Roy Modern

Hi

I was hoping someone here could give me some help. I am using a friends computer because I cant get mine to boot to windows. I was trying to create a new partition so I could create a dual boot tu use some older software. Everything went fine up until I had to add the DOS files to the new drive. The commands wouldn't work. So I thought (wrongly) to just copy the necessary files from the current OS (Vista) to the new drive.

Well then I made the new partition active and rebooted. Those dos files didn't work and now the new partition is active and theres nothing on it. No OS at all. I tried using the install CD for Vista and XP (both purchased and legit). I purchased and tried the Ultimate Boot Disk which was a waste of money too. No matter which disk I boot to it just tells me to insert a bootable disk. I've gone into the BIOS and tried just about every possible boot combination. Anything I try doesn't work. I called Best Buy and they said they can fix it

.... for $129

I am trying to avoid the big fee. If anyone has anything I can try please post it. I just want to get back on SL. Its been 5 weeks! I just thought I could fix it myself and I'm just now getting around to asking for some help.

stora

You will need a OS on a disk to make it bootable.
Once you have made a partition you would have to format the partition before you can write files to it.

Are you booting from a CD and what errors are you getting when you try and install a OS (vista/xp/dos)



BTW the ultimate boot disk is a great tool and has saved me a lot of trouble over the years.

Roy Modern

Yes I am booting from a cd and each time I get the same thing "No bootable device -- insert a boot disk"

Maybe I am doing the ultimate boot disk thing wrong then. I used a pc to create an image disk of the ISO. But I still got that same error.

When I was creating the new partition I did format it. But the DOS commands to copy the boot files from the current OS to the new partition wouldn't work. So I got frustrated and just copied them over in explorer which was apparently not the correct thing to do because when I made the new partition active and rebooted there wasn't anything there. Now my good partition is in the twilight zone.

stora

Looks like the cd is not being recognized at boot up as it it still looking at your hard disk as the first boot device. (or a floppy disk, if your PC still has one.)

You will need to set your CD player as the first boot device in the bios.

Or you may have an option to press one of the F keys on boot up to select a boot device.

Roy Modern

I get this error message with the new Ultimate Boot CD I just burned

BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

Its a endless loop of that. I can hear it accessing the CD/DVD but it won't do anything else.

Joshua Nightshade

I'm confused, you tried to get an operating system on the new partition by just copying it? Er, you can't do that.

You have to install it from the CD.

I'm assuming because you mentioned "older software" that you're trying to install XP as the second OS — you can't really do that either. Ideally you should install XP first, then Vista/7 because the later OSes will recognise XP and arrange the partition accordingly, whereas XP will not and give you the issue you're having.

You might have some luck with these walkthroughs.

Install Windows XP in Dual Boot with Pre-Installed Windows 7 : Guides

Installing XP after Windows 7 - windows-7

You'll essentially have to boot from the Vista/7 install disc and repair the boot manager.

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

Otherwise I would suggest that you drop the second partition idea and just install XP in a virtual machine — depending on the version of Vista/7 you have, Microsoft also provides a free "XP Mode" that works similarly. I am not really sure what older software you're using that won't work in Vista/7, but you might also think about just upgrading or replacing it instead of keeping around a ten year old operating system just for one or two programs.

__________________

Walker

So you've instructed the BIOS to boot from the CD/DVD drive first? And saved settings before exiting the BIOS/restarting the PC?

Because that's what you need to do.

If the computer is a branded one (Toshiba, Dell, etc.) do you still have the manual? Does it mention anything about holding down specific keys while restarting if you want to boot from CD/DVD? Branded PCs are sometimes a bit funky in that regard.

Roy Modern

After going in circles with the UBCD I went into my BIOS and 'accidentally' reset the BIOS to its default settings and it booted right up into Vista! Yay! Everything was just like I left it. So I think I'm going to give this idea up. It was total fail. Thanks for the help I appreciate it.

Joshua Nightshade

What version of Vista do you have? If it's Pro or up, you can get the free XP mode virtual machine as above, or install XP yourself in something like VirtualBox.

Roy Modern

Not exactly. I got to the part of the walkthrough where it said to copy the boot files to the new partition. The MSDOS command wouldn't work. (I forget what the exact command was but DOS wouldn't accept it and I got frustrated being half way through the walkthrough and all). So I just copied them all the 'lazy' way by dragging them over from one drive to another in explorer. Then I continued on with the walkthrough by setting the new partition active.

Once I reboot what I was expecting was to be able to install XP. But instead, I got the twilight zone.

Thank for all the infos. If I ever attempt it again I'll be more careful and take your advice.

Roy Modern

Nope it's not pro. It's home premium. lol.

Walker

I'd love to see a copy of this "walkthrough" because I've installed Windows Vista onto many computers, and although my memory is a bit hazy because the OS is rather outdated now, it should be as simple as this:

1) Boot from DVD.
2) Wait for GUI to appear.
3) Follow very simple on-screen instructions.

The installer formats your disc and even allows you to create custom sized partitions if I recall correctly.

As Joshua indicated, you should install XP *before* Vista (otherwise the bootloader won't recognise both operating systems) and shouldn't try to install either by copying files manually. It won't work.

Roy Modern

I went back in the browsing history of the laptop I was using to read the instructions on to find the link for you to see where I got the walkthrough.

Well I found it and as I was looking at the page it didn't make any sense because the walkthrough is for Windows 7 not Vista. Here it is at How to create a seperate system partition for dual booting Windows Vista and Windows 7

The command was bcdboot.exe

That's the part that would not work! Well turns out that the laptop I was using to read the instructions on is Windows 7. So I must have looked at that OS instead of the other computer which I was trying to create the dual boot! But also in my history were some walkthroughs that had more relevant information like this one at How to create a seperate system partition for dual booting Windows Vista and Windows 7 So I must have been getting bits here and there and confusing myself even more. I feel pretty silly now but in my defense it was very late

I am glad I posted it here though. Maybe someone else wil benefit from it and be sure to get instructions for the correct OS or if they happen to lock themselves out of their partition they will see that resetting the BIOS restores it. Thanks for helping to get me back on track guys!