[Moneyman]

I have already sent the screenshot in that Files.zip. It's- DM.JPG, Samsung_boot.ini and WD_boot.ini

Edited by Moneyman, 01 May 2012 - 05:33 PM.

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With respect you are misunderstanding what I am saying.
YOU save it as a JPEG as per my guidance notes, and then you attach it as I have done now for you.

Send me the boot ini please as the boot.ini copied and pasted as the actual boot.ini, that I can read without opening.an attachment please

In case you missed it, please do bear in mind the quantity of files I would have to download and open, during my work here and on another site I work on.

[Macboatmaster]

With respect you are misunderstanding what I am saying.
YOU save it as a JPEG as per my guidance notes, and then you attach it as I have done now for you.

Send me the boot ini please as the boot.ini copied and pasted as the actual boot.ini, that I can read without opening.an attachment please

In case you missed it, please do bear in mind the quantity of files I would have to download and open, during my work here and on another site I work on.

[Moneyman]

Like this?

Samsung boot.ini-

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

Western Digital boot.ini-

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

Edited by Macboatmaster, 01 May 2012 - 08:44 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

Yes exactly like that.
Hope you do appreciate why, not laziness just the continual requirement to download files., and indeed then not being as easily able to refer back to it.

[Macboatmaster]

The boot.ini is not correct

However before we look again at that I know the samsung is a 200 gb ide SATA drive
Is the 1Tb WD also a Sata drive please AND there are no drive letters shown on the Samsung drive, but 5 equal sized partitions, is that by your design.

Also please boot to Windows on the WD drive, if you can and do this

• Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG
• Select the Boot.ini tab
• Click Check All Boot Paths button

MSConfig will now quickly verify each line mentioned in the Boot.ini to check if they are valid.

Also returning to your first post when you reinstalled XP on the samsung drive, did you do tnat with the WD drive connected., as if so I would have expected the XP installation to have created the necessary boot.ini for you as the installation procedure would of course have recognised the exisitng operating system on the WD drive.

One thing that is certain is that you cannot have a conflicting boot.ini on the Samsung drive that tells the boot procedure that the default operating system is that installation, whilst another boot.ini says the opposite.

AND the boot.ini that you are working from must be on the drive from which the computer is going to boot

This file is always located on the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. In other words, it is located at C:\ directory or the C Drive.

This file is used by Microsoft Windows as a method of displaying a menu of operating systems currently on the computer and allowing the user to select what operating system to load.

In addition, this file is also used to point to the locations of each of the operating systems.

In fact, although I have never had this problem and I have run many dual boots, (albeit not with TWO of the same operating system) this one is 7 and XP, my other is Vista and XP and another XP and Ubuntu. I am convinced that the proper course now is to edit the boot.ini on the WD drive, to delete the other operating system - that would therefore delete the last line of that boot.ini file you sent on your last post and reinstall XP on the samsung, with both drives connected.

This may help http://www.kellys-ko...dll_missing.htm

YOU MAY WISH to try this before you proceed to the reinstall

On no account should you change drive letters on the WD drive of course, but it may be worthwhile, changing the boot.ini on the Samsung driive to the boot.ini for a single operating system and one drive of course, disconnecting the WD, connecting just the Samsung and seeing then if you get a boot.

I still believe the boot.ini is the problem - so when changing the boot.ini on the samsung - consider as below.

A typical BOOT.INI file:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003" /fastdetect
RebuildingBoot.ini-
[boot loader] The section entitled [boot loader] contains the global NTLDR settings.
These include timeout which defines how long NTLDR will wait for the end user to select an OS, and default which tells NTLDR what OS to boot into if the timeout value runs out.
[operating systems] This section lists the operating systems installed on this physical machine. Each operating system has a line that describes its location in standard ARC path format.

• multi(0): The adapter of the hard disk that Windows is on. Keep it set to 0.
• disk(0): The physical disk number to load Windows from if multi is not used. Since we're using multi, keep this 0 as well.
• rdisk(x): The physical disk number to load Windows from. rdisk() begins counting from 0, so the first drive on your system is rdisk(0), the second is rdisk(1), and so on and so forth. These numbers do not relate to the SATA channel numbers or the IDE primary/secondary - master/slave connections, but to the order of your drives as seen by the BIOS, so that rdisk(0) is the drive you are booting from etc.
• partition(y): The number of the partition on the drive rdisk(x). partition(y) starts counting from 1, so the first partition is partition(1), the second is partition(2), etc. partition(y) counts primary partitions first then counts logical partitions. The extended partition (the "container" for logical partitions) itself isn't counted, though. These numbers are taken from the Partition Table in the Master Boot Record, which will generally be the order in which they were created, which will not necessarily be the same as the order in which they appear on the disk

If you do decide to try this first I would see this, I have sent the link to save me a lot of typing
http://neosmart.net/...+XP+Boot+Issues

Hal.dll is missing or corrupt
Windows\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt:Please re-install a copy of the above file.This means the ARC paths in the [operating systems] section or the default entry in BOOT.INI is incorrect. Double-check that multi() and disk() are both set to 0, and verify that rdisk(x)partition(y) points to the correct partition where Windows XP is installed

ON YOUR FIRST POST you say you formatted C drive - I thought you referred to the Samsung drive, so was that then allocated drive letter C, for the first partition.
because bearing in mind the above regarding to which rdisk refers - does this now confirm the problem is the boot.ini

[Moneyman]

I modified the boot.ini of the WD drive and reinstalled Windows in C: drive of Samsung. Now after restart it's not showing any hal.dll errors. There are 3 windows in the selection screen. When I select Samsung's windows a black screen comes up and then nothing happens. No loading. Only a black screen. I can still load WD's windows. My other PC can load both operating systems.

I had a Windows 7 installed in J:/drive of WD. It also stopped working when the problem started.

[Macboatmaster]

I was just about to press the big switch when I got the email of your post.

I am in the UK, so it is 0150 here and time to sign off, but I do not remember mention of that windows 7 before - when you say three windows in the selection screen I presume you mean
the choice of
Which operating system do you wish to boot to:

and then the list - amongst which is the Windows 7 - am I correct please

Windows 7 of course does not use a boot.ini but a BCD - boot configuration data

which should look sonmething similar to my dual boot with xp on here
Windows Boot Manager

--------------------

identifier {bootmgr}

device partition=C:

description Windows Boot Manager

locale en-US

inherit {globalsettings}

default {current}

resumeobject {c74ff5ca-47e5-11e1-b573-ec4e10a5755a}

displayorder {ntldr}

{current}

toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}

timeout 6



Windows Legacy OS Loader

------------------------

identifier {ntldr}

device partition=C:

path \ntldr

description Earlier Version of Windows



Windows Boot Loader

-------------------

identifier {current}

device partition=C:

path \Windows\system32\winload.exe

description Windows 7

locale en-US

inherit {bootloadersettings}

recoverysequence {c74ff5cc-47e5-11e1-b573-ec4e10a5755a}

recoveryenabled Yes

osdevice partition=C:

systemroot \Windows

resumeobject {c74ff5ca-47e5-11e1-b573-ec4e10a5755a}

nx OptIn


BUT that is with 7 and XP on the SAME drive, I only have the one 500Gb internal and a ITb external

I have to admit that this NOW has me thinking and I cannot post more with any advice tonight.

However what springs immediately to mind is the fact that it boots in the other computer.
I tend to think, after another install, that we must be looking at a driver issue, or a BIOS issue.

if it was me, I would run a check disk on both the Samsung and the WD and a system file check on the WD

I would also run the program from the CD I sent in my previous post
http://neosmart.net/... XP Boot Issues

[Moneyman]

I guess window 7's BCD is missing. What about the black screen? When I select Samsung's Windows XP I get the black screen. No hal.dll error this time.

[Macboatmaster]

I would try the EasyBCD that I sent you to rebuild the BCD on the 7 and see what happens then.

When there is a dual boot with 7, the BCD is the controlling factor, not the boot.ini on the XP

As to the black screen, is it a black screen without a cursor, or with the cursor.

[Amlak]

I just realized something. You said that you can load XP with the Samsung drive on another PC. But is this while the WD drive is also connected to that same PC?

I know Macboatmaster is onto something here. It does sound like a conflict going on in the boot configuration.

A question to Macboatmaster. To the OP, don't follow this following suggestion until noted otherwise. What if the OP changes the rdisk value for Samsung in Samsung's boot.ini to 3 (for example)? Would that have a potential to fix the problem? Or is there something I'm missing here that I have to keep in mind?

Edited by Amlak, 03 May 2012 - 05:27 AM.

[Moneyman]

The black screen is without a cursor and my other PC can load Samsung's XP even when the WD HDD is connected.

[Macboatmaster]

Well at the moment it has me beat

Re the rdisk 3 - there are only 2 - the WD and the Samsung.

Has the situation changed at all in the Disk management window

You do not need to send the image, unless of course you wish, but I think it worthy of a look.

[Amlak]

I read that boot.ini depends on the BIOS in some way. Is this true?

I think it would also help if Moneyman posts an image of the disk management window from the other PC and compare the differences.

Edited by Amlak, 03 May 2012 - 05:49 AM.

[Amlak]

One other thing, what is the hard drive order according to the BIOS of the first PC (the one having trouble loading XP from Samsung)?

[Moneyman]

One other thing, what is the hard drive order according to the BIOS of the first PC (the one having trouble loading XP from Samsung)?

Problem PC's Drive Configaration:

SATA port 0: Samsung.
SATA port 1: WD.
SATA port 2: Not Installed.
SATA port 3: Not Installed.

Boot Drive Order:

1. DVD.
2. Samsung.
3. WD.
4. Floppy.
5. PCI.

Here's the screenshot of Problem PC's WD XP disk management window:




Amlak which screen shot do you want from the other PC? Is it the Samsung XP screenshot or the WD XP screenshot?