Vista on same PC different drive dual boot

[Chris]

Hi. I have two hard drive on the same pc. XP on the c drive. I attempted to
install Vista on the second drive (300G partitioned to 200 and 100 G with
vista on the former). upon rebooting I got a message from windows boot
manager saying the File:\windows\system32\winload.exe is missing with a
status: 0xc000000e. So, another reboot I get the choice of Earlier version of
window or Microsoft windows vista. clicking on the former brings me to the
screen with win xp logo and stays there without any futher move. Clicking on
the vista it circles back to the same page. Now I can't even get to my XP.
Would anyone have any suggestion to get me out of this hole . Thanks in
advance!

 

[peter]

Restart with the Vista DVD in place and perform a start up repair
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows_vista_repair_options.htm
peter

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Chris.

Both WinXP and Vista always install in TWO pieces. The biggest piece goes
into the boot folder (\Windows) on whichever volume on whichever physical
drive we tell Setup to install it into. The smaller piece (much less than 1
GB) always goes to the System Partition, which has to be on whichever
physical drive the BIOS designates as the boot device at the time Setup is
run. The boot volume (with the \Windows folder) may be any primary
partition or logical drive on any HD in the computer at the time, but the
System Partition must always be a Primary Partition on that boot drive.

If you disconnected the first HD before installing Vista on the second, then
Vista Setup had no choice but to create a new System Partition on the second
HD and put its startup files there. If you then reconnect the first HD as
the boot device, you get confusion. Or if you reconnect it, but set the
second HD as the boot device, you get a different sort of confusion. And if
one is IDE and the other SATA, for example, the BIOS and Windows might not
agree as to which System Partition is in control. In either case, the HD
lineup has changed since Vista Setup and the startup files are not all where
they are expected to be.

There should be an easy fix. Arrange your HD cables and BIOS settings in
your chosen configuration. Then boot from the Vista DVD and run the Repair
procedure to let it correct the startup files on the HD set as the boot
device.

Quick review: When WinXP boots, it looks in the Root of the System
Partition (typically C:\) for NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and Boot.ini; that's how
it finds WinXP and loads it. When Vista Setup runs, if it finds WinXP
already installed, it preserves those startup files in the System Partition
alongside its own startup files. When Vista boots, it looks in the root of
the System Partition (which it might see as D:\) for the hidden Boot folder,
which holds the BCD (Boot Configuration Data). If we choose to boot Vista,
BCD shows where to find it. If we choose "Earlier...", BCD steps out of the
way, loads NTLDR, etc., and boots WinXP as usual.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

 

[Chris]

Peter thanks for taking the time. Unfortunately when I do that it only brings
me back to the same place. Meaning to the choice of earlier version or vista.
I have pressed F12 and chosen to start with cd but nothing.

 

[Chris]

RC, thanks for detail explanation! I did not take the C drive out. I had them
both in there. During the installation of Vista I simply chose the slave
drive, which prior to the installation start was partitioned using Western
Digital tool of the same slave HD.

I can't even run from CD as I explained to Peter. As such I am left in the
cold with no operating system.

What I thin might have happened is that Vista have overwritten the XP
bootloader. As such neither itself is able to boot, perhaps due to its
installation error, nor the XP due to bootloader overwritten issue.

 

[peter]

Vista will always overwrite the XP MBR........and in so doing creates the
dual boot that you are looking for.
If you cannot even start Vista from the DVD check your BIOS settings to
ensure that the DVD is 1st boot...then insert the Vista DVD and watch for
the message "press any key to boot from DVD/CD"
Do you have a XP CD???

peter

 

[Chris]

Oh ok. I will give that another shot and will let you know. I do have a XP CD
but belongs to another PC I have, would that do? Although I have a sos floppy
disk created for it that does not work in reboot which could be due to the
boot situation again. This particular PC came with OEM XP thus no CD.

 

[Chris]

I got myself deeper in the hole by removing the hard drives and placing them
back in there and now they are not recognized by the bios. Any thought on
that? The jumper settings seems to be as before. Thanks!