Vista/XP and RAID0

B

Big John

Member
I have a 600GB drive (2x300GB in a RAID0 array). This has been partitioned into 2 primary partitions. The first holds XP and the second holds Vista Ultimate. The rest of the drive is partitioned as various other sized partitions. When I boot I use PQBoot to hide either the first partition or the second. Thus XP or Vista is always on C drive.

I would like the option of being able to select which OS I boot into on boot up. This means that the one I boot into will need to be un-hidden and the other hidden.

Will EasyBCD allow this? I could not see anything to suit my needs.
 
Hello John,

Yep, you can do that - you'll have to use NeoGrub though. It'll look something like this:

Vista Bootloader:
...Boot XP (Hiding Vista)
...Boot Vista (Hiding XP)

Is that what you want? If so, just holler back.

One warning: it might not work with the first set of commands I give you - I don't have Vista or XP installed just now, so it'll be partially by-ear.

No worries though, it's perfectly safe - just frustrating :wink:

Cheers!
 
Yes it does.

From EasyBCD -> Add/Remove Entries -> NeoGrub -> Install -> Configure

Code: 
default 1
timeout 10

title Boot XP - Hide Vista
hide (hd0,1)  //SET THIS TO THE VISTA DRIVE
rootnoverify (hd0,0) //SET THIS TO THE XP DRIVE
chainloader +1 

title Boot Vista - Hide XP
hide (hd0,0) //SET THIS TO THE XP DRIVE
rootnoverify (hd0,1) //SET THIS TO THE VISTA DRIVE
chainloader +1

Now for this to work, your EasyBCD boot menu should look something like this:

MENU:
...NeoGrub (DEFAULT)
...Vista (NORMAL, old entry)
...XP (NORMAL, old entry)

And your boot.ini should be configured to boot XP as if the Vista drive doesn't exist.

What happens:

1. Presented with EasyBCD menu. It'll boot NeoGrub.
2. Presented with NeoGrub menu. It'll boot Vista (option 1, XP is 0) unless you select something else before 10 seconds run out.
It's safe to delete the XP and Vista entries in the EasyBCD menu BUT ONLY AFTER YOUR SURE THIS WORKS.


Again, this might not work. If it doesn't POST BACK, and I'll tell you what might need to be changed.

Cheers, and good luck!
 
One last question before I try it. Do I need to use version 1.6 or wil 1.52 do the job as well?
I cant see 1.6 around so assume it is still in beta testing.
 
No, 1.52 should work fine.
EasyBCD 1.6 is in private (top-secret :tongueout:) beta testing at the moment. Public beta builds will be posted soon enough :smile:
 
Okay tried it out and it did not work.

After the reboot it came up with the Vista BootManager with 2 entries.
NeoGrub (Default)
Windows Vista

I never had XP available so never put it in as the partition is hidden most of the time.
Selecting Windows Vista boots into vista just fine.
Selecting NeoGrub blanks the screen for about 5 seconds and then comes back to the Vista BootManager.

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader TimeOut: 30 seconds.
Default OS: NeoGrub Bootloader

Here is the Menu Entry.

Entry #1

Name: NeoGrub Bootloader
BCD ID: {default}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\Stage1
Windows Directory:

Entry #2

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

The NeoGrub entry looks exactly as given.
 
I take it you mean the comments you put in?
I just copied and pasted it in as it is exactly what my setup is. I assumed the // was a comment marker
 
Okay I removed it. My NeoGrub now looks like ths

default 1
timeout 10

title Boot XP - Hide Vista
hide (hd0,1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

title Boot Vista - Hide XP
hide (hd0,0)
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

Vistas Bootmanager comes up with the NeoGrub/Vista choice. Choosing vista boots Vista as normal. Selecting NeoGrub just blanks the screen for 5 seconds and then back to Vistas BootManager screen we go.
 
Try this:

Uninistall NeoGrub (by going to the NeoGrub Tab again on the Add/Remove Entries screen)
Install NeoGrub once more.

Copy this into the neogrub configuration file:

Code: 
timeout 10
default 0
fallback 1

title Boot XP - Hide Vista
hide (hd0,1)  #SET THIS TO THE VISTA DRIVE
rootnoverify (hd0,0) #SET THIS TO THE XP DRIVE
makeactive
chainloader +1 

title Boot Vista - Hide XP
hide (hd0,0) #SET THIS TO THE XP DRIVE
rootnoverify (hd0,1) #SET THIS TO THE VISTA DRIVE
makeactive
chainloader +1

Check to make sure that X:\NST\ has a "Stage1" file in it.
X:\ is the boot drive, the one with bootmgr, boot.ini, and the rest.

Is X:\ the Vista drive or the XP drive? It should be the XP one....
 
X:\ is the Vista drive.

I installed EasyBCD under Vista as that is what I use 95% of the time. When using Vista the XP partition is hidden and inactive. The opposite is true when using XP.
I did check and there definatinately was a \NST directory with a Stage1 and Stage2 file in it along with Menu.lst

Are you saying I should install EasyBCD under XP? When I installed Vista I already had XP installed but hid it so Vista did not know it was there and has never had the dual boot option.

Will try the changes later today.
 
Not sure how to fix it?
As both XP and Vista are both C: cant simply unhide them and expect them to work.
Dont really want to go and uninstall Vista and install it while XP is visable either.
I guess I will just have to put up with the PQBoot method I am currently using even if it is a pain.
Thanks for the help
 
Computer Guru said:
No wonder - yeah, you'll have to fix that.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Not sure how to do that without removing Vista and re-installing. Both XP and Vista are set as C drive as Primary partitions. When I installed Vista I hid XP and Booted off the DVD and installed on the second partiion so it never knew a second OS was already installed.
I guess I will just have to give up and stay as I am doing at present using PQBoot to swap between O/S pain that is because I have to login first, shutdown, and relogin.
 
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