Editing Boot.ini.....

[Howski]

Hi,
Right I have a bit of an odd setup here and need to add a OS to my boot.ini that went missing during a Windows install. As it stands I have 3 operating systems on my rig:

Windows XP for general use
Windows XP for Gaming (STTBE)
Windows XP 64bit for testing.

I want to upgrade to Vista and I have to go the upgrade route so 64bit ed is on the chopping block but M$ bring M$ I have to actually launch the Vista upgrade while loaded in the OS. So I just want to check that I have edited boot.ini right, here is what the new version will look like:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Gaming" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP 64" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Here is the layout of my HDD

Cheers and sorry for the long post.
-How.

 

[marc2003]

don't touch a thing. if all 3 os'es are working now, just launch vista setup and that will take care of it. vista doesn't even use boot.ini - it has it's own different bootloader. but it will recognise your other installs and give you a menu on boot.

 

[Howski]

Yea but its an upgrade version which (stupidly) has to be launched within the OS you are gonna upgrade, hence why I have to get into win 64 and its currently missing from boot.ini - thats why I edited it. I just need to check thats how the boot.ini should look before I save the changes.
-How.

 

[marc2003]

well just try it. you haven't modified anything that boots your normal windows xp so it should be safe.

and how did you install xp x64 but it's not in the boot.ini? (i know nowt about 64bit os setups )

also i've read you could infact bypass the xp64 upgrade altogether. instead you can do a clean install from your upgrade vista dvd. do not enter your product key during setup. then when vista is installed, you can run vista setup again and now enter your product key. means you have install vista on top of it's self but i'd say it's cleaner than going over xp64.

 

[Howski]

well just try it. you haven't modified anything that boots your normal windows xp so it should be safe.

and how did you install xp x64 but it's not in the boot.ini? (i know nowt about 64bit os setups )

I'll give it a go. If my PC no longer boots or something you owe me a new one ok
I've no idea how the 64 bit ed went missing the only thing I can think of is that it was not recognised when I did a reinstall of the normal XP.

also i've read you could infact bypass the xp64 upgrade altogether. instead you can do a clean install from your upgrade vista dvd. do not enter your product key during setup. then when vista is installed, you can run vista setup again and now enter your product key. means you have install vista on top of it's self but i'd say it's cleaner than going over xp64.

It never allowed me to get that far, it stopped before it would install and asked me to launch it in the OS it would replace. Unless you mean get a media only version of Vista from a dodgy source and then put the legit version over?
-How.

 

[marc2003]

I'll give it a go. If my PC no longer boots or something you owe me a new one ok

my disclaimer....

well just try it. you haven't modified anything that boots your normal windows xp so it should be safe.

so long as you haven't touched the default install bit, it should be ok.

something else to try, you could boot from xp64, choose the recovery console and automatically fix the boot.ini - these 2 commands do it in xp32....

fixboot
fixmbr

you might want to verify xp64 is the same method first - it probably is??