Secondary XP boot path not recognised in system config

A

AlanT

Member
Hi

My secondary dual boot into Windows XP is not loading. I discovered that it is not showing in the system configuration boot tab. It does appear on the start up screen but doesn't load. It shows up, however, in Easy BCD. I have tried deleting it, renaming it to Windows XP, adding it again etc etc but nothing seems to work. I have copied the BCD screen wording below. I have noticed that it lists Windows 10's boot drive as D: despite it being installed on Drive C: XP is installed on Drive D: I have not changed anything in the default Windows boot configuration.

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows 10
Timeout: 10 seconds
Boot Drive: D:\

Entry #1
Name: Windows 10
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \WINDOWS\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Older Version of Windows
BCD ID: {7266ced2-1716-11eb-8820-001583fc39b9}
Drive: D:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\easyldr2
 
Disk Management flags have the following meanings

"boot" = "this is the system you're running"
"system" = "this is where I found the boot files for the currently running system"
"active" (on the first HDD in the BIOS boot sequence) = "this is where I started the search for the boot files"
"active" (on subsequent HDDs in the BIOS boot sequence) ="this is where I will look if I don't find something in the MBR on the first HDD"

So the BCD reflects the correct situation.
From the fact that you're using Easyldr and not NTLDR, I assume you set up XP manually.
There's no need to use Easyldr on a configuration with only one XP.
It was written purely to manage a multi-boot containing multiple XP systems which would otherwise require a two stage boot menu.
Read all about it here
neosmart.net

Windows XP

This page describes the configuration and properties of a correctly set-up and working Windows XP – Windows Vista dual-boot. Don’t be put-off by the title though, these same steps apply…
neosmart.net
Getting XP to boot manually used to be a bit of a magic art in the days of EasyBCD v1 (or a hit and miss affair depending on the way you look at it) , as it requires knowledge of things in the BIOS not actually visible to the end-user, so required intuition (or guess work) in a "suck it and see" methodology, until after a few wrong tries, you'd eventually hit the magic formula and get XP to boot.
EasyBCD v2 includes code to discover the missing information and will automatically place copies of all additional necessary boot software where it needs to be, so it does all the hard work for you.
Delete that XP entry and add it again, this time let EasyBCD auto-configure the entry for you.
 
Thanks. I tried the autoconfigure but that didn't work. The Windows 10 and XP dual boot was originally installed by my computer supplier from disc and worked ok until one of the windows 10 updates removed the secondary boot from the system configuration boot file. A google search suggested EasyBCD to resolve this but whatever I have tried doesn't work. When I try to boot into XP, I get the initial XP logo but then the screen goes blank and restarts. I don't get an NTLDR missing message. Is it still worth trying Easy Recovery Essentials or do you have any other suggestions? I am a bit reluctant to try and repair or reinstall XP from disc in case it affects Windows 10.
 
That's all fine, and the fact that you get as far as the XP flash confirms that the boot is OK but XP is broken.
If you have the XP installation CD, a "repair install" should fix it.
Don't worry about breaking W10. Even if the XP repair ends with an apparent XP only boot, it's easily fixable with either a follow up "repair startup" from the W10 installation DVD (if you don't have one, create a repair disc on W10 before you start (Control Panel > Backup & Restore > Create repair disc))
neosmart.net

Fixing the Windows Bootloader via the setup DVD

This article explains how you can recover the bootloader for the following Windows versions: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 using the setup DVD (installation DVD). If you don&#…
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or by running EasyBCD from XP and using it to restore the W10 boot
neosmart.net

Recovering the Windows Bootloader

EasyBCD has various advanced option sections created as a one-click method to easily reset/recover/repair the Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 bootloader without having to go through the reco…
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