XP to Windows 7/Windows XP to just XP...

R

rockworthy

Member
Okay bear with me please :tongueout: I started with just XP installed on my hard drive. Then I added a partition and installed Windows 7 in the new partition and everything was great. It was working. Then I decided I needed a fresh install of XP so I formatted the XP partition and reinstalled XP on it. Now the computer boots up into Windows XP automatically and the option for booting into Windows 7 is gone, even though I can still see the contents of that partition in Windows Explorer (from within XP of course). So my question is: can I use EasyBSD to be able to dual-boot again, and if so, how do I do it? Thanks!
 
Hi rockworthy, welcome to NST.

The simplest way would probably be to fire up EasyBCD, click on manage bootloader and select to re-install the vista bootloader (see here), but if this doesn't work, you should be able to boot from your win 7 dvd and perform startup repair. Our article in the wiki describes the proccess for Vista, but for Win 7 it is basically the same.
 
One more tidbit

I have installed EasyBCD on my windows XP but when I go to run it I get this warning message, "EasyBCD has detected that your boot data and MBR are either not from the latest version of Windows Vista, or don't yet exist. If you'd like EasyBSD to correct these issues, press OK. This will modify the MBR and requires that you have windows Vista installed on this machine. You can cancel at any time. Press 'No' to exit EasyBSD now."

I've been exiting at this prompt because I don't want to totally hooch my system. Sorry for being a pain in the butt :??
 
No thats alright. I don't blame you :smile:

Try the startup repair option from Win 7's DVD. While I trust that EasyBCD could fix the problem, I can't guarantee it would maintain or automatically re-create the entry to boot your copy of Win 7.
 
You should be able to select C: from that drop-down box then use the reinstall Vista MBR feature just fine.

The only thing that wouldn't work is "Reset BCD Registry" from the diagnostics page.
 
rockworthy said:
I have installed EasyBCD on my windows XP but when I go to run it I get this warning message, "EasyBCD has detected that your boot data and MBR are either not from the latest version of Windows Vista, or don't yet exist. If you'd like EasyBSD to correct these issues, press OK. This will modify the MBR and requires that you have windows Vista installed on this machine. You can cancel at any time. Press 'No' to exit EasyBSD now."

I've been exiting at this prompt because I don't want to totally hooch my system. Sorry for being a pain in the butt :??
Click to expand...

I get the exact same message when trying to use EasyBCD from XP (Vista hidden)! :lol: And I also choose No too, because I don't want EasyBCD messing with my MBR. Is there someway to configure EasyBCD to open without giving that message? how 'bout if I copy over my Vista's bootmgr file to my XP partition? would EasyBCD open then without giving that message?

Its not essential that I can use EasyBCD from XP as well as Vista...I would just like the ability, though, if you know what I mean! :tongueout:

-Coolname007
 
Well, EasyBCD's primary purpose is to edit the bootloader.
If it can't access the bootloader config files (which are on the system partition) because that partition is hidden, it's almost useless. It assumes if it can't see those files that means something is wrong.
 
Cool, If XP is your "system" partition (mine is), then Easy works from anywhere because the BCD isn't ever hidden, so the answer to your question is yes. If you move the BCD (i.e. you have XP as "system") you won't get that message.
I don't know whether it'd be worth all the effort and possible pain though, just to be able to run Easy from XP.
 
Terry60 said:
Cool, If XP is your "system" partition (mine is), then Easy works from anywhere because the BCD isn't ever hidden, so the answer to your question is yes. If you move the BCD (i.e. you have XP as "system") you won't get that message.
I don't know whether it'd be worth all the effort and possible pain though, just to be able to run Easy from XP.
Click to expand...

The thing is, Terry, my "system" partition is also my Vista partition, so when I hide Vista from XP, my "system" partition is unfortunately hidden in the process as well...:wink: I still would like to know the answer to my original question, though, which is *If I copy over my bootmgr file to my XP root, would I no longer get that message?*. I will understand if that's a problem...I was just wanting to know if it might at least allow opening EasyBCD, and if not, if there was some other way to fix the problem. Like I said, its not *essential* that I get Easy working from XP as well as Vista. I would just kind of prefer it, is all. :smile:

Thank both of you kindly for the response, though my original question appears to have been ignored! :lol:

-Coolname007
 
No, it wouldn't.

To get it working, you'd have to copy over the entire BOOT folder from the Vista partition over to Windows XP.
 
Computer Guru said:
No, it wouldn't.

To get it working, you'd have to copy over the entire BOOT folder from the Vista partition over to Windows XP.
Click to expand...

Ahh...ok. :frowning: thanks, CG. I guess that answers my question then...its just simply not practical then to get EasyBCD working from XP on mine. Oh well. Too bad. :huh:

-Coolname007
 
Sorry I wasn't clear.
I understood your question, but the implication of the answer was that to copy the BCD, bootmgr etc. across to XP was possible by rejigging your configuration so that Vista relinquished "system" status and you make XP "system".
That's why I also said I don't think the outcome is worth the effort.
 
Yeah, that's another option of course.

You can either just copy the BOOT folder over and that way run EasyBCD though it wouldn't actually edit the real Vista bootloader, just the (useless) copy in the new BOOT folder. Or you could do what Terry was referring to by following the instructions in the following link and change your system partition entirely, though I too agree that would be a waste of time and effort:
Changing the Vista Boot Drive - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
 
I'll post this here rather than in my thread from yesterday because it's relevant to your last remark CG.
The workings of the BCD are a trifle mysterious (hence past posts about "are you sure you're in the right BCD ?" when people have installed multiple Vista's independently and ended up with several BCDs).
Yesterday, after I'd booted W7 (so Grub4dos -> W7 bootmgr) and W7 must have used its own BCD because I saw no BCD menu choice (my Vista BCD still had the Vista/W7 choice I was leaving for backup while I experimented in menu.lst)
W7 booted using its own bootmgr (with the flashy animated start screen) and its own BCD (no options), but when I ran EasyBCD 2.0 from W7 to look at the W7 BCD, It was Vista's menu with all my OSs (Vista, W7, XP) which was displayed. (I left all the options there and just changed timeout(0) when HnS installed sucessfully for the first time, for easy fallback should HnS ever get clobbered (like by SP1))
So how does Easy work ?
It would seem to pick up the "system" BCD regardless of which one was chained by HnS.
 
Computer Guru said:
Yeah, that's another option of course.

You can either just copy the BOOT folder over and that way run EasyBCD though it wouldn't actually edit the real Vista bootloader, just the (useless) copy in the new BOOT folder. Or you could do what Terry was referring to by following the instructions in the following link and change your system partition entirely, though I too agree that would be a waste of time and effort:
Changing the Vista Boot Drive - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
Click to expand...

But what kind of affect of copying over my Boot folder would it have? :wink: Wouldn't having two BCDs on the same computer have an adverse affect, as the computer might end up using the wrong one? And additionally, would both be open at the same time, or would only the one on the "system" partition open up at boot time? That's the main reason I haven't copied it over yet...

-Coolname007
 
It wouldn't have any effect - just a useless copy. It won't be used to boot the system, and changes to it won't be made visible anywhere.

It's exactly like having extra copies of boot.ini on non-system partitions... doesn't have any effect :smile:
 
Computer Guru said:
It wouldn't have any effect - just a useless copy. It won't be used to boot the system, and changes to it won't be made visible anywhere.

It's exactly like having extra copies of boot.ini on non-system partitions... doesn't have any effect :smile:
Click to expand...

Cool enough. :smile: I guess I'll go ahead and copy it over then, if there's no reason not to. I realize I wont be able to do jack-squat with it from XP (since the BCD that I'm using is on Vista's partition, which is hidden), but I just want to have the ability to open it! :tongueout: And I might find a need for EasyBCD's Power Console at least...anyway, thanks Guru for the clarification. Its exactly what I needed.

-Coolname007
 
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