give those a try.

Full instructions on recovering the Vista bootloader can be found at How to Repair the Windows Vista Bootloader The NeoSmart Files