Hello all, here's my issue in point form.  Had 2 GB RAM.  Had XP MCE SP3.  Bought another 4 GB RAM.  Installed XP 64-bit.  Had choice of OS from boot.  Everything worked OK.  RAM died.  Got new RAM.  Had to reinstall XP MCE SP3.  Now boot loader file only recognizes XP MCE SP3.  XP MCE SP3 is on DISK 1 Primary Partition.  XP 64bit is on DISK 2 Extended partition.  Current boot file is...
[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 Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I know i need to insert an additional line this this...
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
but I don't know where to put the "1's".  Any help would be muchly appreciatedWhen you turn on your computer, does the boot.ini file appear at all, or does it boot directly into XP MCE, without giving your any options for OS selection?

Boot.ini file does not appear at all and it boots directly into MCE.  I got the ini file details from the Computer/Properties/Advanced menuWhen you reinstalled XP MCE it must have reset the boot.ini file...

Since your 64 bit Version of XP is located on a second hard drive, you would have to at least set the   rdisk(0) value to rdisk(1)

This will tell the boot.ini file that there is a second hard drive on the system...

However, you say that the 64 bit installation is on the Extended Partition of the Second drive.....so you will also have to tell the boot.ini file, what partition that the 64 bit XP version is on......Example:   If you set the rdisk(0) to rdisk(1)  &  leave the partition(0) setting the way it is and it doesn't boot to the boot.ini file, TRY setting the partition(0) to 1, or 2   example: partition(1) or (2)
(actually, if (1) or (0) doesn't work, then (2) probably wont work, but it's worth a try I guess)

let me know what happens  heh, you know what....If   using partition(2) doesn't work either, you might actually try using partition(3) or (4) since, the bootable OS is on the Extended partition.....haven't had a lot of experience with boot.ini files so I'm not sure how the boot.ini file is suppose to look with an OS on an Extended PartitionI'll give it a try and get back here tomorrow...thanks!I'm just curious....do you know how to access and open the boot.ini file?  I'm just asking because I'm not sure if you got that copy of your file from MSCONFIG or directly from the real file on the root of C:\.

Just in case you don't know, you'll have to enter a command prompt first and type:

attrib -s -h -r c:\boot.ini    and press enter.  This will break the priority access that your OS has over the file, allow it to be seen, and allow you to edit the file...Once you hit enter, close the command prompt windows and go to "my computer", CLICK on C drive, locate the boot.ini file (it should be on the root of C:\), right-click and select "open with", then select "notepad"....Walla!! just make the necessary corrections and be sure to click "FILE" up at the top of notepad and click SAVE, to save your changes!! Then close notepad, and restart to see if the changes ALLOWED boot.ini to appear at boot up!!

edit: I'm going on vacation for a couple days so I won't be back to help 'til Monday night.......If you are still having problems and nobody else can help...just hang in there and I'll be back!  Thanks very much for the reply.  I tried your suggestion to access the boot file and it worked.  Just curious THOUGH, if I right-click properties from My Computer and go to the Advanced Tab, then Settings in the Start-up and Recovery section and then click the edit button "To edit the startup options file manually"...will I still achieve the same...being able to fully edit the boot.ini file?  Thanks again.yes, sir  I forgot to mention...

make sure you only edit the LINE with the 64-bit Version of Windows...the LINE with Windows XP MCE is already configured properly..Still having no luck...can anyone tell me where to confirm what HDD is what HDD (ie disk 0, disk 1 or disk 2) and the numbering of the partitions on each drive (I have 3 HDD each with 4+ partitions)...many thanks.you COULD probably run the XP 64-bit CD and do a repair...sorry about that Igor_Monster   

if all else fails, maybe a few tips from here will help:

http://www.dewassoc.com/kbase/multiboot/boot_ini.htm


...you could also do a repair install like BC suggested or reinstall XP 64 completely....because the boot.ini file seemed to work just fine, when you first installed the 64 bit OS

Thanks BC_Programmer and blockHEAD...been away for a few days but I'll try them out tomorrow.  Cheers. Quote from: Igor_Munster on June 08, 2009, 07:28:16 PM

Still having no luck...can anyone tell me where to confirm what HDD is what HDD (ie disk 0, disk 1 or disk 2) and the numbering of the partitions on each drive (I have 3 HDD each with 4+ partitions)...many thanks.