WinXP logic partition is not more seen as bootable after reinstalling OSS
Hi!
I have a multi boot system with 2 Windows 7 and 1 Windows XP as primary bootable partitions, 1 bootable (at least it booted fine until I reinstalled ADD11) Windows XP in logic partition, 1 Ubuntu 10.10 bootable logic partition , 2 logic data partitions, 1 small Linux logic swap partition, and finally 1GB logic partition for AOSS, all in the same hard disk.
Suddenly my OSS started complaining that the trial version was expired, though I had a full version.. So I uninstalled it, upgraded the version to 11.0.2121 and installed again.. the problem is that it does not detect any OS inside the logic Windows XP partition more, though the previous version of OSS could boot it very well..
I read something that it is possible to add it manually, but I don't know how to do that!
I can boot from the other OSes browsing that partition as a data partition, so if I have to edit something I can do that..
May anybody be so kind to explain me how to make that partition boot again?
Thank you very much in advance!
Stefano B.
Thank you very much for Your quick answer!
Well I am not sure, but bootable partitions were hidden to each other.. I dunno if OSS is able of reading the booting files from another partition when this is hidden to the partition that is about to boot..
Can I check manually if the booting files are still there? Can I put them in the right place again if they are not more there?
Thank you again!
The files were probably lost when OSS was uninstalled.
Does the XP Logical partition contain a boot.ini file and the ntldr file? These files may be hidden.
Was XP Logical already installed when you installed the original OSS from DD 11?
The entry can probably be added manually if it comes to that.
Yup they are in the root folder, and also in BOOTWIZ\CHEKFILE folder.
I don't remember exactly, I think I installed that windows in a primary partition, having made hidden the other partitions before (so it didn't do a mess mixing boot files of various windows versions) and then moved it in a logical partition..
Anyway I remember I had to use Windows 7 CD for recovering one of them .. I dunno if that screwed up everything .. Anyway at the end I could boot all partitions fine, hiding one from the other through OSS..
To be honest I got ADD only because it stated to be able of booting Windows also from logical partitions..
Does the OSS OS Detection Wizard find Windows on the Logical partition?
Another user posted this about getting OSS to find Windows on a Logical partition. I wonder if something similar would work for you (probably starting at step 10).
If you can't get OSS to find it, attach the BOOTWIZ.OSS file to a post and I'll take a look at it. Please also attach a screenshot of what DD shows for the drives and indicate the correct Logical partition.
Hi!
No, though in the "Boot Partition Selection" I mark that partition as bootable and not hidden, then it comes with the following message: "No new operating system is found in specified partition. Try to change boot partition or boot sector file name."
I also tried to use "Detect OS in MBR, and then selecting the boot files manually (choosing ntldr or boot.ini) in that partition, without success!
I read the other thread before posting a new one.. that user simply installed all the boot files of various OSes in the first partition, and this is what I want to avoid.. that's why I created a little partition for storing OSS at first. I wanna be free of formatting every partition without losing the possibility of booting the others!
I also tried to use EasyBCD and Win7 BCD utility for recovery partitions when installing the various Oses, but again I don't like having one Windows controlling the boot of all others, that's why I chose OSS..
I attached the required files; bootwiz.oss looks interesting, I'll try to work with it too..
The parttion I can't boot is the one labeled "WinXP-Games".
Note that in the OSS list I deleted my Ubuntu, as I want it to appear after the other Windows XP system that I can't make boot now, I'll make OSS add it again at the end!
Thank you again!
Ok it was very easy to edit bootwiz.oss and I've already managed to make it work with the logical partition :)
Can You explain me what the following field means: bootname="bootsect.sys" ? I've just copied it from the other OS entry
I also wish to know what the "checkfiles" sections means.
I attach my new bootwiz.oss so that other users with my same problem may learn by comparing the 2 different versions :)
Thank You again!
Manually adding XP, Vista, and Windows 7 guides on on my website. It is a fairly simple process.
When OSS creates an entry, it saves the boot sector code in the bootsect.sys file. This file won't exist for a manually added OS. It has never seemed to be a problem, however you can select the option for OSS to not write the boot sector if you want (it looks like it's already disabled in your file).
OSS will "tag" certain files and check them for changes. If changes are detected, OSS is supposed to update the files it uses (at least, this is my understanding). I never got this feature to work correctly. OSS will usually retain its copies of these files and force you to manually edit them if that's required.
Thank you very much! Everything works fine now and I have learnt how to edit bootwiz.oss manually.
I just wonder why the wizard fails to detect the OS while inserting the entry manually works..
I thought ntldr was not found in the boot sector of the partition making the wizard think there was not a valid OS to boot (though it was in the main folder).. Instead OSS with that entry added manually, can boot the system fine.. maybe at boot time ntldr is not only searched in the boot sector, but through NTFS FAT?.. or maybe the boot program of OSS embeds its own ntldr?
Anyway everything works fine :)
Thank you again!
Best Regards!
Stefano B.