Vista & XP Dual Boot Issue

D

dbrown

Member
I have been reading through the different threads in this forum and seem to be having similar issues as a lot of others who are trying to Dual Boot with Vista and XP.
I have tried all the different suggestions but I still can not get it to work properly.
My setup is as follows...
Windows Vista on my primary HD
Windows XP Pro on the slave (with 2 partitions, XP being on Partition 2 because is came from Dell with the Dell utilities on Partition 1 and XP on 2)

My Boot.ini is
Code: 
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I have added Windows Xp through DCB1.6 pointing it towards drive E:
but when I try to boot to Windows XP I get this error:

File \ntldr
status 0xc000000f

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi dbrown, welcome to NeoSmart Technologies!

EasyBCD | Diagnostics | Copy Debug Data

Paste it here in a reply.
 
Code: 
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device                  partition=E:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default                 {e8709fb7-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}
displayorder            {bf387814-24fb-11dc-980d-f65b2bdb5a27}
                        {251b9659-2582-11dc-9b0c-001111853f3d}
toolsdisplayorder       {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout                 10
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {bf387814-24fb-11dc-980d-f65b2bdb5a27}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Microsoft Windows Vista
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {bf387815-24fb-11dc-980d-f65b2bdb5a27}
nx                      OptIn
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier              {251b9659-2582-11dc-9b0c-001111853f3d}
device                  partition=E:
path                    \ntldr
description             Microsoft Windows
 
Only think that I can think of is it's trying to read them from the wrong drive.

Extract them again (and copy boot.ini) to C:\ as well - maybe that will work?
 
From the second screen in EasyBCD ("Configure Boot") change the drive letter for XP back to C:\
 
I get this message now...

Windows could not start becuase of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good! We're at least a step further!

OK, that means boot.ini is incorrect.

Go to EasyBCD -> Add/Remove Entries -> Linux/BSD
Look at the list of drives there.

Identify the XP drive.

The rdisk() value in Boot.ini should be the "drive" that EasyBCD shows in that list for the XP partition.
The partition() value in Boot.ini should be the "partition" that EasyBCD shows + 1.
 
PI believe it is already setup that way.

here is what the Linux/BSD screen says

Drive 0
Partition 0 (HPFS/NTFS - 28GB)
Drive 1
Partition 0 (???? - 0 GB)
Partition 1 (HPFS/NTFS - 37 GB)
Click to expand...

and this is my current Boot.ini

Code: 
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

so I believe that is is setup the way that you said.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Please use [c o d e] boxes to put menus and stuff, makes it easier on the eyes! :smile:

As you said though, it is indeed correct.

Here's what Microsoft has to say:
•The Default value in the [Boot Loader] section of the Boot.ini file is missing or invalid.
•Windows XP is not installed in the location specified in the Boot.ini file.
•The Ntoskrnl.exe file is missing or damaged.
•The partition path in the Boot.ini file is not set correctly.•General hardware failure.
Click to expand...

None of it actually applies to your case...

Here's something to test if your XP is broken or not:

Copy "\Windows\System32\Winload.exe" from Vista to "\Windows\System32\" of the XP partition.

In EasyBCD, add a new Vista partition on drive E:\
Reboot.
Select the new entry you just created, without pressing enter. Press "F8" and choose "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" then press Enter.

Does XP boot?
 
Yes, Vista can see the XP machine as E:\ and I can access all the information on it.
No, it is not a SATA or RAID. It is just a basic IDE master/slave setup.
 
It sounds to me like your XP is corrupt to some extent... probably a missing file or something.

Best thing to do: run a repair install (in-place ugrade).
Once your back in XP, install EasyBCD.
EasyBCD | Bootloader Management | Reinstall Vista Bootloader

Everything should work just fine from there.
 
Computer Guru said:
It sounds to me like your XP is corrupt to some extent... probably a missing file or something.

Best thing to do: run a repair install (in-place ugrade).
Once your back in XP, install EasyBCD.
EasyBCD | Bootloader Management | Reinstall Vista Bootloader

Everything should work just fine from there.
Click to expand...

That restore vista bootloader feature is a godsend! :happy:
 
Well, I rebuilt the XP drive and put a copy of the BOOT.ini, ntldr and ntdetect.com into the C:\ but when I try it it still comes up with this

Code: 
Windows could not start becuase of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
 
Not sure I understand the sequence of events, here.

After you repair-installed XP, did XP boot? Then what happened?
 
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