Windows 7 Dual booting XP & 7; flashed BIOS; 7 ok, XP borked; now won't boot properly:

[davidshea]

I've been dual-booting for about two months now on two seperate HDs. One HD is XP Pro SP3 - it was my first one - and then I added another HD and installed Win 7 on that.

Recently, my 7 was crashing in a BSOD hard when I was playing a video game. I posted the minidump files online, and was told that it was two issues: my video drivers, and hardware. Well, I un/re-installed the video drivers, and did the most dreaded thing imaginable: flashed my BIOS. The positive is, the new BIOS fixed all my "yellow warning signs" in 7's Device Manager, and everything is running fine, and it didn't even flinch.

However, the BIOS flash totally borked my XP drive. I tried to fix it by both Repairing XP on top (that didn't work), and again, using the XP disc, hitting R, going to the Command line, and typing FIXBOOT. Well, that seems to have REALLY screwed things up. Now, when I reboot or boot up, instead of getting the

"Which OS do you want:
Older version of windows
Windows 7"

instead I get "Bad boot record, please insert disc and hit enter."

Now the weird thing is, if I put in the Win 7 disc, hit a hard restart, it reboots and comes up with the "hit any key to launch from CD or DVD..."; but I DON'T; instead, I just leave it, after that, guess what? It comes to the proper dual-boot "Which OS do you want" page. I then choose Windows 7, and it boots totally fine.

So. How can I fix this? I am open to many suggestions, but it's clear that my XP drive is fried, and since I do have the date from it on an external HD (and also on my 7 drive), I aim to wipe that drive anyway and just use it for storage. So how can I fix my current boot problem, AND eventually get me to only booting up my Win 7 HD? Should I use "EasyBCD" like so many other forums suggest? Essentially, I installed 7 in a dual-boot environment, but now the XP is fried, and Win 7 doesn't want to boot up properly.

Please help!

 

[Saltgrass]

When you flashed your bios, did you go back and reset the same drive as primary? You might first try swapping which drive is primary.

I would suggest you boot to the Win 7 install DVD and go to the repair section and do a Startup Repair. It may take two or 3 times.

Once you get Win 7 booting, then use EasyBCD v2 beta to fix the XP boot.

From your post, I cannot really tell exactly where your system is right now. If the repair does not work, try disconnecting the XP drive. A problem might occur with this because the repair process needs an active partition to place the boot files. Depending on how you installed the OSes, the active partition might be on the XP drive. So you may need to set a partition active.

Having a bootable Partition management utility might come in handy, like Partition Wizard or GParted. If nothing else, at least you could look at the drives and see the situation much better. If you can get XP or Win 7 to boot, check Disk Managment for this information.

Let us know how it goes and any error messages that might show up if the repair has problems.

 

[davidshea]

When you flashed your bios, did you go back and reset the same drive as primary? You might first try swapping which drive is primary.

I would suggest you boot to the Win 7 install DVD and go to the repair section and do a Startup Repair. It may take two or 3 times.

Once you get Win 7 booting, then use EasyBCD v2 beta to fix the XP boot.

From your post, I cannot really tell exactly where your system is right now. If the repair does not work, try disconnecting the XP drive. A problem might occur with this because the repair process needs an active partition to place the boot files. Depending on how you installed the OSes, the active partition might be on the XP drive. So you may need to set a partition active.

Having a bootable Partition management utility might come in handy, like Partition Wizard or GParted. If nothing else, at least you could look at the drives and see the situation much better. If you can get XP or Win 7 to boot, check Disk Managment for this information.

Let us know how it goes and any error messages that might show up if the repair has problems.

Dear Saltgrass:

Ok, I'll try and be more clear and succinct (I wrote the above in a hurry, I apologize.) Here's the essential "backstory" of what was/is going on, and where I am right now:

Had an XP machine for 4 years; two months ago, I bought and added in another HD. At reboot, I put in my Win 7 64 Ultimate disc, and installed 7 to the new HD; so I've dual-booting for 2 months now, with the classic black & white dual-boot screen at startup:
"Which operating system do you want to use:
Older version of Windows
Windows 7"

So I've been gaming exclusively on the 7 HD, playing SupCom 2 via Steam. In one week, it BSOD'd four times, so I sent my minidumps to another forum, and I was told the crashes were due to two things: video driver, and hardware. So I un/re-installed the video driver, and then, using the Asus AutoUpdate (I have an AMD cpu/ASUS mobo), I flashed my BIOS to the latest. Win 7 was totally fine, and I believe it fixed all the errors, played my game, and turned if off.

The next morning I needed some files on XP, and that's when I saw the crap had hit the fan. I chose "earlier version of Windows", and it simply BSOD immediatley; and I've not been able to get back in since. So, of course, I tried to fix it on my own. I searched online, and the first thing I did was put the XP disc in, and hit R for Repair right away; this brought me to the black and white screen. The problem was, it showed that I had two HD's, and it listed them just like this:
1. C:WINDOWS
2. D:Windows

I chose C:, totally assuming it was my XP HD. Then, at the C:COMMAND> line, I typed in "FIXBOOT" (minus the quotes), as that was what I read. Well, that really seemed to bork things up. After reboot, instead of getting the "Which OS do you want" choice screen, I only got the "Windows cannot boot, do you want Safe Mode, Safe Mode w/Networking", etc. etc. screen. So I then unplugged my 7 HD, put in the XP disc again, tried to Repair Reinstall over the XP, and that didn't work either.

So finally, I plugged my 7 HD back in, put in the Win 7 disc, booted from DVD (and yes, both my HD's are where they should be in BIOS; XP is SATA 1, and 7 is SATA 2), and did the Win 7 Repair Startup option. That got me right back into Win 7, as if there was never a problem at all. This was yesterday morning. So I then spent the entire day migrating my backed up XP data from an external HD onto my 7 HD, and putting it all in the correct folders, and then backing all that up again to the same external HD (to be super safe, haha), and then last evening, I finally needed to re-boot.

And that brings me to my current problem/state of affairs. At reboot, or normal boot-up, I now come to a black and white screen with roughly the words "Boot error, please insert disc and hit Enter." So essentially, it again does not bring me to the "which OS do you want screen", just that. So, I put in the Win 7 disc, and did a hard reboot. As expected, after reboot, the next words to come up were "Hit any key to boot from CD or DVD...", but to test things, I hit NO KEY. I let it pass. Guess what? The two choices screen came up! Earlier version of Windows, or Windows 7. Very perplexed, I chose Win 7, and it boots up no problem. So, to test it out again, I took out the 7 DVD, and rebooted. Wham, same problem black and white screen: "Boot error, please insert disc and hit Enter". So I did, and even tried the Win 7 repair startup again, and rebooted w/out the disc and tried it again; again, SAME "boot error" message! But when I put the Win 7 disc in, hard reboot, let it come back up, display the "Hit any key to boot from DVD" and I SKIP THIS (hitting no key), it then goes to the "correct" screen of offering me two choices. I hit Win 7 every time, and it boots up fine. (whew).

So, I essentially have two very important, very specific questions. They are;

1. How can I first get Win 7 under control, and fix this boot up error? Do I need to keep doing the Win 7 Repair Startup about four, five, six more times, or what? Or do I need to use EasyBCD? And if so, HOW do I use that program, as I've never used it before?

2. Once I do get Win 7 startup fixed, and under control, it's quite clear that my XP HD is fried beyond repair, so I would like to erase it, and just use it as extra storage. So my second question is: because I am currently dual-booting, and went through XP (XP being first, added a second HD and 7 on that later), HOW or WHAT do I do to make the Win 7 HD the only OS in my machine, and have it look only for itselt, and not two OS's, at boot up?

I know this is extremely long, and I'm very sorry for that, but I hope this helps anyone and everyone who is looking at this. What should I do? Thank you all very much in advance. Best, Dave.

 

[Saltgrass]

Your questions were answered in the prior post. The easiest thing is to do a Startup Repair to recover Win 7. The only thing that would keep this from working would be the partition is not marked as active, and you could use the Win 7 Install DVD and DiskPart or one of the other utilities suggested.

Your XP drive might be fine. We are only talking about the BCD Store or the XP boot files.

Post back after you have tried the Startup Repair 3 times. The reason it may take up to 3 runs is the repair can only do certain things in sequence.

 

[davidshea]

Your questions were answered in the prior post. The easiest thing is to do a Startup Repair to recover Win 7. The only thing that would keep this from working would be the partition is not marked as active, and you could use the Win 7 Install DVD and DiskPart or one of the other utilities suggested.

Your XP drive might be fine. We are only talking about the BCD Store or the XP boot files.

Post back after you have tried the Startup Repair 3 times. The reason it may take up to 3 runs is the repair can only do certain things in sequence.

Saltgrass:

I'm sad to report, nothing has been fixed. I have done the Win 7 Startup Repair no less than five times now, and after the first time (which did say "attempting to fix errors"), each subsequent time the Startup Repair reads, "No errors have been found. If you recently plugged in a camera or media player, unplug..." blah blah. But it has not detected any errors.

However, at reboot, the only screen I currently get is "Boot error, please insert disc and press enter." It's only IF I have the Win 7 disc in my drive, w/my BIOS set to check CD/DVD drive first, and it says "Hit any key to enter setup from CD or DVD" and I DON'T hit anything - that's when I finally come to the "Which OS would you like to choose", and I can pick Win 7 and enter it normally.

So - any ideas?

Dave

 

[Saltgrass]

However, at reboot, the only screen I currently get is "Boot error, please insert disc and press enter." It's only IF I have the Win 7 disc in my drive, w/my BIOS set to check CD/DVD drive first, and it says "Hit any key to enter setup from CD or DVD" and I DON'T hit anything - that's when I finally come to the "Which OS would you like to choose", and I can pick Win 7 and enter it normally.

So - any ideas?

Dave

Try booting to Win 7 and find out. If you can boot into Win 7, you could take a picture of your Disk Management window and attach using the paper clip. It would be very helpful.

I have seen other folks that had to have the Win 7 DVD in the drive to be able to boot, but never understood how they got there.

 

[SIW2]

Saltgrass earlier post had it.

If the win 7 HD is the first HD in bios boot order , AND the win 7 partition is marked as active - startup repair should fix it.

 

[pcs3657]

Hi

In this case i would suggest you to forget about changing the boot drives and other information, As you mentioned that all the data is backed up i would suggest to format both your drives and do a clean install on the disk that you want to keep the os on this will minimize the cumbersome task of repairs and also will give you more clarity as to which drive you are using for os. For this i would suggest you to do the following:

Remove both the drives

First plug the only drive that you want your OS to be installed on

Install the OS ( If you want dual boot the machine, First the OLDer os(xp) and then the new one(7))

Once your comp is up and running now plug the second drive

Format the second drive and use it for data back up or what ever you want

 

[davidshea]

Saltgrass earlier post had it.

If the win 7 HD is the first HD in bios boot order , AND the win 7 partition is marked as active - startup repair should fix it.

Here's what I know:
In my BIOS, I have it set to first check for external media to boot (I have none); then I have it set to check for CD/DVD (hence, how I boot from the Win 7 DVD); then I have it set to check for a HD.

In addition, I have two HD's in my machine (obviously); in the SATA 1 port, is my old XP HD; and in the SATA 2 port, is my newer 7 HD.

1) My first question: HOW do I set it in my BIOS to make the Win 7 HD, a.k.a. the SATA 2 port, be the FIRST HD it looks at?

2) My second question: HOW do I know if the Win 7 partition is marked as "active"?


Also, doing other research online, it appears that I should be using the utility "EasyBCD". Any thoughts on this, and how I would use it? I have the latest V2 Beta, which has full support of Win 7.

 

[davidshea]

Saltgrass earlier post had it.

If the win 7 HD is the first HD in bios boot order , AND the win 7 partition is marked as active - startup repair should fix it.

Just and FYI to my latest post:

I figured out how to tell if my Win 7 HD was first in the BIOS, and it is. Repeat: it was/is first in the BIOS loading order.

Second: I still don't know how to tell if the partition is marked "active". What does that mean, and where do I look?

Finally, I tried unhooking my XP HD from my mobo, and restarted, and launched from the Win 7 DVD to try and use the Repair Startup option on my Win 7 HD; however, interestingly, when it came to the dialog box where you choose an OS and a HD, the box was BLANK - repeat, BLANK - so my Win 7 is clearly somehow attached/connected to my XP HD, and that must be plugged in. This is a mystery to me, and I do not understand why this must be; does anyone else?

I have also been using EasyBCD, and have tried "Re-creat/repair boot files", and also removing XP from the boot choices, and neither of them have worked. I STILL get the "Disk boot failure, insert disc and press enter" whenever I try to launch "normally" into Windows 7. Even after all this, I am ONLY able to launch into 7 by first using the Windows 7 DVD in my drive. (which, by the way, to answer "Salt's" question as to why this is possible: I found out the reason is because, the Win 7 DVD actually has it's own MBR on it! Because of this, it makes it possible to launch from that, a clearly "untainted" and working MBR, which then allows me to launch 7 properly.) That is why.

Ok, waiting for further ideas... thanks!

 

[Saltgrass]

Again, if you can get into Win 7, use the snipping tool to take a picture of your Disk Management window. Attach it using the paper clip. We will then be able to tell your exact situation and suggest fixes.

Disk Management--type diskmgmt.msc in the Start Menu search box and hit enter.

 

[SIW2]

Screenshot of Disk Management would be great if possible - taken from within win7.

Type the word "create" in start search box.

Click "create and format hard disk partitions"

You can see if the win 7 partition is active there. If not , rt click it and mark it active.

Take a screenie and post it up.



If you can't boot in , boot the 7 dvd/repair disc, go to command prompt, type :

Diskpart

(then press enter )

lis vol

(then press enter )

(find the drive letter for your the partition win 7 is installed on - it is not necessarily the same letter as you see in windows )

sel vol your7driveletter

(then press enter)

act

(then press enter)

exi

(then press enter )


then run startup repair - it may take 3 runs.

 

[davidshea]

Screenshots

Again, if you can get into Win 7, use the snipping tool to take a picture of your Disk Management window. Attach it using the paper clip. We will then be able to tell your exact situation and suggest fixes.

Disk Management--type diskmgmt.msc in the Start Menu search box and hit enter.

Screenshots attached.

 

[davidshea]

Names of HDs:

It should also be noted that "Morgoth" is my old XP HD, and "Shelob" is my new, Win 7 HD.

 

[SIW2]

More like this David,

 

[davidshea]

Another picture:

More like this David,

View attachment 6634

Is this better/does this help?

 

[SIW2]

Yes, that's it.



As you can boot in fine , type cmd in start search box, when the black box pops up, rt click and select Run As Admin.

At the prompt ( this bit > ) type:

Diskpart

(then press enter)

sel vol c

(then press enter)

act

(then press enter)

sel vol d

(then press enter)

inact

(then press enter )

exi

(then press enter )


then boot the 7 dvd /repair disc and run startup repair - it may take 3 runs.

 

[davidshea]

Yes, that's it.



As you can boot in fine , type cmd in start search box, when the black box pops up, rt click and select Run As Admin.

At the prompt ( this bit > ) type:

Diskpart

(then press enter)

sel vol c

(then press enter)

act

(then press enter)

sel vol d

(then press enter)

inact

(then press enter )

exi

(then press enter )


then boot the 7 dvd /repair disc and run startup repair - it may take 3 runs.

And what, exactly, is this going to do? Or, attempt to do? Please let me know in detail, as it makes me a little nervous.

 

[SIW2]

It's the answer to your question:

So how can I fix my current boot problem, AND eventually get me to only booting up my Win 7 HD?

You will boot directly into win7 , which is what you asked for.

If you prefer to think it will make the world come to an end - that's fine....


LOL.

 

[Saltgrass]

What you did originally was to install Win 7 with the XP drive set as primary. The Win 7 boot files were placed in the XP partition and the XP install was incorporated, as is normally done.

When you reflashed your bios, what probably happened is that you reversed the order of the drives in the bios so the boot files were now inaccurate.

The Diskpart instructions SIW2 is giving you are correct, although if you have access to Disk Management, you do not need to go that route. You can just use Disk Managment to set partitions active. You cannot set them to inactive, however.

You need to get the Win 7 install booting normally and worry about XP later. I would set the Win 7 partition active (which the diskpart instructions do) and then set the drive to first priority in the bios. You can then leave the XP drive in or not.

Now doing a repair install should repair you boot situation. Then use EasyBCD to regain your dual boot menu.

Basically, SIW2 has a great deal of experience in this, do not worry about his instructions.