Help with boot.ini file

[Roffen]

This is my current boot.ini file:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

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

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XPSp4" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

The first “multi” line boots a hard drive with a plain XPSp3.

The second “multi” boots the first partition of a SSD drive with XPSp4, which also is the default option.

I want to add another line with the option to boot the Windows 7 Home edition already on the second partition of the SSD.  

Please show me what the line should read, I tried but didn’t get it right.

[jaclaz]

2 hours ago, Roffen said:

I want to add another line with the option to boot the Windows 7 Home edition already on the second partition of the SSD.

Please show me what the line should read, I tried but didn’t get it right.

You cannot.

Your are using NTLDR as your primary bootmanager AND bootloader.

NTLDR can only chainload a bootsector (or a special program coded in such a way to seem to it a bootsector) OR boot a Windows NT/2K/XP (so called ARCPATH to the Windows System directory).

What you need to do in order to load a Windows 7 is to chainload its bootmanager OR a bootsector chainloading it.

You can use (it may depend on the specific setup) use a bootsector created by bootpart:

http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm
 

or use an intermediate bootmanager, such as grub4dos grldr, that can be chainloaded from NTLDR and then can itself chainload eiteher the SSD MBR, or the SSD bootsector or directly the Windows 7 BOOTMGR.

We already had this discusson (or a very similar one):
 

jaclaz
 

[Roffen]

Oh yes, I remember we had quite some discussion about these things some years ago.  I haven't paid much attention to the term chainloading, but I think I understand what it means, and that means there are requirements requiring to be taken care of. I have saved a lot of what you wrote back then and will try to implement some of your suggestions and see how far that will take me.