dual boot problem

[James]

I have 3 partitions, one with win2000 (H), one with winXP (C) and the other
for data storage (E). I just resized the partitions using Partition Magic
because I was running out of room on E (I moved free space from H to E).
But I can no longer boot into winXP, it starts loading as normal but "hangs"
on the blue Microsoft Windows XP screen. In Partition Magic, win2000
appears first, then winXP (both primary), then the partition I use for
storage (logical), all are formatted as NTFS. I would like to fix this
without reinstalling XP, any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
James.

 

[Jim]

If your WinXP partition remains at the head of the HD, the rest of what I
have to say is NOT the problem. But here goes, just in case my hunch is
right. I suspect that you've moved the XP partition too far from the head
of the HD.

Many Windows operating systems have limitations on how far up the HD they
will load. When they can't load, the symptoms are similar to yours. In the
case of Win98/Win95/WinMe for example, you get nothing but a blinking cursor
in the upper left corner of the screen. Generally speaking, the older the
version of Windows, the more limited the load range. For example, most
MS-DOS based OS's (Win95/Win98/WinMe) have to load no higher than 2GB
(that's a DOS limitation, not Windows). Windows NT had a limitation of 4GB
(IIRC), and possibly was extended to 8GB w/ SP3 (don't hold me to these
exact #'s, it's been a long time since I've multi-booted different versions
of Windows, so my memory is a little shakey). And so on.

IOW, you have to be careful when multi-booting that you don't install the OS
too far up the HD, beyond it's maximum load point. That's why it's usually
MUCH better to place older OS installations closer to the head of the HD,
and newer versions with less restrictions farther up the HD. Of course, if
it's all working fine one day, but then you extend/move your partitions such
that one of these OS's is now placed outside its maximum load point,
well..., obviously you've created the problem after the fact.

From my experience, XP has been VERY good at being able to run w/ few such
restrictions. I don't recall specifically how high I've attempted to load
it, but it was significantly higher than MS-DOS, Win95/Win98/WinMe, NT, W2K,
etc. But I suspect even XP has its limits, even if I've not determined what
that is. I suspect you may have pushed XP beyond that boundary. That's why
I'd be interested to know the load points both prior and after your
partition changes.

Jim

 

[Guest]

Do you have a dual boot menu?
Can you boot to Win2k?

Post boot.ini file

 

[James]

I have the dual boot menu and I can boot into win2000. XP hangs on the blue
Windows screen which I believe is just before you get the login screen.
below is my boot.ini file; i don't remember "NoExecute=OptIn" being there,
could that be the problem (i'm going to Google this and see what i find
out)? Also, win2000 is at the front of the disk, then winXP, and then my
storage partition. since i moved freespace from win2000 to the storage
patition i would assume that the winXP partition would move closer to the
front of the disk. thanks again.


[boot loader]
timeout=11
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect