xp is unbootable in XP/vista dual boot setup

i already attempted using hd0,2 in case that was true, but then it couldn't even find the partition because it didn't exist, also when i used the tab function in the edit menu on hns at system start, the only partitions available was 0 and 1

also I just installed vista, minus all updates but sp1 of course I want to wait a bit and just use sp2 to get vista up to date all at once. Anyways I can now correct myself from earlier and give so called firsthand info.

I installed XP, then later installed vista. if I boot into vista, vista shows as C drive and xp shows as D drive. If I boot into XP, xp shows as C drive and vista shows as D drive. So no more ridiculous problems there, don't even need to mess with easybcd yet. However from what you've said, this setup should still cause XP to erase all my vista restore points, I will investigate this and see if it is the case, I'm quite sure it is though.
 
charlie256 said:
i already attempted using hd0,2 in case that was true, but then it couldn't even find the partition because it didn't exist, also when i used the tab function in the edit menu on hns at system start, the only partitions available was 0 and 1
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Ok, I guess whatever utility you used to delete the other partition edited the partition table afterwards then, as unlikely as it seems. :S Which tool did you use to do that anyway?
also I just installed vista, minus all updates but sp1 of course I want to wait a bit and just use sp2 to get vista up to date all at once. Anyways I can now correct myself from earlier and give so called firsthand info.

I installed XP, then later installed vista. if I boot into vista, vista shows as C drive and xp shows as D drive. If I boot into XP, xp shows as C drive and vista shows as D drive.
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I will refrain from saying "I told you so"...:joy:
So no more ridiculous problems there, don't even need to mess with easybcd yet. However from what you've said, this setup should still cause XP to erase all my vista restore points, I will investigate this and see if it is the case, I'm quite sure it is though.
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Yes, you can check this, but I'm pretty sure it will still delete Vista's restore points. :frowning: Only way to get around it is to use Hn'S or another 3rd party bootmanager, which can hide the Vista partition when XP boots.
 
i used the built in disk management tool, in vista. Also more recently I tried turning off system restore on the non system drive in both OS's and XP still deletes vista restore points, which isn't a problem, yet, but will be after I start installing programs and such on vista. I will just try microsofts petty half-solution/workaround, maybe that will work, but I can figure that much out on my own probably.
 
Hmm...I was not aware Disk Management had that capability (i.e. of moving partitions to different slots in the partition table). Ok, well let us know how using the Microsoft hack goes. Its worked for Justin (kairozamorro) here, but hasn't for Terry, and I've never tried it. So I'd certainly like to hear if you have success using that method or not.
 
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well i can add remove partitions and extend or shrink them and change labels and drive letters too, all from disk management, in vista anyways, the xp one does not allow shrinking or extending of partitions, just checked now.

Addendum:

the microsoft hack is only a maybe/possible/could work type of fix, as they themselves have indicated, it only works for some people

checking this page here for said hack, might not be something I want to do, but here is the info for anyone who wants.
 
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charlie256 said:
Addendum:

well method 2 is out of the question for myself as bitlocker is apparently very buggy and vista has enough of those by itself. and as for method 1, I'm still trying to discern what the effects and limitations sections mean....bit complicated :tongueout:
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What it boils down to is this:

One, your Vista partition will not be accessible from XP (not really a problem, if you use a different partition to store your user data of both OSes on).
Two, restore points on a partition other than Vista's will still be deleted unless you make another entry in the registry for that partition (they call it a "volume"), and any other partitions you may want to store Vista's restore points on will need its own entry, meaning you will need a entry for each partition you want to protect the restore points of.
 
heres another site with possible info, some of the same stuff i think mostly, but also i noticed it said something about third party tools can also remove the restore points, but thats a non issue for me Restore points are all gone in Vista?

Addendum:

ok, so it seems like this is a mostly problem free solution then, judging from what you said, it sounds like the vista drive will show up but be inaccessible in XP but thats the only affect it will have it seems, I was confused before because it was saying other stuff about needing to put something on an e drive or something and it doesn't make any sense, it was probably related to the stuff you said about if you had a third partition or something

Addendum:

btw XP restore points are unavailable regardless it would seem, but thats still the case with easybcd and other things, but XP is more tolerant than vista anyways so less likely to break I suppose, but I don't think that will matter too much to myself at least. I say this because theres no f8 option at the vista bootloader screen thing when choosing the earlier version of windows option
 
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charlie256 said:
Addendum:

ok, so it seems like this is a mostly problem free solution then, judging from what you said, it sounds like the vista drive will show up but be inaccessible in XP but thats the only affect it will have it seems, I was confused before because it was saying other stuff about needing to put something on an e drive or something and it doesn't make any sense, it was probably related to the stuff you said about if you had a third partition or something
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To be honest, I didn't really understand that part myself...:brows:
But, after re-reading it, I think that what it was maybe trying to say (and failing), is that when you have XP installed to the C partition, and Vista to D (both drive letters as being seen from XP), the workaround works only if the restore points (of Vista) are being saved to a different partition than XP's restore points.
This workaround only protects the volume in Windows Vista from being accessed or changed by Windows XP. If you have more volumes or if you want to add a volume from Windows XP to the system restore settings in Windows Vista, the system restore (Volume-Shadow-Data) on those volumes will be still overwritten. To avoid this problem, you must add those volumes to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\Offline subkey. If you add the Windows XP volume to that subkey or if you delete this volume drive letter, you cannot then start Windows XP.
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So basically, you can add any partition (volume) you want to be protected from XP, except for the XP partition, because then it couldn't boot. However, you can't (well, technically, you can, its just not recommmended to) add a partition that is being used by XP for restore points to the hack, because then you would lose the ability of using XP's restore points.
Addendum:

btw XP restore points are unavailable regardless it would seem, but thats still the case with easybcd and other things, but XP is more tolerant than vista anyways so less likely to break I suppose, but I don't think that will matter too much to myself at least. I say this because theres no f8 option at the vista bootloader screen thing when choosing the earlier version of windows option
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Are you sure you're pressing F8 right after selecting XP's entry in the boot menu?
 
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You can't use F8 from Vista's boot menu to access safe mode for XP, which is why you must first select the entry for XP and than when ntldr gets control of the boot immediately use F8 to access XP's advanced options boot menu.
 
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