Triple boot problem booting into XP

Viking

Member
I've had a triple boot running successfully for some time until I installed Vista 64-bit over one of the Vista 32-bit installs. Now I cannot seem to boot into XP. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of but I haven't had any success so I figured I would see if someone here can provide some assistance.

So currently I have three fixed hard drives and I have XP, Vista 32-bit and Vista 64-bit installed. Both of the Vista installs boot just fine but when I select XP I receive the following error:


Invalid BOOT.INI file
Booting from C:\windows\
NTDETECT failed


I've verified that Boot.ini, NTDETECT.com and NTLDR are all present and in their original locations on the XP partition.

Here is the boot.ini file:


[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect


and the Vista Boot loader:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {8b299c20-9d40-11dc-944c-c965239265c9}
resumeobject {8b299c21-9d40-11dc-944c-c965239265c9}
displayorder {8b299c20-9d40-11dc-944c-c965239265c9}
{98ab57c9-9dec-11dc-a8da-00044b0314f1}
{98ab57cb-9dec-11dc-a8da-00044b0314f1}
{98ab57cd-9dec-11dc-a8da-00044b0314f1}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {8b299c20-9d40-11dc-944c-c965239265c9}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Vista 64
locale en-US
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {8b299c21-9d40-11dc-944c-c965239265c9}
nx OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {98ab57c9-9dec-11dc-a8da-00044b0314f1}
device partition=G:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Vista 32
osdevice partition=G:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {23ac2e57-9df0-11dc-87ca-806e6f6e6963}

Real-mode Boot Sector
---------------------
identifier {98ab57cb-9dec-11dc-a8da-00044b0314f1}
device partition=D:
path \NTLDR
description XP

And finally my disk info:

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model WDC WD3200JB-00KFA0 ATA Device
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed hard disk
Partitions 2
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 0
SCSI Target ID 1
Sectors/Track 63
Size 298.09 GB (320,070,320,640 bytes)
Total Cylinders 38,913
Total Sectors 625,137,345
Total Tracks 9,922,815
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #0, Partition #0
Partition Size 149.00 GB (159,989,889,024 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 32,256 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #1
Partition Size 149.09 GB (160,080,399,360 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 159,989,921,280 bytes

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Maxtor 6 Y250M0 SCSI Disk Device
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed hard disk
Partitions 1
SCSI Bus 1
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 2
SCSI Target ID 1
Sectors/Track 63
Size 233.76 GB (250,992,967,680 bytes)
Total Cylinders 32,422
Total Sectors 490,220,640
Total Tracks 7,781,280
Tracks/Cylinder 240
Partition Disk #2, Partition #0
Partition Size 233.76 GB (250,997,637,120 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 1,048,576 bytes

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model SAMSUNG HD501LJ SCSI Disk Device
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed hard disk
Partitions 3
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 2
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 465.76 GB (500,105,249,280 bytes)
Total Cylinders 60,801
Total Sectors 976,768,065
Total Tracks 15,504,255
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #1, Partition #0
Partition Size 348.25 GB (373,925,347,328 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 1,048,576 bytes
Partition Disk #1, Partition #1
Partition Size 97.66 GB (104,857,600,000 bytes)

Partition Starting Offset 395,249,188,864 bytes
Partition Disk #1, Partition #2
Partition Size 19.85 GB (21,311,700,480 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 373,929,454,080 bytes

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Maxtor OneTouch USB Device
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Removable media
Partitions 1
SCSI Bus Not Available
SCSI Logical Unit Not Available
SCSI Port Not Available
SCSI Target ID Not Available
Sectors/Track 63
Size 233.76 GB (250,994,419,200 bytes)
Total Cylinders 30,515
Total Sectors 490,223,475
Total Tracks 7,781,325
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #3, Partition #0
Partition Size 233.76 GB (250,994,386,944 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 32,256 bytes


The partition highlighted in red is where my XP install resides. Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide.
 
Windows XP - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

Have you read thru the documentation. It talks about what to do with a NTDETECT error and all that. :wink:

Yes I have but unfortunately I didn't find anything regarding this specific error/problem. I tried a few examples that were suggested in the documentation and within the forums but things only seem to get worse such as blank screens or errors stating that the OS could not be found. Thanks for the suggestion though. Any other ideas? I imagine it's got to be pretty simple since it worked just prior to the Vista 64 install and the XP build hasn't been modified since but who knows.

Addendum:

Well I figured it out! I copied the Boot.ini, ntldr and ntdetect.com to the Vista 64 partition and changed the partition info from partition(1) to partition(2) in the boot.ini file and everything works now! :smile:
 
Last edited:
Yeah, that's what it says in the documentation as well :wink:

The Vista partition is your boot partition, so that's where boot.ini belongs.

At any rate, congratulations - glad to hear it's now working :smile:
 
Seniors/ Mates,

I've 3 Hdd's with 3 diff. OS's on it.
hdd01. Samsung(IDE)-Vista RTM 32bit
hdd02. Seagate(SATA)-Vista Ultimate 32bit
hdd03. Seagate(SATA)-XP SP2

Am not able to boot into XP.
I use F8 and when i choose hdd03 it gives errors so i
followed :-
Troubleshooting Windows XP - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki. No results.

Then i followed one the advices on the forum:-
Addendum:

Well I figured it out! I copied the Boot.ini, ntldr and ntdetect.com to the Vista 64 partition and changed the partition info from partition(1) to partition(2) in the boot.ini file and everything works now! :smile:
[/QUOTE]

Then i read this too:-
You cannot start Windows XP after you install Windows Vista in a dual-boot configuration together with Windows XP

This is how my boot.ini looks like that i'd edited and copy pasted from hdd03 to hdd02

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

Primarily before Bcd it'as like this

;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT /USEPMTIMER


Still no results please help.

P.S. I've had bad experiences with Acronis OS Selector THRICE especially every time i've uninstalled it.
 
@ Terry

Thanks . I did go through it two times but all it's mentioned is partitions on the same hard disk and hadn't installed XP after Vista or otherwise. It's just all OS's and hdd were present but am not able to boot into XP.

Anyways, thanks, i feel lost . Is there any other link that i could go through?
 
Okay what is the problem? From reading you last post you said you figured it out and it was working. Now you say it isnt? So what is wrong and what have you done?
 
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