Dual booting vista with XP, vista installed first using easy BCD

[brkick2005]

I want to dual boot windows vista and windows xp. I installed windows vista first a few days ago and got everything set up. All the product updates, a few programs installed and all the drivers I needed.

I found this guide a while back to dual boot windows vista with windows xp on apc.com. Basically this is what it says to do: (it assumes vista is already installed on a partition that takes up 100% of the hard drive)

Shrink the Vista partition down to make room for XP
Install windows xp like normal
Boot off of windows vista install DVD to fix vista MBR
Install and run EasyBCD once back in vista to add XP to the vista boot manager

This is what I tried doing:

I partitioned off my 320 GB HDD into two 150 GB partitions (base 10 vs base 2 thing...)
Installed Vista on the first 150GB partition which was C:
Then I tried install windows XP
Put the XP install disk in my computer (one that I know works, I've used it a lot before)
Setup copied install files on D: and then rebooted
Upon restarting the computer gives me a disk read error press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart which the guide said might happen and then to just use the Vista DVD to fix the MBR (Repair installation) and then use EasyBCD to add the XP entry into the Vista boot loader. So thats exactly what I did.

However when I reboot the machine I get no vista boot loader of any kind, it simply just restarts in windows vista and thats that. Every time I try and reinstall XP it does the same thing over and over I tried 3 times with no luck.

When I go back into vista and check EasyBCD this is what it gives me under "view settings"

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 30 seconds.
Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista

Entry #1

Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry #2

Name: Windows XP PRO
BCD ID: {83fc0dae-bbef-11dc-82e5-000129d4b97a}
Drive: C:
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR

This is what it gives me by default. I didn't change anything in the settings of EasyBCD except add the XP entry to the Vista boot loader (which is D: but it shows as C: in the view settings thing?)

So basically I'm not getting any vista boot loader to come up at all, even after doing essentially exactly what I should do to make this work. Every time I try and put XP on it corrupts the boot sector and gives me a disk read error and repairing the vista boot loader and adding XP to it doesn't give me any kind of access to any boot loader at all.



I have no idea what to do?? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Harvey]

Vista does some strange things to the partition table. This tech bullitin on Micro$oft's Windows Help and Support pages may help:

You cannot install Windows XP successfully after you use Windows Vista or Windows PE 2.0 to create partitions on a hard disk.

Good luck.

 

[stash]

Always install the older OS first.

 

[Skypix7]

Here's what I went through for 2 months after trying to install XP after Vista.

After 7 installs of Vista, and after installing XP first, and with Vista and XP installed on separate hard drives (both SATA), (my rig: 8GB memory, Quad 6600 cpu, Asus P5W DH Deluxe), and even after I installed each with the other hard drive physically unplugged, I have boot record corruption errors ("BOOTMGR missing") with Vista.

The two OSs just don't seem to like each other on my system, even after I set up each system completely independent of the other.

Plus all this clouded another issue which I just discovered...a failing IDE drive.

The Vista boot problem happens when I select the XP hard drive in Bios as normal (I don't use a dual boot set up or program), boot up on XP, use it for however long I want to without problems, but when I boot up the next time, select the Vista hard drive in Bios, and try to boot, I get the BOOTMGR error.

Popping the Vista install disk into the drive, rebooting from that, then doing a startup repair, gets me back into Vista...but it takes at least 20 minutes to do that.

Not worth the hassle.

I'm looking for some software solution that will allow me to dual boot without all this nightmare again, and without having to go into bios each time. But after all I've been through, and losing about 6 weeks worth of working time, I'd caution you to make sure you know what you're doing and above all, install XP first.

Because it seems both XP and Vista write some garbage on the other's master boot record whether you like it or not, which messes things up. So far the only way I can actually use both is to unplug one OS from the motherboard and just use the other one. What a pain!

 

[thegorx]

you could make sure both partitions are primary
make active the second partition for xp reboot and install it
then you can just use the Disk Management Console to toggle between active partitions and operating systems until you get easyBCD configured.
basically you'd use the linux neogrub or whatever and just point it at the second primary partition. Also this way both OSes are C:\ when they boot although they are on different primary partitions.

EasyBCD you can use Add an entry - Linux - and have it just boot the second partition, it doesn't care that it's windows

EasyBCD gallery

 

[Skypix7]

thanks thegorx, that's a bit over my head but I rebuilt the bcd with some help on the vistabootpro website and now at least both OSs are booting when I want to...although when I reinstalled the bootloader in VistaBootPro with Vista as default and XP as "other" drive, I rebooted...and XP loaded without giving me a boot selection!

So I think I'll just select in bios and let it go at that, it's no big deal and I've had enough of these arcane tweaking hassles, I need to work

thanks again

 

[thegorx]

well maybe I made it sound more confusing than it is
basically if you have it so the bios can switch which OS is bootable you can do pretty much the same using EasyBCD. I've tried VistaBootPro but EasyBCD seemed better for my needs. basically you create a listing to boot from the XP drive using the link example in the EasyBCD gallery.

I just found that when you install the OSes all you really need to do is switch which primary partition is active, you don't have to use the bios, you don't have to remove drives or disable or hide partitions as some sites or people suggest. Dual booting with vista is relatively easy and there is no problem with installing a new OS after the fact and adding it in some manner to the vista boot menu.

 

[Skypix7]

Thanks, I'm still struggling with this. I'm not a newbie to computing (built my first system in 1983, a Heathkit), but I've spent two months on this because I don't know enough about OSs and how they work, and didn't want to have to learn.

Now I'm dealing with some weird workaround because my Vista drive and XP will work fine...once...then bootmgr will disappear...athough when I then boot up in XP, bootmgr and the boot folder are there.

Meanwhile, the system drive is neither of the two OS drives, but a data drive! Totally confusing.

However, I'm dutifully putting bootmgr and boot folder in the system drive, also in the XP boot drive, and reinstallingint vistabootpro in XP, and maybe, maybe that will work.

crazy. Not easy at all, even after all this investigation, troubleshooting, going down blind alleys led by techs who supposedly knew what they were talking about. I'm sure it is easy if you go in knowing what you should do, but for me it's been a real nightmare and it points I think to the increasing complexity of all this software, and how poorly general solutions are made available in an easy to find way.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just more bewildered than frustrated any more. I've come to expect now that until everything is perfect, I have to get a minor education in stuff I'm not particularly interested in having to learn. I'm sure I'm not alone in this among the Windows galaxy of users.

Thanks for the help, much obliged.

 

[Blazer]

that data drive got marked as the system drive somehow, it may even be the active partition.

on a side note: 8gb ram installed at time you installed the OS may have caused you some unseen problems, did you run memtest86+ overnight to chk for errors, 1 stick at a time, then add a stick and retest, again, again till all have been tested, i always do installs with 1 stick installed when problems arise.

setup 1 HD and load OS, install 2 HD and load vista, from vista install easybcd, add the other HD after everything is working correctly.

also i would run extended HD test on both HDs before the build.

 

[Skypix7]

Hi blazer:

Thanks for those suggestions.

I did do memtest86+ for 18 hours last week. Also did memtest earlier on each stick earlier. Memory's fine.

I've also extensively tested each HD with Seatools, lowlevel test, took 2 hours each. They're fine. I did find a bad IDE drive which was probably adding it's own funky chickenness to the mix of problems. It's been RMAd out.

I can't install OSs again, I'll just have to work it out.

thanks
JIm