Just have the three files boot.ini, ntldr, and NTDETECT on both root drives.
Try running VistaBootPro and make sure the entry for XP is in the listing and pointing to the proper drive letter as pointed out by Vista.....
If so reboot and choose XP and tell us what happens.
If you get a hal.dll error then the boot.ini will need to be edited pointing to the proper drive/partition as stated in the guide mentioned above.

now when i boot the screen that says earlier version of windows wont even come up. just loads straight into vista.

Run a Diagnostics in VistaBootPro

i get the option again and the earlier version of window is saying it doesnt have ntldr but it does have the file in the drive.

also, is it because vista is on drive c when i am in vista but when i was using xp the xp drive was c.

DavidC wrote:

i get the option again and the earlier version of window is saying it doesnt have ntldr but it does have the file in the drive. also, is it because vista is on drive c when i am in vista but when i was using xp the xp drive was c.

no this is normal for both to show they are drive c

how exactly do i fix a ini file.

and when i am trying to boot xp

do i point it to drive c or drive d

because it is drive c when windowsxp is running i hope and drive d when vista is running.

can you use notepad to open the boot.ini file, then do a copy and paste what it says here in the forum

ok will do but xp is saying missing ntldr even though it is still in the directory and vista doesnt have those three files in it. but vista boots fine.

when i hit earlier version of windows the pc doesnt say missing ntldr anymore it just doesnt do anything stays at a black screen. how long do you think i should leave it at the black screen to load.

i was play cod4 on my xbox for like 1 hour and came back and it was still at black screen.

OK

I'm goping to somewhat start over.

You need to have ntldr, NTDETECT, and boot.ini in both the root of drive C: and D:. Make sure the boot.ini says the same thing.

Boot to Vista and go into VistaBootPro and delete the entry for Earlier Version of Windows.
Recreate an entry for Earlier Verison of Windows (this can be renamed) and point it to drive D:
Exit VistaBootPro and reboot.

Try the entry for Earlier version of Windows and report back