enabling dual boot

jimmymac

jimmymac

VIP Member
Ok i've just had to reinstall Windows XP due to iTunes not being compatible with vista X64 (a massive oversight by apple)

Having done so my system now boots straight into XP without giving the boot menu option to choose vista instead..

Can anyone tell me what I need to put into the boot.ini in order for it to give me the option, its completely slipped my mind (been a while since I messed with boot.ini)
 
isn't there somewhere in windowsXP where you can fix this ?
my computer-->properties-->advance->startup & recovery Settings, from there you can edit the boot.ini
 
yes there is but I need to know what to put into the boot.ini in order to dual boot, thats the bit i cant remember.
 
Yeah, that happens when installing XP after Vista is already installed. There is no place in XP to fix this. What you have to do is use BCDEdit or Vista Boot Pro to change Vista's boot file. It is different than XP's boot.ini which could easily be changed.

I found this - hopefully it will help (and work for you). I'll paste the part that is relevant to you.
Here is the source.
.....After the installation is complete you should boot automatically into XP.

Now you need to move some files. First, make sure you have set your folder options to see hidden files and to show protected operating system files. Then open Windows Explorer and go to the drive where Vista is installed. Copy the folder Boot, and the files bootmgr, boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM and ntldr and paste them to the root of your XP drive.

Then download Vista Boot Pro and save it to your desktop or somewhere else that you can easily access. Unless you already have .Net Framework (v2.0 at least) it will redirect you to a Microsoft page where you can download this necessary component.

Install and run Vista Boot Pro and open the "Bootloader" tab. Select "Reinstall the Vista bootloader" and press Apply. Then go to the Manage OS Entries tab and select "Add new operating system entry" and make sure you select "Windows Legacy". Give the new entry a name (ie: Windows XP) and select the drive letter you have XP on and then select Apply. You can also choose which entry you would like as the default the system will boot to.

And now you should be able to dual boot between Vista and a previous OS.
Click to expand...
They do say that it might not work with all configurations. Let us know if it doesn't work. I'm sure someone else here would know of a different method. But either way, you'll need one of the programs to edit Vista's boot file.


EDIT: I'll add this google search in case it helps: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=installing+xp+after+vista&btnG=Google+Search
 
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cheers, will give it a go once i have itunes synched..

I have to admit it is far easier to do all this in vista by downloading something like easyBCD which allows you to edit the boot system with ease. very useful piece of kit.
 
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