OS Freeze

Does that happen for each XP or just one?

Did you check the OSS settings for each entry and verify they are still correct?

It only happens on the two other HD OS's

Sorry to be thick,but what are OSS settings. The only OSS that I can understand are Open Sound Systems!

OSS = OS Selector

It sounds like the settings might be messed up. If you attach a copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file (instructions can be found here) I'll take a look at it.

Thanks MudCrab.
Drive C:\ is the only one with an active BOOTWIZ folder and I attach the bootwiz.oss file as per your guide.
Drives F:\ and G:\ are alsoshown but their BOOTWIZ folders are faded and contain one file only, namely context.oss

Are you sure you reinstalled OSS or did you just reactivate it?.

The BOOTWIZ.OSS file is showing that the only XP booting files are on the first drive's partition. Do you know for sure what drive letter was assigned to each of the other two XP's when they were booted? Was it C: or was it something else?

Are you using DD 11? If so, you could use DD to check that the correct drive letter is assigned to the Windows partition for the two other XP partitions.

For example:

1. Boot to the DD CD (or use DD in Windows).
2. Select the Disk layout link in the upper-right part of the window.
3. Select the Windows on one of the partitions that won't boot.
4. DD will display the drive letter assignments as they would be if that Windows were booted. Check if they are correct and change the assignments, if necessary.
5. Repeat 2-4 for the other partition.

I think I just reactivated it.
I have DD10, so I am upgrading it to DD11 right now and I will revert tomorrow after i sort out what you mean by your reply
Thanks.

It would be a good idea to create new backups of the partitions before upgrading to DD 11 (just in case you run into any problems).

Sorry, I missed your last post, but DD1 upgraded OK

I remember that the drive letter assigned to the Drive on the second HD was J:\

If I go to Disk Layout on DD11 the panel shows the three HD and one Storage HD. The OS information does not change when I select HD 1,2 or 3 The drive is still C:\. and the detected OS is still Windows XP SP3

However, I also note that the second drive is not active but the third drive is active, as, of course is HD1

If I selest HD2 and select 'change drive letter', the option is always J:\.- which confirms my recollection that the original drive letter was J:\

Do I make HD2 active? (HD3 already is)

It shouldn't matter if the partition is Active or not since it's not booting from it. However, it won't hurt to make it Active.

Set the drive letter for the Windows partition to what it should be when that system is booted. If, when booted to XP on the second drive, the Windows partition was assigned J:, it should be set to J:. Then see if it will boot.

Did that. No difference.

I'll fiddle more tomorrow.
Thanks MudCrab

Can you post a screenshot of what each shows? Maybe something will stand out as wrong.

Herewith
DD11 a Opening DD screen
DD11 b Disc layout screen, HD2 selected
DD11 c My Computer Screen

Are these sufficient?

As I installed the two extra HD via HD1 the OS redistributed the nomenclature of the various HD's that it recognised and by the time I had installed HD3 and monted the OS, the letters were all over the place. Ordinarily, I don't have a need to change the allocated letter system so I leave well alone. (Been there, done that- spaggetti!- leave well alone!)

Screenshot "b" shows that DD is only seeing one XP installation. This is why you're thinking the drive letters are all the same. There should be three XP's listed in the Detected OSs list.

Just so it's for sure clear, the drive letters I'm talking about are those of the Windows partition for each booted system when they were working correctly:
When you booted to Main, the Main partition = C:
When you booted to Samsung Media, the Samsung Media partition = ?:
When you booted to WDC Flight Sims, the WDC Flight Sims partition = ?:

The the setup you have (using the standard Windows multi-boot), the drive letters of the second and third drives would not be C: when booted. They might also not be what they are when Main is booted. They depend on what Windows saw when the system was installed/setup. Do you remember what these were?

These can be checked manually by loading the registry of the non-working system. Instructions can be provided if you want to try that.

Yes, I do remember that the drive letters were not the same, but I would be grateful if you would send me instructions as to how I might gain access to that information.

Follow the instructions below for each partition that doesn't boot. Make sure to use the correct drive letters per what your system shows. This example assumes that F: and G: are the problem partitions (as per your screenshot).

Find out the MountedDevices value for F: when booted to MAIN (F: is the Samsung Media partition):

1. Boot into the "MAIN" Windows system.
2. Run Regedit.
3. Browse to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
4. This will list your drive letter assignments (shown as \DosDevices\C:, for example).
5. Look at the data assigned to F:. You may want to write it down or take a screenshot for easy reference.

Load the Samsung Media System Registry hive and check the drive assignment of the Samsung Media partition:

1. Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key to select it.
2. Click on the File menu and select Load Hive...
3. Select the Samsung Media (F:) partition.
4. Browse to the F:\Windows\System32\config folder.
5. Select the system file and click the Open button.
6. A box will come up asking for the Key Name.
7. Type in SamsungMedia_System and click the Ok button. Note: The name you use here isn't important. You could use XPfix or something like that if you want (then use XPfix in the remainder of the instructions).
8. You should now see the SamsungMedia_System entry added to your local registry under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.
9. Browse to the MountedDevices under the SamsungMedia_System entry. (It should be SamsungMedia_System\MountedDevices.) 
10. You should see the list of drive letter assignments as seen by the Samsung Media XP system. Scan through the list of drive letter assignments and find the data that matches what you found for F: above. If the drive letter is incorrect for the Samsung Media system, change the drive letter to be correct. If the drive letter needed is currently assigned to another drive, give the other drive a different letter (you don't want duplicates).
11. When finished, unload the Hive by clicking on SamsungMedia_System to highlight it, selecting the File menu, and then selecting Unload Hive... Finally, click Yes.

Repeat the procedures above for the G: drive (WDC Flight Sims system). Then see if you can boot into them.

---

If you can't remember what the drive letter is for the other system, (for example, what the Samsung Media partition should be assigned when it's booted to that system), look in the mounted hive (SamsungMedia_System, for example) and browse (or search) it for a \Windows reference with the drive letter. An example might be: SamsungMedia_System\ControlSet001\Control\Print\Printers and the DefaultSpoolDirectory value. Basically, you're just looking for anything that indicates what the original \Windows drive letter was.

Bit of a cock up in the Registry biz.
My fault.
Will have to follow it again in peace and quiet, but computer now running very slow.
I'll also have a look at the memory terminals and revert when I can report something sensible.
Thank you for your patience.

What does the System Recovery app do in DD11? I'll also try that. I haven't seen it before. Was it inDD10?

I followed your instructions and I attach a spread sheet showing the results which are confusing.
A) After one of my frequent re-starts I found that the drive letter to HD2 had changed to J:| but it wouldn't boot into J:\
B) Where did O:\ come from?

System Recovery just provided weird Files labelled FAT32 which I havn't used for donkeys. So wtf.

It definately does not look correct from what I can see. Can you post the MountedDevices screenshots of the Registry for each partition so I can look at them? One for MountedDevices in MAIN, one for MountedDevices in Samsung Media, and one for MountedDevices in WDC Flight Sims.

I just need the part with the drive letter assignments for hard drives (see area marked on screenshot). You can leave out all the \??\... lines and you don't need to include the really long data values (it's okay if they get cropped).

Also, can you provide screenshots of the Samsung Media and WDC Flight Sims registry entries for the original Windows drive letter assignment? As described at the bottom of post #15, browse to a key in each mounted registry and find several with X:\Windows\... in them (where "X" is the original drive letter).

If it helps, this old post has a screenshot showing a mounted hive.

It now looks worse. Drive G Flight Sims produced no hive apart from the header as you can see.

However, herewith.

I don't know why the Flight Sims system hive would be gone. I assume it was there before. Do you have a backup of that partition?

For the SamsungMedia hive, load it and select the SAMSUNGMEDIA_SYSTEM key (so it's highlighted), then select Edit >> Find and search for "\Windows" (without the quotes). Make sure to check the current key shown in the bottom status bar to verify that you're in the SamsungMedia hive. What drive letter shows up for [driveletter]\Windows? You can press F3 to find again and check several entries.

Sorry about delay in responding. but problems with Windows is like an endless game of Trivial Pursuit with Bill Gates!
Will revert with appropriate info or obituary
Whatever!

Thanks for your patience.