[Dual boot] Win Xp with Win7

[nummer31]

so i have windows 7 installed

and i'm trying to install Windows Xp in another drive from USB

i'm using WinToFlash to make my USB bootable

but i'm running into problems

i'm gonna explain thru screen shots

1. Presented with the following options:

i chose the first option and i can go smoothly thru it

2. Files are copied successfully

after that system restarts and i'm presented with same options

as in 1st screen shot

this time i chose 2nd option

3. I get the following error:

if i chose the 1st option again after restart

same process repeats itself

4. If i chose the 3rd option:

system hangs in the above shown state

please suggest what should i do

have been trying since 2 weeks now

---------------------------------------------------------------------

i went thru the forum and it seems maybe i have to edit my boot.ini

Q4: I am getting HAL.DLL or NTOSKRNL.EXE not found error, why?

A4: You are installing Windows to a disk/partition other than first disk/first partition. Amend BOOT.INI on USB disk to reflect your setup.

For example- if installing windows on SECOND disk/third partition, and FOLDER name is MYWIN, that line in BOOT.INI should look like:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(3)\MYWIN="2. GUI Mode Setup Windows XP, Continue Setup + Start XP from HD 1" /FASTDETECT

Please note that rdisk(0) means first hard disk. Because we are booting from USB disk it becomes first, hence the first internal hard disk (which is second when start counting from our USB disk) gets rdisk(1), second- rdisk(2) and so on.

to reflect from which location will 2nd option begin

but how do i represent the drive where i want windows to be installed in that particular format?

Edited May 19, 2011 by nummer31

[ilko_t]

...

4. If i chose the 3rd option:

system hangs in the above shown state

Do not select the third option, try the options below it. Third option is just a separator.

By the way I feel a bit uncomfortable answering questions about a program which simply copy-pasted all the work done by several members in this forum, put it in another name without mentioning a single word.

[jaclaz]

Just for the record and aimed to anyone fiddling with BOOT.INI in order to create something of "general use", using in the making of it ANSI Escape characters won't be such a bad idea in order to highlight the "comments" (if any) :

http://reboot.pro/10122/

Also the "makers" of Wintoflash, do have their own site AND a dedicated Forum:

http://wintoflash.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3

Why people comes here asking questions about it, remains a mistery to me.

Maybe because on MSFN we are faster in replying?

http://wintoflash.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1492

jaclaz

[nummer31]

Just for the record and aimed to anyone fiddling with BOOT.INI in order to create something of "general use", using in the making of it ANSI Escape characters won't be such a bad idea in order to highlight the "comments" (if any) :

http://reboot.pro/10122/

Also the "makers" of Wintoflash, do have their own site AND a dedicated Forum:

http://wintoflash.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3

Why people comes here asking questions about it, remains a mistery to me.

Maybe because on MSFN we are faster in replying?

http://wintoflash.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1492

jaclaz

ok i get the sarcasm

but thanx to this forum not THAT one

i finally installed and logged into Windows Xp

but i cannot boot without the pen drive

could any of u at least help me so that i can boot in windows xp without the pen drive attached?

[ilko_t]

You would have to describe what you did to proceed further and what happens when the UFD is not attached.

What are contents of boot.ini on the internal disk?

[nummer31]

You would have to describe what you did to proceed further and what happens when the UFD is not attached.

What are contents of boot.ini on the internal disk?

i couldn't find any boot.ini in the drive where xp was installed in the internal HDD (searched with win7's search bar)

i don't understand what UFD is?

but contents of boot.ini from the USB device:

[boot Loader]

Timeout=30

Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(5)\WINDOWS

[Operating Systems]

C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT = "1st, text mode setup (Boot from flash again after finished)"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(5)\WINDOWS="2nd, GUI mode setup, continue setup + 1st start of Windows" /fastdetect

C:\ = "---> DEBUG, in case of HAL.DLL or NTOSKRNL.EXE not found errors <---"

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 1 partition 2" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 1 partition 3" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 1 partition 4" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 1" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 2" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 3" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 4" /fastdetect

all i did was change the numbers marked in red above from '1' to '5'

5 is the partition no. where the files were copied when i went thru the 1st option

after this change i went thru the GUI installation and i could boot into xp

but to boot i have to keep the USB attached and change BIOS boot to the USB

and if the USB is not attached and BIOS is still set to USB boot i get an error

and whether USB attached or not if i chose HDD boot then i gain access to Windows 7 (which was installed way before)

will be eagerly waiting for ur reply

help me plzzzz.....

Edited May 20, 2011 by nummer31

[jaclaz]

Forget the windows "Search".

Open explorer (make sure you have settings so that it shows system and hidden files and file extensions).

Look in the ROOT of your drive when booted in Windows 7. (the actual drive corresponding to active partition, normally C:\, which will have a file named BOOTMGR in it's root).

Can you see files:

1. NTLDR
   
2. NTDETECT.COM
   
3. BOOT.INI
   

If not, as first step copy them from the root of the USB stick to the root of the internal disk.

Then you will need to get a GUI BCD editor, (there are several ones, just examples):

http://reboot.pro/10003/

http://www.zezula.net/en/fstools/bellavista.html

and learn to use them to add to the BCD store an entry for the NTLDR.

You can also use the Win 7 built-in command line BCDedit, but it's a tadbit more complex.

Take some time reading here (simply read "Windows 7" instead of "Vista "):

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/

particularly this page:

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/bootmgr.html

and this one:

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/multiboot.html

you are in situation:

and you need to get to situation:

It is also possible (it depends on the way your Windows 7 was originally installed) that you have a partition with no drive letter attached to it, that you can only see in disk management, and that will be around 100 Mb in size.

Report if this is the case.

jaclaz

Edited May 20, 2011 by jaclaz

[nummer31]

thank u very very much for replying

i'll go through all ur instructions ASAP

for now it seems that there is a 10MB size that has no letters

here's a screen shot

i'll reply as soon as i'm down to reading ur instructions

thanx again so much

i can see hope at the end of the tunnel

Edited May 21, 2011 by jaclaz
removed needed quote of whole post

[nummer31]

...

If not, as first step copy them from the root of the USB stick to the root of the internal disk.

.

the line red marked i didn't understand

copy the files from USB to which drive of internal disk Drive C(Win7) or Drive F(Win XP)?

contents of boot.ini from USB:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=30
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(5)\WINDOWS
[Operating Systems]
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT = "1st, text mode setup (Boot from flash again after finished)"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(5)\WINDOWS="2nd, GUI mode setup, continue setup + 1st start of Windows" /fastdetect
C:\ = "---> DEBUG, in case of HAL.DLL or NTOSKRNL.EXE not found errors <---"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 1 partition 2" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 1 partition 3" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 1 partition 4" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 1" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 2" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 3" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Debug boot rDisk 2 partition 4" /fastdetect

Looks like this:

i went thru ur instructions and found out that there is actually a boot.ini in the windows xp directory but no NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM in the root(Drive F) when i'm in Windows 7

boot.ini contents in windows Xp root directory are:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=30
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\="Microsoft Windows" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Root looks like:

i did find all three files from windows 7 root directory

boot.ini from Win7:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(5)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(5)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\G\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Root looks like this:

and my drives looks like this:

Edited May 21, 2011 by jaclaz
removed needless quote of whole post

[jaclaz]

Good.

Open Disk Management, and check that Drive C:\ is the ACTIVE partition on first disk (it will probably be so from what you have posted till now).

What happens NOW when you boot is the following (compare with the given links and posted images):

1. BIOS->
   
2. First Disk->
   
3. MBR (of first disk) ->chainload PBR (or bootsector) of First Active Partition on FIrst disk
   
4. PBR (of Active partition on first disk) -> calls BOOTMGR (inside Active partition, i.e. the one that gets letter C:\ in your case)
   
5. BOOTMGR-> parses \boot\BCD (still inside Active partition filesystem) and finds ONLY one entry to boot Windows 7, so it calls WINLOAD.EXE
   
6. WINLOAD.EXE -> loads Windows 7
   

What should happen:

1. BIOS->
   
2. First Disk->
   
3. MBR (of first disk) ->chainload PBR (or bootsector) of First Active Partition on FIrst disk
   
4. PBR (of Active partition on first disk) -> calls BOOTMGR (inside Active partition, i.e. the one that gets letter C:\ in your case)
   
5. BOOTMGR-> parses \boot\BCD (still inside Active partition filesystem) and finds TWO entries, one to boot Windows 7, and one to boot XP, IF user chooses to load Windows 7, it calls WINLOAD.EXE
   AND:
   
6. WINLOAD.EXE -> loads Windows 7
   BUT:
   
7. BOOTMGR-> parses \boot\BCD (still inside Active partition filesystem) and finds TWO entries, one to boot Windows 7, and one to boot XP, IF user chooses to load Windows XP, it calls NTLDR
   
8. NTLDR (still inside Active partition filesystem) -> NTLDR parses BOOT.INI (still inside Active partition filesystem) and depending on the choices in there, you continue booting the XP on one or the other disk or partition
   
9. NTDETECT.COM (still inside Active partition filesystem) is called to detect hardware and then the kernel of XP is loaded
   

You have ALREADY all the needed files in the Active partition on first disk (drive C:\):

1. BOOTMGR
   
2. \boot\BCD\ (even if it's not listed in the screenshot you posted, you do have it, otherwise 7 wouldn't boot)
   
3. NTLDR
   
4. BOOT.INI
   
5. NTDETECT.COM
   

so, you now need to:

1. add an option to the \boot\BCD in order to load NTLDR. (you must think as \boot\BCD as the corresponding of BOOT.INI, only in a "strange" format - actually it is a Registry hive - instead of a plain TXT file)
   
2. verify that the options in BOOT.INI are correct
   

Use any of the mentioned tool to add the entry in \boot\BCD, simplest would be to use BCDtool:

http://reboot.pro/10003/

http://filebeam.com/fe6603a102cbd28393bda4bb553c9c56

1. Start the app, then:
   
2. Boot Config->Open -> C:\boot\BCD
   
3. Edit-> Create Windows Legacy OS loader (NT4 winXP win2003)
   It should get:
   
   • identifier => {ntldr}
     
   • device=> partition=C:
     
   • path=> \ntldr
     
   • description=> Windows XP
     

[*]Close the app

Replace contents the BOOT.INI file in C: with these:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 2" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 3" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 4" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

Most probably the #5 or #5 one is the right one, i.e.:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)=First disk first partition= C:\

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)=First disk second partition= D:\

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)=First disk third partition= E:\

Then :

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)=First disk fourth partition= F:\

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)=First disk fifth partition= G:\

OR

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)=First disk fourth partition= G:\

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)=First disk fifth partition= F:\

No way to know unless you post a screenshot of Disk Management.

Please, when replying avoid quoting WHOLE posts, expecially if they are longish/contain images.

jaclaz

Edited May 21, 2011 by jaclaz

[nummer31]

Use any of the mentioned tool to add the entry in \boot\BCD, simplest would be to use BCDtool:

http://reboot.pro/10003/

http://filebeam.com/fe6603a102cbd28393bda4bb553c9c56

No way to know unless you post a screenshot of Disk Management.

jaclaz

thank u very very much @jaclaz for ur reply

u are a genius in these kinda things it seems

unfortunately for me the software u linked BCDTool doesn't work in 64bit OS

it was mentioned in the forums

what other alternatives do i have? Maybe EasyBCD or sth else

so what should i do?

and below is a screen shot of Disk Management:

------------------------------EDIT-------------------------------------------------

BCDTool ran but after many errors along the way

and the end result is given below:

is that it? doesn't seem like much

Edited May 21, 2011 by nummer31

[ilko_t]

Use EasyBCD to add an entry for XP/ntldr.

[jaclaz]

Sorry, my crystal ball is out of tune and in the workshop for tuning , didn't see through it that you were running a 64 bit OS.

Is also the XP (booted temporarily through the initial use of the USB stick) also x64? (hint, hint )

jaclaz

[nummer31]

Sorry, my crystal ball is out of tune and in the workshop for tuning , didn't see through it that you were running a 64 bit OS.

Is also the XP (booted temporarily through the initial use of the USB stick) also x64? (hint, hint )

jaclaz

sorry should've mentioned that before

Windows 7 - 64bit

Windows Xp - 32bit

so will EasyBCD work?

what would u suggest?

[nummer31]

Use EasyBCD to add an entry for XP/ntldr.

if EasyBCD will work, from which OS should I use to add an Entry from 7 or xp?