Windows Quad boot system not starting XP

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by Shielder, 6 Jan 2010.

  1. Shielder

    Shielder Live long & prosper!

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    Yup, quad boot. XP, Vista, 7 and Fedora 12.

    I installed Fedora 12 onto my 320GB drive and got the system to boot from that drive (SATA-2) instead of the primary 200GB drive (SATA-0) which contains XP and 7.

    Vista resides on SATA-1 and is unaffected.

    I can boot into GRUB which gives me the option of booting Fedora or Windows.

    I choose Windows (Linux works) and am presented with the Windows boot loader screen with the three options, XP, Vista and 7.

    If I choose Vista or 7, all is okay, but if I choose XP, the system reboots in a second. No splash screen, no error, just a reboot.

    I've tried using the XP CD, but it requires SATA drivers (Q1: How do I burn a disk with the SATA drivers already on?) which the system says are corrupted, but which Vista and 7 can read ok.

    Now, all of my games are on the XP partition (the 200 GB disk is shared with 7), which was working after I installed Fedora, but which is not working now (7 is okay). My question really is this, what can I do to sort this out? Is there a way to fix the MBR from Vista or 7? I can't remember where GRUB points me to with the Windows boot loader, I'll have to check, it may be the Vista or 7 partition.

    Will I have to reinstall XP or just live with the system as it is? I may be able to install another hard drive and have XP on that...

    Any ideas?

    TIA

    Andy
     
  2. Jenny_Y8S

    Jenny_Y8S Guest

    Booting 3 different Windows? It's 2010, just migrate your files to 7 and be done with it!
     
  3. bestseany

    bestseany What's a Dremel?

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    You can use nLite to create a new XP CD with the correct SATA drivers preloaded.
     
  4. adam_bagpuss

    adam_bagpuss Have you tried turning it off/on ?

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    seems to me like an old XP install i.e one that pre-dates service pack 2.

    had this issue a while back.

    original XP discs dont like SATA controllers and basically crash everytime you try to boot.

    work around is to find a XP disc with service pack 2 or 3 and install from that.
     
  5. nightblade628

    nightblade628 Minimodder

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    Not trying to be judgemental or anything, but since Windows 7 is basically just Vista 2.0, why have both?
     
  6. Shielder

    Shielder Live long & prosper!

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    I know. Vista SP2 (aka Windows 7) was on offer before it was released so I preordered it. I wasn't going to install it but gave in to the temptation...

    Anyway, I've got XP SP2 but it still needs the SATA drivers. nlite looks good, can I run it from Vista or 7?

    Oh and Jenny, there are programs I use that don't run under 7 Home Premium.

    Andy
     

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