Boot Camp troubles - Can't boot OSX

I just got a MBP this week and decided to give Boot Camp a go this weekend with Vista Ultimate. I followed all the instructions and chose the correct 40GB partition I allotted with Boot Camp Assistant. After the Installation and on the final reboot it gives me an error saying

It does eventually boot into Vista and it seems this can be fixed with a utility called EasyBCD, but that's not my real problem. Something else has gone wrong.

For one, I can't get to the screen that allows you to choose what OS to boot by holding the command key while the MBP is starting up. On top of that there is no Boot Camp icon in my system tray. I am absolutely positive that I chose the correct partition and did not install Vista over my Leopard installation. I'm not sure what is going on. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT: I removed the windows partition via the Vista install disc and got OSX to boot after that so none of my data was lost. I am not going to mess with installing windows for now, however I would like to know how to roll that 40gb partition back into my main partition. I loaded up boot camp again and when I clicked next from the first screen a dialog box popped up saying that the startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored into a single partition.

 

I use the Alt-Option key to select the os during bootup (not the Command), have you tried it?

Also, once I installed boot camp it automatically set WinXP as the default os; from the boot camp tools I selected OS X and rebooted.

I have heard of some issues with Vista, maybe some other member can give you more specific help here. I have had absolutely no problems with Win XP in over a year of use).

All the best!

PS: if you got your MBP just a week ago, I'd say this is the perfect time to play around with partitions. If you screw something you'll lose very little information.

 

Well this is my work computer. I am free to take it home and use it as if it were my own but I have lots of work files on it. Fortunately I have time machine set up with a 750GB external drive at the office so those files are backed up. There are a group of guys at work who will fire up some Day of Defeat every once in a while so I was actually encouraged by my director to dual boot if I had an extra copy of windows if I wanted to get in on it . Even so, I was feeling panicky over this situation because I really didn't want to go into work and have my IT guy have to reinstall everything for me because I did something stupid.

Since I don't use my home desktop for much more than general use I am thinking about installing Ubuntu on it and using the copy of XP I have for it on the MBP. Not sure how to transfer licenses or if there's anything really beyond uninstalling from one machine and installing on a new machine but I will look into it.

 

"Warning: Unrecognized partition table for drive 80. Please rebuild it using a Microsoft-compatible FDISK tool(err=4). "

This error comes from using a cracked/pirated version of Vista. You've used the "Vista Activator" which installs an OEM BIOS to get around activation. Sorry, you're on your own.

 

Not necessarily. I was using a legit copy of Vista. Maybe it's because it's an OEM copy.

 

Perhaps you should call Microsoft then.

I've never had problems with OEM versions of Windows (and I have many of these) but those were XP. I have a Dell Upgrade disk from XP that's I got about a month after Vista came out but I've never used that disk.

 

The reason I know where that error comes from is because I'm speaking from experience. I've tried it out to see what it does and how it works.

You won't get that error unless you're using a hacked version of Vista. Period.

For whatever reason, it's more predominant when used on a Mac. If you use the activator on any other PC, it usually flashes by too fast to see it.

 

ATTN: Kris
The version of Vista I used is actually the cracked one. However, how can u explain that I used the same cracked version to install vista to 2 macs but one encountered the problem of 'unregconized partition' and one didnt n worked properly. Would u pls give a particular solution 4 this problem? Many thanks

 

Tools for and usage of cracked OS is illegal, and discussion of things like usage and installation of cracked OS is against forum policy and rules.

This part of the discussion needs to stop immediately .

 

I believe you've already got your answer.