Windows 7: Dual boot XP with W7RC boot problem

Hello,
I had Win XP and Vista set up as dual boot. I have back up images of both using Norton Ghost. I then upgraded the Vista partition with Windows 7 RC and all was fine for several months. Last week I had issues with the XP installation and the only resolution was to put the xp image back on the xp partition. This action has left me with a boot screen with XP and Vista on it and as expected only XP can be booted.
I put the Windows 7 installation disk back in and it recognised the boot screen error and fixed it; (too good to be true I thought!) When booting, I got the choice of XP or Windows 7, so the Vista option had been replaced ) however, there is an error that cannot be fixed and so the boot fails. The PC does the usual reporting to MS looking for a solution but can't find one.
So, will I have to replace the Windows 7 partition with the Vista image and then reinstall the Windows 7 or can I recover this another way? Also, what is the best way to image, individually, OSes, so that the boot screen doesn't get changed?
Cheers

Gary

Hello gazandwiz, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums!

First, verify for me that you do NOT have a 100MB or 200MB "System Partition" at the front of your hard drive.

Based on your post, when you installed Vista, because XP was already there, Vista did not create the "System Partition" but put the "Boot Code" that allowed you to boot XP or Vista from the boot menu inside the XP partition (normal). So when you replaced the XP image, that old image did not have the boot code and so broke your boot menu.

The 100MB "System Partition" is a new feature of 7 and allows you to make changes to you partitions without breaking the boot code. It would take a little work, but you have the option introducing this feature, probably making future partition changes easier.

Another option is to restore your current setup as is. You just need to use your 7 install DVD and do a "Startup Repair" or "Repair Install" to write the proper boot code back into the XP partition.

Repair Install

MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record

Cheers!
Robert

Thanks for the info and your time to write it
I'm off to school now (teacher!) so I'll have a good look at the links you suggested tonight. I'm not sure if the RC build 7100 disk I have will have the utilities you mention, but we'll see.

Cheers

Gary

Yes it does. I have been using the RC since it was released.

Teach well!

Anyone who can read this post should thank a teacher!

Not sure he can boot in to 7 desktop to do the Repair install which would reconfigure the boot correctly, but...

Try booting into the Windows 7 installer and run Startup Repair as suggested. It may need to be run multiple times if there is more than one issue as it assumes the fix given will restart the OS and it doesn't always. So try again repeatedly.

If you can then only boot into Windows 7, download EasyBCD and on Add tab add XP by name and drive letter. Restart to see if it restores dual boot. If not, post back here a screenshot of your Disk Management map and EasyBCD listings, using Snipping tool on Windows 7 start menu, attached using paper clip in reply box

Once you have dual boot restored, use Windows 7 backup imaging (or other) to make a full image of both partitions so you never have to go through this again.

More good advice, thank you.
I reckon I'll have the same problem on my Samsung NC10 as well. Looks like a weekend job to me.
I'll report back, I doubt I'm the only one who has this potential option.

Gary