Windows 7 Dual boot guide?

You're on the right track. What I usually recommend is this:

1. Boot to the DD CD.
2. Hide the XP partition.
3. Set the partition for the new Windows 7 installation as Active.
4. Make sure to Commit the changes.
5. Boot to the Windows 7 DVD.
6. Start the install. Make sure to select the correct partition (the hidden one will most likely be displayed too). Then do a format of the selected partition. DD (especially version 10) doesn't always create a format Windows likes.
7. Continue with the install.

To switch between them without using a boot manager, boot to the DD CD and change the Active partition. You can also hide the other Windows partition if you wish.

Using that procedure did work and I was able to successfully install Win7, thank you. However now when I attempt to run WinXP, after it initially boots, but before it loads to the desktop, I get the error 'autochk missing' and a blue screen of death with this error.

Stop: c000021a {fatal system error}
The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a staus of 0xc000003a (0x00000000, 0x00000000). The system has been shut down.

So far I have tried:
- to reach the recovery console by booting from the XP cd. It won't allow me to attempt a repair install since it doesn't recognize the volume type (it's listead as OS/2 in the partition list according to XP). I cannot reach a command prompt.
- tried to reach a command prompt via F8 but recovery console isn't already installed and it bluescreens before it can load in safe mode
- tried copying csrss.exe, winlogon.exe and msgina.dll to windows/system32 from a prior backup
- tried uninstalling oss
-tried forcing partitions to hide in the advanced settings of OSS. It didn't work but maybe that combined with a revised boot.ini? but if this was the solution I would have expected it to work when I first uninstalled oss?

I would like to try some of the ideas here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156669

However I cannot seem to reach a working command prompt in the XP side of things. I tried to run a diskchk from Win7 but it wasn't successful.

That problem can be caused by OSS setting the booting partition (in this case for XP) as Active (which is correct) and Hidden (which is not correct). The Hidden attribute should be removed. You probably don't need to do any of the "fixing" methods.

If you post a copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file I can check it for you or you can edit it yourself.

Thanks, here is my OSS file. I took a look at it but it is beyond me. Also, after some untutored meddling I deleted the OSS partition and now windows 7 and windows XP are both unbootable. Will editing the OSS restore one or the other?

Can you be more specific on what you deleted? If you actually deleted the OSS partition then you would need to reinstall it before anything could be fixed as far as the BOOTWIZ.OSS file goes.

What happens when you try to boot into Windows 7 or Windows XP? Do you still get the OSS menu?

Actually I just read the guide on your website and I think I understand what needs to be edited in the bootwiz.oss. I wish I hadn't removed OSS though, as I've made things more difficult for myself?

In a few other posts you mention that you can add OSS to a DD bootable media, but I don't see it in my list of options. Does it have to be a Windows PE type to add OSS to the disc?

edit - to answer your questions. When I try to boot into Win7 I get

Bootmgr is missing
press ctrl alt del to restart

I have no OSS screen/dialog and so no method to boot into XP.

What I did was uninstall OSS from within win7, then deleted the 100MB partition that held the boot manager for OSS using DD.

When you create the standard DD CD you can select which programs to include. You need to make sure to include the OSS programs. I think the OSS programs are also on the DD ISO you can download from your Acronis account.

You could try reinstalling OSS and see if it picks up both Windows.

For getting into Windows 7, is the correct partition set Active? The error you're getting usually means the Windows 7 booting partition isn't Active. You could boot to the DD CD and check.

Actually, you may have deleted the System Reserved partition which boots Windows 7. If that's the case you will need to do a boot repair from the Windows 7 DVD or Repair Disc first (may take several runs since it won't fix everything in one run).

Interesting that it might take several attempts to repair win7, however after one attempt I get a message that it can't be repaired automatically. Something about a missing bootmanager.

I am sure that the win7 partition is set active, at least according to DD. In Win7 recovery the drive is renamed to X:, and I can't view the xp partition.

I think my best best bet is to reinstall OSS, but I still don't see how to create a bootable OSS disc. the programs I can choose to install from DD's bootable media builder are - TI Home, System Report, and DD. Booting from DD doesn't seem to offer the option of installing OSS?

I will check my install iso.

You can't always go by what it says can and can't be repaired -- the program is not that smart. Just try running the program manually if it doesn't run automatically. It can completely restore booting when the booting files are lost. Here's a link to a post with the basic instructions.

When booted to WinRE the X: drive is not the Windows 7 partition. X: is the RAM drive with WinRE. C: should be assigned to the Active partition, which should be your Windows 7 partition. If it's not, fix that first since the repair program will not change the Active partition as part of fixing the booting problem.

The choice of installing OSS won't be on the DD CD unless it was included when the CD was created. Otherwise, use the downloaded ISO version.

Ok, two steps forward and one step back.

I downloaded the bootable media for DD from my account, created a disc and it does have the OSS setup. I believe this must be the only way to install OSS outside of an OS environment.
I was able to set the XP partition to visible and Win7 to hidden and now XP was able to find autochk. It made some adjustments and booted into XP. Yay!

However, you were correct that I had deleted the win7 system reserved partition, and so OSS doesn't detect the win7 install.

I couldn't use win7 to repair the system using only the install disc, as Windows doesn't recognize the partition. It isn't a matter of not trusting the program, it just gives you no usable options.

I was thinking about following GregRocker's advice in this thread. http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-restore/163462-accidentally-deleted-s… and using the win7 disc to reinstall the reserved partition.

I wanted to thank you for your time. Do you have a donate button on your site?

The instructions I link to in Post #11 should work. I've done it many times. Are you sure the Windows 7 partition is Active and not hidden and that the other Windows partition is hidden when you boot to the Windows 7 DVD?

In any case, you just need to get the booting files placed on the Windows 7 partition or recreate the System Reserved partition. OSS should then pick it up okay.

Ok, those instructions worked to restore the win7 partition. It seems like all is well in the world, but now when I restart or attempt to use OSS to switch OS I get this message:

'non-system disk or disk error' and then the system can boot directly into the OS that is set to active (currently win7).

You may need to reactivate OSS.

Yes, that did it. I have a dual boot system.

Thanks very much for your help.