recovering nasty situation

Hi all,
OK, I am @ my wits' end so this is a 'this is where I am at, and this is where I want to be post.
OK, so I have a desktop [currently in pieces] that I want to get vista onto.
Where I am:
The machine in question had a nice install of XP SP2 on it, all was good. Some time ago I installed an early beta of Vista on it and it was dual booting fine. I did nothing with the box for some time. Now I come to it, latest beta on DVD in hand. Heres the thing; the XP boot now appears somewhat FUBAR'ed, it just does not work. The Vista install has expired, it wants a product key, I have tried a few (I have full MSDN subscriber) and I cannot give it one it likes. I have been into the BIOS and set the 1st boot device to CD and rebooted with the DVD in the tray. By selecting the 'Boot into command line' option into the Vista install I have determined that the CD ROM device isnot recognised, hence the boot optoin is ignored. I have got the correct drivers for the device on a CD but have not done anything with it yet.
Here's where I weant to be:
I want to FDISK the MDR removing all instances of previous OS's I then want to go ahead and install the new beta.
My question is, therefore, how on earth do I recover this situation?
Many thanks in advance, DC

Hi DC--
Here's what I pull out of this.
The DVD in hand is the latest public version and also made available to MSDN subscribers which would be Beta 2. Your XP boot is hosed; and for some reason even though you are an MSDN subscriber they don't have an easy way for you to get a product key (why I have no idea because I suppose MSDN subscribers don't have the time limit imposed on the CPP).
As to the key for that Vista DVD they mailed you as an MSDN subscriber--I'd use whatever means MSDN subscribers have to contact MSDN and demand the key. Didn't the DVD from MSFT come in a white envelope with the usual PK on the back of that envelope? What confuses me here is you say the Vista install has expired and it wants a product key. They sent you a Beta 2 DVD via your MSDN subscription and that product key is now expired about 7 weeks after a public release? Surely there is a mechanism to contact MSDN on their site and some kind of MSDN number you can call: http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/faq/#keys
I'd first just do a quick repair install on the XP boot if the F8 options don't work and you have an XP CD with a product key for it--takes 35 minutes of the world's longest and most one dimensional boring XP setup commercial.
1) Try 3 safe modes and last known good if you can get to them for the XP install. If this is complicated by the dual boot and the damaged bootloader then: You can boot from an XP CD if you have a retail or OEM bootable (rarely shipped) XP CD by putting the CD first in the bios setup boot order and then following the simple steps for a repair install of XP.
From MVP Doug Knox: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx
From MSFT: Method 2: Reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341#XSLTH3127121122120121120120
Philosophy behind that is discussed in Chap. 28 of the Win XP Resource Kit on line @ MSFT site or in
Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308041&Product=winxp
Then just type diskmgmt.msc in the run box and right click the drive/volume where Vista is parked and format the previous build. --------------------
2) You can follow these steps:
Reboot and Boot to your XP CD-ROM 1. Start the Recovery Console Screen shots are in link below and just sub XP anytime Win 2K has been printed on that blue screen in the shots.
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/j_helmig/wxprcons.htm 2. Run Fixboot 3. Run fixmbr to reset the master boot record 4. Exit the Recovery Console 5. Reboot 6. To remove the extra entry, edit the boot.ini file to remove the "Microsoft Windows Longhorn" entry. 7. Format Your Vista Partition
--------------------------
3) You can try to repair using either of these which will probably be successful and then simply format
Download Easy BCD from this link: (Click Download Link) http://neosmart.net/forums/index.php?gettopic=81
Download Vista Boot Pro 2.0 from this link: http://www.pro-networks.org/vistabootpro/intro.php
Goodl luck,
CH

"DC" wrote in message

Hi all,
OK, I am @ my wits' end so this is a 'this is where I am at, and this is where I want to be post.
OK, so I have a desktop [currently in pieces] that I want to get vista onto.
Where I am:
The machine in question had a nice install of XP SP2 on it, all was good. Some time ago I installed an early beta of Vista on it and it was dual booting fine. I did nothing with the box for some time. Now I come to it, latest beta on DVD in hand. Heres the thing; the XP boot now appears somewhat FUBAR'ed, it just does not work. The Vista install has expired, it wants a product key, I have tried a few (I have full MSDN subscriber) and I cannot give it one it likes. I have been into the BIOS and set the 1st boot device to CD and rebooted with the DVD in the tray. By selecting the 'Boot into command line' option into the Vista install I have determined that the CD ROM device isnot recognised, hence the boot optoin is ignored. I have got the correct drivers for the device on a CD but have not done anything with it yet.
Here's where I weant to be:
I want to FDISK the MDR removing all instances of previous OS's I then want to go ahead and install the new beta.
My question is, therefore, how on earth do I recover this situation?
Many thanks in advance, DC