Windows 7 How to---make system boot from correct drive

[ruggb]

I have just replaced my MB. It was basically the same type board except different chipset. Same processor, RAM and peripherals. I just let it boot from the installed drives and it eventually fixed most everything except for one thing.
I have three drives. W7 is on one (A), a copy of W7 is on another (B), and WinXP is on a third (C). It normally boots from A. It now wants to boot from C. I must go to the boot menu (F12) and select A for every boot. How do I get it back to booting normally from A????

thx

 

[TorrentG]

Hi.

It is highly recommended that a clean install be done since there is a new motherboard in use. This is a fairly strict "rule" that should be followed, without exception. It is not impossible to have a working OS without the clean install but this really should not be done.

That being said, you can go into your bios to choose which drive boots when system is powered on. To get into bios, usually you have to hit the delete key on the keyboard at system power on. Some machines are different. If you find difficulty getting into bios, consult the manual for the new motherboard.

 

[Nibiru2012]

I have three drives. W7 is on one (A), a copy of W7 is on another (B), and WinXP is on a third (C).

The C drive has always been the traditional boot drive in Windows systems. A & B drives were/are traditionally reserved for floppy drives, even thought they're not used hardly at all these days.

That's why your system is booting from the C drive.

Do a clean install as TorrentG has stated. Keep your hard drives lettered from C on up; such as: C, D, E, F, etc.

 

[Saltgrass]

Could you open up disk management and take a picture of the window using the snipping tool? Attach it using the paperclip.

As was mentioned, drive letters may change if you are doing something like dual booting. Normally the boot OS is on the C: partition, but may be elsewhere depending on how the system was installed. Since the registry is dependent on the original install drive letter, it has to stay the same if it is the active OS.

Until you post back the picture, the system will boot (or try) to the first active partition it encounters going by the drive order set in the bios.

 

[ruggb]

WHAT WAS I THINKING----

SORRY the letters were meant to label the drives and do not refer to the system letter.
I set the BIOS to boot from CD, HDD, floppy - in that order but there is no setting for a specific HDD.
In the past when it did this it eventually figured it out and defaulted to the one I picked after 3-4 times.
Don't know how it did that.
The F12 function lets me pick a specific boot device. It is not set up as a multiboot - each OS was installed independently.

 

[Saltgrass]

Most bios have different ways of setting the hard drive priority. This may be in a different section, but you can set the primary drive or first drive in the Hard drive priority.

The F12 key allows you to bypass this bios setting for one boot only.

 

[Nibiru2012]

SORRY the letters were meant to label the drives and do not refer to the system letter.

When you label the hard drives in Windows, you are making them system letters too. They are one and the same.

When it comes to changing drive letters, always leave C drive alone, regardless. You MAY change letters after that.

What I do is to leave the D drive as the traditional CD/DVD drive, then I change and arrange the drive lettering after that.

Here is what my system looks like with the two external eSATA drive running also:

Link Removed due to 404 Error

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I hope this helps.

 

[ruggb]

Robert

Thanks -- But by "label" I was referring to for the purpose of this posts clarity.
Obviously, I screwed that all up..................

Try this - Three drives QX, QY, QZ -- It normally boots from QX, it now wants to boot from QZ. QY it only selected if I select it during F12.

I'm going to disconnect all but QX and see if it fixes itself with a couple of boots.

 

[ruggb]

OK - u will get a kick out of this...............

I disconnected all but drive QX. Boot - NO!!!!! it can't find the system. Well, then what system was it finding when I had them all connected. F12 would not work either, for either QX or QY.
OK, where is the repair prompt? I put the system disk in and booted from that and it took two tries to get there.
HOWEVER, I can't find the repair DOS prompt. It has an auto FIX selection (about 6 items) when I select REPAIR. SO...I selected "Automatically find and fix problems".
It came back saying everything was fine and it could not find anything wrong.....

SO, HOW do I FIXBOOT or FIXMBR in W7???????????????<< that is a real question.. Please answer if u can

Well, try to boot again to QX .................. DUH, it worked.

So again, Windows changes but it remains the same... Just SMOKE & MIRRORS - full of lies and confusion.

Connected all drives and boot is back to normal on QX.

OH ROBERT - u have a Sam 1TB and WD500 just like I do - I also have a Hitachi 1TB but that Sam is noticeably faster and the WD is 8-10°C hotter than any of them.

thx

 

[Nibiru2012]

OH ROBERT - u have a Sam 1TB and WD500 just like I do - I also have a Hitachi 1TB but that Sam is noticeably faster and the WD is 8-10°C hotter than any of them.

I think you meant Nibiru... LOL! Maybe not?? Yes, the Samsung is a fast hard drive for sure and the WD is 8-10 C hotter too on my system.

So again, Windows changes but it remains the same... Just SMOKE & MIRRORS - full of lies and confusion.

That's a little disingenuous but I understand your frustration though. It's not smoke and mirrors or lies, confusion, etc. Windows 7 is just a little finicky I believe and some of us, me included throw it a lot of curve balls to setup the systems the way we want. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way though.

I hope things are getting back on track for you with the hard drives.

 

[Saltgrass]

Well, try to boot again to QX .................. DUH, it worked.

So again, Windows changes but it remains the same... Just SMOKE & MIRRORS - full of lies and confusion.

If you install Win 7 with another drive connected, I will put the boot files on the other drive if the other drive is primary.

The Disk Management picture I requested would have helped.