Re: Tricky Dual Boot

Hello ajr,

Originally I looked at the docs for bcdedit.exe and it was late and I was
tired and it seemed like too much reading at the time so I grabbed VistaBootPro.
When that didn't help I settled down and learned how to use BCDEdit and tried
that way too. Ultimately the BCD setup was correct, it was the extra files
I needed.

Thanks,

- Jason

> Have you considered : C:\$windows.~bt\windows\system32\bcdedit.exe?
> BCDedit.exe /? for command info.
>
> "Jason" <jason@fakemail.com> wrote in message
> news:acfc5a1922a7a8c8e3adb3d3d4aa@news.microsoft.c om...
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I have a laptop with three partitions on a single 100gb drive.
>> Partition 1 is about 3gb and contains the OEM restore data and is in
>> a format not viewable by either XP or Vista. Partition 2 is about
>> 48gb and contains Windows XP Pro on NTFS, this was preinstalled with
>> the laptop. Partition 3 fills the remainder of the drive (about 49gb)
>> and contains Windows Vista Ultimate RTM on NTFS. All partitions are
>> primary, not logical.
>>
>> I installed Vista from my MSDN ISO by first hiding the XP Partition 2
>> then booting from the burnt Vista dvd. This meant Vista installed on
>> Partition 3 but it shows as drive C: from Vista. I then unhid XP
>> Partition 2 and configured Vista to give it drive letter D:. The
>> Vista Partition 3 is marked as Active and Vista boots fine.
>>
>> If I mark XP Partition 2 as Active in Computer Management then reboot
>> I get into Windows XP and the XP partition is C: and the Vista
>> partition is D:. This is exactly how I like it. I can use Computer
>> Management in XP to make Vista Partition 3 Active again and reboot to
>> get back to Vista.
>>
>> I have used the 3rd party Vista Boot Pro to setup the Vista boot
>> loader to have an extra option for XP as "legacy (ntldr)" from drive
>> D:. Vista Boot Pro also autodetected and created another boot option
>> also legacy (ntldr) from drive C:. When using the Vista boot loader
>> to select either of the extra options I get "Boot.ini invalid, Trying
>> C:\Windows, NTDETECT failed" from one and I get a "NTLDR exception
>> 0x0000??" on the other. Sorry, error messages are what I vaguely
>> remember, I can write down the full message if it helps.
>>
>> I believe the XP boot.ini file is fine because it works ok with the
>> active partition set appropriately. Unfortunately Vista's boot system
>> seems to use drive letters rather than drive and partition numbers
>> (like XP does) to specify boot options so I'm not sure what to use
>> and neither C: or D: works in my current arrangement.
>>
>> Can someone please help me get the Vista boot loader to work with my
>> XP installation?
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> - Jason
>>