XP doesn't start

J

jaghori

Member
Hi, I am dual booting windows XP and 7 on the same disk but different partitions, I installed windows 7 after installing XP.

Now I can boot windows 7 with no problems but when I try to load windows XP I get passed the moving bars and once they are finished I get to where it shows the windows XP icon and just before it prompts me for the login it hangs there. I can see the mouse cursor and move it around but I can't get any further.

I have donwloaded EasyBCD 1.7 and I have the following entries.

Entry #1

Name: Earlier Version of Windows
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Drive: F:\ "this is the partition that has windows XP"
Bootloader Path: \ntldr

Entry #2
Name: Windows 7
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows directory: \Windows

Appreciate any help.
 
Hi Jaghori, welcome to NST
Download EasyBCD 2.0 which will automate adding XP to a far greater extent than 1.7
Follow the instructions in the sticky thread, starting at point 3 to locate your "system" partition.
If you find that W7 has created a separate unlettered partition for the boot files, give it a letter so that you can copy the necessary XP boot files into it.

I'm a bit puzzled by your post which has the BCD pointing to F for XP. This would only be correct if XP is your "system" partition. Is it ?
Posting the output from EasyBCD view settings would make it clearer if you used the "debug mode" radio button.

Your description also implies that XP is progressing a long way past simple boot problems, and that the problem lies deeper in XP which might need a repair install.
 
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Thanks for the reply Terry,

You are right, F: is my system partition and below are the outputs. You are also right about the XP progressing passed the boot process. It stops right before prompting for login.

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=F:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {2b2c30fd-e02f-11dd-8202-9b3e64c595ad}
resumeobject {2b2c30fc-e02f-11dd-8202-9b3e64c595ad}
displayorder {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}
{2b2c30fd-e02f-11dd-8202-9b3e64c595ad}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 30

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}
device partition=F:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {2b2c30fd-e02f-11dd-8202-9b3e64c595ad}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
recoverysequence {2b2c30fe-e02f-11dd-8202-9b3e64c595ad}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {2b2c30fc-e02f-11dd-8202-9b3e64c595ad}
nx OptIn
 
You could try hitting F8 immediately after selecting XP from the boot menu, to enter the XP extended boot options, and try "last known good..." If that doesn't help, try "safe.." and if you can get in, check the event log for errors.
You could also try running chkdsk /f against the XP partition, and as a last resort, do a repair install of XP.
This last option will revert the boot process to NTLDR, so will need to be followed by a "startup repair" of W7 to put the W7 bootmgr back in control.
 
frozen XP welcome blue screen

First, a big thank you for your great product I have used for years.

I have the same issue with an original drive that used to dual boot fine a year ago; the only change I can think of may be a BIOS update.
Now, Vista works fine (after I used the vista recovery CD) but XP stops at the blue screen with logo, just before the user login. I have run eBCD2 to uninstall/reinstall XP and let it parameter automatically, to no avail.
The debug shows "Device: unknown" for XP. Is that the problem?Should it be partition E instead?

I don't know how to do a repair from the XP CD. I only see the recovery console.
I would prefer not too have to reinstall XP because it takes me more than a day (I have to install all the Lenovo drivers and applications one by one in one specific order between the SP2 and SP3 updates)

Just in case, here is the debug:

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows XP
Timeout: 30 seconds.
EasyBCD Boot Device: C:\

Entry #1
Name: Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Windows XP
BCD ID: {default}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR


Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device unknown
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {db5a1cce-70d0-11de-9b90-00197ef52e09}
displayorder {e8709fb6-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}
{db5a1cce-70d0-11de-9b90-00197ef52e09}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {e8709fb6-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {e8709fb7-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}
nx OptOut

Real-mode Boot Sector
---------------------
identifier {db5a1cce-70d0-11de-9b90-00197ef52e09}
device partition=C:
path \NTLDR
description Windows XP
 
Hi Kitten, welcome to NST
It's saying that bootmgr is on an unknown device, not XP. Have you left the DVD in the tray while you're booting ?
Did you run "startup repair" enough times ? It only fixes one thing per try.
If XP is getting to the welcome screen, it's not a boot problem, it's an XP problem.
If you do a "repair install" of XP it should replace any damaged or missing system files without losing your installed apps or data, but you will need to do the Vista "startup repair" again (3 times) afterwards.
 
kairozamorro: thanks but I did use the latest version

Terry: no disc in the tray. Bootmgr appears in the root of C: (and the unknown didn' appear in the debug previously, only with my latest uninstall/reinstall of XP in eBCD)

Do you mean Vista startup repair? My problem is that my (original) VIsta is in a hidden partition of the original drive, not on a DVD. I downloaded and burned a small recovery image which seemed to repair the Vista boot. Do you mean I should run that 3 times?

Funny enough, I don' know how to do an XP repair install. As far as I can see, my CD offers only the recovery console. Shall I run it with bootcfg/rebuild ?
EDIT: I see that the XP repair function comes AFTER the recovery option. But I understand that it would require me to reinstall SP2 and SP3, and probably more? (Sorry, I realise that it is not directly eBCD related anymore...)
 
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mkitten said:
kairozamorro: thanks but I did use the latest version

Terry: no disc in the tray. Bootmgr appears in the root of C: (and the unknown didn' appear in the debug previously, only with my latest uninstall/reinstall of XP in eBCD)
Click to expand...
If you mean you ran EasyBCD>Manage Bootloader>Uninstall the Vista bootloader>Write MBR, then you will definitely need to use our recovery disk if you don't have a Vista dvd to replace XP's bootcode in the MBR with Vista's. That way you will be able to dual-boot.
Do you mean Vista startup repair? My problem is that my (original) VIsta is in a hidden partition of the original drive, not on a DVD. I downloaded and burned a small recovery image which seemed to repair the Vista boot. Do you mean I should run that 3 times?
Click to expand...
First of all, I think you need to clarify what you mean...
If your Vista partition is hidden (via the partition table), then you will not be able to boot into Vista at all. However, if you meant that your Vista is just hidden (in Windows Explorer) because it does not have a drive letter, then that shouldn't be a problem. Also, you need to clarify what you meant when you see you downloaded and burned a "small recovery image" which seeemed to repair the Vista boot. If you mean our recovery disk, then there's no point in downloading it again from the link Terry provided. :wink:
Funny enough, I don' know how to do an XP repair install. As far as I can see, my CD offers only the recovery console. Shall I run it with bootcfg/rebuild ?
EDIT: I see that the XP repair function comes AFTER the recovery option. But I understand that it would require me to reinstall SP2 and SP3, and probably more? (Sorry, I realise that it is not directly eBCD related anymore...)
Click to expand...
Ok, the comment I marked in bold above sounds like you may be talking about some kind of XP install disk, which has the recovery console on it (on the vista dvd/our recovery disk, it is called "Startup Repair", and does not have the name of "recovery console":brows:smile:. At any rate, its pointless to run any commands from Startup Repair (or the XP Recovery Console) at this point since it sounds like both Vista and XP boots, and XP just stops at the login screen.
Doing a repair install will not require you to reinstall a service pack, AFAIK. All it does is replaces corrupt system files with the versions found on the XP reinstallation CD (which you use to perform the repair install with).

Cheers.

Jake
 
To do a repair install of XP act as if you were re-installing. When you get to where you'd normally be asked to select a partition to install to XP's installer should detect the current installation and offer to repair it if its real bad or if not you can press R. On the surface it'll appear as if you're re-installing, however upon relogin your files/programs should still remain.
 
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thank you to all, it seems I should launch the XP repair, but then I will really need to reinstall SP2/SP3 (as confirmed in the link you provided) and maybe some drivers or applications

The alternative would be to do a backup/recovery of the working XP partition (and hopefully the MBR with it) that I have on another drive (I seem to collect them!) without touching the clean Vista partition I have on the new drive. Do you think it will work?

I am still puzzled that the XP version that worked fine a year ago wouldn't run anymore. I didn't touch the drive in the mean time. Can it be the update of the BIOS that suddenly made it incompatible? Did it happen to someone else?

Jake: The recovery ISO I used may well be from this site. I downloaded it more than a year ago.

The reference to a hidden Vista was misleading: I meant that the install files are not on a DVD but on an hidden partition of the original drive
 
XP doesn't start
I have same problem
+----------+
| Win 7 | 1st P.
+----------+
| Win XP | Active 2nd P.
+----------+
| Data | Logical Partion inside extended partition
+----------+
I have used EasyBCD 2.0 (65) to remove and add legacy(ntldr) Windows XP
and while Win XP shows itself as c: During original install and repair installs
EasyBCD shows win XP on E: and always stops at Splash screen.
I have tried 3 XP repairs and 3 Win 7 repairs and still get same problem.
Win XP loads by itself when MBR is set with NTLDR bootsector without a hitch
Thanks for any help.

Addendum:

I also tried with Win 7 as active partion and all boot files copied/created there.
And have the same result ...Win XP fails during Splash screen.
Have tried safe mode. shows files loading from disk(0)/Partition(2).
But stops with the splash screen.
 
Last edited:
Use the latest build of 2.0 (82 at present)
Boot W7, delete the XP entry from the BCD, add a new entry, let Easy2 auto-configure.
Don't change the letter for the XP BCD entry.
 
More information

f:\drives.jpg

Hope this is ok.
 

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