EasyBCD Multiboot on SSD cloning to Mechanical HDD

Hi,

Recently upgraded my 2 multiboot PC's [Win 7Pro : Win 7 Pro -2: XPSP3] from mechanical to SSD's.
I originally built the computers myself using Acronis. Acronis no longer supports the O/S Manager of earlier
versions. I required professional services to accomplish the changeover. Currently both computers are fully functional with EasyBCD as my Boot loader and manager. All 3 O/S's are on 1 SSD drive on each of the 2 computers.

I'm paranoid about "crashes" and want to create "mirrored copies" of the SSD's. I chose AOMEI Backupper to
do "sector by sector" clone from the "Source" : SSD to the" Destination" "old" mechanical HDD (of larger size). All appears well following procedure. However when I bootup with only the "cloned" HDD it boots up fine into the FIRST physical O/S partition Win 7Pro. The Easy BCD Boot Menu choices appear just as they should. I chose the second option Win 7Pro-2 and I receive the MS Black and White screen : "insert your original disk/ permission administrator. That requires a Reboot on insertion of installation so its an endless loop. I then try 3rd Menu choice "XP" and the MS logo comes on and "freezes" without loading. Same situation has occurred multiple attempts on both separate computers. Situation exactly same in each instance.

Not clear whether the clone "offset" of SSD to HDD is the problem. OR :: Want to consider "repairing" the configuration in Easy BCD but am not clear what that does or really whether it will accomplish the task.
A Question:The backups of the boot configuration file associated with EasyBCD....does each O/S require its own backup file or is there only one. I assume there is only one backup file that is read from the MBR to seek which of the O/S's to first launch at the first sector.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. .Especially some explanation of when to employ the
BCD Backup/Repair option or whether BCD Deployment might be helpful in my situation..
 
EasyBCD is not your boot manager.
It's just helping you manage the MS bootmgr's BCD store.
If you clone one device to another and that device includes the BCD, then you'll get a BCD which is describing the positions of the original partitions on the old cloned device.
The BCD uses UIDs to describe the positions of partitions. That's a hashed combination of the unique device ID and the cyl/track/sector of the partition start address.
(EasyBCD, for your convenience makes it appear that the partition "letter" is in the BCD by translating the human-unfriendly version into something you recognize by looking up the device in the registry, but it's only a translation)
The clone of your BCD is therefore not correctly pointing at the cloned copies, but at the originals.
Frankly, I'm surprised that even the first W7 boots without you having had to "repair startup" from your installation DVD.
As long as you can get that one booted, you should be able to simply delete the BCD entries for the other OSs and add them again.
Point the other W7 to the partition letter by which the booted W7 (C presumably) sees it in explorer. (EasyBCD does the reverse translation for you too), and let EasyBCD "auto-configure" the XP entry. It will find XP and create all the necessary linkage and file copies.
Make sure that the SSD isn't connected, so that it finds your HDD vesion of XP.
 
Thanks for info and thoughts
Your clarity and "grasp" is apparent. Mine not so much. I now grasp the "clone/mirror" process. Does this mean that every "clone" would require a similar procedure. Cloning "sector by sector" is not sufficient to be "exact". I had similar problems cloning w/ Acronis...always got MBR errors on the "cloned device. Here w/ AOMEI backupper I did get to boot into the first Win 7 partition, the others were , as I said, unloadable. However, in the interim I noticed that when I left in the SSD [the original source of the clone] changed the BIOS priority and Booted form the "clone"...all 3 O/S were launchable. If I remove the SSD ,again, it returns to the original unlaunchable configuration. Could the BCD be looking at BOTH the "original" and "Clone" to permit the correction?
Merely booting into the 2nd O/S [Win 7-2] would not , in itself, self correct what you call the "BCD store"? I need to turn to EasyBCD.

<<<you should be able to simply delete the BCD entries for the other OSs and add them again.>>> How do I do this?

1. EasyBCD: Edit Boot Menu and DELETE entry #2 Win7-2 : DELETE entry #3 XP 2.
2. Without Reboot or anything :Add New Entry: Type Windows Vista 7/8/....Name : Win 7-2 : Now the Drive letter is "sketchy"...[currently] the Drive letter is H:\. I should maintain that "original configuration.
3. In 3rd XP Partition : Without Reboot or anything :Add New Entry: Type Windows NT/2K.....Name : XP -2: Currently the Drive letter is I:\....
In XP-2... but NO OPTION exists for Letter Drive selection....so it is AUTOMATIC.
4. Upon doing the above will this "Automatically" link to the correct OS and its correct winloader/nt loader or
5. Must I then do something in the BCD Repair or BCD Deployment Option, if not when might I need to utilize these options?
6. I assume these actions are ALL done within the bootable first Active partition Win 7.
7. Is rebooting at a particular time important...or just finish the full procedure and Reboot?

Youve generously covered some of my questions....but I've spent 3 months attempting to recover...and I'm currently so close. I don't want
to make any mistake at this point.

Thanks again Terry
 
Terry,
I bit the "bullet" and proceeded. I attempted to maintain the "old Drive letter" designations which meant that had to "fiddle' with Disk Management to "release" some Drive Letters. Went rather smoothly and everything appeared as it did in the "source" EasyBCD Menu View. Also the Boot Manager list was correct and sequenced correctly.
Able to Boot into the Win 7 + Win 7-2 but the XP [SP3] still goes thru the Windows GUI logo cycle and "stalls out" on the screen where your "name should appear". Screen freezes just before your "name" option.

The only thing that I did that maybe I should not have done was I with "Edit Boot Menu" :grinning:eleted Multiples: Win 7-2 + XP 2 + Win 7-3 [there is a dummy" limited Win 7 Pro installation on a different SSD] I wanted to "sequence" the listing properly [as I had had it previously].
Win 7 # 1 : Win 7-2 #2 : XP 2 #3 : Win 7-3 #4. I did note, after I "deleted all entries" following Win 7 [#1], that there is an option to "change the order" within EasyBCD [Modify entries ..either up or down].

As I look at the BCD View Settings on the "source" SSD : Entry #1 Win 7 and Entry #3 XP 2 BOTH have the same Drive Letter F:\
I'm currently in XP [ "source" SSD] on the Web so Top Listing is : Timeout....Boot Drive :F:\ . .....these setting fully FXAL . I noted on the "Cloned" mechanical HDD that Entry #1 Win 7 and Entry #3 XP 2 also share the SAME Drive letter. and I" think" that it was C:\ ........

Is this an option for BCD Deployment : MBR Config Option : Install Windows XP NTLDR bootloader or something else. Since Win 7-3 was my "LAST" sequence correction could
Win 7 -3's winload.exe have overwritten the "prior" XP NTLDR and therefore it will not boot.

Youve helped me thru 3/4 of the passage....hoping the final deed is minor.

Thanks for your input

Jason
 
Don't play with any of the EasyBCD "advanced" options.
You should be able to do everything you need with "add new entry" and "edit boot menu"
Disk letters aren't "real". i.e. they don't exist on your hardware anywhere, when the PC is turned off they go away.
They're just conjured into existence when you boot Windows (Linux doesn't even have any) from a combination of registry entries (if you've set any letters with Disk Management) or dynamic allocation during boot depending on the order in which devices are detected (which is why letters can change and an OS become messed up if you change the cabling inside your PC)
If the letter which each OS calls itself is different between the clone and its source, that would suggest that the "clone" isn't actually a clone. Some partition managers will claim to make a "copy" when they are actually heavily modifying the output to allow it to be used alongside the original.
If I want a true clone of my OS I'd use backup/restore (to a different place) rather than copy as I'm never quite sure what's been done to the copy.
Don't worry that XP appears to be on the same drive as W7. The BCD is not pointing to the OS for legacy systems, but to the boot files for that OS, and EasyBCD has made copies of everything necessary, in the place where they must be to boot properly.
Can you post a screenshot of your Disk Management (when you boot the SSD and the HDD) with all of the flags visible, and the contents of "view setings" (both, again)
That's the easiest way to spot if anything is out of kilter.
FYI
Disk Management flags have the following meanings

"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"
 
Terry CANT FIND HOW TO ATTACH JPGs

I'd like to define the problem as it exists currently. From the 240 GB SSD holding the OSs....Cloned/Mirrored via AOMEI Backupper "Clone function" : Clone #1 and Clone #2 : both clones on Mechanical HDD of 500GB. Options chosen in process was to clone sector by sector. From SSD to HDD and from "smaller" to larger". WIn 7 the first physical OS Booted. in each case. With your guidance I Deleted and Added Entries to Easy BCD. The Win 7-2 : Win 7-3 came available thru the Boot Manager Menu (and I noted that the Menu Sequence must Mirror the Listed sequence in View Settings or there is not recognition). Only XP will not boot.

From your writings I'll assume that "cloning" is in itself a "dicey" system. I'm looking to "clone" only because Acronis no longer has a Boot Manager function. I too prefer to work within the context of Backup/Restore less complicated and shorter because only smaller partitions are dealt with rather than extended HDDs. I ran out of HDD space...my "legacy" Acronis backups no longer worked with 2016 software and the 2016 software no longer had OS managmenent functionality. I've spent hrs across many days with Tech support. To no avail. So I sought professional help and here I am. Prior to that I downloaded EasyBCD but then thought
how are 2 competing systems going to get along. Please, what might you suggest one use for Backup/ Restore within the context of the Easy BCD environment.

I additionally, used the Backup/Restore function of AOMEI. It is really "cluncky" and requires "great caution. I did however, create a 500 GB HDD by Backup/Restore from the Easy BCD environment. It required the same procedures....Win 7 copied as a "system" disk allowed me to boot to WIn 7. Copied and Restored the "other" 3 Primary partitions as "Partition" only disks. I assumed that the "BCD" store was linked to the first Win 7 {didn't want competition between O/S's}. Had to do the same EasyBCD technic of [Delete and New Entry} and corrected all Win 7 partitions. Then attempted XP. All Win 7's fine...XP does not boot after New Entry and "Automatic choice". In 3 attempts of 2 scenarios...same consistent "brick wall". I've enclosed JPG files....Attempted to send attachments last "thread" but rejected the option. No clear why. I'll try again...rather than PNG, I send JPGs.

I've tried to comply with your requests for "shots". I'm working well beyond my paygrade here. With a graduate degree in philosohpy and 6 languages, almost non of which I can speak anymore, I really understand the place of language in the system. Try telling a "dental patient" what one has to do to "restore" their mouth. So this here for me is total confusion.
Are the Flags the "red swiggles"...seen in Win 7 and Win 7-3
"boot" is to "bootstrap" from ground zero into an OS of some sort [DOS..Win 3.1,ect]
[system] "find the boot files..."platted" by the partition table in the first 512mgB by location of sector/cylinder,etc ..but usually "hidden in cement" in the O/S that boots
"active" is the OS that one boots into and is currently doing the lifting...

Seems to me....this tiny bit of code...these few macro commands....could and should be SAVED within any system and one should
be able to RECALL them to correct boot errors. Copy when things function and if no changes occur but you "crash" just reinstate them.
I'm really not "gifted" here. If it wasn't for "my music", I'd never have entered this arena. Understanding the language is key to understanding and unraveling the problems.

Thanks for sticking with me.
Jason

Disk Management flags have the following meanings

"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"[/QUOTE]

I made some Notes about my "system" . It may or may not be or value. SO I leave them on the bottom of the page and you can regard or disregard as necessary. An attempt to explain the JPGS
Not for the "faint of heart"
Here is Acronis DD12 shot of the SSD SYSTEM congifuration
1. Disk #1 is SSN: with the "Extra dummy" Win 7 -3 partition. Rebuild it from its small beginnings
to "Full Audio Recording" configuration. [Crucial 230GB]
2. Disk #2 : Muskvin SSN 500 GB from data and "audio samples"
3. Disk#3 : Samsung 850 Pro containing the usual FXAL O/S's
4. Disk # 4: Mechanical HDD : "Mostly" all Data for my Audio needs but D:\ [Fat 32] is where I keep
Email : Web Downloads: and some ProgFiles of Audio storage samlpes. G:| was where I previously stored the latest Acronis Backups when the "system" was ALL Mechanical HDD. Fat 32 is "legacy"
from Partition Magic.
*****
Easy BCD Screen Shots: Distinction PATH for the "dummy" Win 7-3 : Entry #4
Entries #1-3 same in all regards
****
Disk Managment in XP SSN "working congif" SSD at rest XP Part_O6.jpg
Shows discrepant Labeling of F [N:]

CANT FIND HOW TO ATTACH JPS
 
just click on the "upload a file" button next to "post reply" below the post window.
 
Post Reply and Upload file.... found...I tried this previously unsuccessfully. ...at first don't succeed...try and try again...hope Einstein's not listening.
Will do, if I can
I "think" 5 went thru...then error Message on the 6th...overload as Upload so will try to upload on the following post. PLease inform if
JPG's received.
 
Seems maybe my Firefox AddBlock Plus is "kvetching". Disabled and will try again. Can't seem to bypass. Get some "Server Configuration" Screen. I Diabled and got not activatation ability (just dead link). Reenabled and then activated error message. The text file that corresponds to the JPGs is on the bottom of the last "extended Post" and if you got the other 5 JPG's I think you should be OK. Not sure how to sort out the "Adblock plus" extension problem on Firefox....did not ever expect its being utilized in an upload post...Never happened before.
If required I'll just Delete the Extension...but there are several. I wait to hear from you and what else you might require.


Thank you
 
I use Adblock plus on Maxthon and it causes no such problem.
I just uploaded a jpg using Firefox and no problem there either.
(I guess you've gathered that none of your pictures appeared)
If you click on "upload.." and select a picture, you should see it appear as a thumbnail after the progress bar completes.
 
Another try

All Adblock plugins Disabled.. Just does not happen.
It takes all I can to turn to the "Gates" method....Internet Explorer 8

Deed done
 

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Let me recap.

Your situation is that both W7s and XP on the SSD boot OK ?
Both W7s on the HDD boot fine, but XP hangs during logon ?

If that's it, then EasyBCD has performed properly, you're booting everything correctly.
The problem with the cloned XP is happening after anything affected by EasyBCD has been and gone. It only makes changes in the BCD which is read by bootmgr in step 2 below.
You appear to be stalling in step 5 by which time EasyBCD's influence is long gone.
XP is already running.
It's probably related to this.
Goodells.Net :: Understanding MultiBooting

1.After pressing the power button, the PC’s firmware initiates a Power-On Self Test (POST) and loads firmware settings. This pre-boot process ends when a valid system disk is detected.
2.Firmware reads the master boot record (MBR), and then starts Bootmgr.exe. Bootmgr.exe finds and starts the Windows loader (Winload.exe) on the Windows boot partition.
3.Essential drivers required to start the Windows kernel are loaded and the kernel starts to run, loading into memory the system registry hive and additional drivers that are marked as BOOT_START.
4.The kernel passes control to the session manager process (Smss.exe) which initializes the system session, and loads and starts the devices and drivers that are not marked BOOT_START.
5.Winlogon.exe starts, the user logon screen appears, the service control manager starts services, and any Group Policy scripts are run. When the user logs in, Windows creates a session for that user.
6.Explorer.exe starts, the system creates the desktop window manager (DWM) process, which initializes the desktop and displays it.
 
Terry Hi,

Your situation is that both W7s and XP on the SSD boot OK...........Exactly
Both W7s [all 3 which includes Win7-3] on the HDD boot fine, but XP hangs during logon......Exactly.

The Goodell info is concise and very elucidating. Sequential and understandable. Thanks for that. Before I "wine" , can I ask what you use for a BackupRestore functional software [previously Partition Magic: AcronisTrue Image Home 2011and now AOMEI Backupper] ATIHome was easy and flawless. Am not sure it will do Backups of individual Primary partitions when the MBR and Boot Managers are "hidden or limited while under the under the
"control" of EasyBCD. I can tech support this issue but have had dealing there and think its a "fruitless" path. My thoughts are that if each Win 7 Primary were Backed up individually [ "on its own"] from within the Easy BCD Boot Manager and subsequently Restored to it's own separate HDD or SSD it could not "launch" without problems. Error messages like MBR Error, etc. Even if it did not stand alone by itself....possibly EasyBCD could repair each individual MBR and Boot Loader to allow for placement of each separate OS on a separate SSD. Rather than as now the 3 OS are written just one individual SSD or HDD. . Any thought appreciated because It has been suggested to me that I forget Multiboot and turn to single boot or maybe even MS dual boot to "Keep it simple stupid".

To get back to your diagnosis. I must admit I have been using a xracked copy of XP for 15 or more years. Of course, I have 3 original verifiable copies but in the "old days" authorization was so damn complicated that I "chose the easy way out...I created a "slipstream disk with SP3 on board". I've never had the least bit of problems with it. I've even used one iteration from computer #1 and Restored it to #2 without problems. That I've done several times in the far past and was amazed...at how 'untaxing" Microsoft in this context could actually be. There's no MS support. As we know its totally discontinued.

I could consider dispensing with XP but it is the only OS I have that functions with both my Notation software Finale 2007 and Sibelius. My audio hardware also is "old" like me and nobodys writing drivers for many pieces of my "vintage" hardware. I'm insanely ecofriendly and "abhor" this disposable society that just tosses out what it doesn't need or want and "leaves the cancerous consequences" to the poverty stricken in India and China.

Any thoughts here or otherwise. Any possible OPTIONS of how to get beyond this. Maybe just do a Restore of the XP rather than as part of a "Clone".

And did my response to your etymological musings
Are the Flags the "red swiggles"...seen in Win 7 and Win 7-3
"boot" is to "bootstrap" from ground zero into an OS of some sort [DOS..Win 3.1,ect]
[system] "find the boot files..."platted" by the partition table in the first 512mgB by location of sector/cylinder,etc ..but usually "hidden in cement" in the O/S that boots
"active" is the OS that one boots into and is currently doing the lifting...

Require any thought correction.


Thanks so much for your help
 
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By Disk Management "flags" I meant the "active" "system" "boot" "page" etc. info
Only one is an actual flag (i.e. a single bit switched to "1" in the MBR's partition table) and that's "active"
It's the bit which points the way for the BIOS to locate the partition whose boot sector contains the next piece of code in the boot chain.
"system" and "boot" are virtual flags, just Disk Management telling you stuff about your OS that were discovered whilst booting.

"Boot" is probably the single most confusing word in the whole process of getting an OS running in a computer.
It comes from the early programmer's jokey reference to the apparently impossible task of starting a computer when the program which tells the computer how to run a program, is itself still outside of the machine, and was likened to levitating by pulling on one's bootstraps, hence "bootstrapping" subsequently abreviated to "booting"

Linux uses the word "boot" in that sense. It refers to the MBR PT "active" bit as the "boot" flag and the boot files as the "boot" files.
That is also how most posts in forums like this refer to things (and also lots of our wiki articles), but since EasyBCD is a Windows program, I try always to use the word as MS chooses to do, completely turning logic on its head.
In MS world, the boot files are flagged "system", and the currently operational Operating "System" is flagged "boot"
Go figure !
Up until W7 the OS would generally be all three "active" "system" and "boot" together, but W7 introduced the habit of putting the boot files in a separate partition by default (for OS encryption compatibility), so since then it's important to be precise when enquiring about these things.
That's why I like to see the DM screenshot.
You'd be surprised how many times I've discovered that way that someone is actually booting a completely different system to the one they thought they were using.

Incidentally, if you refer to the opening remark in my post #2, to reiterate, EasyBCD is not a boot manager. It takes absolutely no part in booting your OS.
That's 100% MS bootmgr once the BIOS locates its whereabouts. EasyBCD is just a tool to help you manage the contents of bootmgr's data repository (the BCD), which only comes with a command-line utility and absolutely no legacy (or foreign) OS support.

I don't have any OS backups.
I scrupulously back up my user data daily, with additional external monthly archives, but my OS "backup" is dual-booting.
I can always resort to using W10 if anything were to happen to W7, but I've never had to use more than "system restore" points to back-out a troublesome update.

The last time I had to reinstall an OS was when Vista mysteriously "broke" when it was not even being used (as part of an XP, Vista, W7, W8, Ubuntu multi-boot).
Spent a month (on and off) trying to fix it (no hurry, it wasn't really used), but each solved problem merely led on to the next in a never ending stream of them, so I just dug out the DVD and reinstalled it.

I'd do the same if W7 ever had major problems. W10 would keep me in-touch with cyber-space in the interim.

It is possible to keep each of your OSs with its own boot files and boot by overriding the BIOS boot device (F8) (If they're on different drives), or by switching the "active" flag to the one you want to boot next before closing down the present OS (if they share a drive).
To do that you need to make use of the knowledge that the MS "setup" program during install will always put the boot files in the "active" partition, even if the OS is going somewhere else.
That's how it manages to multi-boot automatically, by putting the new boot files (and information) in with the boot files from the older system, and taking over.
If you make sure that you always set your new empty partition "active" before booting the installation disc and running setup, the new OS will be completely independent (and unaware) of any earlier OS, and each of your systems will be bootable by simple switching of the BIOS or "active" flag as previously mentioned.

That doesn't prevent you from subsequently using EasyBCD to add entries for the other OSs to your main system for practicality. They will still remain independently bootable in the event of a BCD problem.
 
Terry ....I may need one of those fine scones to get my head around this information. That might be my "active flag" to bootstrap my prefrontal cortex.

All this is totally new and well beyond where I am at, currently. But as with all information one should do one's best to glean as much from it as possible. If you would be ever patient with me let me try to regurgitate this info back and see if it is clear to me.
I opened Disk Management...and now see things I've never noticed before...[I've sent a JPG of Disk Man in XP ]..."active" system and "boot". The "active" flag is notated with the Win 7-3 OS which resides on the non booted and separate SSD [what I refer to as dummy or minimal Win7 install]. Nothing to do with anything at the present moment.

How is this first "active" bit [ the one] even seen or referenced on the SSD with the 3 OSs. Its not in Disk Management. Isn't it located in that first byte on the first physical sector of the SSD/ HD which holds the Win 7 OS....which is the first entry at top [C_W7 (F:smile: ]. It is flagged as "system. Is this what you mean by the "flipflop" logic of MS vs Linux. No reference as "active".
<<Linux uses the word "boot" in that sense. It refers to the MBR PT "active" bit as the "boot" flag and the boot files as the "boot" files.>>

The MBRPT is what?. The MBR [Master boot record contain the information of what OS are inherently available to bootstrap into and the PT is the Partition Table location to where that first "active" byte is told to look to start loading an OS of choice. Does the MBR contain macro files or code to execute these minimal actions? .All this is only MS going thru its paces. Not EasyBCD. EasyBCD translates those coded choices into a "readable Boot options page. For me , I have 4 choices : Win 7 : Win 7-2 : XP and Win 7-3. If I choose an OS at this point...I'm way past POST...Way past the "active' byte which should have restricted or prepicked my boot choice. Does EasyBCD return itself to that point of "active" flag and choose a different "active" flag?

In Disk Management:... Does "system" reference where the MBRPT and reside. Does "Boot" reference the OS that you bootstrapped into? Reference JPG, please.

<<It is possible to keep each of your OSs with its own boot files and boot by overriding the BIOS boot device (F8) (If they're on different drives), or by switching the "active" flag to the one you want to boot next before closing down the present OS (if they share a drive).>> This is very intriguing but not really understood.

In order to do this properly one would have to build the multiboot system with this "in mind". Is there any way to reengineer this to my current system. Backup each of the OS partitions to an external repository.....Restore them to separate HDD or SSD and then somehow rebuild the MBRPT. Then Restore them into a multiboot environment similar to what I have currently.

The questions are really mostly for "intellectually" grasping the possiblitiies available in the "primal seeds" of the PC core. I know nothing of coding. My DOS skills are ancient and forgotten, sort of like my languages. Helpful to unravel the mystery and entertain options of how to fix the broken.

It sounds like the XP partition is broken. It does make sense after youve explained the sequential nature of the boot process that the NTLDR is executed because the MS LOGO screen appears and the "sign in screen" almost appears. I'd like to just Restore from a Backup and recheck it.

Unfortunately, my system is used as both a personal recording venue and personal/business machine. It employs multiple iterations of the same Digital Audio Workstations (DAWS) Like I have Cubase 3: Cubase 5 : Sonar 3: Sonar 8...Multiple Audio Editors....so these programs share DLL, they share Samples they were constantly upgraded and frequently crashing....there are 3 video programs also. So I've never really gotten into Restore points...I frequently rebuild/upgrade and install 3-5 programs at a time, for efficiency sake. And when it "crashes" I just Restore and rebuild more slowly and recheck more frequently. I've had to learn as I go....and I've had to learn the "hard way".

I really need that XP partition and just can not see myself rebuilding something, which will take me weeks to accomplish. At 75 my time is running out. If you have any ideas other than that it would be greatly appreciated.

More than anything I have appreciated your sharing generously your knowledge with me. It has helped me grasp an area of the PC that really was quite foreign. Maybe I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself.....I'm assuming I have understood a bit of what you have relayed. If need be , please, correct and fill in the gaps. Like the computer my thinking in discontinuous....a lot of linear voltage breaks. And all in all you have gotten me all my Win 7 partitions ....all 3 of them "cloned" and functional with EasyBCD.

Sincerely grateful.........hope this isn't Brexit [young Boris does really look a bit like a Trump]

Jason
 

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I think you were pretty clear.....was I that far off the mark in my explanation back.
Those articles will be very helpful...Thanks

And I sorted it out. I had to do a Restore of XP...you were correct in that it was "broken". The restore was quite difficult because
the "legacy" software is incompatible with the current software...but did finesse it. Thanks for the "steady" hand during the entire
process. Ive learned a great deal in the interim.

Jason
 
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