Remove XP HD

T

Tedfs

Member
Hello, just wanted to check here first and make sure all the bases are covered before messing something up...

I upgraded from XP to Windows 7 about a year ago and haven't gone back to XP since.
The issue is the drive that XP is on is the boot drive and it's starting to fail.

I'd rather not re-install and was wondering if it would be possible to change the boot drive
to the current Windows 7 drive without any issues.

The options look fairly simple in EasyBCD yet getting some advice first would make me sleep better.

Thank you
 
EasyBCD 2 > BCD Backup/Repair > Change boot drive
Point it to W7 when prompted.
Change the BIOS to boot from the W7 HDD
reboot
format XP (full format if you suspect bad blocks, they'll be removed from use)
Get the diagnostic app from your HDD maker's website and run it against the XP disk.
It'll tell you whether to reuse it or junk it.
 
Well I managed to screw that up royally...

This is what I did and double checked my selections before proceeding.

EasyBCD 2 > BCD Backup/Repair > Change boot drive
Point it to W7 when prompted.
Change the BIOS to boot from the W7 HDD
reboot
Click to expand...
Upon rebooting after setting the correct HDD, nothing happens. I just get a flashing prompt after it checks to see if there is a bootable DVD in the drive.

Right now I'm on a live Ubuntu DVD and it can't even see the HDD that has Windows 7 installed on it. It can see my two backup 1TB drives and it can even see the old XP drive that is failing when it's plugged in.

BIOS can see the Win 7 drive just fine. Start up Repair can see the the WIn 7 install on the failing drive but can not repair start up. After I finish downloading a new Ubuntu live DVD, I'll disconnect all drives but the Win 7 and see what can be done from there.

If I could get Ubuntu to see the Win 7 drive, I could mark it active and bootable.
Maybe something else will see the drive and get me back up and running.

(Sorry for the second account, I can't remember my other password and can't access the drive to get it...)
 
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EasyBCD "change boot drive" marks the target drive as "active" and copies the boot files (which makes it "system").
Check the BIOS again.
Modern BIOSs have a layered boot structure. The CD/HDD/USB level has a sub level in each category to set which HDD, which CD, takes precedence within that category.
It's a non-destructive process, just copies data not moves it. Everything on the XP disk is untouched, so just setting XP first in the BIOS should leave you with the previous XP-led boot exactly as it was. It will never leave you with an unbootable system, even if you get the copy information wrong and point it to the wrong place.
The new change might not work, but the old system will still carry on as before.

Are you talking about "drive" meaning HDD ? i.e. do you have two separate HDDs ?
If you are merely talking about 2 partitions on one HDD, then of course you don't need to change the BIOS,
In that case the system might be unbootable, because the "change..." wil have set W7 "active" and if you did something wrong, you'll need to flip the "active" bit back onto XP, with Ubu or gparted, to restore the status quo ante, and boot via the XP partition.
 
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Disregard my last post, it seems the SATA cable came unplugged from the new boot HDD which is why nothing could see the drive...

Silly mistake but didn't think to check for it since I hadn't messed with removing any cables yet.

Thank you for your assistance.
 
Thank you for taking the time to help.

It was one of those things that when found out had me literally say out loud " Are you Serious ?! "
It was a nice reminder to check the simple things first, then the bigger issues.

Aside from my little disconnected cable detour, EasyBCD did exactly what it was suppose to do and was very easy to use. I'm very glad there are people like your self willing to help someone you've never met that lives on the other side of the world.

Thank you again,

Ted
 
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