Where's My XP Partition!?! Help

[RyBoy]

I'm getting nervous, hopefully I'm just forgetting something stupid. I installed vista beta 2 on a new partition and it's working (I'm using it now). But, how do I get back to XP, it doesn't give me an option of which one to choose when I boot... Did I screw something up, please help me out.

 

[RyBoy]

BUMP

 

[Navid]

Right click on "My Computer" and click on "Manage". Then, click on "Disk Management". Do you see the other partition?

 

[RyBoy]

Yes the other partition shows up. It says unknown and 100% free disk space.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: RyBoy
Yes the other partition shows up. It says unknown and 100% free disk space.

That is good news!
I mean it could have been much worse.

Explain exactly what you did? How did you install Vista? Before installing Vista, did you use a program like Partition Magic to hide the XP partition?

 

[RyBoy]

Here's what I did: I installed partition magic and created a new partition, 24gb, for vista. After I did that I rebooted and everything was fine as xp was loading normally. Then I went to install vista, it popped up with three partitions I could install:

1: My xp booting partion
2: 2nd partition I made for xp for movies
3: New partition for vista (I chose ntfs in partition magic)

I installed vista on the new partition. And then I thought that I could easily be able to get back to my xp install, no?

 

[Navid]

I am asking you these questions so that others can come in and make suggestions too. I may not be able to walk you through the process myself!

Do you have a backup of your irreplaceable data that currently is on the XP partition?
How about a backup of irreplaceable data on your Movies partition?
Do you have an image of your XP partition (Drive image or Ghost or Acronis True Image)?

Don't panic. Since the partition is still there, hopefully, the data is still there. I am surprised that it shows up as an unknown partition under Disk Management.

What version of Partition Magic do you have?

What version of Vista (32 or 64 bit)?

Do you have the Partition Magic Rescue discs?

Do you have another physical hard drive?

Do you have another computer?

Don't do anything. Just provide all the information for everyone to see.
I am tired and am going to bed now.

 

[corkyg]

Also, remember what Microsoft said in boldface type on their Vista support site:

"In addition, once you install Windows Vista Beta 2 (or RC1) you cannot roll back to the previous operating system installation?you will either have to acquire and install the final released edition of Windows Vista or reinstall a previous edition of Windows. Before installing Windows Vista Beta 2 on any computer, please remember to back up all your files."

 

[bruceb]

I for one, am not yet ready to test Vista ... but if I did, I would get a small 40GB - 120GB Hard Drive
they are now dirt cheap, well under $80 & install Vista on that drive with my main XP Drive removed
from the computer ... I also have a second hdd in my pc, which is used only to store Ghost Backup Images

 

[EndGame]

Most likely, the XP Partition is hidden. Boot Part. Magic from the floppies and unhide it.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: EndGame
Most likely, the XP Partition is hidden. Boot Part. Magic from the floppies and unhide it.

I hope that will solve the problem. That is why I asked all those questions. The problem is that when I booted Partition Magic (version 7), it could not recognize the hard drive that contained Vista because it claimed that there was an error (64-bit Vista?)! So, I had to use Drive Image, which complained about the same thing but offered to fix it and I let it and then, I was able to see the drive in Drive Image.

 

[EndGame]

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: EndGame
Most likely, the XP Partition is hidden. Boot Part. Magic from the floppies and unhide it.

I hope that will solve the problem. That is why I asked all those questions. The problem is that when I booted Partition Magic (version 7), it could not recognize the hard drive that contained Vista because it claimed that there was an error (64-bit Vista?)! So, I had to use Drive Image, which complained about the same thing but offered to fix it and I let it and then, I was able to see the drive in Drive Image.

Again, use your boot floppies. It's possibly an error that can be caused by windows installer but is repairable. First though, I'd try the "hidden" possibility.