Ok, let's backtrack a second here.
In your initial post, you indicated a desire to boot both WinMe and WinXP,
correct? That means dual-booting is the problem/issue. So when you say
"Where did I say I wanted to use ANY boot manager", you're absolutely right,
you didn't say that, and THAT'S the problem. You are essentially trying to
dual-boot WITHOUT a boot manager! Instead, you're mucking w/ PM and trying
to fanagle everything MANUALLY. Even assuming you can do it (and for
reasons I won't elaborate here, it's mighty tricky unless you understand all
the issues), its not necessary nor a good idea. You're encountering many of
your current problems ONLY because you insist on avoiding a boot manager.
Your statement: "Is there any way I can repair these installations so both
installs will work?
Yeah, install a boot manager!
But you resist the boot manager, in fact, you specifically insist you never
indicated a desire to use a boot manager. Well, what can I say, you want to
dual boot, a boot manager is specifically designed to avoid the problems
you're currently having, so someone (me) suggests a boot manager, and you
say "I don't want a boot manager", then you list several problems that are
directly related to not using a boot manager, then wonder why people are
suggesting you use a boot manager! And around and around we go.
As far as using the XP boot loader (it's not really a boot "manager", that's
an overstatement), yes, this is an option for managing the dual boot. BUT,
you also indicated in a follow-up post the following:
"I wanted to avoid the XP and ME installations having anything to do with
each other."
Well, that's another problem. When you use the XP loader, it will dual-boot
both OSs, BUT, they will NOT be independent of each other! Let's step thru
the process. Assume WinME is on partition #1 as C:. You now what to
install XP on partition #2. Because the XP loader cannot hide partitions,
the WinME partition will always be exposed when XP boots. This is why the
XP installation will be booted as D:! The XP partition will still see C:
(WinME), albeit as data. If we also assume the XP installation is FAT32
(and I believe WinME sees FAT32 partitions), when WinME boots, it will see
the XP partition as D: (again, as data). IOW, the partitions are NOT hidden
from each other. In fact, the dependencies are much worse than cosmetic.
The XP installation will install all the boot files in C:'s partition! So
now, if you need/want to delete the C: partition some time in the future,
you're in a mess. XP needs C: to be there for its boot files *and* to make
sure that the XP partition remains D:. You can't move the XP partition too
easily either, since it's boot files specifically point to that partition,
and moving it may alter its drive letter assignment (such assignments are
determined, by default, by the BIOS).
I know it's all rather complicated, but the point is, dual-booting either
manually or using the XP boot loader is in direct conflict with your stated
objectives. Yes, the XP loader is FREE, but it's severely limited too. I'm
suggesting BootIt NG, Boot Magic, heck, even the free XOSL boot manager, are
MUCH better alternatives based on your stated objectives. You can NOT have
total partition/OS independence using the XP boot loader. You *may* be able
to achieve this manually using PM, but it's very tricky and takes a deep
understanding of what a boot manager does in order to prevent an even bigger
mess.
To get back to BootIt NG, I suggested a third partition, again, to maintain
your stated desire to keep these OS partitions independent. Now, to be
honest, you can certainly install it (or any other boot manager) into an
existing partition if you like. I don't recommend it, but you can. But if
you create a small third partition ONLY for the boot manager, you won't have
any boot manager dependencies associated with your OS partitions either.
For example, if you install BootIt NG (or any other boot manager) into the
first partition, w/ WinME, it will work fine. BUT, you know have to be
careful not to move, delete, or alter the first partition, lest you risk
mucking up the boot manager! In fact, all the boot manager files/folders
will be EXPOSED whenever the C: partition is visible (which without a boot
manager is ALWAYS). Why take that risk? Why introduce that dependency too
when you don't have to? Instead, keep the boot manager in its own partition
(you have a maximum of four primaries anyway, and currently are using only
two). But again, if you want to use an existing partition for the boot
manager, go ahead, be my guest.
Do you even know how disk partitioning works? You can only have one active
primary partition. The other primary partitions (up to three) are not seen
by the OS.
I've been multi-booting for nearly 12 yrs. (since NT 3.1). I've used
virtually EVERY boot manager ever invented (System Commander, Boot Magic,
BootIt NG, XOSL, MS boot loader, you name it, ALL OF THEM). I've been a
software developer for 20 yrs. I manage 5 machines in my own home office,
including 2 servers (W2K, W2K3) and Win98, XP, NT, and W2K clients for
development purposes. Virtually ALL of them are multi-boot machines, ALL
using BootIt NG (most on this particular boot manager for the past 4 yrs).
Most clients boot at LEAST three or four OS's, including MS-DOS 6.22, MS-DOS
7.0, WinXP, Win98, to name a few. Even have a dual boot of Lindows 4.5 and
Win98 on my laptop.
Yes, I'm am VERY aware of how partitioning works, my knuckles are raw from
many years of being whacked by mistake after mistake, learning the hard way
what does and doesn't work. Trust me, you don't know the half of it, there
are TONS of caveats and gotchas involving multi-booting that I haven't even
touched on, lest this conversation get even longer.
So, back to your statement, an "active" partition is nothing more than a
"mark", an "indicator" on the partition that says "this partition is
bootable". Thats' it, nothing more than that. In fact, nothing prevents
ALL the partitions from being marked "active", you can easily do this (not
sure why you would, but you could) using a partition manager (e.g., BootIt
NG). When the system is booted, the system will only boot the *first*
bootable partition it encounters in the partition table (where the active
indicator resides) of the mbr (master boot record). When you install a boot
manager, like BootIt NG, it automatically changes/moves the active indicator
for you, so that the correct OS is booted. But, unless you take provisions
to hide the other partitions, they *will* be seen *if* the current OS
recognizes those partition types (FAT32, NTFS, etc.). THAT'S WHY YOU NEED A
BOOT MANAGER! The other partitions don't just magically disappear once one
of the partitions is booted. And it doesn't matter a wit whether the other
partitions are marked active or not, that only affects what gets booted.
Once an OS is chosen by the system, the OS will see the other partitions
(according to the conditions I've already stated) irrespective of the active
indicator (it has no bearing on hidden vs. not hidden, none).
The simplest, easiest, most OS independent solution that comports with your
stated objectives is a boot manager. I recommend BootIt NG, it's a steal at
the current price since it functionally replaces Boot Magic, Partition
Magic, and Drive Image, all of them, in one inexpensive, integrated package.
Heck, I bought it four years ago for $30, and haven't had to pay a dime in
upgrade costs in all that time! And there have been MANY enhancements since
that time. Consider what all three of those other packages cost over that
same period, initial and upgrade costs combined. But this is not an
advertisement for BootIt NG, use Boot Magic, XOSL, whatever, almost ANYTHING
is better than attempting this manually OR using the XP boot loader.
I recommend BootIt NG because it's nearly foolproof. Simply install BootIt
NG into its own partition. Assuming WinME is already installed, it will
boot immediately from the Direct Boot Menu. Now Create a new partition for
XP, create a boot menu item, and add the new partition as the bootable
partition to the definition. Set the one-time boot option to "CD", save,
and reboot. Now run your XP install as normal, it will only see the new
partition, so install XP there. When complete, XP will run normally, but
will have overlaid the BootIt NG boot loader. Just insert the BootIt NG
disk, reboot, reactivate it, remove the floppy, and reboot. Now you have
two OS's installed, each bootable directly off the Direct Boot Menu, or
create a boot menu item for WinXP too, if you prefer. Each will boot as C:,
XP will keep its boot files in its own partition, and when booted, will
automatically hide the other partitions (including the one belonging to
BootIt NG). How does BootIt NG do all this magic? Simple, if it's not in
the boot menu definition, then it's not placed in the partition table of the
mbr when the OS is booted, thus the OS never sees it. IOW, BootIt NG
actually manages the "mbr", NOT the partition IDs like other partition or
boot managers. That's why it works so effortlessly. It keeps track of
partition locations for you, and when an OS needs to be booted, "loads up"
the mbr according to the boot menu item's requirements. If something isn't
in the mbr, it just never gets seen.
That's it! No partition inter-dependencies, no mucking w/ active
indicators, no moving partitions around, no boot loader dependencies within
OS partitions, none of that crap, all of that nonsense is gone. Your
grandkids will grow-up to be highly successful, flowers will bloom, the
world will be a happier place, all thanks to you.
Anyway, that's my last word on the subject, if you don't feel that 12+ years
of experience has much to offer, what can I say, keep rolling that snowball
uphill, maybe you know something I don't, I gave it my best shot. Good
luck, god bless, and have a happy life.
HTH
Jim