xp32 xp64 dual boot

[douirc]

starting with a blank drive, i created two partitions during the xp64 installation. after xp64, i then put in the xp32 and installed on the second partition. everything was working great.

i use xp32 to do oc tweaking, and got to the point where i corrupted the xp32 install, so decided to redo it. put the xp32 cd in, booted, chose to quick-format the xp32 partition, reinstalled and everything was working great, but for xp32 only. couldn't get bach into xp64:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.
<windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

then i ran across this link off ms's website:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314477

i've tried all the repair methods suggested and still no xp64. something i found interesting, and perhaps someone with a dual boot could check for me, i noticed the root of xp32 had a bunch of hidden system files:

autoexec.bat
boot.ini
config.sys
io.sys
msdos.sys
ntdetect.com
ntldr
pagefile.sys

then i looked at the root directory of xp64 and there is only one hidden file:

hiberfil.sys (which is nothing more than the hibernation file)

so, am i missing a bunch of stuff in the xp64 root to get this thing to boot? (rhyme not intended)

btw...the boot.ini file on the xp32 partition looks as follows, which I assume is correct:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /fastdetect

anyway to determine for sure what partition xp64 is in? perhaps it's partition(0), or does that not make any sense?

thanks for any suggestions!

[douirc]

just for s's and giggles, i changed the boot.ini from partition(2) to partition(0) and now and getting a different error:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.
<Windows>\system32\hal.dll

not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. not sure if i'm going forwards or backwards.

[douirc]

well, i got tired of trying to figure it out, so i reformatted everything and am starting from scratch. my new questions is, what is the best procedure for replacing an OS on one of the partitions without loosing the other? i'm sure i'll have to reinstall xp32 again, but how do i do it without screwing up xp64?

[JfRsQ]

Next time , do a back up of those hidden files usually on C:\ drive and at worst, just copy the ones you saved over the ones there if you can't dual boot into your previous OS after the 2nd installation

Usually, you must install from first released OS to the latest......
ex: win98, win2k, winXP, win64