Change Vista's 'System' partition / move BCD boot manager?

Nah, it's still a 250GB drive it was just bugging me that I couldn't do what I want with it - hey I may even set up a dual boot with Windows 7 now... :wink:

B

Addendum:

Okay, another emergency if you can help :frowning: I was so happy that I finally managed to do the whole boot thing that I blithely reformatted the OldSys drive completely forgetting that I had put my content folders on there for LightWave. The NewSys drive was divided into two partitions C: (NewSys) and E: (Biig) and I had a folder on E: called F-temp that contained various things. Because the OldSys drive got assigned F: when I formatted it, I blithely copied the contents of F-Temp onto the newly-formatted F: drive, so not only have I reformatted a drive that had work stuff on it, I copied files over it. AAAAaarrrggghhh! Is there anything I can do? I have a Western Digital MyBook that backs everything up, but now I can't see the files on it because it thinks I no longer have a D: drive so I can't just restore from the backup...

I know this isn't in your remit, but I'm desperate to recover my work.

B

Addendum:

In theory my WD MyBook World Edition should have backed up the folder in question, but since the D: drive no longer exists, it won't give me access to the files!

B
 
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Please post a screenshot of the situation. I don't understand why you would not be able to view the contents of your Western Digital MyBook, just because you formatted the D: partition...
 
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The Last Set {Ref} ?

installed to the recreated C:.
Code:
C:\Users\hannu>bcdedit /v
 
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device                  partition=D:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default                 {d7909ee9-7166-11dd-9349-98516989298b}
displayorder            {d7909ee9-7166-11dd-9349-98516989298b}
toolsdisplayorder       {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout                 30
 
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {d7909ee9-7166-11dd-9349-98516989298b}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Microsoft Windows Vista
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {d7909eea-7166-11dd-9349-98516989298b}
nx                      OptIn

The PC works just fine, but I do not like mixing the pure "data partition" D: with the boot sequence. I also realized with the reinstall to destroyed C: that having the BCD data on the OS partition may be problematic at some times. Although everything works now just fine, I would like to transfer the BCD data either to C: or, maybe even better, to a small 2 GB partition S: created for that purpose.

Addendum:

Code:
bcdedit /export S:\Boot\BCD
bcdedit /store S:\Boot\BCD /set {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795} device partition=S:
bcdedit /store S:\Boot\BCD /set {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d} device partition=S:
bcdedit /store S:\Boot\BCD /set {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c} device

Refering to the last line can someone please explain where the ref {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c} comes from - I can't see it in the above bootmanager references:??

identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
? - {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}

Thanks
 
Refering to the last line can someone please explain where the ref {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c} comes from - I can't see it in the above bootmanager references:??...
It is the "Windows Legacy OS Loader"...

When I wrote the original commands here in the thread, I selected only those items, which needed to be changed to the correct drive, and I didn't include the whole 100-line output from BCDEDIT /enum command. Most of the items pointeed already to C:.

The mentioned three items were:

Windows Boot Manager
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
description Windows Boot Manager
-------------------
Windows Memory Tester
identifier {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
description Windows Memory Diagnostic
------------------------
Windows Legacy OS Loader
identifier {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}
description Earlier Version of Windows

If you run the command ' bcdedit /enum all /v ' , you will see all the items. There are lots of more. (or for a specific store: bcdedit /store S:\Boot\BCD /enum all /v )
 
i have a somewhat different situation that should be perfectly possible to resolve with BCD but i still can't it figure out...

anyway, here's what i am trying to do. I have a quad-boot system (Kubuntu-Kubuntu-7-7). I use GRUB for all my bootloading needs and it is already configured the way it should be, the last stage is the 7 bootloaders.

I have installed 7 Pro, installed some software and created an image of it using the standard backup facilities. Then i installed another 7 Pro and "restored" it from that backup (i plan to use that image on occasions when i need to reinstall one of my 7's so i would like to use a single image for that, not keeping two separate images). So these OS's are now completely identical. Which means that the bootloader for second OS still boots the first partition.

So, obviously, i would like to point the new Windows to the new partition. NOT change the system drive letter - i want the new drive to be C: just like the old one has, only that the C: should be a different drive.

So, what steps should i take? i can't seem to figure out where bootmgr keeps the drive ID's (or whatever it uses to determine which drive is drive C)...

EDIT:

i've been googling more and found out about bcdboot.exe. So i done everything and managed to get those two OS's bootable separately from each other (involving NTFS partition hiding from within Kubuntu, deleting bootloaders and invoking bcdboot.exe on the desired partitions). However, i discovered that Windows actually fooled me - it didn't recover the second partition, it actually restored the first one (and i didn't notice it because i was able to boot only one of the OS's), so the second partition was still the plain freshly installed virgin Win7. The reason it didn't restore it is simple - volume ID don't match, so i have to either reformat the whole HDD or "suck it".

So, is it possible to change the Volume ID of the backup? or what other solutions would you recommend (i.e. Ghost? TrueImage?)?
 
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You can "clone" an OS with various apps, but Vista and W7, which use UIDs not the BIOS to indentify partitions, will contain invalid IDs in the cloned version's BCD.
You can "startup repair" the clone from the booted DVD, and that will fix the BCD.
If it accidentally changes letter, that can be fixed with a registry hack.
Remember that partition letters don't exist in the physical world, they're just registry entries in the running system. (no two systems need to agree, though of course clones will)
 
hello,
I went through all the steps in the post No. 1. however have the following problems:
- how/when should I use the prompt line of the Windows 7 DVD to enter BOOTSECT command? should I reboot after step: bcdedit /store S:\Boot\BCD /enum all /v
?? and then enter \BOOT\BOOTSECT /NT60 S: /FORCE in the command line?
or?

next thing, after going through all the steps, I am getting "Windows/system32/winlogon.exe is corrupted or missing" message during the boot. and I have to plug in the "data disk" with the old boot section to get into Win.

any help? please, I really need to put the boot partition onto the SYSTEM drive.

thanks
 
EasyBCD 2.0 latest build / Diagnostics / Change boot drive
Point it to where you want it.

Thank you but it didn't work.
Debug shows:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device boot
path \bootmgr
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-us
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {dc165371-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
resumeobject {dc165370-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
displayorder {dc165371-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
{dc16536b-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {dc165371-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
device partition=C:
path \windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-us
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \windows
resumeobject {dc165370-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
nx OptIn
detecthal Yes

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {dc16536b-7f14-11de-9ea5-e174040ee9dc}
device partition=S:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Sonar OS
osdevice partition=S:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {450c5483-2ce8-11df-8449-806e6f6e6963}

----------------
It seems to be O.K., but then I shutdown the PC, disconnect the D: drive (data drive where the old boot partition is), and when selecting Windows 7 in the boot manager, I get this error message:

Windows failed to start
....
File: \Windows\system32\winload.exe is corrupted or missing.

Then I try to repair startup using Win7 DVD, but I get an error message, that the boot sector is corrupted.

Surprisingly, in the table where I choose which OS I wan to repair, Partition size for both instances says "0 MB" and "Unknown Location".

where can be the problem? how to repair "winlogon.exe" ??
thank you for helping me

PS: this is the actual state of Disk management window
 
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Can you show the rest of the DM screenshot (graphic). The text conveys insufficient information.
(details for attaching screenshots in the sticky)
 
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Can you show the rest of the DM screenshot (graphic). The text conveys insufficient information.
(details for attaching screenshots in the sticky)

thx, here you are.
plus, the current state from easyBCD:


Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=D:
path \bootmgr
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {1c6d82a0-2d40-11df-ad24-fbb0ac691aeb}
displayorder {1c6d82a0-2d40-11df-ad24-fbb0ac691aeb}
{1c6d82a1-2d40-11df-ad24-fbb0ac691aeb}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 10
custom:45000001 1

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {1c6d82a0-2d40-11df-ad24-fbb0ac691aeb}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {c1a06b4d-2cf4-11df-9b7e-806e6f6e6963}

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {1c6d82a1-2d40-11df-ad24-fbb0ac691aeb}
device partition=S:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Sonar OS
locale en-US
osdevice partition=S:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {688769a7-2cf5-11df-882c-806e6f6e6963}
 

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I think you need to change the BIOS boot sequence.
You've copied the boot files, but you're still booting from the old HDD.
 
I unplugged the old HDD when was booting with new settings. so in the BIOS there was only one HDD... and the boot sequence was always set to Disk O, then Disk 1.

what is the " winlogon.exe" problem? and the difference here...?:

changed boot partition:
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device boot
path \bootmgr


old:
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=D:
path \bootmgr
 
There was a bug in Vista DM which displayed IDE drives before SATA, regardless of which one was 1st in the BIOS boot sequence.
W7 "fixed" it by putting IDE last (even when it's 1st in the BIOS), so don't take any notice of DM's idea of disk 0 or 1 in a mixed SATA/IDE environment.
If you're getting to logon, you're past the boot process, so that's an entirely different thing to sort out.
Check the BIOS HDD boot sequence and boot with them both connected.
 
Terry, thank you so much! Changing BOOT sequence did work! Thank you. After two days of fighting with this annoyance, I can move on.

Thanks.
 
Hey all,

You were a great help to me back in 2008 on this very thread and I'd like to call on you again if I may? My machine has evolved slightly to now include a RAID with Windows 7 64-bit (to which I'll eventually fully migrate) and Vista on separate partitions. I still have a drive that contains the Vista that I used Acronis on to move to the RAID and all is well until I remove that drive. Then I get a message that no BOOTMGR device can be found and that I should hit "Ctrl, Alt, Delete to try again".

The Vista on the RAID works perfectly (I'm typing to you from in it), so I just want to be able to remove the drive extra to requirements now since I'm am having a problem right now with overheating and want to eliminate every possible heat generator.

When I remove the original Vista drive, that's when I get the "Ctrl, Alt, Delete to try again" message regardless of using EasyBCD to create a new MBR and/or Bootloader. When I have the Vista DVD in to try and repair the installation it finds no bootable drives.

Here's my EasyBCD bootmenu entry:

There are a total of 3 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Vista RAID
Timeout: 3 seconds
EasyBCD Boot Device: C:\

Entry #1
Name: Vista 32-bit
BCD ID: {aee1c6b4-5032-11de-8838-cbaf1d2ab14b}
Drive: G:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Windows 7 64-bit
BCD ID: {e99d1349-db50-11df-9ab1-9133325972cf}
Drive: D:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #3
Name: Vista RAID
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Thanks for all your help in advance,

B

Addendum:

In more tests I have the feeling it's because the NVidia RAID I have set up reckons it's not bootable and I don't know how to fix it.

B
 
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You need to use EasyBCD 2.0's new "Change Boot Drive" feature, accessible under "BCD Install/Repair"

Just use that, select either C:\ or D:\ (one of the partitions that will still be present after you remove the Vista drive), and you're set.
 
That doesn't work although it's one of the first things I tried. I believe the problem to be that the two drives in the RAID are set as not bootable (not my choice!) and although I've followed guidance on converting them to be bootable all the things I tried don't work.

B
PS I've attached my Windows Disk Management window so you can see. Even though I'm booting off Vista in the RAID, OldVista is still listed as the system drive.
 

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