Trouble with dual boot XP32 and Windows 7 on same disk

I have a raid 1 system drive with 3 partitions. Partition 1 had XP64 on it, partition 2 is a logical partition and is just storage, and partition 3 has XP32 bit on it. I got my copy of Windows7 and went to install over the XP64 install and it worked great. Now I can't boot into XP32. These partitions are C: E: F: respectively as the windows 7 diskmanager reports.

I have Easy BCD v.1.7.2 installed on Windows 7 and it seems to be a very useful tool. I have created another pointer in bootmgr which does work but when I choose the XP32 option is restarts the computer. I have run recovery console to try and rebuild the all the boot files. I tried bootcfg /rebuild and that didn't work. I manually moved \NTLDR and ntdetect to the F: drive where the XP32 install resides. and that didn't work.

The Original boot.ini file that was created by recovery console looks like this...

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP32" /fastdetect

It's a challenge to manually manipulate the boot.ini file but I managed to do that and it looks like this...

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="XP32" /fastdetect

It appears that the Windows 7 boot manager is it own entity and then points to the boot.ini of the XP32 bit partition. So my problem, I think, is in my Boot.ini file.

When running recover console it scans the disc for windows installs and puts the partition value to "2" but I think its partition "3" (unsure) I tried to manually make that value 3 and that didn't work.

If anybody can tell me how the whole relationship of the boot files works, i.e. can I just put any \NTLDR file on the root directory and manipulate the boot.ini file and it will work, or do they somehow have to be created together?

Do the \NTLDR files need to be inside the windows directory?

If I manually edit the boot.ini file on the f: drive and the run EASYBCD PowerConsole and type bootcfg, the file isn't the boot.ini file that I though I just edited. Any help will be so much appreciated.

Boot into Win 7, open an Administrative command prompt and type bcdedit

Take a snipping tool shot and post back. Cross out anything that might be personal.

Using EasyBCD, you can see what your boot manager is pointing to. In XP, it points to ntldr, which should be there if you used EasyBCD to add the option. I do not have a lot of experience with RAID setups but it should work about the same.

Again thanks for any help!

Did you put the real mode boot sector in there? As I mentioned, I don't know RAID procedures so it may need to be there.

EasyBCD will add the XP boot entry for you. Just use the Add/Remove entries option. Tell it what version of windows in the drop down menu, then tell it which volume XP is on, and it will add it and point it to NTLDR in the XP partition. If nothing else, you can compare what is already there with what EasyBCD puts in.

You are using notepad on the Boot.ini file? I just noticed EasyBCD has a way to edit the Boot.ini under Tools, Edit Legacy entries.

Im not sure what the "real mode boot sector" is but I don't think the RAID is the issue...I could be wrong.

Besides adding a copy of NTLDR to the XP partition, i did exactly what you said to do in EASY BCD and it seems to create a pointer to the bootcfg file on the XP partition. I believe its only a pointer because when I went into the XP recovery console and added multiple entries to the bootcfg files, then restarted, I get the Windows 7 boot screen(you can tell the difference) then after I choose XP32 it sends me to another bootcfg screen (the XP32 version of boot manager) but no matter which one I choose from there it just restarts the computer.

I did see that EASY BCD has that tool to edit legacy entries but I can't figure out which boot.ini file it is editing. If I goto the XP32 bit drive on f: and edit the boot.ini in notepad and save it, then goto the EASY BCD legacy editor, it isn't the same file? With the Legacy Editor though, I can't edit to the detail id like. I mentioned before that original boot instruction for XP read partition(2) and I think it is actually on partition(3). Even though I managed to manually change that to partition(3) in notepad, it still didn't work.

I'm still at a loss. I'll be trying more tonight. I'm fairly confident that this is recoverable, I've just gotta convince the boot gods of this. Thanks for any other input.

after further testing...
The windows 7 bootmenu shows the two entries loaded by EASY BCD. Option 1 "Windows 7" points to the C: drive and boots Windows 7 but option 2, XP32, points to the legacy boot manager and boot.ini on the C:. The XP build is on the f: drive. Is it supposed to be pointing to the boot.ini on the F:?

Can I trick the boot.ini on the C: to boot from f: drive?

If so, when I try and edit the boot.ini on the c:, it says I don't have permission even though security settings say I have FULL CONTROL of the files.

This is driving me crazy. Thanks, in advance, for any help/suggestions.

This info was not correct. The boot menu entry will point to the ntlrd in the active, system partition, where the bootmgr and Boot folders are located. If Win 7 puts in a System Reserved partition, it will be there, more than likely.

Finally, I got it

I joined a EASYBCD forum and it turns out that their is a beta ver of EASY BCD 2.0 that is better postured for Windows 7. I downloaded that and with the added feature set it finally rebuild the boot file correctly and I was able to boot into XP. I'm not 100% sure what I was doing wrong before or exactly what I did that fixed it(because I tried so many things) but primarly I can attribute the fix to EASY BCD ver2.0. Thanks for all the suggestions. Reply to this forum is you have any questions.

Thanks for the info, I probably need to update also.

Have you compared the two bcdedit printouts to see what difference there was?