[JeffGranger]

Like may others my situation is as follows:

My old XP PC died.
I bought a new Vista PC.
I removed the old SATA drive from my XP machine and installed it as a second drive in my Vista PC.
I need to boot into the XP drive in order to recover some encrypted files.

I installed VistaBoot, and filled in the drive letter for the XP drive.
I now get the option to boot into the XP drive, but when I select this I get an XP splash screen but then Vista fires up.

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {17646b51-db3c-11dc-b3a3-0018716eb820}
displayorder {current}
{ntldr}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 10

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {17646b51-db3c-11dc-b3a3-0018716eb820}
nx OptIn

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=F:
path \ntldr
description Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3

Is there something else I need to change or do?

Jeff

[JeffGranger]

Moving forward slightly..

I spotted the Dual Boot Trouble Shooting Guide and folled the instructions.

I copied ntldr, NTDETECT and boot.ini from my XP disk to the Vista disk.

I went to the bootloader screen and selected Windows Bootloader > All Drives > Force Install

Rebooted.

Now get Three Options
1. Vista
2. XP
3. Windows Recovery Console

If I choose XP, I get an XP spash screen, then a blue screen and the system restarts. (I've tried Boot to safe mode - that just loads up some files and then hangs. It may be that the problem with my old PC damaged the Windows XP install ?).

If I choose Windows Recovery Console (I'm assuming this is in the recovery partition on the XP disk, but I could be wrong) I get the instructions:

1. Insert Windows Installation Disk
2. Choose your language settings.
3. Repair your computer.

File: \CMLDR
Status: OxcOOOOOOf

Error: the selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

I'm concerned that if I procede I could wreck my Vista intsall on Disk 0.

Anyone got any suggestions as to how to move forward?

Jeff

[shreader]

I would assume that you old XP rig was configured different than the new one (hardware/ drivers/etc) & the XP install from the old rig will not run on the new rig.

You may have to access (if you can) the encrypted filed from the Vista setup & copy them over to Vista or a storage partition if you have one.

[JeffGranger]

I can access and copy the encrypted files OK, The problem is that I can't open them! And they would be the important files, which is why I encrypted them in the first place. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

My plan was to boot XP on the old drive which should allow me to open and change the encrypted files, then de-crypt the files (is de-crypt a real word?).

After that I should be able to access them from Vista.

Jeff

[Grav!ty]

Jeff, if you run a repair install of XP, you should be able to boot to it. No files, programs or drivers will be affected or lost, but you will need to reinstall all XP Windows Updates.

You will also lose the ability to boot to Windows Vista but that can be fixed fairly easily following this procedure: Reformatted and Reinstalled XP: Lost Boot to Vista. It's not quite what you are doing but the process to recover a dual boot is the similar.

[JabbaPapa]

Jeff, if you run a repair install of XP, you should be able to boot to it. No files, programs or drivers will be affected or lost, but you will need to reinstall all XP Windows Updates.

You will also lose the ability to boot to Windows Vista but that can be fixed fairly easily following this procedure: Reformatted and Reinstalled XP: Lost Boot to Vista. It's not quite what you are doing but the process to recover a dual boot is the similar.

Please note BTW, that if you get your old XP setup working, that this should be a temporary state of affairs only.

Should you wish to keep a Vista/XP dual boot environment on that machine, you would be well advised, once you have finished your data recovery and backup operations, to clean install XP.

This is because the XP setup software configures Windows for the hardware it is being installed on, and the existing configuration is therefore bad, which the repair install wisely suggested by Graham will only partially correct.

[JeffGranger]

So I set about running a repair on XP which is on my "old HDD".

I fire up the machine and hit Esc to get the boot menu.
I select the Old HDD and I can hear it whirring so I've got the right one.

I get the option to go to Windows XP or Windows Recovery Console and select the latter.

I'm now presented with three options

1. D:\Windows
2. G:\MININT
3. C:\WINDOWS

No idea which to choose so try each in turn

Choose 3.... Type in Administrator Password. Hit return
get a C:\WINDOWS prompt. DIR shows 26 files

Choose 2.... Type in Administrator Password. Hit return
get a G:\MININT prompt. DIR shows 15 files

Choose 1... Type in Administrator Password. Hit return
Incorrect Password.
Try my regular Windows Administrator Log In Password
Incorrect Password

No idea what password it wants.

There's no password on the BIOS. The Only password on the system is the Windows log in.

Is that what it is asking for?

Any ideas why it wouldn't work.

I've also tried booting to an XP installation CD. This doesn't work because the HP stuff comes back with Your operating system CD was not part of Restore Plus! Insert the Restore Plus! CD and press Enter.

(Bearing in mind that this install of windows was not done on this machine).

If I do boot from the Restore Plus! CD I get told that it is about to reformat my disc...which is not what I want.

All suggestions gratefully received!

Jeff