Issues dual booting XP after Vista on a Dell desktop

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Shaneous

Member
Hello everyone. I have read as much information on this subject as I can digest but it seems I may be alone with this specific issue. I am no stranger to dual booting and other technical aspects of Windows but I cant seem to get this to work out. Here is the issue...........
I have taken all the standard steps required: Created a partition with adequate space (D: drive, boot is C: I am positive as I am using a single hard drive). Now, when I boot from a known good XP32 boot CD, it goes through the loading process copying files and loading drivers and when it says Windows is starting (this should be the part where you get to chose partitions and what not) BLUE SCREEN OF DOOM!!!! It says Windows has shut down to avoid damage and I get a long error message code. Thats as far as I get before I am stumped. Any help is much appreciated. Mahalo.
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Hello Shaneous, welcome to NST.
I had the same problem when installing XP after Vista. I got around it by entering my BIOS (at startup; you should see what key you should press to enter the BIOS at the first splash screen you get to at startup of your computer; mine was F2), and changing the operating mode of my hard drive controller, from AHCI to ATA, and that allowed me to install XP, no more BSOD.
So try that, and see if your BIOS has an option to switch the operating mode from AHCI to ATA, or possibly AHCI to IDE, or "Compatibility mode", etc. Not all BIOSes have this feature, but most newer ones do.
If this fixes the issue, you may want to consider installing the "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" (you can Google it) in XP, if you can't boot into Vista with your operating mode set to ATA (or IDE). This should allow you to keep it set to AHCI, and still boot into both.

Jake
 
Hi Shaneous, welcome to NST.
Are you trying to install pre-SP2 XP onto a SATA HDD ?
If so it won't contain the necessary drivers.
You'll need to obtain the SATA drivers for your hardware from the manufacturers website, load them on a floppy and pre -install them at the appropriate point during setup.
 
Hi guys thanks for the quick replies. I am using XP + SP2 so I got that base covered. I will try to change that BIOS setting and see how it goes. I do believe this is the neck of the woods where the errors are coming from. I had gotten the drivers to load during setup o fXP but I dont have an A: drive so I tried to make a Boot disk with the drivers using NLite but I must have done something wrong because it wont recognize the disk as bootable. So that being said, I will try the BIOS tweak and go from there. Thanks again.

Addendum:

Alrighty as of thus far I tried the first recommendation of changing the HD mode to ATA (RAID auto-detect/ATA on my Dell BIOS) and low and behold that XP just flew right on. However, through my lack of foresight I forgot to get the network drivers I would have needed for XP so I booted to Vista via OEM disk and repaired the boot sector but it wouldnt boot. It would boot into neither OS. I then changed the HD mode back to SATA in the BIOS and it booted into Vista fine. One weird thing is that while booting the XP loading progress bar showed briefly, then it went to the Vista loading screen and proceeded as it normally would. I guess my question now is shall I proceed as indicated in the multi-boot FAQ or have I missed a step/mixed up a step??
Thanks in advance.
 
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No, since Vista boots just fine, no need to go through with the manual steps of the wiki. Though seeing the XP loading screen before Vista boots is weird, it certainly isn't harming anything... :wink: Now that you can boot into Vista just fine, use EasyBCD to add an entry to your Vista BCD to boot XP, and obtain the network drivers you need for XP in Vista, and then simply copy them over from XP, and install them.
If you need any help with adding XP to the dual-boot menu, make sure to read the first link in my sig, "PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING WITH A PROBLEM". That should guide you to make the correct moves to get Vista and XP to dual-boot.
When in doubt, just ask.

Jake
 
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It depends on which partition is "system". Check your Disk Management, and if your "system" and "active" partition happens to be your XP partition, then no need to do anything with those files. They will work where they are. However, if ntldr, and ntdetect.com are on some other partition than "system" (such as XP's partition if it is not "system"), then you will need to copy them over into the root of the "system" partition. BTW, do you have EasyBCD 2.0 already? If not, then I'd advise you to get it, and to use it to add your XP entry to Vista's boot menu, since it automates the process of configuring boot.ini, if it happens to be pointing at the wrong drive and/or partition. You should get to a prompt asking you when you add the XP entry if you want to let it auto-configure boot.ini for you. Hit Yes.

EDIT: I also need to add, if you use 2.0 beta release of EasyBCD it automatically creates a boot.ini when hitting Yes at the prompt, so that is why there is no need to copy it over along with the other two files, though you would normally haft to. But since that feature is not included in pre-2.0 releases of EasyBCD, if using an earlier version you would still need to copy over boot.ini manually.
 
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Yes I ran BCD 2.0 and added XP and let auto-configure do all the genius work (magical by the way:smile:). C: is my system (Vista) and D: (XP) is flagged as a primary partition. So now is the time when like all noobies I gotta ask the stupidest question.....When you say root do you mean drive letter: foldername or is it just drive letter:
Mahalo.
 
The root is the main directory of a drive the c:\ directory for example would be the root directory of the c:\ drive.
 
Sorry for not clarifying that part.
The "root" is just drive letter, it is not inside any folder. So in your case, the "root" would be just C:\.
 
Alrighty so I understand that I dont need to manually copy those files over since I used BCD 2.0
When I boot into XP I get the options similar to those you would get if you improperly shut down the computer ie., safe mode, safemode w/ networking etc.. I chose to start normally and I get blue screened then it reboots. Question.....In BCD when I choose view settings and it displays both OS's (good grammar??), the drive for Vista is C:, should the drive for XP be C: as well (XP is on D:smile:???? The path displayed for XP just says :\NTLDR whereas the path for Vista is C:\windows\blahblahblah\winloader. I know this has to be a simple issue with a simple solution, I just may have done a thing or two in the wrong order.
 
That's normal. The drive letters are specifc to each individual OS. /ntldr reflects that ntldr is at the root of the active system partition (or is supposed to be anyway). It takes over the boot proccess to boot older versions of Windows prior to Vista using the boot.ini file for its legacy entries.

Have a good read at the "Dual-boot troubleshooting" link in my signature. It should give you a good idea of how everything works and how to troubleshoot problems.
 
Shaneous said:
Alrighty so I understand that I dont need to manually copy those files over since I used BCD 2.0
Click to expand...
Well...actually you do, with the ntldr, and ntdetect.com. :wink: EasyBCD can only create a boot.ini, not the other two files needed by XP in order to boot. So you need to copy "ntldr" and "ntdetect.com" from D:\ into C:\ if they don't exist there yet.
When I boot into XP I get the options similar to those you would get if you improperly shut down the computer ie., safe mode, safemode w/ networking etc..
Click to expand...
Ok, I guess you must have already copied those files then (or they were already existing there) if you see those options. Normally, if the ntldr didn't exist in the "system" and "active" partition, you would get an NTLDR error of some sort. So I guess the files are already in your C: partition.
I chose to start normally and I get blue screened then it reboots.
Click to expand...
Hmm...I'm guessing that's because your hard drive controller is set to SATA mode again. Have you tried setting it (temporarily) to RAID auto-detect/ATA mode again? To see if it boots XP as it should?
Of course, obviously you don't want to have to switch operating modes in your BIOS every single time you want to boot into the other OS. One thing you can try (and indeed the same thing that I tried when I had the same problem as you, and didn't want to have to switch operating modes each time I wanted to boot into the other OS) is install the "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" (you can Google it) in XP, which should let you keep it set to normal SATA mode, and still boot into either OS. Of course you will need to find one that is specific for your OS and system, so it will work. There is a method of installing it after the OS has been installed (normally one would have to install it before or during the XP installation), and that is what I used, and it worked perfectly fine. You want to pay close attention to the instructions for doing that though, to avoid screwing up your system.
Question.....In BCD when I choose view settings and it displays both OS's (good grammar??),
Click to expand...
Not quite...:brows:
A better way to say it would be "OSes".
the drive for Vista is C:, should the drive for XP be C: as well (XP is on D:smile:???? The path displayed for XP just says :\NTLDR whereas the path for Vista is C:\windows\blahblahblah\winloader. I know this has to be a simple issue with a simple solution, I just may have done a thing or two in the wrong order.
Click to expand...
As Justin said, the drive letters are specific to the system you boot into, and basically, each system could care less what another OS on the same computer calls itself (or another partition) when it is booted. So, there is nothing wrong with your setup in relation to the drive letters.

Jake
 
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Thanks for all the info guys. I am currently reviewing the steps again and I have since got all the appropriate drivers for XP so I should be good to go in a few moments.

Addendum:

Alright so XP runs great and Vista runs great. I cannot boot into one or the without changing the HD setting in the BIOS. So in XP i found the appropriate Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver compatible with my Dell XPS 420 + XP and Vista. Now when I try to install the driver in XP it says my system does not meet minimum system requirements. This leads me to believe that I must install the pre-OS install version during setup. Am I in the right ball park???
 
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Shaneous said:
Alright so XP runs great and Vista runs great. I cannot boot into one or the without changing the HD setting in the BIOS. So in XP i found the appropriate Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver compatible with my Dell XPS 420 + XP and Vista. Now when I try to install the driver in XP it says my system does not meet minimum system requirements. This leads me to believe that I must install the pre-OS install version during setup. Am I in the right ball park???
Click to expand...
Could you post the link to the Intel Matrix Storage Manager you found? Maybe I'll be able to help you find the instructions for installing it after the OS has been installed, because that is what I did, and it works great. :wink:

Jake
 
Copy and paste....
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WLH&osl=EN&catid=41&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=DIM_PNT_9200_XPS_420&hidos=WLH&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

Hope that works. I have tried both of the available drivers that are not pre-install to no avail.

Addendum:

Copy and paste....
http://support.dell.com/support/down...g=en&TabIndex=

Hope that works. I have tried both of the available drivers that are not pre-install to no avail.

progress.gif
 
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Ok, the one you're trying to use is a Vista version, not XP. :wink:
So try this one instead:
Intel Matrix Storage Manager

And use these general instructions to install it:
  1. Start the BIOS Setup Utility menu.
  2. Select Config.
  3. Select Serial ATA (SATA).
  4. Select Compatibility.
  5. Install Windows XP and Service Pack 2.
  6. Download Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver from the Web site and extract the driver to C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM.
  7. Run Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver. To do this, go to C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM\PREPARE, and double-click install.cmd.
  8. Turn the computer off and then on again.
  9. Start the BIOS Setup Utility menu.
  10. Select Config.
  11. Select Serial ATA (SATA).
  12. Select AHCI.
  13. Start Windows XP. The Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard appears.
  14. Click No, not this time and click Next.
  15. Select Install from a list or specific location(Advanced), then click Next.
  16. Select Search for the best driver in these locations. Then select Include this location in the search:, specify the path, C:\DRIVERS\WIN\IMSM, and click Next. The Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard appears.
  17. Click Finish.
  18. When the System Settings Change window appears, click Yes. The computer restarts.
Click to expand...

EDIT: Just ignore the SATA and AHCI instructions in your case, and set the mode to the one that works with XP.
 
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In the details of the driver it says it is compatible with XP. I will try your link as well. Mahalo

Addendum:

Every link I try is a Driver Detective link.
 
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Scroll down the page at the link, and click "Download"...
Then download it from the page it sends you to. It will be the floppy-looking image.
 
I have the driver that you recommended, thank you for clarifying the download portion by the way, and I've extracted it to D:\dell\drivers (D: being my XP partition). I don't have the path that you have in your detailed instructions. Anyhow, I extract the files and there is no install command or anything of the sort. Just your standard .sys and .txt files. When I go to the device and choose update driver, choose the path to where its extracted, it doesn't install because its not the appropriate driver. I am beginning to feel as though square one is my destiny :x.
 
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