Vista/XP Issues

Mak 2.0

Mak 2.0

Mod...WAFFLES!?!?
Staff member
Alright Guru. I am exhausted and i cant figure this out. For most of the day yesterday i spent installing XP/Vista/Unbuntu. Now i can only boot Vista.

The problem is this. I installed XP. Right after it finished i got to the desktop. From there did the first set of updates and then boom. Went right to the Vista DVD and installed Vista. Well silly me didnt realize that XP didnt write the boot files. Cause after i installed Vista there was no dual boot option.

Even with trying to add XP nothing. Now the wierd thing is XP is recognizing itself as Drive D:\ because it is being installed on teh first partition on the 2nd isntalled hard drive. This is right from booting from teh XP CD.

So i figured if XP sees itself as D:\ then Vista must as well. Sure enough Vista does. Try doing that with the settings on EasyBCD and i get the NTDLR error. Funny thing is if i remove the Vista bootloader it loads fine. If i have it then XP doesnt boot.

So my settings have to be off in EasyBCD. Plus i did do a install of Ubuntu. Is there any way i can add that and not install Ubuntu again? Last time i tried since XP didnt load right neither did Ubuntu and i got hte Grub loading Error 22.

Yeah it has been a fun day. 6 different OS isntalls. 1 working. I need a drink, aspirin and a nap.

Any help is appreciated Guru.

Addendum:

I just figured this out. The reason why Vista didnt recognize the Dual Boot upon install is because Vista is teh primary drive and partition. So when i format that to install it gets rid of the boot data for XP. Idiot me.

So if you cant help me fix this i am stuck formatting and install XP first on the Vista Drive then Vista on this drive. After all that i will be lucky to get Ubuntu rolling by the weekend.
 
Last edited:
Hey Mak,

Don't worry, this'll be easy :smile:

Windows XP - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

Make sure NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI are all on the boot drive (you can download them from the link above). Make sure the XP entry in EasyBCD points to the boot drive.

Create or modify boot.ini (if you don't already have one) pointing it to the XP drive.

Reboot, all should be well.
 
Well for some reason when i try to change the settings in EasyBCD from Drive D:\ to Boot it doesnt save it. I am back in Vista for this as well.

The 3 files are in the Vista folder, which is the boot drive i just cant get EasyBCD to swith the settings from C:\ to Boot.

Addendum:

Okay scratch that. I deleted the entry and then created a new one. At first it read C:\ which scared me. But after rebooting it works. Thanks again Guru. At least now i dont have to re-install Vista or XP yet again.

Anyway i can get my Ubuntu install added or should i re-install that?
 
Last edited:
Yep, that confuses most evertyone - it's beacuse it points to the drive with NTLDR on it, which is the boot drive, which isn't always the XP drive.

I've completely rewritten the Windwos XP documentation and included a whole new section about installing Windows XP after Windows Vista plus rewrote the explanation about HOW the boot process works.

Windows XP - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
 
Oh yeah, about Ubuntu:

You should be able to get it to work just fine.
EasyBCD | Add/Remove Entries | Linux
Check "GRUB isn't installed...." then "Add Entry"

Should do the trick.

Addendum:

Makaveli213 said:
Wow that documentation looks real good. Great Job Guru.
Click to expand...

Thanks :smile:
I have to redo the Linux one next, then write about XP before Vista (which isn't much of a problem since it usually gets picked up by Vista setup).

Then add a section on Repairing the Vista bootloader from the DVD. ... *sigh*

:wink:
 
Last edited:
Back
Top