changing from dual boot to single boot of win7 - help please

anykey

Member
Hello, I have been using a dual boot setup of XP on a new fast drive and win7 on an old slow drive.
I am now ready to cease using XP and I want to do a clean install win7 on the new drive and remove the old drive.
My data is quite separate on a third drive.
I have been using Easy BCD to manage my boot.

I have today installed win7 on the new drive.
I ran setup.exe from within the existing win7.
The reason for that is my installation CD would not run from bootup, but insisted on booting into the easybcd boot manager screen.

Win7 is happily working on the new drive. Hooray
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I now want to remove the old drive but I cannot. Boo
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Somehow the boot manager insists on having the old drive present coz it wants to use it to boot.
Even though it eventually takes me to my new win7 installation. I hope I am explaining this clearly.
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I suppose I have to get boot files from the root of the old drive and replace them on the new drive.
OR, am I to edit some boot file on the new drive to tell it to forget about the old drive and just use files on my new drive.
I am confused.
I wonder if you can help me please.
Thanks,
 
Hi anykey, welcome to NST.
Your problem is that when you installed the new W7, with the old HDD connected, you had the old HDD first in the boot sequence of the BIOS (meaning it was the first disk, disk 0). And so W7's installer thought it was being clever to store the new W7's boot files away on the old HDD (in the "active" partition), so it could still boot (you are always booting from the first disk in the BIOS).
To fix this problem, and make your new W7's HDD the boot disk, you will need to perform one of the following:


  • Run EasyBCD 2.0 in the new W7, and use Diagnostic Center->Change the Boot Drive, and point it at the "active" partition on the new HDD. This will cause your new HDD to become able to boot through its own HDD, and you can then disconnect the old HDD.
  • Shutdown your computer (if its on), disconnect the old HDD, turn it back on, press the key it tells you to press at the first splash screen at startup to enter the BIOS setup. Then put your CD/DVD drive first in the boot sequence, insert the W7 DVD, change the changes, and exit the BIOS, press a key, and the computer will then boot from the W7 DVD. Now, just select "Repair My Computer", then "Startup Repair", and run the latter 3 times to fix everything, and your new W7 will now be booting from its own HDD.
Cheers.

Jake
 
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Get EasyBCD 2.0 latest build.
diagnostics / change boot drive
point it to your new W7 partition.
Then change the BIOS boot sequence to put your new HDD before the other HDDs
(while you're there, put CD before HDD in the boot sequence too. - that's probably why you couldn't boot the W7 DVD)

Addendum:

Sorry Jake - overlapped posts again.
 
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Get EasyBCD 2.0 latest build.
diagnostics / change boot drive
point it to your new W7 partition.
Then change the BIOS boot sequence to put your new HDD before the other HDDs
(while you're there, put CD before HDD in the boot sequence too. - that's probably why you couldn't boot the W7 DVD)

Addendum:

Sorry Jake - overlapped posts again.

Thank You Terry60.
It worked :smile:

Addendum:

Hi anykey, welcome to NST.
  • Shutdown your computer (if its on), disconnect the old HDD, turn it back on, press the key it tells you to press at the first splash screen at startup to enter the BIOS setup. Then put your CD/DVD drive first in the boot sequence, insert the W7 DVD, change the changes, and exit the BIOS, press a key, and the computer will then boot from the W7 DVD. Now, just select "Repair My Computer", then "Startup Repair", and run the latter 3 times to fix everything, and your new W7 will now be booting from its own HDD.
Hello Jake, thanks for your clear and concise instructions.

As a point of interest I didn't have to do part two of your method.

For some reason when I boot my bios boot menu appears.
I used the arrow keys to change to my preferred drive and the black screen hung with a flashing cursor - as it does.

Re-booted and with my preferred drive now already selected it carried on booting. Hooray.

I then used EasyBCD to tidyup my boot (loader) menu and remove old and unwanted items.

I have a boot that goes straight into win7 without the Easy menu choices appearing - which is what I want.

For some reason when I boot my bios boot menu still appears but continues after 4 seconds so is no big deal.

Thank you all most kindly for your help and assistance and esp for adding that Magic button: diagnostics / change boot drive.

I am very Happy :grinning:
 
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