Problems with "Edit Boot Menu" & Removing windows 7 options

andrew99

New Member
On the PC i was working on, I am using windows XP. I had tried to upgrade to windows 7, but that didn't work & I was trying to remove the two options to boot to windows 7. I used EasyBCD's edit boot menu to delete the two entries for windows 7, leaving only the windows XP option.

Now when I start the computer it goes to windows boot manager, and lists only the windows 7 option. Previously I could go to "earlier version of windows" and load into widnows XP successfully.

I am curious if there is a way to manually remove/edit the options from the recovery console for windows xp.

Addendum:

Also, I made a backup of the windows bootloader settings before I deleted the previous entries. How do I restore the .bcd file??

From the command prompt opened through the recovery console from the Windows 7 64-bit repair disc, I can find the old .bcd file but when i try to copy it to C:\boot\BCD , windows asks if i want to overwrite , i say yes, it says access denied.

Addendum:

Okay I was able to restore the backed up .bcd file using bcdedit /import "Location of file". And was able to go back to windows XP.
 
Last edited:
andrew99,

Welcome to the board.

Windows xp repair boot with recovery console

If you have a Windows XP install disk you can use the recovery console to repair to Windows XP boot. Windows Vista and Windows 7 use a newer boot method which is incompatible with a Windows XP – W-2 K. – Windows NT.


XP: Repair or fix master boot record using recovery console

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/483/xp_repair_fix_master_boot_record_recovery_console/

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/repairmbr.htm

If you don’t want to dual-boot that makes no sense to install a multiple operating systems boot loader like Easy BCD.

As far as upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows XP the links below may be useful. As an MCSE+I I always recommend against trying to upgrade from one version of Windows to another. It’s best to do a clean install. That said, if you want to try it again I would make sure that XP has the latest service pack on it which is service pack three. Also note that you can install service pack three without service pack one or two already installed because service pack three is not cumulative. If you’re working on a basic Windows XP, install service pack two and then service pack three. Then I would do all the updates. Then I would probably use one of the paid registry editors to make sure the registry is in good shape. Then I would use the FDISK command to make sure the files on the disk are in good shape. Do one last boot into Windows XP to make sure it’s happy, then start the Windows 7 upgrade install.

Given that all that’s going to take about six hours before you can start a Windows 7 upgrade install, I think it’s just easier to get the data off and then do a clean install. The basic Windows 7 home premium disk should be all anybody needs and it’s about $100. The only advantage what I can see of the Pro version is that it supposedly has the option to run programs in Windows XP compatibility mode. First of all a believe that option people have said doesn’t work, and I believe you can download the XP compatibility software from Microsoft for free.

Windows 7 upgrade advisor:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7
 
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