Getting rid of Vista - NTLDR Hell

bombjack

Member
Hello there,
first of all, thanks for EasyBCD! Made dualboot very simple :smile:

Now, I want to get rid of Vista partition to get some extra GB's after not using Vista for months.

I have XP as my main OS. However, back then first I did install Vista then XP so the dualboot was possible.

Today I tried to get rid of the Vista partition, but seems that the bootloader is associated with this very Vista partition! I've managed to get rid of the dualboot with EasyBCD 2 & two options:
1- Change Boot Drive under Diagnostics Center
and
2- Uninstall the Vista Bootloader under Manage Bootloader,
but I've screwed up something. Cos I want to format the Vista partition, I've moved ntldr, boot.ini and NTDETECT to my XP partition, resulting in NTLDR is missing, press CTRL ALT DEL to reboot :brows:

Finally I've managed to restore the boot by moving those files back to Vista partition with a light WinXP bootable CD.

How can I change MBR or associate ntldr with XP partition without messing up? :|

For the record, I didn't know (or I forgot) that I've used an admin password for primary OS install thus the console from the XP CD recovery obviously doesn't let me use fixboot and fixmbr, so this option isn't plausible.

Thanks.

Addendum:

Ok, I was reading lots of posts (the one from Raul, the one from Terry) about the subject and I still don't get how I can make the XP partition the one & only for booting.

Anyone?
Thanks.
 
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Please post a screenshot of Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management
 
Ok, I thought so.

You can't make a logical partition the boot partition. EasyBCD can configure Vista to load XP from a logical drive, but it cannot install boot files to a logical partition.

You'll need to use a tool like Acronis Disk Director (I don't know if the free GParted can do this?) to convert XP from logical to primary, *then* use EasyBCD to convert it to the boot partition.
 
Had no success. Reparing windows from XP CD now...

I forgot to run EasyBCD 2 after Acronis cos Acfonis asked to reboot after changing flags, so I've got the same NTLDR is missing screen on reboot. Tried Hiren's Boot with no avail, tried copying NTLDR, NTDETECT and boot.ini over C: but the NTLDR is missing popped out again and again.

Thanks for help anyways.

Addendum:

EDIT: No success with windows repair!! same NTLDR message at boot. Seems that my topic title was perfectly suited after all... :frowning:

Any proposable & quick solutions?
 
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All of your boot files (including NTLDR) need to be on your partition marked in DM as "system" (or whatever word it is in your langauge) and "active". That partition will be a primary partition, not a logical. To resolve the problem:

1. Verify that you converted the logical XP partition to a primary partition.
2. Verify that the XP partition is set to "active".
3. Then try to boot again.
 
The name's Jake, not Jack. :smile:
Hmm...could you post a screenshot of what Acronis shows?
The only thing I can think of is maybe Acronis failed to automatically unactivate your Vista partition, so you have two "active" partitions on one HDD, which is illegal. Therefore, your system can't boot.

Addendum:

Also, I just noticed you have two HDDs. Make sure the correct one (the one containing XP and Vista) is first in the boot sequence of the BIOS.
 
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Sorry about that, corrected your name on Edit :smile:

Well, I can't boot anymore, always that damn NTLDR is missing screen on startup! However I've re-checked with Hirens Boot and stated C: drive as primary/active partition.

Now I'm trying to crack or change the admin password to access the windows recovery console but it seems after doing that (changing) the password STILL keeps me from entering (bad password, try again). Any reliable tool to change or reset admin console pass?

Addendum:

Yes, I have the main HDD as first on bios.
 
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Hmm...be aware that drive letters displayed in tools run off of CD make not necessarily correspond to the drive letters of the OS's partition when it is booted. I suggest you check to see if that "C:/" partition shown in Hiren's Boot is really your XP partition or not. It might be your Vista partition.
 
Hey, thanks for your assistance Jake, much appreciated!

Yes it is, it's the main XP partition. Man, I dont know what to do! I've succeed resetting console password, did the fixmbr and fixboot and STILL the same, NTLDR is missing! >.<

Addendum:

EDIT: reverted to previous state, where Vista was Primary, Active and XP was Logical. Works.

Anyway, someone care to tell me a step-by-step dumb procedure to remove vista boot and leave XP using Acronis and EasyBCD? Thanks.
 
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EDIT: Nevermind, formatted XP and Vista partitions, starting from scratch. Everything goes smooth now, altho... Windows install made F: the system partition, wtf! LOL, I can't with boot managements anymore haha.
 
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