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Dual-Booting Windows Vista or 7 with EasyBCD

As of EasyBCD 2.1, EasyBCD has been verified to work with the following LH-based systems:

  • Windows 8 Beta
  • Windows 7 SP1
  • Windows Vista SP1
  • Windows Server 2008

EasyBCD also supports legacy versions of Windows, with backwards compatibility options for Windows 2000 and XP.

Adding a Windows Vista/7 Entry

Adding a Windows Vista or Windows 7 entry is a straight-forward process, and can be done from any of the supported host operating systems. Assuming you already have a fully-working BCD setup (i.e. EasyBCD runs OK and doesn't give you any errors on startup):

  1. Run EasyBCD, go to the "Add/Remove Entries" screen
  2. Enter the name you'd like to associate with the entry you're about to create in the "Name" box. For instance, "My Vista RTM Install"
  3. Select the letter of the drive/partition Windows Vista is installed on from the drop-down menu (e.g. "C:"). It's important to note that the Drive Letter must be the one currently visible in My Computer that points to the drive that Vista/7 is installed on. Even if the drive letters change from install to install, use the drive letters as they appear in your current boot. EasyBCD will automatically convert them to the proper drive & partition numbers that can be understood by the Vista bootloader.
  4. Press the "Add Entry" button, and wait for the notification telling you everything went OK.
  5. The operating systems list should immediately change to reflect the new changes, and you're all set.
  6. Optional: Go to the "Change Settings" page or the "Advanced Options" and customize the options available for this entry.

Troubleshooting

If you added a Windows Vista or Windows 7 entry and it fails to boot, you might want to check the following before asking for support.

  1. Did you specify the correct drive letter?
    Make sure you entered the letter for the Vista partition as it is currently assigned in the operating system you're running EasyBCD from. That's usually the most common reason why Vista won't boot. To change the drive letter, see the instructions at Changing the Drive Letter or delete the old entry and create a new one.
  2. Do you get a "Corrupt or Missing File" message on attempting to boot the newly created partition?
    Verify that the drive letter specified points to a valid Windows Vista install.
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