mmomike Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I installed 9a581 by ToH on a system that already had Windows XP on it. I created another partition and install 9a581 there. This install went well. A few things need work (need the dvd to boot Mac OS X, need higher graphics resolution, network card, sound ...) But all in all I was very pleased with Mac OS X. However, now I can not boot Windows XP. I get "Error loading operating system". If I have the Mac OS install dvd in, Mac OS loads. The Windows XP partition is still there. It is even mounted in Mac OS. I can see all the files. I booted a Windows XP install disk and did a repair. It copied a few files over but when it was time to reboot I got the same "Error loading operating system". I booted a Windows XP install disk and went to recover prompt. I could see all my windows XP files there. I tried the following repair commands there: FIXMBR FIXBOOT DISKPART (only gives options to add or delete a partition) BOOTCFG None of these fixed the problem. I was told by a friend that the windows partition needs to be set to active but I think that is an option I can set using fdisk. I have no way of running fdisk. Anyone have any ideas. I would very much prefer not wiping all my partitons and reinstalling windows xp. Thanks in advance. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/93521-dual-boot-problem/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
GimmeRed Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I installed 9a581 by ToH on a system that already had Windows XP on it. I created another partition and install 9a581 there. This install went well. A few things need work (need the dvd to boot Mac OS X, need higher graphics resolution, network card, sound ...) But all in all I was very pleased with Mac OS X. However, now I can not boot Windows XP. I get "Error loading operating system". If I have the Mac OS install dvd in, Mac OS loads. The Windows XP partition is still there. It is even mounted in Mac OS. I can see all the files. I booted a Windows XP install disk and did a repair. It copied a few files over but when it was time to reboot I got the same "Error loading operating system". I booted a Windows XP install disk and went to recover prompt. I could see all my windows XP files there. I tried the following repair commands there: FIXMBR FIXBOOT DISKPART (only gives options to add or delete a partition) BOOTCFG None of these fixed the problem. I was told by a friend that the windows partition needs to be set to active but I think that is an option I can set using fdisk. I have no way of running fdisk. Anyone have any ideas. I would very much prefer not wiping all my partitons and reinstalling windows xp. Thanks in advance. I'd try a gParted cd and flag the Windows drive as boot. You might need to run repair again after that. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/93521-dual-boot-problem/#findComment-667265 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmomike Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Thanks, that worked. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/93521-dual-boot-problem/#findComment-667323 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityLights Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Mark sure the windows partition is set active. If the hidden windows xp system file "ntldr" is corrupt or missing then something like "Error loading operating system" is displayed, the exact wording depends on what BIOS you have. If you can put the drive into another windows xp computer temporally and copy the c:\ntldr system file from the working windows to your non-booting drive then that may work. All windows XP's use the exact same ntldr file so trying this won't make things worse. Edit: Disregard then. I walked away from my computer for an hour before hitting the post button. Glad to see your system is running Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/93521-dual-boot-problem/#findComment-667378 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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