Roffen

Allright I think I have discovered what mistakes I've been making, missing some spaces in typinge the grub commands. Now, at the grub> prompt I type find root ... and the return is hd1,1 , which is the 2nd drive, with Win7 installed. 1st drive is the primary boot disk with XP installed. then chainloader /bootmgr, where I missed the space and got an error msg. Now I get (hd1,1) and chainloader /bootmgr follwed with boot boots the 2nd, Win7 disk. Voila! What is missing and needs to be fixed before I can get the win7 disk to boot from the menu? Here are the contents of the two roots: First drive (XP) root: A C:\asusdisp.log A C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A SHR C:\boot.ini A C:\CONFIG.SYS A C:\grldr A SHR C:\IO.SYS A SHR C:\MSDOS.SYS A SHR C:\NTDETECT.COM A SHR C:\ntldr A SH C:\pagefile.sys 2nd drive (Win7) root: A E:\autoexec.bat A SHR E:\bootmgr A SHR E:\BOOTSECT.BAK A E:\config.sys A SH E:\hiberfil.sys A SHR E:\IO.SYS A SHR E:\MSDOS.SYS A SHR E:\NTDETECT.COM A SHR E:\ntldr A SH E:\pagefile.sys

Nice to see you're still here jaclaz! And maybe a miracle that I still am as well. I gshoudl apologize but I messed up. I was attempting to work on my 'old' computer that already was working satisfactorily even if the boot process got a little messed up du to some problems long ago. but it works and that's what counts. The problem was that I keep movong the VGA cable between the old and the newer machine I am setting up and was not awqre that i worked on the wrong machine. But I am happy to report that I follwed the instructions quoted slavishly, and evruthing wotked just the way it should, to my great relief. I have had a terrible time for the past month; I was stupid enough to buy a secondhand motherboard and it gave me a lot of problems that i was not prepared for and they have not been good for me, I will after all soon be 85. I had planned on upgradign the old 'puter but i was smart enough not even to make an attempt so I got a secondhand Corsair cabinet that made it possblle to manipulate stuff with ease, and with this last triumph of mine - thanks to your old instructions I now have it going the way I love to use. Nice to see your'e still available in case of distress but I think the worst is over now and I can startr using the new setup for the project I have in mind. I felt like having a nervous breakdown this morning but with the help of a Valium now and then (and I not in the habit of munching any drugs!) I seem to be able to keep it in check until I regain what strengths I still have. Thanks a lot for all you've done for me! Reading tutorials on how to implement mulitboot is a it ever my hesd, too much to deal with at one time so you brief test setup was a godsend. With that, the best of luck for you and yours from me here in Norway! Drive carefully and you may grow even older than me, I only hope the future will see a world coming back to the good old times when nobody would think such an absurd thought that police in Norway should be armed. Cheerio, Rolf

I have installed WinXP and Win7 on two different disks, in both cases with just that one disk connected furing install. I think maybe I shoud have done it differently, but if I knew how I suppsose it should be possible to create a dual boot system So I looked at an earlier post "Do this test: add grldr to first partitionadd to the BOOT.INI in first partition a line: C:\grldr="grub4dos"when booting, select "grub4dos" and you will get to the grub> promptat it type (without double quotes): "find --set-root /bootmgr" and press [ENTER]then: "root" [ENTER] <- you should have here (hd0,1) as feedbackthen: "chainloader /bootmgr" [ENTER]then "boot" [ENTER]and the windows 7 on second partition should boot normally"but I am not getting anywhere. Adding the grldr line to boot.ini is of no use, the line gets shifted to the bottom of the file and I suppose that makes it useless. I have grldr and a grub4dos zipfile that I think must be the one I've used before. I presume to begin with that I only have to worry about the first, XP-drive.

I've been offline waiting for a replacement for a defect modem that died during a thunderstorm here. Yes, I've found that all is well with the system, I get the options Previous system - boots XP on 1st SSD partition Windows 7 - boots Win7 (Home ed) on 2nd partition. grub4dos I have two other disks on the system but I don't think any of them have a working OS. I believe the sensible thing for me to do now is to replace the Home Edition with a Windows 7 Professional Edition - the drive where I had Win7P before broke down. If that's what I do I shouldn't need to do anything, just leave the grub4dos option just in case I'd want to use it later.

Fine jaclaz, all files have survived. Booting as it is now, I get the choice you describe. So I guess I am ready for the next step.

I have two partitions on a 128GB SSD. 1st partition used to be my primary, boot partition (XP), but I could also boot Win7 on 2nd partition. I had to reinstall Win7 on 2nd part, and it has now been set to be the "start" partition. Is it possible, and how would I do it if I want to make part1 the "start" partition? I mostly use XP only because Outlook Express is the only newsreader I like:)

Hi, I dug out an old VFP program, re-installed VFP v9 on an XP computer to make some modifications on the program. But I soon got stuck on a banal problem: I create a variable like X = "\e:\My Documents\Visual Foxpro Projects\MyProject" and try to use it like CHDIR &x But that is impossible, I get invalid path error. The same code has worked before, why not now? I haven't tried to boot up my Win7 drive to test it there, yet but since I will keep using XP as long as possible, I hope there may be a solution.

I believe an aging brain is responsible for some difficulty in getting a clear picture from written explanations. Much of what I was doing in my life before the Intel 4004 used lots of diagrams. I would like to make (may even try)some diagrams of what is located where and how it relates to it's surroundings in the boot process and (as with multiboot) how they may be inter-related to other, neighbouring "entities" in the same clade. (A group of organisms, such as a species, whose members share homologous features derived from a common ancestor.) Or something like that.

Good, I think i've absorbed most of what that, and it seems there was nothing to be afraid of, it is always posible to revert from 60 to 52 and vice versa?

All right, I found the options very cumbersome and would require more work than simply getting the entier pack. So I downloaded, burned DVD and setup with install of .NET Framework and msxml 6.0. Installe WAIK on aonther drive, didnt want all that mess on the SSD, found the 32bit version of bootsect and am now going to test if it reponds to /help, then I'll have to find out if I should use 52 or 60. (On XP, first partition). All right, much ado but not for nothing; i hope. This time it responded to /help. Hooray! recap: I will run - as I have to, under XP. There I type bootsect /NT52 C: C: is the root of partition wher XP was installed. C: also is the root of the partition where Win 7 was - and is - installed. But I do nothing till i hear from you... Am scared and don't think prayers work on computers. Maybe they will on quantum computers; they are right around the corner. With a capacity matching that of the whole universe. Why not, we already have desktop particle accelerators.

Uh-oh, looks pretty messy. And in the end, I don't find any WAIK for XP. And bootsect doesn't work in WIn7? And I might try the version I have with /help on another WIn7 installation just to find out if it is a Home version problem. And ...

Boot XP: C: Boot 7: C: Since no bootsect .exe could be found (Win7 Home Premium), I downloaded one listed as a WIn7 version. Running from command window generated no message, only return to command prompt, and nothing have changed. Guess it is kaputt or something funny, no response when I type bootsect /help Found this but am unable to get WAIK.

I wil do as you said, I just found the quoted sentence somewhat ambiguous;) I think what it means is 1.Booting XP, verify that the C: drive letter belongs to first partiton of first hard disk, aka the (hd0,0) you got from the grub4dos command 2. To "revert" you need to run from the booted windows 7: bootsect.exe /NT52 C: (the result will be a bootsector of the "NT52 type" that consequently loads NTLDR (and from it BOOT.INI). bootsect.exe /NT52 C:)

I've always made it a point to know what I am talking about and you seem to be of the same kind! Everything was as predicted, and the XP was OK! root (hd0,0) chainloader /ntldr Will boot ntldr drive = 0x80, partition = 0x0 (didn't write down the hidden value) boot menu was XP XP music Fake entry grub4dos Menu was green, I had added green earlier in my atttempts at sleuthing. I presume the agent responsible for the merger belongs to Win7? I suppose what do I do next is bootset /NT60 but I await a go before doing it, I can manage my system using your method in the meantime.

Oh no, not before I've studied your crash couse w/instructions. Maybe I'll know what to do the next time! roffen

I am sorry but I am lost. Had to reinstall Win7, but now booting partition 1 with boot.ini [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" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP music disk Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect C:\grldr="grub4dos" i only get a black and white menu with option of loading Win7 or grub4dos. I copied bootmgr and boot folder from 7 to xp again, disapperad when installing 7. 2nd part active when installing 7, 1st part (XP) active now. I am completely lost, and would prefer not to reinstall XP - have much installed and working fine there. Rolf ETA I feel like I have a problem, I do not know what I am doing, I only do what I am being told but don't know what's going on behind the scenes

Cool, I was a DOS-fan for a long time until Windows finally took off...

I don't have any problems, the dual XP/Win7 setup on a SSD disk is ok. Before I feel I can let go and remove the old Win7 disk, I use the BIOS drive order method to access it. I am reading a grub bootloader tutorial with the intention of adding an entry to the menu.lst to achieve the same thing. My current menu: color white/black black/white timeout 30 title Windows 7 bootsector (hd0,1)\n load bootsector of Windows 7 on second partition root (hd0,1) chainloader +1 title commandline commandline title reboot reboot title halt halt My suggested alternatives for an additional entry:: title Windows 7 Bootsector\n find and load volume bootsector of old Win 7 * my #1 idea find --set-root /bootmgr chainloader +1 title Windows 7 Bootsector\n load volume bootsector of old win 7 * my #2 idea rootnoverify (hd2,0) chainloader (hd2,0)+1 ( Ihave XP and Win7 on disk 0, backup / storage on disk 1 Old Win7 on disk 2) I may be too cautious but I want to make sure I don't mess up what I have now.

Hi, Installing XP with an ASUS M2N-E motherboard, Nvidia Geforce 7300GT video card and an LG M227WDP monitor, all hardware that's been in use her for several years, I find that I am not able to select my preferred screen resolution of 1280x960. I've been using 1280x960 on both Win2k and Win7, but installing the latest XP drivers I can find from either ASUS or Nvidia, 1280*960 is not an option, 1280*800 is the closest alternative. The recommended setting of 1920*1080 is far from comfortable to me. I don't think the default XP driver was any better, else I would not have bothered looking for any other. I am afraid there is no solution available to this problem. Would a new video card solve the problem?

Of ocurse, when you mention it - I know I removed the drive letter on purpose. Will be nice to get it back. All my other volumes aer configured the same way. Thanks for nice words; the reason may be I was more or less left to myself to find my way with very little in terms of disciplining or indoctrination. But i won't recommend parents test that alternative, it probably takes a particular (peculiar) soil to grow the 'right' way. Especially in our mad 21st century! The 1930's were magic times... Rolf

First of all, I am sorry to have caused so much extra work for you! I don't know if I could have shown the same patience and overbearance with me as you have! Business: I made the acid test by keeping my three present drive setup intact, just adding the SSD to the top of the BIOS boot order. And it was all smooth sailing, all four menu entries worked without a hitch. So it seems I (and you;) have reached our goal, while I am left to find out if I have achieved anything useful by using an SSD drive. I will disconnect the old XP and 7 drives, and reasssign the 2k drive to extra storage and backup purposes. The XP partition is hidden whn 7 is active but I presume that's a price we have to pay when booting a non-active partition? But it doesn't really matter. I have nothing more to say, just thanks a lot for the best help anyone could ask for on the internet. Don't know how I'd have handled a 'customer' like me. All my life farewell's have been a problem but I'll have to let you off the hook now - we may never meet again. Cheerio!

Himmler would have envied me; he never found the Holy Grail. I found the Holy Grub, thanks to grub theologian jaclaz. That's all I can say. I did a little cleanup up on the drive, followed his last instructions slavishly and lo and behold, there it was! With Win7 running, the other volume is not visible. In XP both volumes are visible. But I really hope the boot procedure may be made somewhat more user friendly. Using grldr the keyboard also is a problem. I type alt-45 to get '-', and - to get '/' '-' may be there somewhere, I haven't checked yet.

Unless you manage to do EXACTLY what I suggest (and NOTHING else) and thus "land" on some white text on black background "grub>" we won't get very far. Funny that I got white text 1st time but green 2nd time - I was surprised! But here are the directory listings and the boot.ini file: Volumet i stasjon I er XP SSD Volumserienummeret er FCCE-3AAA Innhold i I:\ 30.05.2013 07:44 65ÿ536 asusdisp.log 18.05.2013 14:13 0 AUTOEXEC.BAT 26.05.2013 17:15 <DIR> bootpart 18.05.2013 14:13 0 CONFIG.SYS 30.05.2013 23:03 0 dirfile.txt 18.05.2013 14:56 <DIR> Documents and Settings 21.05.2013 05:28 272ÿ715 grldr 30.05.2013 22:51 969 I do not doubt your report.txt 26.05.2013 18:16 <DIR> Programfiler 28.05.2013 16:16 <DIR> WINDOWS 6 fil(er) 339ÿ220 byte 4 mappe® 56ÿ637ÿ411ÿ328 byte ledig XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Volumet i stasjon N er WIN7 SSD Volumserienummeret er C8EA-7287 Innhold i N:\ 10.06.2009 23:42 24 autoexec.bat 10.06.2009 23:42 10 config.sys 30.05.2013 23:04 0 dirfile7.txt 10.06.2009 23:42 24 Kopi av autoexec.txt 10.06.2009 23:42 10 Kopi av config.txt 14.07.2009 04:37 <DIR> PerfLogs 21.05.2013 16:09 <DIR> Program Files 21.05.2013 16:10 <DIR> Users 23.05.2013 19:45 <DIR> Windows 5 fil(er) 68 byte 4 mappe® 52ÿ376ÿ723ÿ456 byte ledig The two ”dirfiles” are dir>dirfile.txt from dos prompt, the contents of displayed above. C:\boot.ini (attrib sh) contains [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" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect C:\Windows7.bin="Windows 7 disk" C:\grldr="grub4dos" The above info gained while running Win2k, XP part is mapped I: and 7 part mapped N: Need Win2k to permit r/w access to SSD parts. Will now remove all drives except SSD and make a last test befpre going to bed.

Seems miracles do happen, after all! The green screeen and events described are to the best of my knowledge just what I said, Fact: running the attrib boot*.* command, XP part has boot.ini. 7 part has bootmgr. No folder named boot that I can see. i can't even find a boot folder on the old xp drive, but I believe I saw both the folder and the BCD in it, somewhere a few days ago. But i think I installed XP first on active part, then made the other part active and installed 7. But I am getiing somewhat confused and cant say anything for sure. Is there any file or folder date stamp I can trust? Or maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to start all over from scratch after all?

This time selecting gru4dos the system went straight to greeen sceen and said Booting Windows 7 from disk0 partition0 Then my wife called for help setting dinner table for our guests tonight and when I returned the system had gone further all by itself to say chainloader /bootmgr and that created Error 15 file not found. and listed options that I don't think would be relevant wrt the problem. I don't find the \boot\BCD folder in any of the partitions but I distincty remember putting it there. Guess I'll have to fix that. Will be back. Rolf