Multi-boot Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter roger
  • Start date Start date
R

roger

Should I be doing what I am doing?
I have a machine set up with two separate hard drives, one with XP
installed, the other with W7 installed.
I created both drives individually, and by themselves. Yes, I created
the XP drive first.
I use the BIOS boot order menu selection to choose whether to boot XP
or W7.
It has pretty-much worked, or seemed to - but frequently W7 has to go
through some time-consuming recovery in order to boot up - after I
have been using the XP drive. Not vice-versa, seemingly.
I wonder - should this work? Or do I need to use one of many 'boot
managers' that are described in some Google posts? I didn't think I
did, but maybe I do.
Or maybe there is something else I need?

Anyone?
Paul?

Thanks

Big Fred
 
Should I be doing what I am doing?
I have a machine set up with two separate hard drives, one with XP
installed, the other with W7 installed.
I created both drives individually, and by themselves. Yes, I created
the XP drive first.
I use the BIOS boot order menu selection to choose whether to boot XP
or W7.
It has pretty-much worked, or seemed to - but frequently W7 has to go
through some time-consuming recovery in order to boot up - after I
have been using the XP drive. Not vice-versa, seemingly.
I wonder - should this work? Or do I need to use one of many 'boot
managers' that are described in some Google posts? I didn't think I
did, but maybe I do.
Or maybe there is something else I need?

Anyone?
Paul?

Thanks

Big Fred
Click to expand...

My situation is not like yours because I can only install one hard
drive, but can boot three operating systems without any problems.

First I had Windows 7 and Vista installed in two separate partitions.
When the computer booted up, I was given the choice of which OS I wanted
to use. Then I used Disk Management to shrink a partition, and
installed Linux Mint on that space I freed up.

Linux Mint took over the booting up process, and now I'm offered a
choice of booting to Linux Mint, or Windows 7. If I choose Windows 7, I
am then given the choice of booting to Windows 7 or Vista.

There is only one problem with this. I wanted to try a different
version of Linux Mint, so I deleted the partition. I guess I should
have tried to uninstall Linux Mint, but I didn't know how to do that.

After I deleted the partition, I couldn't boot into Windows, so I
installed Linux Mint again, everything is working perfectly again.
 
My situation is not like yours because I can only install one hard
drive, but can boot three operating systems without any problems.

First I had Windows 7 and Vista installed in two separate partitions.
When the computer booted up, I was given the choice of which OS I wanted
to use. Then I used Disk Management to shrink a partition, and
installed Linux Mint on that space I freed up.

Linux Mint took over the booting up process, and now I'm offered a
choice of booting to Linux Mint, or Windows 7. If I choose Windows 7, I
am then given the choice of booting to Windows 7 or Vista.

There is only one problem with this. I wanted to try a different
version of Linux Mint, so I deleted the partition. I guess I should
have tried to uninstall Linux Mint, but I didn't know how to do that.

After I deleted the partition, I couldn't boot into Windows, so I
installed Linux Mint again, everything is working perfectly again.
Click to expand...

Some people say that one needs a small MBR partition first on each
disk drive. I have checked my two XP and W7 drives, and neither has
such a partition. That may be my problem.

I installed XP and W7 on empty drives and got a single full-drive
partition containing the system - no MBRs.

I am wondering if I should somehow re-make the drives by starting over
and making two partitions on each, one large, one small. I wonder if
then the system installations would make the small partitions into
small MBR's and that solve my problems? Of course, if that be true,
how have I been multi-booting in the first place?

If I should do that, do I have to start completely over? Or is there
a way I can re-partition my drives with an empty small partition first
on the drive that somehow will become a working MBR?

Anyone?

Thanks

Big Fred
 
Should I be doing what I am doing?
I have a machine set up with two separate hard drives, one with XP
installed, the other with W7 installed.
I created both drives individually, and by themselves. Yes, I created
the XP drive first.
I use the BIOS boot order menu selection to choose whether to boot XP
or W7.
It has pretty-much worked, or seemed to - but frequently W7 has to go
through some time-consuming recovery in order to boot up - after I
have been using the XP drive. Not vice-versa, seemingly.
I wonder - should this work? Or do I need to use one of many 'boot
managers' that are described in some Google posts? I didn't think I
did, but maybe I do.
Or maybe there is something else I need?

Anyone?
Paul?

Thanks

Big Fred
Click to expand...



There is no reason your system should not work properly unless there was
something writing to your Win7 partition at the time you shut down XP.


If you do not have to access your Win7 drive while booted to XP you can
go into disk management and un-assign a drive letter for your Win7 drive.
 
There is no reason your system should not work properly unless there was
something writing to your Win7 partition at the time you shut down XP.


If you do not have to access your Win7 drive while booted to XP you can
go into disk management and un-assign a drive letter for your Win7 drive.
Click to expand...


Now that's a thought.

Big Fred
 
Startling discovery!

I decided to begin my day by disconnecting the XP drive from the
system (removed the SATA cable). That left the W7 drive as the only
drive connected. When I powered up, the W7 boot process hung up
immediately. That was a surprise, since XP is out of the picture.

I powered down, then up again, and got the same startup repair window
with a menu to start normally or to start an automatic repair. I
tried the normal, and it hung again. I tried the startup repair like
I was doing yesterday, and after the usual 10 minutes or so, it said
the problem could not be automatically repaired. Then I shut down and
powered down, and powered up again, and like yesterday, W7 booted up.

Then I remembered. A few days ago I was dealing with the problem that
my machine was completed dead! That is, it would not power up or
nothing. Then, at Paul's suggestion, I pulled the CPU and fan to see
if the case fans would at least twitch, and they did! Then, as I
reported, I reconnected the CPU and fan, and the beast powered up as
it should have. Been okay since.

Then I remembered. I had set the BIOS to automatically boot up when
AC is restored (powered on). That was always and is a BIOS option
that I liked that enables automatic start up when I power on the AC.
I just have always liked that - saves a step.

Guess what? Now all is okay. I power on, start the boot with the
case switch, and W7 boots fine. I have tried it, as well as a simple
restart several times with no problem.

Now I am thinking the danged BIOS option is the source of at least
some of my problems. Doesn't make it right, but I can live without
setting that BIOS option. I am now going to re-connect the XP drive
to see what happens.

Thanks for helps all

Big Fred
 
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 06:03:20 -0500, (e-mail address removed) wrote:

I re-connected the XP drive, and the W7 boot problem returned. So -
although removing the BIOS auto-power on option fixed things with the
XP drive removed, something else is still causing a problem with W7
when the XP drive is in the mix. I will leave the BIOS option off
however.


Oh well

Big Fred
 
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 06:03:20 -0500, (e-mail address removed) wrote:

I re-connected the XP drive, and the W7 boot problem returned. So -
although removing the BIOS auto-power on option fixed things with the
XP drive removed, something else is still causing a problem with W7
when the XP drive is in the mix. I will leave the BIOS option off
however.


Oh well

Big Fred
Click to expand...

When you install more than one Windows OS, the installer
tries to manage the OSes with just one Boot Manager.

This is a problem, if you go around unplugging disks.
The OS you want to run, may stop responding, if the
actual boot files it's using, are stored on the
unplugged disk.

It probably isn't all that mysterious, and could be
explained if you reviewed what disks were present
during the installations, what order the OSes
were installed in, and so on.

As for figuring it out, if you use diskmgmt.msc
(Disk Management), the location of boot files and
system files is labeled in the Disk Management display.
So you can kinda tell what the setup is, using
hints from Disk Management display. It's too bad
the naming convention is backwards and gets
mis-interpreted in casual viewing.

You would use the Disk Management in Windows 7,
to be able to see both the WinXP and Windows 7
information. That would give the best coverage.

*******

Disabling the autostart on power recovery, may
slightly change the time available to spin up
the disk, and for the BIOS to detect a disk
is present. It really should not make any difference,
if the BIOS is designed properly. But that's one
possible explanation for the autostart causing
a difference in disk detection and boot.

Paul
 
When you install more than one Windows OS, the installer
tries to manage the OSes with just one Boot Manager.

This is a problem, if you go around unplugging disks.
The OS you want to run, may stop responding, if the
actual boot files it's using, are stored on the
unplugged disk.

It probably isn't all that mysterious, and could be
explained if you reviewed what disks were present
during the installations, what order the OSes
were installed in, and so on.

As for figuring it out, if you use diskmgmt.msc
(Disk Management), the location of boot files and
system files is labeled in the Disk Management display.
So you can kinda tell what the setup is, using
hints from Disk Management display. It's too bad
the naming convention is backwards and gets
mis-interpreted in casual viewing.

You would use the Disk Management in Windows 7,
to be able to see both the WinXP and Windows 7
information. That would give the best coverage.

*******

Disabling the autostart on power recovery, may
slightly change the time available to spin up
the disk, and for the BIOS to detect a disk
is present. It really should not make any difference,
if the BIOS is designed properly. But that's one
possible explanation for the autostart causing
a difference in disk detection and boot.

Paul
Click to expand...


Thanks for response, Paul

Disk Management shows my 500GB W7 drive as C-drive and my 300GB XP
drive as F-drive with both having all but 9MB allocated, and 9MB
unallocated. I see no MBR. The W7 is flagged as System, boot, page
file, active, crash dump, primary partition. The XP is flagged as
active, primary partition. Both are said to be 'healthy'.

That makes it appear that my system will only boot if the W7 drive is
present, which seems to be true all right. I can't boot the XP drive
now at all, whether I try the drive alone or with the W7 drive
connected. The XP boot hangs during its boot both ways.

All this seems strange to me. You see - when I installed each OS, I
did it with only the one drive connected. That is, when I installed
XP (which I did first) the XP drive was the only drive connected. Same
with the W7 install and its drive.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to do?
What should I have done?
Is there any way I can make my setup work?
Are you saying that I cannot boot my XP drive by itself?

Right now I can use the XP drive as a data drive, but I can only boot
from the W7 drive.
 
Thanks for response, Paul

Disk Management shows my 500GB W7 drive as C-drive and my 300GB XP
drive as F-drive with both having all but 9MB allocated, and 9MB
unallocated. I see no MBR. The W7 is flagged as System, boot, page
file, active, crash dump, primary partition. The XP is flagged as
active, primary partition. Both are said to be 'healthy'.

That makes it appear that my system will only boot if the W7 drive is
present, which seems to be true all right. I can't boot the XP drive
now at all, whether I try the drive alone or with the W7 drive
connected. The XP boot hangs during its boot both ways.

All this seems strange to me. You see - when I installed each OS, I
did it with only the one drive connected. That is, when I installed
XP (which I did first) the XP drive was the only drive connected. Same
with the W7 install and its drive.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to do?
What should I have done?
Is there any way I can make my setup work?
Are you saying that I cannot boot my XP drive by itself?

Right now I can use the XP drive as a data drive, but I can only boot
from the W7 drive.
Click to expand...

What you can try doing, is changing the boot order in the BIOS.
The disks can be "sorted" in an order. You can place
one disk ahead of the other.

One way to boot might be:

Win7_Disk_MBR --> Win7_Boot_Manager --> Chain Load WinXP

or another way

WinXP_Disk_MBR --> WinXP Boot Manager

The boot manager on WinXP probably isn't disabled, so you could
try "steering" the boot, via the BIOS boot order.

Paul
 
Should I be doing what I am doing?
I have a machine set up with two separate hard drives, one with XP
installed, the other with W7 installed.
I created both drives individually, and by themselves. Yes, I created
the XP drive first.
I use the BIOS boot order menu selection to choose whether to boot XP
or W7.
It has pretty-much worked, or seemed to - but frequently W7 has to go
through some time-consuming recovery in order to boot up - after I
have been using the XP drive. Not vice-versa, seemingly.
I wonder - should this work? Or do I need to use one of many 'boot
managers' that are described in some Google posts? I didn't think I
did, but maybe I do.
Or maybe there is something else I need?

Anyone?
Paul?

Thanks

Big Fred
Click to expand...

I'm not going to dig through all the replies here, but if you have win7
pro, it has an XP VM. It is a separate download available for win7 pro
and I assume higher levels of win7. This is not to be confused with the
XP compatibility mode of win7.

Dual booting is a pain. I would certainly go for the boot manager if you
still want to dual boot. I use Grub2. It is common on linux
distributions, but I'm sure it can be installed independent of linux.
 
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