Multi-Boot is not Working, Vista was added to a WXP Pro System

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Windows Forum / Windows Vista / Setup and Deployment / February 2007

Multi-Boot is not Working, Vista was added to a WXP Pro System

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Jeff V. Pulver - 25 Feb 2007 21:34 GMT

Dear All:

I am unable to get multi-boot to work. What did I do wrong? My system was
partitioned and WXP Pro was installed and running. I booted from the Vista
Business DVD and installed Vista in the other partition. When I boot the
system, I do not get a boot menu; instead Vista starts. I am still a bit of
a newbie with the BCDEDIT command. Can anyone tell from these below command
what is wrong?

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /enum active
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {610e6eb1-c128-11db-86bc-91f2d356bda0}
nx OptIn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /enum {legacy}
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=D:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Thank you.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

Rock - 25 Feb 2007 23:23 GMT

> Dear All:
>
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
> path \ntldr
> description Earlier Version of Windows

Why don't you run VistaBoot Pro to set up the dual boot?
http://www.vistabootpro.org/

Signature

Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 26 Feb 2007 02:22 GMT

Dear Rock:

Thank you for your quick response.

>> Why don't you run VistaBoot Pro to set up the dual boot?
>> http://www.vistabootpro.org/ <<

Two reasons. I was not familiar with that program and the first go around I
*always* try the way Microsoft designed it to work.

However, I followed your suggestion and I had moderate success and a
disappointment. I used VistaBoot Pro's repair feature and when it finished,
I then had the entry for Windows XP. However, it was set to boot from the
D: drive. According to Ed Bott's, "Windows Vista Inside Out," whichever
partition I boot into will be the C: partition as that is how I installed
Vista.

My disappoint came as I could not figure out how to use VistaBoot Pro to
change that entry. According to the Help information I read, it cannot
change that entry. Hopefully, I misread the Help information. So, I used
BCDEDIT to change it. The end result is I still cannot boot from into my
original Windows XP. It says it cannot find ntldr. That file is on the
partition which has Windows XP. I assume there is still something set up
incorrectly in the BCD data store. I re-ran VistoBoot Pro's Diagnostic
function and that did not change anything. I still cannot boot into Windows
XP.

I then tried the command, BCDEDIT /set {ntldr} device boot. As a result, I
now could not boot into Vista as well as Windows XP. Fortunately the Vista
DVD's repair function worked, so at least Vista works.

Any idea what is wrong now?

Thank you.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

tsm21 - 26 Feb 2007 00:58 GMT

I had a problem that Vista was set to start 1 second after the list of
operating systems appeared. Other people whose monitor were slower to
display didn't get a chance to choose - Vista started on its own. The way to
fix this is to go into Control Panal / System / Advanced System Settings (on
left panel) / Startup and Recovery Settings / and under System Startup, make
sure that "Time to display list of operating systems is checked and enough
time is allowed to actually choose which operating system you want to boot at
that time. This worked for me and I hope it works for you.

Signature

Tom M

> Dear All:
>
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
>
> Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 26 Feb 2007 02:25 GMT

Dear Mr. Tom M.:

Thank you for the suggestion. As I am familar with the multiboot function
from Windows XP, I had it set for 30 seconds. That will be reduced to five
seconds once I have figured out how it works in Vista.

As you can see from my response, to aonther post in this thread, so far it
is Vista multiboot 2, Vista User 0.

Thank you.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

CZ - 26 Feb 2007 06:57 GMT

Jeff:

Note that my bcdedit info is more expansive than yours:
displayorder {ntldr}
{default}
{current}

You need the {ntldr} entry
I would expect VistaBootPro to solve your problem

My bcdedit info:
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {default}
resumeobject {91d0dd89-9e0c-11db-9382-8982adee329e}
displayorder {ntldr}
{default}
{current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=D:
path \ntldr
description Earlier version of Windows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {default}
device partition=R:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=R:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {4a4567b1-bbeb-11db-a7eb-e3f4566e04c7}
nx OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {91d0dd89-9e0c-11db-9382-8982adee329e}
nx OptOut

Your bcdedit info:
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /enum active
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {610e6eb1-c128-11db-86bc-91f2d356bda0}
nx OptIn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /enum {legacy}
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=D:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 26 Feb 2007 13:42 GMT

Dear CZ:

Thanks for the information.

In my system (which has WXP on the C; drive and before I installed Vista) I
have Drive 0 with two partitions (C: WXP and F: Where I am installing
Vista.). Drives 1 & 2 (D: & E:) are being used for Virtual Server and
Virtual PC data stores. Acccording to Ed Bott's, "Windows Vista Inside
Out), I can install Vista on the F: drive and when it boots it will be the
C: drive and the original C: drive will be the F: drive. Then, when I boot
into Vista, its drive will be the C: drive and the WXP drive will be the F:
drive. Since Vista is the boot manager, it makes that happen.

When I start Vista, the F: drive *is* the old WXP C:. When I boot into WXP,
it fails. The BCD information posted earlier was only a partial showing
what I was discussing. The complete version follows. It is close to yours.
It looks like you have two Vista OSs and a Legacy OS while I only have a
single Vista and a single Legacy..

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
displayorder {current}
{ntldr}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {610e6eb1-c128-11db-86bc-91f2d356bda0}
nx OptIn

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Thanks for your help.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

CZ - 26 Feb 2007 14:16 GMT

>> Acccording to Ed Bott's, "Windows Vista Inside

Out), I can install Vista on the F: drive and when it boots it will be the
C: drive and the original C: drive will be the F: drive. Then, when I boot
into Vista, its drive will be the C: drive and the WXP drive will be the F:
drive

Jeff:

Per tests, that is incorrect.
On my system, XP is in C: and Vista was installed in W:
When I boot into Vista, Vista becomes C: and XP becomes D:

Your XP should become drive D: when you boot into Vista

You need to change the following to D: from C:
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Reply to this Message

CZ - 26 Feb 2007 15:39 GMT

Addendum:

>> When I start Vista, the F: drive *is* the old WXP C:. When I boot into
>> WXP, it fails.

Jeff:

Use the drive letter that a Vista boot shows for the XP vol.

Change the following to F: from C:
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 26 Feb 2007 17:54 GMT

Dear CZ:

>> Use the drive letter that a Vista boot shows for the XP vol.

Change the following to F: from C:
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows <<

I tried that, and the result was the system rebooted itself. It did that
3x. I then gave up and booted into Vista.

That should not work, see my previous post which explains why it should be
the C: drive.

Thanks for your help.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 26 Feb 2007 17:52 GMT

Dear CZ:

>> Per tests, that is incorrect.

On my system, XP is in C: and Vista was installed in W:
When I boot into Vista, Vista becomes C: and XP becomes D:

Your XP should become drive D: when you boot into Vista <<

Mine is working that way, except it becomes the F: drive which is normal.
Here is why:

Drive 0: Partition 1, WXP, C: Partition 2, Vista, F:
Drive 1: Partition 1, D:
Drive 2: Partition 1, E:

That is why WXP becomes F, as that is the next drive letter available.

>> You need to change the following to D: from C:

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows <<

It really should be at C: because the Vista Boot Loader should change the
Vista partition to F: and the WXP partition to C: (i.e., reverse them).

As a test, I changed the ntldr to F: and something unexpected happened.
Instead of an error message saying ntldr cannot be found, the computer
rebooted itself. I did this 3x and then gave up and booted into Vista.

Ready for Round IV.

Thanks for your help.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

CZ - 27 Feb 2007 03:15 GMT

>> As a test, I changed the ntldr to F: and something unexpected happened.

Instead of an error message saying ntldr cannot be found, the computer
rebooted itself.

Jeff:

Setup the computer up so as to provide the ntldr file is missing error, and
post both the bcdedit results and your boot.ini file. Where is the boot.ini
file located?

Re: your hard disks setup:
All are connected to mobo IDE controllers?
Each hard disk has a primary partition, and F: is a vol in an extended
partition?
You installed Vista via DVD boot, and not via XP boot?
What have/are drives D: and E: used for?

Drive 0: Partition 1, WXP, C: Partition 2, Vista, F:
Drive 1: Partition 1, D:
Drive 2: Partition 1, E:

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 27 Feb 2007 06:28 GMT

Dear CZ:

>> Setup the computer up so as to provide the ntldr file is missing error,
>> and post both the bcdedit results and your boot.ini file. <<

22

Where is the boot.ini

> file located?
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Drive 1: Partition 1, D:
> Drive 2: Partition 1, E:

Reply to this Message

Donald L McDaniel - 27 Feb 2007 20:34 GMT

>Dear CZ:
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>> Drive 1: Partition 1, D:
>> Drive 2: Partition 1, E:

Boot.ini is an XP boot file. It is always found in the root folder of
Drive 0, Partition 1 (C:\), along with ntldr.exe (the XP OS loader).

If it appears to be missing, make sure you set Explorer to view
hidden/system files.

If they're still missing after this, you will have to boot with the XP
installation disk, choose to "Repair" at the first opportunity, and from
the Repair console, enter the command "fixboot". This should rewrite
boot.ini and ntldr.exe.

Make sure you go ahead and choose "OK" at the error message, or it will
not rewrite boot.ini and ntldr.exe.

Then, of course, you will have to reinstall Vista. You might try
repairing Vista instead. Never tried it before, so I don't know just what
one must do.

I simply reinstalled XP on my FIRST primary drive (Disk0, Partition1 --
C), and installed Vista on my SECOND primary drive (Disk1, Partition1 --
D). That worked like a charm for me (I use SATA drives, not PATA drives),
and both XP and Vista correctly wrote the necessary boot files on Disk0,
Partition1( C:\ ), resulting in a working dual-boot system with XP Media
Center 2005 and Vista Home Premium.

I had originally tried the dual boot with XP on Disk1, Partition1, and
Vista on Disk0, Partition1 (I wanted Vista to have the largest physical
HD). This did NOT work, since the XP boot files were overwritten when I
installed Vista ("Doh!!!").

NOTE that BOTH partitions (C:, D:) are currently set as "BASIC" and
"PRIMARY", NOT "LOGICAL".

Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread and newsgroup
===========================================================

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 27 Feb 2007 21:37 GMT

Dear Mr. McDaniel:

Please see a new thread, "Vista Multiboot, Part II" as it gets even
stranger.

Thank you.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 27 Feb 2007 07:00 GMT

Dear CZ:

> Setup the computer up so as to provide the ntldr file is missing error,
> and
> post both the bcdedit results and your boot.ini file.

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
displayorder {current}
{ntldr}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {610e6eb1-c128-11db-86bc-91f2d356bda0}
nx OptIn

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=F:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

boot.ini
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

> Where is the boot.ini file located?

When Vista boots, it is where it belongs, on the F: drive. That is Drive 0,
Partition 1 (which is explained below).

> Re: your hard disks setup:
> All are connected to mobo IDE controllers?

No. Drive 0 is connected to the IDE controller. Drives 1 & 2 are SATA.

> Each hard disk has a primary partition, and F: is a vol in an extended
> partition?

No. Drive 0 Partition 1 is WXP and is a Primary partition. Drive 0
Partition 2 is Vista and is a Logical drive. When Vista Boots Partition 1
is F: and Partition 2 is C: drive (see attachment for a picture, from Disk
Management). That assigning drive letters is a functon of Vista Bool
Loader. When I boot into WXP, Vista Boot Loader is supposed to reverse the
drive letters on the two partitions (i.e., Partition 1 will be C: and
Partition 2 will be F:).

> You installed Vista via DVD boot, and not via XP boot?

Yes, so that is what makes the Boot Loader swap the drive letters mentioned
above. Had I started from XP that would not have happened.

> What have/are drives D: and E: used for?

Data stores for Virtual PC and Virtual Server.

Thank you for your help.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

CZ - 27 Feb 2007 19:56 GMT

Jeff:

Copy the ntldr and boot.ini files to the root of D:
Also, do you see a "boot" folder in the root of D: ?

Theory:
The "ntldr is missing" error message tells us that boot process control has
been passed to a vol that knows to load the ntldr file (which it cannot
find).
If the above works, then you are booting from disk 01 which is your first
SATA drive and not disk 00 which is your IDE drive.

Your previous post:

>> Drive 0: Partition 1, WXP, C: Partition 2, Vista, F:

Drive 1: Partition 1, D:
Drive 2: Partition 1, E:

>> C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
displayorder {current}
{ntldr}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {610e6eb1-c128-11db-86bc-91f2d356bda0}
nx OptIn

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=F:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

boot.ini
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 27 Feb 2007 21:36 GMT

Dear CZ:

Please see a new thread, "Vista Multiboot, Part II" as it gets even
stranger.

Thank you.

:-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

Donald L McDaniel - 26 Feb 2007 21:20 GMT

>Dear All:
>
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
>
>Jeff V. Pulver

I have found so far that XP MUST be installed on Disk0, Partition 1 for a
dual-boot with Vista to work.

Put XP anywhere else, and the Vista installer will NOT create a dual-boot
menu.

So start over, and put XP on Disk 0, Partition 1. Then add Vista to a
secondary drive or partition. All will be well then.

Reply to this Message

Jeff V. Pulver - 27 Feb 2007 01:20 GMT

Dear Mr. McDaniel:

Thank you for your response.

> I have found so far that XP MUST be installed on Disk0, Partition 1 for a
> dual-boot with Vista to work.

Interesting; I have not read that.

That is where XP is. Drive 0 is partitioned into two drives, the first is
XP and the second is Vista. There are more details in previous posts.

::-) Cheers,

Jeff V. Pulver

Reply to this Message

Donald L McDaniel - 27 Feb 2007 20:06 GMT

>Dear Mr. McDaniel:
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
>Jeff V. Pulver

I never read it either. In fact, I read that either XP or Vista could be
installed on ANY HD/Partition in your computer.

However, my experience turned out to be quite different.

Now I have a functioning dual-boot between XP and Vista. In addition,
Vista did NOT change drive letters when it was installed as it did the
first time I tried the dual-boot.

Drive C: (Disk 0, Partition 1 -- First Primary drive
) remains "drive C" when booted into Vista, whereas the first time I tried
it, Vista renamed "drive C" drive "F".

Signature

Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread and newsgroup
===========================================================

Reply to this Message

Don - 28 Feb 2007 14:29 GMT

> Dear Mr. McDaniel:
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Interesting; I have not read that.

Not quite true -- Disk 0, Partition 1 must be a primary partition
formatted in any Windows-readable filesystem, where ntldr and boot.ini
are stored. WinXP can then be installed on *any* partition including
an extended partition, on any disk, as long as boot.ini points to the
correct partition. Same for Vista.

I have a tiny FAT-32 partition containing boot files for several OSs
including both Windows and non-MS systems. I picked FAT-32 because
it is supported by every OS that I use.

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