Dual booting XP Pro and Windows 7 Problem.

T

TheSwede

Member
Hi all,

I installed Windows 7 quite a while ago in an effort to make my machine dual booting between 7 and XP. Unfortunately it never worked but recently I got the advice to use EasyBCD so tried that, still not working though. I installed the Beta version, Build 60 and when I tried to start up XP I got this message.

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows>\System32\hal.dll
Please re-install or copy the above file.

I checked my drive were XP resides and the file is there, so its not missing.. might be corrupt, but I don't know where I can get hold of a safe copy to replace it with. One question I have is if I can use the XP CD and do a repair or will that mess up the Windows 7 boot in the process?

Not sure if you need these but I thought I include a screen shoot of my Computer Managment so you all can see where it all resides.

CompManSystem.jpg


I did try the "Please Read Before posting A Problem" thread but this kind of stuff is not my strongest side when it comes to computers since I don't want to mess it all up and make nothing at all work! :S I have the NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI in two different drives. They are on my L: drive, which my XP is directed towards in the EasyBCD, even though my XP is in Drive D: (confussed). These files are also on my C: drive where my Windows 7 resides, and which the EasyBCD is directed towards for the 7 boot up.

Now, if I understand the instruction in the Troubleshooting thread, there should be only one set of NTLDR, NTDETECT and BOOT, but I am not sure as to which I should remove, if any?!?

Do you think the above is the only problem, or might it be more troublesome for a novice on computers to fix?!?

Any and all help will be very much appreciated since I would love if I could dual boot them, since some games is not running so good on Win 7..
 
Welcome to NST, TheSwede.
No, you don't have to delete the extra set of boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect files. Leave them where they are in case you need them in the future for some reason. :wink:
Just make sure they also exist in the root of L: (your "system" partition).
Download EasyBCD 2.0 Beta and install it.
Next, go to the Add/Remove Entries section, select "/NT/XP.." in the drop-down menu under the Windows tab, and click on Add Entry. When you get to the prompt asking you if you want Easy to auto-configure boot.ini for you, hit Yes.
Now when you reboot, the XP entry should boot you right into XP when you select it in the menu. :smile:

Cheers,

Jake
 
Bahh.. now I am really feeling a bit embarrassed.. I already installed the 2.0 version and mentioned above, but since I had an older version which i been trying to make it work with I never thought about deleting the old entry and making a new! opsi! :shame:

Thank for your help, Collname007! Its working fine now.. well, XP does.. haven't tried Win 7 but I am presuming it still will work fine! Still downloading updates for XP since I haven't used it for 2,5 months!

Cheers
Tom
 
Coolname007 said:
Great! :smile: Let us know if you any more problems.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the bump but I am taking you up on your offer!

I just done a fresh installation of Windows 7 RC1, my dual boot is working just fine (suprisingly!) but for some reason I now have a triple boot instead!


  • Earlier Version of Windows
  • Windows 7
  • XP Pro
Now I think I know why it done that and that's because I have my XP Pro in a Raid1 set up and during the installation of Windows 7 it did not recognice it, but after I installed my motherboard drives it was recoginiced properly.. but I still have the above boot choices.. my question is, if I delete the "Earlier Version of Windows" (Which boots me into XP Pro anyway) through the EasyBCD, would that work or would I end up messing up my dual boot?

Here is what it says in the bootloader

Code: 
There are a total of 3 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows 7
Timeout: 30 seconds.
Boot Drive: O:\

Entry #1
Name: Earlier Version of Windows
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Drive: O:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr

Entry #2
Name: Windows 7
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #3
Name: XP Pro
BCD ID: {c0b9482b-e9af-11dd-9b58-aa4cf036ffac}
Drive: O:\
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated! :smile:
 
Yep, you should be ok. Just go to add/remove entries in EasyBCD and delete the "Earlier version of Wndows" entry.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I think Justin meant the "Add/Remove Entries" section of EasyBCD, seeing as you can't delete any entries in the "Change settings" section of EasyBCD...
So yeah, go ahead and delete the "Earlier version of Windows" entry, and you should be all set.
 
kairozamorro said:
Fixed :smile:
Click to expand...

Bah! I'm glad I quoted his answer or I would look rather stupid with my own replay! And please don't do there and change it ehhh! :tongueout:

Cheers anyhow, it all worked out fine and I now have a proper dual boot! I am mildly suprised though that after installing Win7 RC1 the dual boot still worked flawless without me having to use EasyBCD to fix it, but its all good though! :smile:
 
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