Changing default OS in mutiboot w/Vista 64 bit

[Dan]

I have Vista 64 bit on one hdd & XP home sp2 on another. Vista came
2nd, & set itself up as the default. Since my main OS is still XP, I
want it to be the default. This cannot be accomplished with boot.ini (I
guess that was too simple) but apparently rather with an arcane utility
called BCDEDIT.EXE. When I try running it in Vista however, I get a
very brief command line box flash on the screen. No time to even read
what it says, let alone DO anything. So I'm wondering if anyone can
tell me how to make my XP installation the default, using BCDEDIT.EXE or
otherwise. Anyone do this with a boot manager? I'm using XP 90% of the
time, I want the machine to start IT unless I tell it otherwise, NOT
VISTA. I'm concerned if I don't do this JUUUUUUST right, I won't be
able to access EITHER OS ;-(

TIA

 

[Rock]

I have Vista 64 bit on one hdd & XP home sp2 on another. Vista came 2nd, &
set itself up as the default. Since my main OS is still XP, I want it to
be the default. This cannot be accomplished with boot.ini (I guess that
was too simple) but apparently rather with an arcane utility called
BCDEDIT.EXE. When I try running it in Vista however, I get a very brief
command line box flash on the screen. No time to even read what it says,
let alone DO anything. So I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how to make
my XP installation the default, using BCDEDIT.EXE or otherwise. Anyone do
this with a boot manager? I'm using XP 90% of the time, I want the machine
to start IT unless I tell it otherwise, NOT VISTA. I'm concerned if I
don't do this JUUUUUUST right, I won't be able to access EITHER OS ;-(

TIA

Try using one of the other GUI utilities such as VistaBootPro or EasyBCD.
Google for them. VistaBootPro just came out as a new version 3.1

 

[Guest]

I have Vista 64 bit on one hdd & XP home sp2 on another. Vista came
2nd, & set itself up as the default. Since my main OS is still XP, I
want it to be the default. This cannot be accomplished with boot.ini (I
guess that was too simple) but apparently rather with an arcane utility
called BCDEDIT.EXE.

it's very simple:
go to Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System
click on Advanced System Settings
click the Settings button in Startup and Recovery

 

[Dan]

it's very simple:
go to Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System
click on Advanced System Settings
click the Settings button in Startup and Recovery

Thanks to those who replied. I had read about the 2 utilities EasyBCD &
Vistboot Pro, dl'd the former, but I tried it Bills way & whadaya know,
IT WORKS! Is this a new change (I had an older 32 bit install 1st, if
this control panel option was there I missed it)?

Thanks again

Dan