Windows 7 Done now I want Windows XP. ????

C

cppcodehack

Member
Hi All

You folks are an awesome resource for help. I have learned more on this forum than any forum I have been to. I have not posted before most of the time I can get it figured out but this time I am Looking for some expert guidance!

I have Dual Boot Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 RTM each OS has its own harddrive. The Vista Utimate drive is the boot partition and was installed first with Windows 7 installed after.

Here is what I want to do.

1st Task - I want to nuke the Vista installation which is the boot drive on my PC. The Reason: This drive I think is failing it's making some loud clicking sounds I'm afraid I am on borrowed time with this drive. (I've already backed everything up)

So I am thinking I should make the SSD drive which has Windows 7 RTM on it the new boot drive? But here is my concern I am just not sure if this is my best play given what I want to do further with my PC.

This is where my No. 2 task comes in.

2nd Task - I Plan on installing Windows XP Pro 64Bit onto the new Western Digital 300 Gig 10k drive which I have currently installed and is waiting to go to work?

So my concerns are.

Should I first install the Windows XP Pro to my new Western Digital drive?

Then make the Windows XP the boot drive allowing it to control the system?

Or should I just make the boot drive happen right now by nuking Vista and making Windows 7 the boot drive?

I have a choice now as to where to place my boot drive and I am just not sure where it best should be on Windows 7 or on my new Windows XP 64.

I have read the "Changing the Vista Boot drive" written by Mahmoud but I am just not sure if I can use this process with Windows 7 and Windows Vista as my choices? His article is written with XP and Vista in mind!

I am fairly savvy with PC's and I can get things working most of the time even if I mess things up once in a while but this time I want to know the best approach for longterm ease of management with my system?

Anybody have any ideas what my first step should be?

I have provided a screen print of my drive configuration from the point of view of Windows 7.

I have also attached the drives View from the Windows 7 perspective provided by from View settings in EasyBCD 2. Build 63 in the attached text file.

Sorry for the length of this post I figured I would over explain rather the leave out crucial details with the intent to short-cut subsequent postings for more details.

Thanks so much for you help! Brad

View attachment Win7-ShrinkDiskView.bmp

View attachment EasyBCD 2.txt
 
Thanks so much for the quick response Mahmoud, I will give it a go tonight after school and report back on any issues or challenges.

Thanks Again, Brad :smile:
 
A Little Glitch - Changing the Boot Drive

Hi All,

Had a slight glitch when I followed the procedures written up by Mahmoud for changing the Vista Book Drive from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 RTM. I was very deliberate in following the instructions given and they worked beautifully. I rebooted after making the changes and I subsequently removed the old drive Vista was on. Its now sitting on the table and I have only one operating system Windows 7 RTM. This was the drive that was failing so I wanted to get rid of it. Well I have booted over ten times on my new configuration with Windows 7 as the only OS installed. Still plan on installing Win XP Pro 64 on another drive in this box but first let me tell you about my glitch.

The issue I have come across "the glitch" occured when on a whim I decided to open EasyBCD 2 Build 63 well when I launched EasyBCD I get an error message. A dialog box pops to the screen after launching the executable and it says "Error Accessing the BCD Registry", The boot configuration data store could not be opened. Here is a screen print:

View attachment Erro Accessing BCD Registry.bmp

So in my simplistic mind I thought perhaps an uninstall and reinstall might fix the issue. Well it did'nt work and EasyBCD still cannot find the BCD store

What I dont get is that I am booting just fine with no issues at all. I took out the old boot drive so I know I was successful in moving the MBR to the new Windows 7 instalation drive. So I am baffled. :wtf: Perhaps it is and easy fix.

I happened to take a quick search on this forum with "Error Accessing the BCD Registry" and I read in another thread that in order to correct this error you need to use NeoSmart Technologies custom made disk "Windows Vista x64 Recovery Disk". I had made one of these recovery disks just in case I got into trouble, but what will this do for me since I am not having an issues with booting.

I'm hoping someone might be able to guide me into where I made the wrong turn. I mean I literally just pulled the old Vista boot drive out of the machine after having confirmed that the Windows 7 drive was now running the show.

I would like to know, How the BCDStore became trashed?

Will do of course whatever is suggested.

Thanks Again for your help, Brad :smile:
 
It isn't trashed - it's just EasyBCD can't locate it on the boot partition.

Did you change your boot drive in the BIOS?
 
Hi Mahmoud,

Yes, I did, I changed the 1st boot device just after making the changes so the SSD drive with Win 7 is the first drive to boot. Thanks, Brad
 
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