Solved XP Not booting on dualboot?

[ronaldbrijo]

Hi,

I was running Win 7 on my pc and could not get a game to run so I installed XP on a separate HDD, while Win 7 HDD was disconnected.

I wanted to dual boot them and connected both drives with Win7 as 1st boot drive. Used EasyBCD to edit the bootloader.

When I start the PC I get the bootloader and select XP. On enter all my pc does is restart and back to bootloader. If I select Win7, it starts normally.



Thank you
R

 

[debugged]

Launch EasyBCD and go to Add New Entry: Select Type: “Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3” Then click "Add Entry" button. The box should already be ticked to find the correct drive automatically.
Reboot the system and you should have XP and Win7 in the menu now.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello ronaldbrijo, welcome to Seven Forums!


Why don't you use the BIOS one-time boot menu to select which OS/HDD to boot at PC startup, which is the F8 hot-key for ASUS mobos, using the Windows boot loader to dual boot adds unneeded issues in itself, like this one you are experiencing.

 

[ronaldbrijo]

THank you.... You are correct, that is so much easier....

R

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again, I'm glad I could help and thanks for the update.

 

[debugged]

Why don't you use the BIOS one-time boot menu...

For me it's because I was mising the ability to reset the boot order in Windows (I use a hotkey that makes it a snap) then restart and go away from the pc to find the other system ready when I returned - I don't see how you can do that in the BIOS way. Not that concerned about hdd failure with many layer of backup and only 1 actual hdd-caused system loss in a lifetime.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Why don't you use the BIOS one-time boot menu...

For me it's because I was mising the ability to reset the boot order in Windows (I use a hotkey that makes it a snap) then restart and go away from the pc to find the other system ready when I returned - I don't see how you can do that in the BIOS way. Not that concerned about hdd failure with many layer of backup and only 1 actual hdd-caused system loss in a lifetime.

Are you using the BIOS one-time boot menu specific to your motherboard?

• Asus - F8
• HP/Compaq - Esc
• Sony - F2
• Acer – F12
• Gateway - F10
• eMachnes - F10
• Gigabyte – F12
• Toshiba - F12
• Dell - F12
• IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button

 

[theog]

Boot Menu.

 

[severedsolo]

• Asus - F8
• HP/Compaq - Esc
• Sony - F2
• Acer – F12
• Gateway - F10
• eMachnes - F10
• Gigabyte – F12
• Toshiba - F12
• Dell - F12
• IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button

Another one for your list Ted... F8 is Packard Bells. Which is a PITA when you need to get to Safe Mode.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Another one for your list Ted... F8 is Packard Bells. Which is a PITA when you need to get to Safe Mode.

Hello Martin.

I know what you mean about being a pain, mine is an ASUS and uses the F8 also, here's another way to get to safe mode, as soon as you reboot start continually tapping the k/b space bar to force the Windows boot manager and from there you can easily select safe mode.

Thanks for the P/B and F8 tip!

 

[debugged]

Are you using the BIOS one-time boot menu specific to your motherboard?

No because I don't want to wait to select the disk boot order at bootup, even using the specific boot key. My choice, for reasons given. I think it's more convenient and quicker to swap system priority while still in Windows - hot key to System Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Default OS dropdown open and ready to select and hit Enter. Hit restart and I don't have to watch the boot screen at all. Basically 3 clicks and a rest for my eyes while the systems change over.