Windows 7 Windows 7-xp dual boot problems

[Joey2k]

So i have a laptop with 2 125gb harddrives. C and D. Vista was preinstalled on C and then i installed xp on D and used easyBCD to create a dual boot. It worked flawless, and when i started my pc i could choose between vista or xp. Yesterday i got windows 7 RC from MS and i installed it on the C harddrive (Formating and deleting vista in the process) And windows 7 works flawlessly, but when i start my pc theres no choice on which OS to start, it just starts windows 7. And i've tried using easyBCD but when i add xp entry it say something about NTDLR, and that i need to get some files and copy them to the harddrive. So i download these files and do that, and when i start my pc i can now choose xp, but then comes a black screen saying something about: System root/system32/hal.dll missing or something like that and restarts, i have alot of important files on my xp harddrive which i can't easily access from windows 7 because of some weird permission things.

So any help?
And btw my pc is an acer aspire 7520g laptop.
Amd turion x64 x2 1.9
3 gb ram
Nvidia 8400m G

 

[reghakr]

First use Windows Update to download a patch for the permission problems.

 

[Joey2k]

There's no such update in windows update.. but that's not really what my problem is...

Any help? Please

 

[reghakr]

You might want to look over these links for the hal.dll problem:

System root/system32/hal.dll missing - Google Search

 

[Jones]

I got this same problem as Joey2k after having replaced the Windows 7 beta with the RC. I have also XP installed into other section of my harddrive but I can't run it anymore because I don't get the option to choose between ''Windows 7'' and ''Older version of Windows'', which I was able to do when I had the beta.
So is there any solutions? I haven't tried easyBCD but is it worth trying as it did't work with Joey2k?

 

[reghakr]

Jones,

Hopefully you performed a "clean" install rather than an upgrade.

Easy BCD does work well with XP and Windows 7 loaded.

 

[Jones]

Yeah, I formatted the section in which I had the beta and then installed the RC there...
Okay, thanks for the tip.

 

[davehc]

You will need to edit the Boot.ini file. It is a long time since I had the need, but you are looking for something like this:


[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 XP Professional" /fastdetect
The bold portions are what you will need to alter. If yours already looks like this, then try partition (0)

You do not say where you dumped the downloaded files, but they should be on the same partition as XP.

 

[Jones]

Where can I do that?

 

[reghakr]

It's in XP in the root of the C: drive or whatever partition XP is loaded on.

It is a good suggestion.

Make sure you have choose Show Hidden file and folder and system files in Folder Options.

 

[Jones]

Okay, now I found this boot.ini.backup file but is it the right one?

...and it looks like this
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

Now I got it working with the Easy BCD and by downloading those missing files. Only problem is that I have to activate my XP's licence again, and guess what, I have used all the activation times...
Nevertheless, thx a lot all you guys for the help.

 

[reghakr]

Glad you got it!

Yes, that bootini.backup is incorrect as it shows the exact location for both Os's

I really didn't know XP had a limit

 

[Joey2k]

Can't find the boot.ini

I can't find the boot ini.. and yes i have turned hidden folders and hidden system folders/files off. ?

 

[davehc]

I can't find the boot ini.. and yes i have turned hidden folders and hidden system folders/files off. ?

Sorry M8. Your thread got hijacked.
You probably erased it when you installed 7.
Just copy my boot.ini and paste it with notepad into a file called, of course, Boot.ini. As I said, it depends on your configuration, but you may have to edit the paths.

 

[mbix59]

This article may be of some help to you. http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2014/vista_using_bcdedit_boot_up_options_dual_boot_xp_prof/

My current settings are as follows:

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}
device                  partition=Z:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {ntldr}
resumeobject            {d77f3700-3e2b-11de-8207-c134d0bc9e24}
displayorder            {ntldr}
                        {current}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 3

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier              {ntldr}
device                  partition=Z:
path                    \ntldr
description             Earlier Version of Windows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7
locale                  en-US
loadoptions             DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {d77f3702-3e2b-11de-8207-c134d0bc9e24}
recoveryenabled         Yes
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {d77f3700-3e2b-11de-8207-c134d0bc9e24}
nx                      OptIn

Basically, you should be typing the following into the console running as administrator:

[B]bcdedit /set {ntldr} device “partition=DRIVELETTER:”
[/B][B]bcdedit /set {ntldr} path “\ntldr”
[/B][B]bcdedit /set {ntldr} description “Windows XP Boot”[/B]

Now, the only foreseeable problem is if Windows 7 did not add an entry for legacy OS, or if it did that "ntldr" is named differently. Before you type any of the above commands, you should open command prompt as administrator and type "bcedit" to retrieve current information. If necessary, post that information up.

If your XP partition does not have a drive letter assigned to it, you will of course have to assign one. Right click "My Computer" and select "Manage". From there select "Disk Management" to assign a drive letter.

Worst case scenario, and what I believe may have happened, is that you directed the installer to write over your XP installation partition.

Best of luck to you!

 

[davehc]

There is absolutely no way that will work, if the op has lost his boot.ini file, which seems very likely.

 

[mbix59]

I must have misread. I thought he was missing the option to boot to XP, not that he had the option but XP would not boot.