Unable to boot Windows XP after Windows 7 installed

I have Windows 2003 installed in C and Win XP in D......Then I formatted C and installed Windows 7, but after that I am not able to boot Win XP...... I have tried BCDEDIT & EasyBCD but didnt work for me..... And later I realized there are no files in D to boot Win XP( ie, boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect etc)...... I copied all required Windows booting files from other system to D drive and I edited Windows 7 boot with BCDEDIT to point NTLDR on D drive...... Then I was getting error like,Invalid boot.in filebooting from C:\WindowsNTDETECT.COM Failed.....Plz help me to find the solution..Thanks

The boot files have to be in the active partition. If you use the EasyBCD 2.0 beta version, it will put those files there for you. If you do it yourself, the boot.ini file probably needs to be altered to show partition (2) if that is where your XP install is.

If you would attach a snipping tool picture of your Disk Management window, we could tell you for sure.

Originally Posted by Saltgrass

The boot files have to be in the active partition. If you use the EasyBCD 2.0 beta version, it will put those files there for you. If you do it yourself, the boot.ini file probably needs to be altered to show partition (2) if that is where your XP install is.

If you would attach a snipping tool picture of your Disk Management window, we could tell you for sure.

I have used EasyBCD 2.0 beta. Whenever I add new entry for Windows XP, it gives me an option to install NTDETECT, NTLDR and boot.in....I clicked 'Yes', but I couldnt find any of these file in C or D drive...

And this is what EasyBCD 2.0 beta shows, And I have attached diskmgmt picture with this reply


There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.
Default: Microsoft Windows 7
Timeout: 10 seconds.
EasyBCD Boot Device: C:\
Entry #1
Name: Microsoft Windows 7
BCD ID: {default}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID: {035f9b84-3f60-11df-8cf9-001b38376252}
Drive: D:\
Bootloader Path: \NTLDR

The boot files you mentioned will be in C: the System partition.

In the BCD store, the Drive should be C:\ for the XP entry.

If you are using the EasyBCD beta, which version are you on? I think the latest one is 91...

Those files are hidden, system files so if you are using the correct settings, you will be able to see the Win 7 boot file bootmgr.

I am using EasyBCD 2.0.0.91 (Hope this is latest as u said).....

I made boot drive of Win XP to C drive but still it says \NTLDR missing. And, there is no NTLDR file in C to load windows but obviously bootmgr is there.... I have searched in Hidden & Protected OS files also....still no use...

What is the booting steps if Win XP is there with Windows 7, I mean what all files required and where it is stored?


Thank you very much for ur kind to help..

If EasyBCD is not doing what it should then something must be a little strange with your setup.

Since you do not see the boot files in the C: partition, copy them there yourself - Ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini.

EasyBCD should be able to modify the boot.ini file to make it work, like changing it to partition(2)rdisk(0) if your XP install in in D:

Did you change the BCD entry to C :\ ? All boot files have to be in an active partition.

Originally Posted by Saltgrass

If EasyBCD is not doing what it should then something must be a little strange with your setup.

Since you do not see the boot files in the C: partition, copy them there yourself - Ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini.

EasyBCD should be able to modify the boot.ini file to make it work, like changing it to partition(2)rdisk(0) if your XP install in in D:

Did you change the BCD entry to C :\ ? All boot files have to be in an active partition.

The problem solved.....I have manually copied NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and Boot.ini to C drive....Then changed the boot drive of Win XP to C drive and repaired boot using EasyBCD beta 2.0....done..

Thank you very much sir....You have done a gr8 job to me...Thank you....