Vista HnS Problems

Q

Quicksilver

Member
Hey i need some help. i have a Gateway GM5474 with Vista Home Premium (SP1) installed on a 500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA II hard drive

i have an older version of Windows XP home (SP2) installed on a Seagate (ST3300622A) 300 GB Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive

im trying to dual boot both. having Vista as my main and XP as the second. i installed EasyBCD and set it up like this:

Code: 
There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 30 seconds.
Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name:  Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID:  {current}
Drive:  C:\
Bootloader Path:  \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory:  \Windows

Entry #2

Name:  Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID:  {03e664b7-4c38-11dd-a54f-001bb972b041}
Drive:  F:\
Bootloader Path:  \NTLDR
When i go to boot XP i get the error:

windows failed to start. a recent hardware or software change might be the cause .
Click to expand...
i have tryed going to the XP CD and using the repair consolebut it says im in disk C:\ when XP is on F:\

i looked around F:\ and i didnt see a boot.ini file or a NTLDR file or folder. should there be a NTLDR folder?
 
Hi Quicksilver, welcome to NST.
The 3 XP boot files are not folders or inside folders, they're hidden files in the partition root. (e.g. C:\NTLDR). You need to go to folder options in the control panel and untick the 2 hide system files options to see them.
In order to dual boot, Vista's boot manager will need to find them in its root, so copy them across from XP to Vista.
Read all about it in the wiki
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Windows+XP

Addendum:

btw.
Each system sees drive letters as an internal construct, there's no physical lettering on the partition, just in the OS's registry. So XP seeing itself as C while Vista sees it as F is not unusual.
 
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ah i see the problem, i had protected files still hidden. thanks.

but i still get the same error. i may have some settings wrong or something. here is what the boot.ini says

[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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Click to expand...
 
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XP was rdisk(0) when you were booting that disk by itself. Now it comes after Vista in the disk numbering so change it to (1) in both lines on the vista copy you've just made. (leave the XP version untouched, and XP will still be bootable in an emegency if the Vista disk were to break and you removed it.)
 
so it should read like this?

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Click to expand...

or do i change all 0's to 1's? its still not working
 
If you've copied the 3 files across and edited the new boot.ini (the one you posted is correct now - provided you've only got 2 disks and there aren't others you haven't mentioned)
Try removing the XP entry in Easy BCD and add it again. (set the XP location as BOOT, you're telling it where the boot files are, not the XP system. Boot.ini does that after NTLDR has taken control)
 
C:\ is where Vista is installed on my 500GB SATA drive
D:\ is Recovery (i think its a partition of C for vista backup)
F:\ is where XP is installed on my Segate 300GB Ulta ATA 100 drive

ill try making XP in the BOOT location. hopefully it will work
 
Are you aware that when you boot XP eventually, it's going to destroy your Vista restore points !
This is inevitable (MS forward compatibility problem in XP - won't be fixed) unless you hide Vista from XP.
Read the sticky thread about HnS, which will do the job for you. (and will also set up your dual boot automatically for you without all this messing about)


Addendum:


The extra D partition won't affect the rdisk number, only another extra HDD.


Addendum:


Read this thread, which is the same subject.
http://neosmart.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2374
 
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ok. that worked but now i get this error

Windows\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt:

Please re-install a copy of the above file.
Click to expand...
Addendum:


i'll try out the HnS and see if it works. thanks for all your help


Addendum:


now i get this error from the hide and seek load screen
hnserrorqs.jpg

 
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The hal error is telling us that boot.ini isn't pointing to the right place.
I don't know what the HnS error is offhand, can you post a screenshot of your disk management screen so we can see if we're missing something obvious.
 
There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 30 seconds.
Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry #2

Name: Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID: {03e664b9-4c38-11dd-a54f-001bb972b041}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR
Click to expand...
this?
 
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I notice that D is partition 1 and C (vista) is partition 2, but your HnS is trying to hide (0,1) from XP.
Are you sure you correctly identified the Vista partition when you ran the HnS UI ?
You should leave the 1st one blank, mark the second as Vista and the lone one on the other disk as XP.
You appear to have marked the wrong one as Vista, which is why it's not finding files I think.
 
You didn't reply to my previous post. Does that mean you are sure you correctly marked the Vista disk partitions, or did you not see it ?
 
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