Cant boot into windows 7

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phaisal

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hi,
i just bought a new hard drive and install it in my pc. i then install windows xp in it. but in another hard drive i already have windows 7 installed. now i can boot into this hard drive but cant boot into the one with windows 7. there is this error:
windows could not start because the following file is corrupt or missing:
<windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
please re-install a copy ofthe above file.

my windows 7 is ultimate 64-bit
my windows xp is professional 32b-it

note: these 2 windows are installed on 2 different hard drives and before i installed windows xp in the new drive i could boot into windows 7 with the new drive installed. so thew problem occurs after i installed windows xp in the new drive. the boot.ini file of windows 7 shows this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

dont know if its relevant but want to give as much of information as i can. i access this file through windows xp so the old hard drive is not bad either.

thank you and hope to hear from you guys soon.
 
Solution
There shouldn't be a boot.ini in Windows 7. By installing the older OS after the newer one you have overwritten the boot loader with one that doesn't understand Windows 7.

Do a repair install using your Windows 7 install disk; this will reinstate the Windows 7 boot loader and should alsoe recognize the XP installation.

When installing OSes always install the older one first.
There shouldn't be a boot.ini in Windows 7. By installing the older OS after the newer one you have overwritten the boot loader with one that doesn't understand Windows 7.

Do a repair install using your Windows 7 install disk; this will reinstate the Windows 7 boot loader and should alsoe recognize the XP installation.

When installing OSes always install the older one first.
 
Solution

Not to contradict ijack's suggestion but if you can start the W7 installation by telling BIOS to boot from the second drive, you could check all boot devices in msconfig and possibly add XP to the mix. If that fails, use the W7 DVD to get to Command Prompt and use the bootrec options. Start with bootrec /? to get help with other commands. You might need "rebuild".

 
Hello phaisal;

The WinXP install has used the WinXP bootloader to replace the Win7 bootloader.
Use your Win7 install disk to do a 'repair' and you should get the Win7 bootloader and Win7/WinXP boot menu back.

Other methods of getting the Win7 Bootloader back.
TechNet: Repair the MBR to restore Windows 7 to your Multiboot Options
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee851681.aspx

How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html
-> METHOD TWO: When Windows 7 is Installed First. Look for Step 8. Run EasyBCD.
EasyBCD download here: http://download.cnet.com/EasyBCD/3000-2094_4-10556865.html
 

phaisal

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thank you all for the suggestions.
i will have to admit that all the above suggestions are very informative and good but i couldnt follow them since my knowledge in computing isnt that good. so i took the easy way out by removing all hdds from the mainboard and leave only the windows 7 one inside and do a complete reformat and then hook up the rest of my hdds.
now i want to know if i boot into the hdd that contain my windows xp would the same thing happen again. i am scared and didnt try it yet.
by the way now my windows 7 is working fine.
thank you.
 

phaisal

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thank you.
but could you confirm it? i dont want to have to go through all the trouble of installing it again.
would really appreatiate it if you can confirm.
 

phaisal

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thank you.
i never really knew about installing old windows before the new ones.
 



Nothing comes with cast-iron guarantees but part of the installation process will be for you to specify which disk and Partition you want to install XP on to. So long as you choose eth right Partition, you can't overwrite W7 and it's superior boot manager should adjust to it. If it doesn't, there are commands you can write to alter it manually, as I posted above.

 

RudyBritt17

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Hi,

I submitted a problem similar to yours on Tom's Hardware Forum on the 30/6/2011. Having read some advice about unplugging all USB's, I decide to go hole hog and unplug everything except the mouse usb, keyboard usb. This included 4 hard drives and three USB Portable Hard drives. The usb devices included 2 printers, one scanner, a microscope. I then connected the original O/S (Windows 7 32 bit)hard drive and booted up. It worked! Prior to this nothing worked. I then switched off the computer and re-connected another drive, booted up and the original O/S still worked. I then installed Windows 7 64 bit on the second drive I connected. Again it worked. I repeated this for all four hard drives testing Win 32 bit and 64 bit for each re-connected drive. Everything worked. I then connected all non live USB's (Printers and scanner, portable hard drives. These are controlled by a power point. I then switch each usb on, tested and then off until all were tested. I then switched all usb's devices on. Everything still worked. Finally I plugged in the sound and everything still worked. I do not know what caused my problem but think it may be too much running when installing another operating system. Don't know if this will help you, maybe??

I still have one problem. After trying to install Window 7 64 bit as a dual boot setup and it stopped everything working, I then tried to install Windows XP with the same result. What I am left with when booting up is four boot up options. One for Windows 7 32 bit, one for Windows 7 64 bit and the other two are no good and if I accidentally boot from one it gives me a "blue kiss of death". Any idea how I can delete the two boot up option that are no good? thanks
 
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