Move Bootmgr from Xp to Vista HD

O

odie3

Member
Currently I am dual booting into XP Pro and Vista 64. Currently my bootmgr is located on my Windows XP Pro HD (which is first to boot in the Bios).

I am wondering is it possible to move the bootmgr stuff from my Window XP install to my Vista install Hard Drive (and then place Vista HD as the boot HD from the Bios). While I have no plans to drop XP as a boot option but I would like the Vista HD to hold the bootmgr.

Thanks!
 
Hi odie3, welcome to NeoSmart Technologies.

It's quite simple, actually:
Switch the order of the drives around.
Boot from the Vista DVD.
Repair Options | Automated Boot Repair
 
Computer Guru,

I did that once trying to fix it myself - however my Windows XP Option disappeared.

Perhaps I did it incorrectly some how but I do not recall very many options (or none at all) once Repair went into searching for OS's.

I guess I'll try again... :wink:
 
Well, did the repair and no matter what I try I can not bring back XP Pro. Either my PC reboots after selecting XP or I get a \ntldr error. :frowning:

Still trying. The only good thing about this is that I can go back in the Bios and swap the drives around. :wink:
 
Odie, once you repair the bootloader from the DVD, it creates a new (and blank) bootloader on the drive you need.

You boot into Vista. You use EasyBCD to add that XP entry.
*then you need to modify boot.ini to change the rdisk() value for XP*

Wherever you see rdisk(0) change it to rdisk(1)
 
Okay, that was not exactly what I needed to set rdisk(0) to but with you pointing it out it allowed me to understand what I needed to do!

Code: 
Old:
[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT
Code: 
New:
[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT
What I did not tell you (and I should have) is that I have three HDs, in this order in the Bios: 0)Vista 1)Storage HD 2)XP PRO

Perhaps I could have swapped Drive 1 and 2 around but I did not want to mess up any drive letters for my Storage Drive (which is divided in 4 partitions).

Any case, I am now operational and I no longer have to swap Drives 0/2 in the Bios to get XP Pro to boot!

To properly thank you I have donated 20.00 USD to your Paypal account. :wink:
 
I was just thinking - I think I would like to move the WinXP boot from partition(2), is that possiable by moving the files from that partition to the main partition on the WinXP hard drive?
 
Thanks a bunch for the donation odie - sorry it hasn't updated on the tracker yet, we're working with the company that hosts the tracker to get that resolved.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "WinXP boot"
There must be a copy of NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and Boot.ini on the active, primary partition on the boot drive.

Since you've set up your Vista drive to be the boot drive, it should be safe to delete these files from all other partitions. Just make sure that EasyBCD's XP entry points to the Vista drive as well.
 
Computer Guru said:
.... Just make sure that EasyBCD's XP entry points to the Vista drive as well.
Click to expand...


I am not sure if I understand this part at all... :frowning:

So, I do not need to change the partition part of the boot.ini file? I figured since the partition part of the file is still pointing to (2) that partition needed to stay intact.
 
I'm not sure I understand what you're wanting to do...

do you want to move the entire XP partition to different partition, or only move NTLDR, NTDETECT, and Boot.ini?
 
Okay, I am Golden now! I was finally able to remove the old Windows XP Boot Partition (which was on partition 2 of the Window XP Hard Drive for some reason).

After moving all the hidden Boot directories/files into a backup directory XP would still boot. Then I booted back into Vista and deleted that 2nd partition completely. I did freak out when I first tested this because XP refused to boot but I thought perhaps the boot.ini needed a final adjustment, which it did.

Code: 
[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

Until I removed partition(2) I could not set the boot.ini to partition(1) - or perhaps I am just crazy and did not do it properly before.

Man, this Vista/XP booting manager stuff is a real pain in the butt and I am still not sure if I completely understand how I got it all working. Never the less, its all working how I want it to now - which I guess is all that matters. :wink:

Sorry for running you around in circles - I am sure I was not explaining myself properly.
 
Indeed, I had misunderstood your request. Looking back I see what you meant though, at any rate, glad it worked.
 
Last edited:
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