Windows 7 RTM and Windows XP don't dualboot

S

someguyfromhell

Member
I previously have Windows 7 RC installed with Windows XP dualbooting.

Here's the whole history (it may be confusing)

Blank drive (500GB)->Vista->Merge with XP installed on blank drive, but it didn't work ( was on a 320GB drive, then cloned onto a 640GB drive)->Install Windows 7 RC at end of drive -> Delete Vista partition->Made backup of XP partition, then deleted it also->Moved Windows 7 RC to beginning of the drive (thru Acronis True Image)-> restored XP partition after Windows 7 RC-> Set up EasyBCD 2 to fix up XP partition and add to boot menu -> EVERYTHING WORKS FINALLY:lol:

Now we come to yesterday when I deleted Windows 7 RC and upgraded to Windows 7 RTM (Yes the Gold Retail version). Windows XP was missing from the boot selector (well it was missing altogether, going straight to Windows 7). I install EasyBCD 2, I add XP and set it as D Drive, reboot, select XP, I go to a blank screen. Control-Alt-Delete still works but nothing happens (no HDD activity, etc)

http://img390.imageshack.us/my.php?image=easybcd.png
 
Hi Guy, welcome to NST.
You shouldn't have changed the disk assignment for XP from the value that EasyBCD set.
The BCD does not point to XP. It points to NTLDR which must be on the "system" partition with copies of the other XP boot files, and one of those files (boot.ini) does the pointing to XP.
Use EasyBCD 2.0 (latest build), delete the XP entry, then add a new XP entry and accept the offer to auto-configure XP for you.
It will create the correct XP files in the right place. Don't change the disk drive (that's why it's "greyed out")
 
Hello. I'll borrow this topic, since my problem is to get Windows 7 RC and Windows XP to dualboot. So, first i had win XP, then i installed win 7 RC. By installing windows 7, i only could boot windows 7, no dualboot windows shown on system start. I searched info about the problem, and found out that i could add win xp to dualboot with EasyBCD. Now, i have EeasyBCD 2.0 beta 63, tried with the guide of this topic to add it. Okay, went to Add/remove entries, add entry, type windows xp, name windows xp, c:// as it is greyed out. (Win 7 installed on C://) it did it without errors, added the NTLxxx stuff and boot.ini (atleast it told so), then i try to reboot. Wohoo, got the dualboot section where i can select which one to boot, XP or 7. i selected XP, and then this pops up. What should i do now? I have tried to do as it says, but then i couldn't boot neither of OS's, so i had to reinstall Win 7. (it was okay, i haven't installed anything else than EasyBCD) I am frightend to follow the instructions again, so i am asking how i can get to XP again from here. Any help please? :smile:
 
Hi ghee, welcome to NST.
The screenshot you linked is telling you that it can't find NTLDR (the XP boot manager/loader). This is an indication that you're looking in the wrong place, not that XP has suddenly become corrupt.
By following the instructions on that screen, you replaced the W7 boot process with the XP version, hence preventing W7 from booting.
You shouldn't have tried to fix XP, you just needed to locate it (EasyBCD 2.0 should have done that all for you - you didn't make the mistake of altering the XP drive letter I hope ?)
Having mistakenly fixed XP, breaking W7 in the process, you didn't need to reinstall W7, just boot the DVD and "repair startup" would have sufficed.
If you're back now with W7 running, just add the XP entry again, accept the offer to auto-configure the XP boot and don't change anything.
Try booting XP again, but this time don't panic if you get the same failure. It's just an indication that something is incorrect with the XP entry in the BCD. Ignore the instructions, just boot W7 again and post a screenshot of your disk management and copy/paste the "display settings" data displayed by EasyBCD (in debug mode) and we'll have a look for whatever's wrong.
 
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