Re: Multiple Vista boot options

Yes. There would be a boot sector on both the XP and Vista drives.

"Ed Sowell" <jag_man__REM0VE__653@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:83AA4439-1C2C-4542-B1E5-1E6370A392F1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks, John.

Yes, I'm really feeling foolish for not having put XP on first. Since I built the the machine from the ground up it would have been easier. It was afterwards that I decided I wanted to get rid of my old box rather than using it for XP work.

So with you plan there would be a boot sector on both drives?

Ed

"John Barnes" <JBarnes@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:O4R$f3rOJHA.1576@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It is always messy when you install the older system second. If you have a BIOS that lets you select which drive to boot from at POST time, you may find it easiest to disconnect the Vista drive, install XP and then reconnect Vista. You can then select the drive to boot from by hitting the key designated on the bottom of your POST screen.

"Ed Sowell" <jag_man__REM0VE__653@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:A11A9797-0258-4B61-A46B-5076A217C36C@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John,

Ran into a problem. My goal was to install XP Pro on Drive 1 rather than Drive 0. Since Drive 1 was already formattted as D: with some data on it I used the Vista Disk manager to shrink D: by 40Gb and create a new simple partition, unformatted. I then booted from the Xp Pro installation CD and installed XP into that partition, allowing the installer to format it. When it got to the point where it needed to reboot, I removed the CD. However, it would not boot from the HD. Apparently, it could not find the XP MBR.

The only thing I can think of that I may have done wrong was to remove the XP installation CD when it wanted to reboot after copying all the files etc. However, if I leave it in I assume it would want to go through the installation process again from the beginning.

To recover I booted from the Vista Ultimate installation DVD and did a Startup repair. There was no damage to anything. However, when I run VistaBootPro it shows only Vista... no XP.


Any ideas on where to go from here?

Ed

"John Barnett MVP" <freelance@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%2368h%23DfOJHA.3580@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yes, Ed. Just make sure you point the installation to your second hard drive. As I rarely use XP nowadays I have actually installed mine using virtual machine software (I use VMware Workstation which is quite expensive, but Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is free) This actually allows me to run both operating systems at the same time. Obviously you need 2GB or more of memory to run both. Again, for more information, see this link from my website:

http://vistasupport.mvps.org/creating_a_virtual_machine_with_vmware.htm

The link refers to VMware Workstation but most VM's are basically the same. I use VMware because it supports USB; Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 doesn't, although there are a couple of free VMs that do support USB.


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John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

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"Ed Sowell" <jag_man__REM0VE__653@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:72C842BA-CBE0-42C4-AFE4-A2A93F935276@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Great! That's really neat. Since I have a second HD D: with more free space can I install Xp on it instead of on C:?

Ed

"John Barnett MVP" <freelance@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:u1CVoIeOJHA.4256@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ed there is an option to add the Vista bootloader in VistaBootPro. If you want to install XP then this link from my website will help: http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm


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--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Ed Sowell" <jag_man__REM0VE__653@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:54A56564-021F-48C0-BDB7-EE486D7F4F83@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks, John. That worked.

Can VistaBootPro also be used to fix the problem that arises when XP Pro is added as a second boot option on a machine that already has Vista Ultimate installed? I've been thinking about doing that, and have read http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529, but it seems like an unnecessarily awkward procedure.

Ed


"John Barnett MVP" <freelance@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23R930%23UOJHA.1144@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You can do but BCDedit isn't very user friendly. Instead download VistaBootPro (free) and install it to your machine. Run VistaBootPro and click on the Manage OS tab. You can then remove the second versions entry from there. VistaBootPro certainly beats having to use command lines to edit BCDedit.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Ed Sowell" <jag_man__REM0VE__653@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:43D72773-A9F0-4201-A7F1-7B74BC707357@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As I was stumbling around installing Vista Ultimate 32 I made some mistakes causing me to start over. The second installation went fine and the machine is runnin great. The only problem, really just an iritation, is when it boots up there is a multi-boot screen offering me two Vistas to choose from. Fortunately, the first one seems to be the good one so it will go ahead and boot without intervention. However, I'd like to get rid of the second boot option, and also delete the windows.old.000 directory.

From some investigation I've done on multiboot I know that Vista has a new boot sequence and there is an editor called BCDEdit that can be used. Can I use this tool to get rid of the 2nd Vista?

TIA

Ed







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