Windows 7 - Dual-boot Win7 & XP: unable to log into XP partition

Hi, I am having a problem that seems more like a Win XP problem, but since its part of my migration to Windows 7 and many people these days may be trying the same I dare to pose the question here in this Win 7 forum:

As I said, I am in the progress of migrating to Windows 7. As a transient solution until I have transferred and re-installed everything under Windows 7 I want to have a dual boot capability, i.e. I bought me a larger HD, created two partitions on it, installed Windows 7 on the first partition, and then I used a disk-imager (Acronis Disk Director) to copy my entire old XP disk 1:1 to the second partition of the new HD. I then set things up so I can choose between the two partitions using the Windows 7 boot manager. After some fiddling the choosing and booting in principle works fine.

BUT, when I try to start WinXP, I have the very strange effect, that the system at first boots and starts WinXP up fine up to the point where it presents the login screen. When I then enter my name and password my credentials at first seem to be accepted, i.e. I get a "Loading your settings..." dialog but to my dismay only seconds later that dialog always turns into "Logging off..." (???!@#@$&!) at which point the system hangs for some long period. If I wait long enough (~5 minutes) it eventually returns to the login screen again. I also tried to login as Administator but that failed as well (the error message mumbled something about no domain server to verify my id which is complete nonsense, since my XP system was never part of any domain, so there is no server in the world that could verify anything here!).

Any idea what could cause this and why can't I not log into that copied/moved 1:1 Window XP installation? Any hints/suggestions/pointers would be highly welcome!

Michael

Boot into the XP installer and run a Repair Install. This is not the "Choose R for repair" console first offered.

Proceed as if to install until it discovers the installation, highlight that and then choose Repair.

It will appear as though it is doing a new install but will save all of your programs, files and settings (everything except activation and Updates) while reinstalling XP and it's boot over the problem copy.

When it is finished, you need to then download EasyBCD and add the Windows 7 OS by name, drive letter and type as given in Method 2, Steps 7-15 here: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Let me know if you have any problems as I am running one right now.

when you got to the Earlier Version, Microsoft Windows 7 screen . meaning the dual boot selection
press F8 while Earlier Version Selected. Go to Safe Mode. Do a Clean Boot.

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CleanBoot
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go to Run command
type in msconfig

go to services tab. add a check mark on "Hide all microsoft Services"
Click Disable all

go to startup tab and click Disable all

then Restart your computer and see if it works.

If it works then it means that your previous 3rd party program is acting up or your Antivirus installed
in XP mode is causing the problem during the Kernel Phase.

How to Troubleshoot a Problem by Performing a Clean Startup in Windows 7 or Vista

When you look at the guide gregrocker pointed to there scroll down to Method Two to understand how to set up a dual boot with a newer version of Windows installed first. By simply cloning the XP installation from one drive to the second primary on the new you forgot the lack of any boot files at the root of the 7 primary as well as not seeing any mbr entries created.

The Repair Install option if present will address the XP boot problem by writing the new mbr entries and placing the XP Boot files at the 7 root but will also knock 7 out of the look so to speak! Once you have repaired the 7 startup problem with the startup repair tool you can use the free EasyBCD version 1.7.2 presently available to add XP into the 7 BCD store as a new boot option.

The EasyBCD tool itself is found at Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart Technologies wit the instructions for use in the guides seen at EasyBCD Documentation Home - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki