Windows Vista & XP Dual Boot Error (ntldr)

GTerribil · Sep 12, 2006, 08:24 PM

I recently installed Vista RC1 on a separate hard drive and now when I go to log on to XP ("Earlier Version of Windows"), it comes up with an error saying NTLDR is messed up. Any suggestions as to how I can fix this problem while still being able to boot to both XP and Vista?

Dyre Straits · Sep 12, 2006, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTerribil

I recently installed Vista RC1 on a separate hard drive and now when I go to log on to XP ("Earlier Version of Windows"), it comes up with an error saying NTLDR is messed up. Any suggestions as to how I can fix this problem while still being able to boot to both XP and Vista?

I've read that others are having a problem like this. Fortunately, though, I've not encountered it .... yet.

I also installed Vista on a completely separate HD from my XP Pro. And, I've made sure that anything I've installed afterwards was installed using the Custom option and installing to that Vista drive...instead of the C: drive.

If I can find it, I believe I saw an article somewhere to help with the problem you're having.....

EDIT: From Annoyances.org:

After much surfing I stumbled on this solution: Vista uses BCD instead of boot.ini. To edit BCD (Boot Configuration Data) you must open a command prompt as Administrator. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories then right click Command Prompt, select Run as administrator. Type bcdedit (or bcdedit.exe). Examine the resulting information. In my case, I changed the line under Windows Legacy OS Loader that said the device was unknown to c: by typing: bcedit /set device "partition=c:" The change was accepted and now I can dual boot again! I hope this works for you

GTerribil · Sep 12, 2006, 10:55 PM

I have my OSes installed on different hard drives, so that command doesn't do anything. However, the Legacy settings were similar in the case mentioned, so I used the command, bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=d: and that set a path for the Legacy OS (my old XP install). Going to restart- wish me luck....

Zardon · Sep 12, 2006, 11:12 PM

download a program called vistaboot pro - with this you can manage your partitions and delete and repair boot menus.

I had a similar issue with XP on one hard drive and Vista on another. when I went to reinstall vista after an ATI driver disaster it messed up the boot menu (it was still showing the older install which was no longer there). use vistaboot pro to delete the vista control over boot. then delete the vista partition, boot from windows XP CD, go into recovery mode and FIXBOOT command (if its still borked), reboot.

im aware this might sound ludicrous, however think of it like this.

When you have XP installed it has its own boot manager. when you install vista on a seperate installation it takes over the boot menu with its own (showing two options, older windows and current). If you run into problems with vista or want XP to regain control there are no easy options. Vistabootpro works in both XP and vista via .net framework and is a handy tool for configuring your boot menu.

GTerribil · Sep 12, 2006, 11:13 PM

Yes, it worked! Thanks for the help. What as happening was that Vista named its system drive "C:", which is the "G:" drive in XP. So \ntldr was looking for XP in the Vista "C:" drive when it was really in the Vista "D:" drive (The "C:" drive in XP).
To calrify-
In XP- System= C: & Vista= G:
In Vista- System= C: & XP= D:
Basically- it renamed the drive letters and was looking in the wrong place.
Cool... thanks again!

swimtech · Sep 13, 2006, 05:03 AM

I am having a similar problem too - Vista boots ok (and I like the look of the boot menu...). My former boot menu ('Previous Versions of Windows' selection) comes up ok, but XP won't boot and win98 will - curious... Will give vistaboot a shot and had found the stuff about BCD and bcdedit, and was thinking about running either Fixmbr or Fixboot but couldn't decide which. I couldn't risk losing all the data on the XP partition (for the family's sake...) so I used the XP install CD to just delete the Vista partiton. Now I (still...) get the Vista boot menu, select 'Previous version of Windows', old boot menu comes up - select Windows XP Pro and all works again. Yeah, I was going for triple booting three different versions of Windows...

Gonna have another go at this...

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 13, 2006, 03:13 PM

That Vista boot loader reminds me of the Borg....

Rasta Monsta · Sep 14, 2006, 09:50 PM

Yeah, it is definately an assimilator!

junka · Sep 16, 2006, 04:14 PM

Found This helper for getting rid of Vista

Uninstall

After playing around with Vista for a few days, you may want to remove it from your system, and reclaim the hard drive space. Microsoft has made this step very simple as well.

Boot your computer in to Windows XP.
Ensure you have the Vista DVD image emulated or in the DVD drive.
Go to “Start” and “Run”. Type in “e:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force” (without quotes, and replacing e: with the drive letter of your Vista DVD).
Restart the computer, and you will notice the boot selection menu is gone.
Format the partition/drive where you had Vista installed.
Remove two files (Boot.BAK & Bootsect.BAK) on your XP drive’s root folder (C, these were backup files of your previous bootloader, now no longer useful.
Optional: Restart to ensure it still works.
Use your partition software to merge your partitions together.

And now you have returned your computer to its previous state, without Vista and without the new bootloader. If anyone has any issues, please post it in comments and I’ll try to resolve it.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Sep 18, 2006, 05:16 PM

That didn't end up working on my other Vista guinea pig computer... ended up with acorrupted MBR (how I do not know)...

...looking more and more like a Borg every day

swimtech · Sep 24, 2006, 06:34 AM

After deleting the Vista partition and still being stuck with the Vista boot menu, I tried VistaBoot Pro. Got a bunch of error dialogs (documented by others too...) but eventually learned enough to ignore them and got to the screen within VistaBoot that removes the Vista boot menu (restore old XP) - prayed - clicked - closed - rebooted - voila! The Vista boot menu is gone and I'm back to dual booting XP/98 on the family unit. Now to start over, hopefully a little wiser this time...

kop48 · Sep 25, 2006, 11:19 PM

Chuck your XP CD in, boot into Recovery Console, type 'fixmbr' and it restores the MBR

You can also fix the boot table of any drive by using 'fixboot', but you should only need MBR.

PangingJr · Sep 25, 2006, 11:30 PM

if you install each operating systems entirely in to its own partitions, then you can just open up the Windows's disk management, then R-click on the partition that is holding the other operating system and choose "Delete..."

how long it takes to "delete" a .txt file from Windows desktop... delete the Vista partition will be taking the same time... so that's a few seconds to remove the Vista completely from the existing Windows XP's system...
if you want to try another build of Vista again, then recreate the partition and format it and then use the partition for a new Vista install. if you just want to change to another build of Vista which you installed it previously and already made the partition's image... then it'll take 3-5 minutes to put the Vista back in place. i've been doing with mines likes these all the time.

swimtech · Sep 26, 2006, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PangingJr

if you install each operating systems entirely in to its own partitions, then you can just open up the Windows's disk management, then R-click on the partition that is holding the other operating system and choose "Delete..."

how long it takes to "delete" a .txt file from Windows desktop... delete the Vista partition will be taking the same time... so that's a few seconds to remove the Vista completely from the existing Windows XP's system...
if you want to try another build of Vista again, then recreate the partition and format it and then use the partition for a new Vista install. if you just want to change to another build of Vista which you installed it previously and already made the partition's image... then it'll take 3-5 minutes to put the Vista back in place. i've been doing with mines likes these all the time.

Yeah, that's what I did the first time actually - free 80G space on the existing boot drive and I'd like to try something like that again, but was wondering if it might be wiser to somehow dedicate a whole physical drive to it rather than open free space on an existing drive to configure/accomodate drive letter changes and "undocumented" quirks - like what I ran into... And I really need to start using Windows Disk Management to get used to it - still stuck in DOS..

Oh, and thanks for the qualification on fixboot and fixmbr for me kop48...

PangingJr · Sep 26, 2006, 02:54 PM

depending on what you have on the main hard drive that you were referring to... can all of the operating systems's partitions be backed up and restored individually by using its images...
i usually create and save some of custom images (images that include programs and drivers) of about 3-4 operating systems, XP 32-bit, XP x64, Linuxes and now i also have some Vista's custom images... if i like to change every operating system on the boot drive... like changing their primary partition slots, or change number of RAID's member drives, then i'll do this in DOS or with using True Image boot media, this depends on what program i use to create the custom images.
otherwise, i'll do the changes within Windows that installs on the very first partition of the main and boot drive... this Windows is considered as my main operating system of the computer... this Windows has programs that i can use to image other primary partitions or logical drives that holds other operating systems, mount the images in the case that i need to alter something in them and restore the images onto the drive.
anyway, personnally i don't see why should i mess up my main operating system... other than hidden its partition, made a new partition active and boot the other operating system from its own partition using its own files, or why the main operating system have to be messed up in a way that may cause booting problem...

Sep 12, 2006, 08:24 PM	#1
GTerribil DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Windows Vista & XP Dual Boot Error (ntldr) I recently installed Vista RC1 on a separate hard drive and now when I go to log on to XP ("Earlier Version of Windows"), it comes up with an error saying NTLDR is messed up. Any suggestions as to how I can fix this problem while still being able to boot to both XP and Vista?

Sep 13, 2006, 05:03 AM	#6
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	I am having a similar problem too - Vista boots ok (and I like the look of the boot menu...). My former boot menu ('Previous Versions of Windows' selection) comes up ok, but XP won't boot and win98 will - curious... Will give vistaboot a shot and had found the stuff about BCD and bcdedit, and was thinking about running either Fixmbr or Fixboot but couldn't decide which. I couldn't risk losing all the data on the XP partition (for the family's sake...) so I used the XP install CD to just delete the Vista partiton. Now I (still...) get the Vista boot menu, select 'Previous version of Windows', old boot menu comes up - select Windows XP Pro and all works again. Yeah, I was going for triple booting three different versions of Windows... Gonna have another go at this... Last edited by swimtech; Sep 13, 2006 at 05:15 AM.

Sep 16, 2006, 04:14 PM	#9
junka Zex Machine Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 199 Rep Power: 0	Found This helper for getting rid of Vista Uninstall After playing around with Vista for a few days, you may want to remove it from your system, and reclaim the hard drive space. Microsoft has made this step very simple as well. Boot your computer in to Windows XP. Ensure you have the Vista DVD image emulated or in the DVD drive. Go to “Start” and “Run”. Type in “e:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force” (without quotes, and replacing e: with the drive letter of your Vista DVD). Restart the computer, and you will notice the boot selection menu is gone. Format the partition/drive where you had Vista installed. Remove two files (Boot.BAK & Bootsect.BAK) on your XP drive’s root folder (C, these were backup files of your previous bootloader, now no longer useful. Optional: Restart to ensure it still works. Use your partition software to merge your partitions together. And now you have returned your computer to its previous state, without Vista and without the new bootloader. If anyone has any issues, please post it in comments and I’ll try to resolve it. __________________

Sep 25, 2006, 11:19 PM	#12
kop48 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Chuck your XP CD in, boot into Recovery Console, type 'fixmbr' and it restores the MBR You can also fix the boot table of any drive by using 'fixboot', but you should only need MBR. __________________ Two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity... and I'm not sure about the universe.

Sep 25, 2006, 11:30 PM	#13
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	if you install each operating systems entirely in to its own partitions, then you can just open up the Windows's disk management, then R-click on the partition that is holding the other operating system and choose "Delete..." how long it takes to "delete" a .txt file from Windows desktop... delete the Vista partition will be taking the same time... so that's a few seconds to remove the Vista completely from the existing Windows XP's system... if you want to try another build of Vista again, then recreate the partition and format it and then use the partition for a new Vista install. if you just want to change to another build of Vista which you installed it previously and already made the partition's image... then it'll take 3-5 minutes to put the Vista back in place. i've been doing with mines likes these all the time. Last edited by PangingJr; Sep 26, 2006 at 12:03 AM.

Sep 12, 2006, 10:55 PM	Thread Starter #3
GTerribil DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	I have my OSes installed on different hard drives, so that command doesn't do anything. However, the Legacy settings were similar in the case mentioned, so I used the command, bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=d: and that set a path for the Legacy OS (my old XP install). Going to restart- wish me luck....

Sep 12, 2006, 11:12 PM	#4
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	download a program called vistaboot pro - with this you can manage your partitions and delete and repair boot menus. I had a similar issue with XP on one hard drive and Vista on another. when I went to reinstall vista after an ATI driver disaster it messed up the boot menu (it was still showing the older install which was no longer there). use vistaboot pro to delete the vista control over boot. then delete the vista partition, boot from windows XP CD, go into recovery mode and FIXBOOT command (if its still borked), reboot. im aware this might sound ludicrous, however think of it like this. When you have XP installed it has its own boot manager. when you install vista on a seperate installation it takes over the boot menu with its own (showing two options, older windows and current). If you run into problems with vista or want XP to regain control there are no easy options. Vistabootpro works in both XP and vista via .net framework and is a handy tool for configuring your boot menu.

Sep 12, 2006, 11:13 PM	Thread Starter #5
GTerribil DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Yes, it worked! Thanks for the help. What as happening was that Vista named its system drive "C:", which is the "G:" drive in XP. So \ntldr was looking for XP in the Vista "C:" drive when it was really in the Vista "D:" drive (The "C:" drive in XP). To calrify- In XP- System= C: & Vista= G: In Vista- System= C: & XP= D: Basically- it renamed the drive letters and was looking in the wrong place. Cool... thanks again!

Sep 13, 2006, 03:13 PM	#7
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	That Vista boot loader reminds me of the Borg....

Sep 18, 2006, 05:16 PM	#10
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	That didn't end up working on my other Vista guinea pig computer... ended up with acorrupted MBR (how I do not know)... ...looking more and more like a Borg every day

Sep 24, 2006, 06:34 AM	#11
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	After deleting the Vista partition and still being stuck with the Vista boot menu, I tried VistaBoot Pro. Got a bunch of error dialogs (documented by others too...) but eventually learned enough to ignore them and got to the screen within VistaBoot that removes the Vista boot menu (restore old XP) - prayed - clicked - closed - rebooted - voila! The Vista boot menu is gone and I'm back to dual booting XP/98 on the family unit. Now to start over, hopefully a little wiser this time...

Sep 26, 2006, 02:54 PM	#15
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	depending on what you have on the main hard drive that you were referring to... can all of the operating systems's partitions be backed up and restored individually by using its images... i usually create and save some of custom images (images that include programs and drivers) of about 3-4 operating systems, XP 32-bit, XP x64, Linuxes and now i also have some Vista's custom images... if i like to change every operating system on the boot drive... like changing their primary partition slots, or change number of RAID's member drives, then i'll do this in DOS or with using True Image boot media, this depends on what program i use to create the custom images. otherwise, i'll do the changes within Windows that installs on the very first partition of the main and boot drive... this Windows is considered as my main operating system of the computer... this Windows has programs that i can use to image other primary partitions or logical drives that holds other operating systems, mount the images in the case that i need to alter something in them and restore the images onto the drive. anyway, personnally i don't see why should i mess up my main operating system... other than hidden its partition, made a new partition active and boot the other operating system from its own partition using its own files, or why the main operating system have to be messed up in a way that may cause booting problem... Last edited by PangingJr; Sep 26, 2006 at 04:00 PM.