The startup pattern of Windows XP is very different than that of Windows Vista. That is the reason when you install Windows Vista in a system that is already having Windows XP, some or the other startup problem comes up. One of the reasons behind this is that in Windows XP, the boot.ini file tells the operating system about the location of Windows installation. And when Windows Vista is installed in another partition, you may not be able to start Windows XP. You can modify the boot.ini file in such case to recover partition. If that is not possible, then you should use a third-party Windows partition recovery software to recover all the data.
Let us consider an instance when you have installed Windows Vista in a system that already has Windows XP to make it a dual-boot computer. However, when you start the system using Windows XP it does not start and displays the following error message:
“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please re-install a copy of the above file.”
Cause:
This problem has occurred as Windows Vista is installed in formerly unallocated disk space that existed in front of the partition on which Windows XP was installed.
Resolution:
To resolve this problem, you should perform the following steps:
· Start Windows Vista.
· Right-click 'Start' and click 'Explore'.
· In the 'Organize' menu, click 'Folder and Search Options'.
· Click 'View' in the 'Folder Options' dialog box.
· In the 'Advanced settings' area, click 'Show hidden files and folders'.
· Clear the selected 'Hide extensions for known file types' check box, and 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)' check box.
· Select the 'Yes' check box to confirm that you want to display the operating system files.
· Click OK when done.
· Browse and click the Windows XP system drive.
· Right-click boot.ini file, and click 'Properties'.
· Click Owner | Edit.
· Leave the default 'Administrators' option selected in the 'Change owner to' list and click OK four times.
· Right-click boot.ini file and click 'Edit'.
· Modify the ARC (Advanced RISC Computing) path as appropriate for the correct path of the Windows XP startup partition. The ARC path should look like the following path:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
· Save the boot.ini file and close Notepad.
· Restart the system and boot into Windows XP.
However, if you are unable to boot Windows XP partition then you should recover partition with the help of a third-party partition recovery software. These tools are absolutely safe to use that do not damage the existing files during recovery.
Let us consider an instance when you have installed Windows Vista in a system that already has Windows XP to make it a dual-boot computer. However, when you start the system using Windows XP it does not start and displays the following error message:
“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please re-install a copy of the above file.”
Cause:
This problem has occurred as Windows Vista is installed in formerly unallocated disk space that existed in front of the partition on which Windows XP was installed.
Resolution:
To resolve this problem, you should perform the following steps:
· Start Windows Vista.
· Right-click 'Start' and click 'Explore'.
· In the 'Organize' menu, click 'Folder and Search Options'.
· Click 'View' in the 'Folder Options' dialog box.
· In the 'Advanced settings' area, click 'Show hidden files and folders'.
· Clear the selected 'Hide extensions for known file types' check box, and 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)' check box.
· Select the 'Yes' check box to confirm that you want to display the operating system files.
· Click OK when done.
· Browse and click the Windows XP system drive.
· Right-click boot.ini file, and click 'Properties'.
· Click Owner | Edit.
· Leave the default 'Administrators' option selected in the 'Change owner to' list and click OK four times.
· Right-click boot.ini file and click 'Edit'.
· Modify the ARC (Advanced RISC Computing) path as appropriate for the correct path of the Windows XP startup partition. The ARC path should look like the following path:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
· Save the boot.ini file and close Notepad.
· Restart the system and boot into Windows XP.
However, if you are unable to boot Windows XP partition then you should recover partition with the help of a third-party partition recovery software. These tools are absolutely safe to use that do not damage the existing files during recovery.
