make partition bootable without destroying data

cnd.bbgs

Member
Hi there...

I have XP installed on one partition of one hdd (let's call it hdd1). Some time ago I wanted to try W7 and installed it on another partition of another hdd (let's call it hdd2).
Now I use W7 and do not run XP.

So I want to get rid of XP and change old hdd1 to the new hdd3.

But BCD is on the XP partition of hdd1 and if I remove disk, W7 will not boot.

How to transform W7 partition to the new hdd3 and make it bootable??

To reinstall W7 will do the job, but to restore my all other installed programs will take at least 2 days. I do not want it.

I am thinking to make a copy of W7 partition (using N.Ghost or Acronis) and then restore it on new disk (hdd3).

But how to make this new partition bootable??

Please, help...
 
Don't open multiple threads.

To fix your problem:

1) Download EasyBCD 2.0 Beta (EasyBCD 2.0 Beta Builds - The NeoSmart Forums)
2) BCD Backup/Repair -> Change Boot Drive
3) In the BIOS, set the W7 disk as bootable or actually physically remove the XP drive.

Cheers and good luck.

Sorry, but it does not work... :frowning:
When I try to do the above steps it gives me a warning message that selected partition should be primary and active and does not transform BCD.
But indeed the partition IS primary and active...

Any thoughts?
 
Post a screenshot of your Disk Management. (details in the sticky)
Unfortunately, can not do it now. I've end up in the mess - I was trying to set up a new BCD entry, but it did not work either, so I made backup copy of current W7 partition, installed a new copy of W7, then bootup from Linux LiveCD and copy all files from backup to newly installed W7.
Everything works OK now.

But I can tell you what picture was when I was trying to change BCD via beta version.
There were 2 Primary and Active partitions - one was the old (original) and second was a new one that I created using Acronis Disk Director.
May be that was a situation when EasyBCD got confused...

Thanks for your help, anyway.
And after paying around, I convinced that EasyBCD is a really good program.

Thank you very much once again.
 
If you use cloning software to make copies of Vista/7, the UIDs in the BCD are also cloned (and therefore point to the old system, not the clone). That needs repairing before you can use it.
Don't know if that has any bearing on your problem, but glad to hear you've sorted it anyway.
 
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