Noob needs help

I am running Vista Sp1.
I want to install the OS selector so i could add Xp and W2k Pro.

What is the proper procedure?

 

Are you planning on hiding the OS partitions from each other? (Hopefully, you are.)

Do you have a current backup image of your hard drive?

Will all the installations be on the same hard drive (the booting drive)?

Is your Vista installation from a Microsoft OEM or Retail Vista DVD or is it a "brand-name" (Dell, HP, etc.) installation?

Have you installed OSS to see if it works properly on your computer?

When you boot from the DD CD and start DD in Full or Safe Mode, does it see your drive(s) correctly?

 

Are you planning on hiding the OS partitions from each other? (Hopefully, you are.)
yes


Do you have a current backup image of your hard drive?
yes


Will all the installations be on the same hard drive (the booting drive)?
same drive


Is your Vista installation from a Microsoft OEM or Retail Vista DVD or is it a "brand-name" (Dell, HP, etc.) installation?
either Microsoft OEM or Retail Vista DVD not really sure


Have you installed OSS to see if it works properly on your computer?
no


When you boot from the DD CD and start DD in Full or Safe Mode, does it see your drive(s) correctly?
Yes

 

You would first need to install OSS and make sure it works okay with your system. Once that's done, you can proceed with installing the other operating systems one at a time.

You can take a look at this thread: Second Partition Active. It deals with installing Vista, but the steps for a manual install are the same for any OS.

Be aware that with Windows 2000, you have the choice of using the Force Hiding of partitions option or you can unassign drive letters to the XP and Vista partitions. Force hiding may or may not work.

If you have any questions or problems, post back.

 

I followed your instructions above, however i had Vista already installed and wanted to add W2K PRO.

It does not work.

I can boot to Vista but now W2k Pro.

 

You'll need to be more specific than It does not work. The instructions in the referenced thread were (for you) just general in regards to installing another OS, not that you needed to install or reinstall Vista.

Can you post a screenshot of what Vista's Disk Management shows?

Did you install Windows 2000 before installing OSS or afterwards?

If OSS is currently installed, what happens if you deactivate OSS (don't uninstall), use DD to hide the Vista partition and set the Windows 2000 partition Active and try to boot?

Did you use the Force hiding option of OSS or just the normal hide option?

If Windows 2000 did boot okay after installation and doesn't after reactivating (or installing) OSS, can you please post a copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file? (Instructions can be found here.)

 

You are right. I should have been more descriptive.
I was impatient and got frustrated so i deleted it all.


But I decided to try again and this is what I did today:

Using True image i created a current BU of my existing Vista OS.
I then Wiped the drive and reformatted it.
Then i installed a clean new copy of Windows 2000 pro.
Using True image i created a current BU of the NEW W2k pro OS.
I then Wiped the drive and reformatted it.
then i installed a clean new copy of Vista.
Using True image i created a current BU of the NEW Vista OS.
I then Wiped the drive and reformatted it.

Booting to DD I created two primary partitions.
Using TI I restored a copy of each of the new OS to each Partition.
Vista 1st then W2K pro.
I then installed OSS from the DVD and rebooted.

WOW it worked!
Kinda, two issues.
1] When selecting the os to boot to or to rename the OS the PC is VERY unresponsive, I Right click on the OS wait 10 seconds then the options box appears. I Choose rename and wait 10 seconds for the prompt to appear, i retype the new name and hit enter and yes 10 seconds later it applies the change.....

and

2] Then I uninstalled the OSS and added a third partition then restored to it my original OS. So I know have 3 partitions 1] NEW VISA 2] NEW W2K PRO 3] OLD VISTA.

I Reinstalled the OSS and I can enter W2K PRO just fine, however whichever VISTA I choose always takes me to the NEW VISTA!

And yes the type - action delay is still about 10 seconds.

Any Ideas?

 

Thank you for you more detailed post. I can certainly understand your frustration.

It's good you took the time to create the backup images of your OS partitions. That saves a lot of time while trying to get the system setup.

---

For the delay in the mouse and keyboard, I'm not sure exactly what causes that problem. If you have a USB mouse and/or keyboard, you could check the BIOS and see if the "Legacy USB" option is turned on. If it's not turned on, try it enabled. If it's on, try it disabled.

Also, note that if you install OSS in at least one of your Windows installations, you can make changes from inside Windows. If you can't stand working with OSS due to delays that can't be fixed, you can do most of what is required in Windows. You can also set a default booting OS and time-out value so that you wouldn't even have to use the keyboard or mouse at all if you usually boot into one OS.

---

In Step 2 of your post, I would have deactivated OSS instead of uninstalling it. When you deactivate OSS, it just removes itself from the booting process but keeps all the configured OS files. When it's reactivated, it then remembers all the "old" OS installations and adds the new one. By uninstalling it, I think it got confused and mixed up your Vista partitions. This problem is probably fixable or you can repeat your procedure and try it again.

The problem might also have been caused by TI (what version and build are you using?). You could try hiding the other two partitions prior to restoring the final Vista image and see if it makes a difference. Make sure to unhide the partitions before reactivating or reinstalling OSS.

---

If you want me to look at the BOOTWIZ.OSS file and check for errors, please attach it to a post (instructions are linked in Post #6).

 

In bios the legacy feature was enabled. By disabling it i can no longer use my keyboard or mouse in the OSS screen at all.

TI 10, current build is what i am using.


Here is the bootwiz.oss:

 

Can you please attach the BOOTWIZ.OSS file as a text file? It's killer to read through this way.

TI 10 explains the most likely reason why you're having problems (it scambles the partition table when it restores). There are ways around this by restoring the partitions in the correct order. Another option... Do you have TI 9 build 3,677? If so, does it work okay on your computer? (TI 9, build 3,677 doesn't scramble the partition table.)

 

I do not have T9.
And i was wrong, I used TI 11....

 

TI 11 doesn't scramble the partition table so that shouldn't be a problem.

I think that TI 11 may be changing the BCD partition values to point to the wrong partition. I don't see anything wrong with the Vista entries in the BOOTWIZ.OSS file.

To check the BCD partition settings, boot normally into the first Vista partition. Start a Command Prompt in Administrator Mode and run the following command (<ENTER> means to press the ENTER key):

Code:

bcdedit <ENTER>

Note the following values:
{bootmgr} device
{default} device
{default} osdevice

Now, check the BCD values for the "old" Vista partition. I don't know what the drive letter is so I'll use E: in this example. You use the assigned letter.

Code:

bcdedit /store e:\boot\bcd <ENTER>

Note the values as above. Are they the same or different?

If this is the problem, it should be easy to fix.

If the settings are correct, the booted Vista (partition 1) should have partition=C: values and the other Vista (partition 3) should have partition=E: values.

If the settings in both are partition=C:, then that would explain why both are booting the same Vista partition.

To fix the problem, you can change the values to boot or to the correct drive letter. For example:

Code:

bcdedit /store e:\boot\bcd /set {bootmgr} device partition=E: <ENTER>
bcdedit /store e:\boot\bcd /set {default} device partition=E: <ENTER>
bcdedit /store e:\boot\bcd /set {default} osdevice partition=E: <ENTER>

If you would like to see some sample outputs from bcdedit, you can take a look at this thread.

---

Another option would be to try doing the restores over, but this time make sure to hide the other OS partitions. Also, don't uninstall OSS. Instead, deactivate it before the restore and then reactivate it after the OS partition restore.

 

I saw no issues with the BCD.
Except 1 line "resumeobject" that seems to be missing.
I deleted the drive and wiped it.
Reinstalled 1 OS at a time while hiding the others.
Then I installed OSS [Same process when I did the 2]

I can boot to only 1 Vista or the W2k Pro.

Here is the BCD reports for you to look at.

 

If you deactivate OSS and then use DD to set the OS partition you want to boot as Active and the other OS partitions as Hidden, do they boot correctly?

 

No I get :
invalid operating system

 

That is an MBR error message.

Can you boot to the Vista DVD, enter the Repair mode (cancel any auto-repair attempts), start the Command Prompt and reset the MBR?

Code:

bootrec /FixMbr <ENTER>

Can you now boot between the operating systems by changing the Active partition?

 

Sorry I took so long to answer, been traveling.

I booted to the Vista DVD and did as you asked.
When I rebooted it no longer saw the OSS and went directly to W2K.
I rebooted to Acronis and re-activated the OSS.
Now I see three options but still can only got to one VIsta instalation, same as before.

 

Can you re-post the BOOTWIZ.OSS file?

 

OK.
Here it is.
Thanks

 

There is no file attached to your post.