vista dual install

hello !

i have a problem when trying to fix the vista bootloader with easybcd. the thing is that i`m trying to make 4 o.s to work together. my uncle has recently asked me to install 2 vista and 2 xp on his laptop (dell 1501) so that he may learn windows xp and windows vista in both english and native language (romanian). i have the original products (vista english, vista romanian and xp english). i installed them in the following order :

c:\ - vista english
d:\ - vista romanian
e:\ - xp english
f:\ - xp english + romanian language interface pack from microsoft

i googled a bit in order to make them all bootable. found and installed easybcd. i managed to configure vista to boot the romanian version and the xp`s but the english version of the vista remained hidden. i messed up eventually the whole boot configuration and now only the xp`s work :brows:i know, pretty stupid. i can`t boot into vista (neither english nor romanian). is it possible to make at least the 2 vista`s work both on the same hdd ? if so, how ? please, i really need help. i`m new to vista and bored to death by xp. that`s why when i aventured myself into vista it all went wrong. can it be done ? if not, why ? thank you ! :unamused:

later edit : i`m talking about windows vista business and windows xp professional sp2.
 
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Hi phpinsight, welcome to NST.
When you install XP after Vista, it will overwrite the Vista bootmgr with XP's NTLDR. This is not forward compatible, and cannot be used to boot Vista.
What you need to do, is repair the Vista boot process by booting from your Vista DVD and selecting "repair my computer" then "repair startup". This will probably need to be done 2 or possibly more times (it's pretty stupid and only fixes one thing at a time), until Vista will eventually boot unaided.
The reinstated bootmgr should automatically see your multiple systems and create entries for them all in the boot menu. You can then use EasyBCD "change settings" to tidy up and rename each system to what you want it to be called.
If all of the systems aren't recognized automatically, you can add an entry for any missing with EasyBCD "add/remove systems"
Any problems you hit should be described with their fixes in the wiki.
 
thanks ! i`ll try that and post the result :tongueout:oint::happy:


Addendum:


ok, so i repaired the boot sector for c:. now both vista english and vista romanian show up in the boot screen. the only problem is that it displays only one XP. and when i enter that option iti gives a submenu with xp english and xp romanian.

something like this (but graphical) :


1.microsoft windows xp
|- xp english
|- xp romanian

2.microsoft windows vista (TM) (recovered)

3.microsoft windows vista (TM) (recovered)*

*=vista english version.

i have not shoved my claws, yet, into easyBCD. can someone give some ideas on how to configure the boot screen, without messing things up, again :scared: ? thanks:tongueout:oint:
 
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Sorry, I don't use multiple XPs and I forgot. There's no way to avoid having to choose between XPs in a second menu when booting from Vista.
Vista hands control to NTLDR when you choose XP and NTLDR reads boot.ini, where the 2 XPs are listed.
You must also, at some time, have tried to get Vista booted by putting Vista entries into boot.ini ? which is why Vista entries are listed in the second menu.
Get rid of any entries in boot.ini for Vista, NTLDR cannot boot Vista.
I'm sorry. You're stuck with a 2 stage boot for XP, though either of the Vista's will boot from the 1st menu.
See the paragraph "Booting Windows XP from the Vista Bootloader"
 
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yes, i`ve changed boot.ini :x i`ve opened it when i tried to revive vista (when only xp english worked) and modified the vista boot.ini from xp. i introduced each partition and changed the title. after using the recover dvd from vista it all came clear. now i only have to eliminate the submenu. i`ve uploaded some pictures with the boot screen. the thing is one of the xp`s (the romanian one) won`t boot. i`ve erased from boot.ini from vista english (meaning C:\) the vista record boot and left only one (the romanian xp).

boot menu : http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/stefanturcanu/vista%20problem/S6003944.jpg

and the submenu : http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/stefanturcanu/vista%20problem/S6003947.jpg (sorry for the blur)

in the second picture "Vista Romana" is now "XP Engleza" (engleza = english).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
this is a copy paste handwritten from C:\boot.ini (vista english)

[boot loader]
timeout=60
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP Romana" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect <- BOOT`S IN A BLACK SCREEN
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="XP Engleza" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so now i have the current configuration :


C:\ - vista english (boots :joy:smile:
D:\ - vista romanian (boots :joy:smile:
E:\ - xp romanian (doesn`t boot :ldown:smile:
F:\ - xp english (boots :joy:smile:

i`m stuck with all these o.s.`s :smile:)

Addendum:

ok, i changed from boot.ini to :


[boot loader]
timeout=60
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="XP Romana" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="XP Engleza" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect


and now i get in the submenu

XP ENGLEZA --- (boots into xp-english)
XP ROMANA --- (boots into xp-romana)
Windows(default) --- (boots into vacuum :smile:) )
 
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Change the default line partition(x) to be the same as one of your XP lines, whichever one you prefer to come up normally. It just tells NTLDR which one of the choices to take (when there is a choice) after the timeout(y) has elapsed with no user input. It enables you to make an unattended boot normally, where you can just turn the system on and leave it while you make a coffee, and it comes up with the system you normally use.
(of course with the 2 stage boot, if you want an unattended start into XP Romanian for example, you'll need to make XP the default in the BCD and XP Romanian the default in boot.ini, and that's where you'll end up after the sum of the 2 timeout() values has elapsed)
 
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