Hi all, and thank you for your response.
I have recovered my computer,which now works fine.
I achieved this by installing Vista Boot Pro and Easy bcd. First I found that the two OSs were recognised, but Easybcd said that the partition for XP could not be found. So I just entered C:, and that seemed to satisfy it. But the dual boot was still not restored. I went in and out of those two programs and in desperation clicked everything clickable - almost.
Finally, in Vista Boot Pro I clicked on restore MBR. That did the trick.
I am not proud of the way i recovered the computer, only relieved. All I can say to others who find themselves in the same predicament is - dont give up, keep trying the variations offered by those two programs
You can also try opening the command prompt and taking the long way round through bcd.exe. But you really have to remember your DOS syntax and how to enter things and how to get to partitions, when to forward slash, when to back slash, when to leave a space, when to conjoin, etc. very very difficult.
Always read the forums, from where you will at least get pointers as to what to look for.
But best of all try not to reinstall OSs in a dual boot system. Even if you know what you are doing, it is a very tricky operation to dig yourself out of the hole you have dug yourself into.
Roy Mayo.
