Dual boot...

codeman0013

codeman0013

Active Member
Hey guys right now here is my situation. I have vista and xp both installed vista is on my C: and XP is on the D: both on the same hdd but it automatically boots into xp... The boot ini file does not show the vista partition as being bootable i have seen it list them both any suggestions on how to set this up so it sees both partitions and asks me which one i want to boot into?
 
The first thing right off is the Vista boot loader is totally different from XP. When installing Vista following XP the new "boot" folder is created on the XP partition or drive. A tool like VistabootPRO can then easily rename "previous operating systems" on the boot menu to "XP HOME" or "XP PRO" if you want to see it listed that way. You can also set XP as the default OS to load with the use of the BCDEditing tool there. http://www.vistabootpro.org/intro.php

Presently I have been trying to find a way to restore the XP Home entry plus see XP Pro added in and multibooting with Vista. The entries were made but still nothing once XP Home was first removed from the Vista boot manager. Several articles on dual booting XP with Vista can be found with a quick search. Here's a few to look over.

http://www.windowstalk.org/dual_boot_vista.htm

http://apcmag.com/4054/how_to_dual_boot_xp_and_vista

http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88193
 
I have already partitioned the drive into the 3 partitions one for vista which I already installed and one for Xp which I instelled second and another for linux which i dont have on yet...
 
When going to install Vista on the second drive here with a second partition the installer stalled right when getting to the top of the list where the setup files are then copied to the drive. That was when booting directly from the dvd. When rebooting after deleting the second partition previously used for storage and backing up files off of the XP Home host it went right on over XP Pro and automatically included the Home version in the new boot loader.

The problem now is since the removal to isolate each installation to be stand alone OSs is reinstating as the term goes Home and adding the Pro installation on the new sata in. Even the methods pointed out on the VistabootPRO utility have lead nowhere yet except reinstalling Vista to have it enter both versions of XP. I did come across one article on triple booting XP and ubuntu with Vista that might help. http://www.hevnikov.com/blog/2006/11/13/triple-boot-xp-vista-ubuntu-with-single-boot-screen/
 
Thanks again you come through and are a lifesaver pceye i looked for hours and never found anything that good. Looks like another clean formatt is inorder for the codeman's machine hopefully this will be the last time i have to do this.....
 
diroga said:
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
Click to expand...

Good links for information on Grub and GParted alike. :D

codeman0013 said:
Thanks again you come through and are a lifesaver pceye i looked for hours and never found anything that good. Looks like another clean formatt is inorder for the codeman's machine hopefully this will be the last time i have to do this.....
Click to expand...

Just remember that Vista's new boot manager can't add any Linux into it's own there. Presently a second full install of the Home Premium version failed to add XP Home into the BCDEdit like it did originally. Even with VistabootPRO to manually add that and the XP Pro installation on the sata it's either Vista or now Home and Pro by uninstalling the Vista portion. All I did there was edit the boot.ini file on the Vista drive to XP Pro added.

Previously one would be added only after installing the second?! Now to get all three to work on the startup screen options. When reinstalling Vista it kept the VistabootPro entry instead of it's original "previous version of Windows" option. How to get the XP dual boot added into the Vista boot loader? That's not so easy as it would seem. :eek: !!! "pulling hair" :P
 
Well i followed his steps on his step by step and now vista sees xp but it wont let me rename it and it does not see the linux still at all any suggestions on that one?
 
Like I said even Vista won't see Linux. While I'm still trying to get a 3way boot between Home Premium, XP Home, and Pro eventually I would be looking at shrinking one of the first two for Mandriva sometime. But to get something working along these lines you have to go through more then one method when it comes to Linux.

I'm still rated a "newbie" there despite having dual booted different distros and work with different Linux tools on occasion. I can throw a few other links to see if that can help. I'm still trying to get familiar with the Vista boot manager let alone adding Linux into the mix. :eek: scrambled brains there! :P

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/...leboot-windows-xp-vista-and-ubuntu-193474.php goes into setting up the dual boot of Vista and XP followed by the later installation of ubuntu. Look for the links to references hidden in the paragraphs there.

Quite a few references found on triple booting bring you right back to the first article posted earlier. When you can't find something abbut Linux on a Windows forum where do you go? Try a Linux one! http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=220452
 
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