Install EasyBCD on 2 HDD ?

Padpadak

Member
Hello Forum,

Can You install BCD on the first hdd and on the second HDD ?

Explanation of my problem:

1 laptop
2 HDD both windows 7 64 bits

Installed BCD on the first HDD (slot 0)

Everything worked and booted oke, for 1,5 year.

First HDD (slot 0) broken,and no possible way anymore to boot from HDD 2 (slot 1) missing the bootmgr what was on the first HDD.

After hours of trying and finally with the windows 7 cd after a few attemps boot from the 2 HDD.

Now I have a new HDD, and my question is:

Can I put easy Bcd on the first HDD and also on the Second HDD with the same configuration ?
That when one of te HDD is broken again, i don't have a boot problem , because easyBCD is installed on both HDD.

My boot problem after the crash was , what I think ,that easy BCD was installed on the first HDD who was crashed, so the second HDD couldn't find his bootmgr.
My idea is to put easy BCD on both HDD so when one of the HDD ever Crashed again, I always have a bootmgr.

Can somebody confirm, if my idea is right, before I put my new second HDD in my laptop and install windows 7 ?

Best Regards
 
It's not EasyBCD you need in both places.
You can put EasyBCD in as many places as you want, or just one place and call it from another.
EasyBCD is just an app for controlling the bootmgr/BCD. It doesn't actually take part in the booting of your PC.

The normal installation of a multi-boot Windows, is that the second (and subsequent) installs will not install bootmgr and BCD files, but will simply add themselves as an entry in the BCD of the original installation, just as you found.

If the first install dies, leaving the second without boot files, you can fix the problem by removing the broken HDD, and then
Recovering the Windows Bootloader from the DVD - EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
which will create a set of boot files on the remaining HDD.

In the future, if you want both HDDs to be independently bootable, install W7 on one, then remove it and install W7 on the second.
Windows can't add itself to another BCD if there isn't one to be seen.
When you put both HDDs back in the PC, each will be bootable by switching the BIOS boot sequence.
You can then also use EasyBCD to add an entry in one BCD for the other W7 to give you a dual boot menu.
 
It's not EasyBCD you need in both places.
You can put EasyBCD in as many places as you want, or just one place and call it from another.
EasyBCD is just an app for controlling the bootmgr/BCD. It doesn't actually take part in the booting of your PC.

The normal installation of a multi-boot Windows, is that the second (and subsequent) installs will not install bootmgr and BCD files, but will simply add themselves as an entry in the BCD of the original installation, just as you found.

If the first install dies, leaving the second without boot files, you can fix the problem by removing the broken HDD, and then
Recovering the Windows Bootloader from the DVD - EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
which will create a set of boot files on the remaining HDD.

In the future, if you want both HDDs to be independently bootable, install W7 on one, then remove it and install W7 on the second.
Windows can't add itself to another BCD if there isn't one to be seen.
When you put both HDDs back in the PC, each will be bootable by switching the BIOS boot sequence.
You can then also use EasyBCD to add an entry in one BCD for the other W7 to give you a dual boot menu.

Thanks for the quick reply.

In my case the broken hdd with EASYBCD on it must be in the laptop to boot the second (good HDD), otherwise the second HDD didn't boot.
But when I tried to fix the bootloader with the original windows 7 DVD, didn't work because the laptop was only busy to handle the broken disk.
Even when the both HDD where in the laptop, iI didn't get some windows 7 to repair when use the Win7 DVD.

As you said the option here for the future is to instal WIN 7 on both HDD the one after the other
Then put the both HDD back and make the choice in the bios, and after that make a dual boot with eacyBCD

Last question ??


When I do this on this way and after the easyBCD both HDD will see each other, so that I can swich files between the disks ?

Best Regards
 
Yes each OS will see all the contents of the other and both can share data (but not apps unless they're portable. The apps will need to be installed on both systems normally)
If you want to fix the current 2nd HDD so that it boots, run the repair from the DVD (3 times) as in the previous reply, but remove the HDD with the broken boot first.
 
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