Anilrgowda

Question: Hello Experts,
I have two hard drives in my PC. One running Windows Media Center and the other running Vista Ultimate.
I had to do a repair on Windows Media Center using the Operating disc. When it was done I no longer had to option to boot from Vista anymore. I can still access the drive though Windows Media but the boot path to Vista is gone. Probably lost when I did the repair. I have searched for the boot.ini in hopes to rebuild the boot path but Vista doesnt seem to have it.
Any ideas how I can restore this boot path and boot options?

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Anilrgowda

If you are dual booting Windows XP and Windows Vista on your computer and due to problems are forced to repair or reinstall the XP partition, you may run into the problem described in this Microsoft article:
This MSKB article explains the problem:

Windows Vista no longer starts after you install an earlier version of the Windows operating system in a dual-boot configuration
Windows Vista no longer starts after you install an earlier version of the Windows operating system in a dual-boot configuration

The problem is that Windows Vista no longer uses the old boot loader used by Windows XP. When you reinstall XP, Setup overwrites everything from the MBR (the Master Boot Record), the boot sector, and the boot files, and thus loses communication with the installation of Vista, so you will only be able to boot into XP.

Windows Vista uses a new Boot Configuration Database (BCD.) This contains a boot menu and information about all operating systems installed on the computer. In XP, the BIOS loads the Master Boot Record, which contains the partition table and some boot execution code that searches the partition table to find which partition is active and then passes control to its boot sector. That boot sector loads a hidden file called NTLDR, which looks at the Boot.ini file to find which operating systems are installed. But Vista, after the MBR and boot sector are loaded, then executes a boot manager called Bootmgr.exe that is hidden in the \Boot folder. Bootmgr will look at the BCD file in order to determine what operating systems are present on your computer.

The article above gives information on how to use a program called BcdEdit to restore operation of both versions of Windows that you are using. It also gives instructions on the correct way to install a dual boot system, and how to remove Windows Vista from a dual booting system.

This web page gives more information on the Vista boot loader and the BcdEdit utility:

Info on Vista's New Boot Loader - Windows BBS
Info on Vista's New Boot Loader

If BcdEdit seems a bit too complicated to use, you can try this free utility, called VistaBootPro:

VistaBootPRO - Go PRO with Microsoft Windows Vista Boot Manager

Install it in XP and run it to restore your dual boot.

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