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View Full Version : Issue when trying to hide XP from Vista on a dual boot machine


shelha
Sep 9, 2007, 12:10 AM
Hello,
I am running Vista Ultimate and XP Pro on a dual boot machine in two separate arrays (2 WD raptors configured as Raid 0 for Vista and 2 WD raptors configured as Raid 0 for XP Pro, for a total of 4 hard drives). The issue is this: I loaded Vista first and then XP, after installing XP I wasn't able to see Vista so I fixed the boot loader through the Vista installation DVD by typing at the command prompt this instructions: "Bootrec.exe /fixNBR" and then "Bootrec.exe /fixBoot". After that I was able to load Vista but could not see XP anymore so I downloaded EasyBCD1.7 and created a dual boot prompt. Once I created the prompt, I was able to choose between Vista and XP, no problems so far; then I wanted to hide Vista's partition from XP due to a data corruption issue (XP deletes the restore points of Vista when you boot on XP). I found a very useful set of instructions on how to do this with EasyBCD1.7 by adding NeoGrub Bootloader and modifying the "menu.lst" file to hide the Vista partition. According to my set up, Vista is on (hd0,0) and XP is on (hd1,0), when I follow the instructions and hide Vista I am able to boot to XP and the Vista partition stays hidden, but when I try to boot to Vista I get a nasty error message "autochk program not found - skipping autocheck" and I am unable to boot in Vista. I burned a Super Grub Cdrom .iso to a CD, booted the machine off it and unhide the Vista partition (hd0,0) manually, after doing that I was able to boot in Vista again.

Sorry for the very long post, but I am trying to be as detailed as possible. The problem is that I have not been successful at hiding the Vista partition from XP by using the instructions that I mentioned before, the link to the instructions is:
How-To: Hide Vista Partition from XP with NeoGrub! at The NeoSmart Files (http://neosmart.net/blog/2007/hide-vista-partition-from-xp/)
Does anyone have an alternate method or suggestion? Thanks for your time.

shelha
Sep 11, 2007, 11:28 PM
Nobody has at least a comment for me? I can not believe I am the only one with this problem, come on guys, help me please!!

JustinSPRG
Sep 22, 2007, 10:27 AM
I have the same problem! I figured out how to get Vista back, the trick is to get into the NeoGrub menu, then you can press "e" to edit the boot commands. Change "hide (hd0,0)" to "unhide (hd0,0)", boot up the system to XP (Vista partition should show back up). Now restart the system, boot to Vista IMMEDIATELY (so the partition doesn't get hidden again), and it should get you back so you can remove NeoGrub. I'm not sure yet how to fix the problem so you can dual boot and hide the Vista partition, but this should at least get you back to normal. Hope this helps!

Steve999
Oct 30, 2007, 04:28 PM
I had the same problem too.

I searched this site for an answer, but was surprised I couldn't find one, so I had to work it out for myself!

I came up with a simple solution by adding a 3rd option to the “menu.lst” file as follows :-

Title Unhide Vista
Unhide (hd0,0) # SET THIS TO THE VISTA DRIVE
Chainloader +1
Boot

(You may need to amend the (hd0,0) to your Vista partition).

After you have booted into XP with the “Boot Xp – hide Vista” option, then the next time you want to boot into Vista, choose the “NeoGrub Bootloader” (or whatever you have renamed it to) option 1st instead.

Select the new 3rd option which will unhide Vista and take you back to the main boot screen. Now select Vista and you should boot into it with all of the restore points intact!

shelha
Oct 30, 2007, 09:27 PM
Hello Steve999,

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try it and post the results.

PS. I am glad people are still looking at this thread. :-)