Crazy mixed up boot

This is my first shot at this, so forgive me if I don't do it right! Please! Laptop is older HP that can't boot from USB. It's dual boot Win 7 and Win 10 with Win 7 on C drive and Win 10 on E drive. It crashed eons ago and during attempt to recover the boot files got misconstrued so that it seems to boot from C when booting into Win 10. Looks like it's running in Win 10 because programs that won't run in Win 7 run okay. During recovery it picked up programs from Win 7 and runs them in 10. (??!!??) I'm going to try to copy the boot files and paste them here, if that will work. BTW, I'm 89 so that's why I don't have a newer machine.
Looks like they all copied okay! I really want to get this fixed so it boots right. I'm scared to do anything without getting help from someone who understands what these files mean and what they do. This machine is an AMD machine, not INTEL. I've had several laptops of this vintage and this is the only one that doesn't run hot! It's an HP DV6 10/15/2009 model. I set up the dual boot some time ago. I don't remember why it crashed. When trying to boot into the partition that says recovered, it is not recovered at all. It takes you to the Options page where you have to choose what to do to try to recover the partition. I do think all the files are there and okay, but the boot files aren't right. I DO hope someone can tell me what to do to get the machine to boot correctly so it will boot into the Win 7 partition okay and do the Win 10 partition correctly from the E: drive and not the C: drive.
Thanks so much to everyone who tosses me help!
Ron K.

The files:

OVERVIEW:
There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows 10
Timeout: 10 seconds
Boot Drive: E:\

Entry #1
Name: Windows 10
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \WINDOWS\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Windows 10 Pro (recovered)
BCD ID: {e8f287fd-e96f-11ef-84ea-f14946c0c127}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

DETAILED (Debug Mode)
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=E:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {879639df-e998-11ef-b8ea-f2cc100155a7}
resumeobject {879639de-e998-11ef-b8ea-f2cc100155a7}
displayorder {879639df-e998-11ef-b8ea-f2cc100155a7}
{e8f287fd-e96f-11ef-84ea-f14946c0c127}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 10

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {879639df-e998-11ef-b8ea-f2cc100155a7}
device partition=C:
path \WINDOWS\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 10
locale en-US
inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
recoverysequence {dd833425-e97f-11ef-ba70-be202479522e}
displaymessageoverride Recovery
recoveryenabled Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \WINDOWS
resumeobject {879639de-e998-11ef-b8ea-f2cc100155a7}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {e8f287fd-e96f-11ef-84ea-f14946c0c127}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 10 Pro (recovered)
locale en-US
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {160e736e-1553-11f0-ba7e-806e6f6e6963}
safeboot Minimal
 
Can you paste a screenshot of your Disk Management so we can get a better idea of what's running and from where.
 
Before UEFI came along (your PC e.g.)
Disk Management flags had the following meanings on MBR/BIOS PCs

"boot" = "this is the system you're running"
"system" = "this is where I found the boot files for the currently running system"
"active" (on the first HDD in the BIOS boot sequence) = "this is where I started the search for the boot files"
"active" (on subsequent HDDs in the BIOS boot sequence) ="this is where I will look if I don't find something in the MBR on the first HDD"

The screenshot you posted shows that you are actually running the W7 OS although it was booted via the W10 partition because that' has the active bit set.
Use EasyBCD to rename the first entry to W7

Then add an entry for W10 pointing to drive E

Reboot into each one in turn to verify they're OK (check the status of the "boot" flag in Disk Management to confirm which system you're actually running.
(it should be obvious anyway from the splash screen after you select an entry from the boot menu, W7 uses the distinctive colourful shimmering logo)

If they both work OK, delete the spurious W10 recovered entry
 
Does anyone have any idea how to fix the boot so it will boot correctly. Entry #2 is the one that doesn't boot right. It goes to the point where it has to be repaired, even though it says recovered. It should go into Windows 7 on the C drive.
 
Before UEFI came along (your PC e.g.)
Disk Management flags had the following meanings on MBR/BIOS PCs

"boot" = "this is the system you're running"
"system" = "this is where I found the boot files for the currently running system"
"active" (on the first HDD in the BIOS boot sequence) = "this is where I started the search for the boot files"
"active" (on subsequent HDDs in the BIOS boot sequence) ="this is where I will look if I don't find something in the MBR on the first HDD"

The screenshot you posted shows that you are actually running the W7 OS although it was booted via the W10 partition because that' has the active bit set.
Use EasyBCD to rename the first entry to W7

Then add an entry for W10 pointing to drive E

Reboot into each one in turn to verify they're OK (check the status of the "boot" flag in Disk Management to confirm which system you're actually running.
(it should be obvious anyway from the splash screen after you select an entry from the boot menu, W7 uses the distinctive colourful shimmering logo)

If they both work OK, delete the spurious W10 recovered entry
This makes sense to me. That's what I thought it was doing, but couldn't understand why the one program especially, 4k video downloader would run in Win 7. Anyway, it did seem like it was running in Win 7. I'm going to print off what you said so I have it right in front of me when I start working on this rig. I sure appreciate your help! 89 and still learning. :smile:
Ron
 
I'm back. I think I edited the boot files with Easy BCD the way you said, but it would not boot into Win 10. I got a message saying "inaccessible boot device". I'll show you a copy of what I did. Hoped to have better results, but not yet. The Disk Management is identical to what it was. This is what happened that started this mess. It said I had to reinstall Windows 10. Since you can't make a disk with the files being too large, I used the Media Creation Tool 21H1 and had to run it from Windows 7. The best option it gave me was to save the files and reinstall. That's when it gave me the setup that I have right now as you have seen it and would only run like it does now. I'm attaching the BCD pic so you can see if I did that right.
Thanks for all the help!!!
Ron
 

Attachments

  • EasyBCD-2.JPG
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Make sure you don't have system files hidden (go to folder options and make sure it's set as follows)
1746927429619.jpeg
Then post screenshots of the contents of the boot folders on E and F
 
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