Boot - help with neating up MBR mess

Discussion in 'Windows XP / Older OS' started by monographix, Sep 17, 2011.

  1. monographix

    monographix MDL Novice

    Sep 15, 2011
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    - First, i wanted to ask if there is some nice simple safe smooth way of fixing to working condition the boot (MBR and all) of XP, (eg like the Seven DVD offers for 7 )

    - more specificaly, i have a dual boot installation with XP and 7 installed on different physical drives but the first MBR read, which controls both OS was created by 7 and is on the XP drive ... So, the XP drive with the 7 drive unpluged starts normally , presents the multi boot options and if you choose XP , loads XP normally (even its own different boot.ini is being loaded in next step) But if the XP drive is unpluged, the 7 won't boot (like os or mbr absent). I itend to fix the 7 with the Windows DVD, and i want to do the same with the XP too. (i will just multiboot from the bios OS selection menu F11/F12 style)

    Thank you
     
  2. mythofuniverse

    mythofuniverse MDL Junior Member

    Sep 12, 2010
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    To boot individually via BIOS OS selection ..you must have installed windows 7 with xp drive unplugged.. if you install this way.. you will have MBR on each Drive separately..then you can only boot via Bios alone.i mean you will not have the Windows Loader Option...You can simply boot with BIOS Hard drive via the changing the boot priority of each drives :rolleyes:
     
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  3. monographix

    monographix MDL Novice

    Sep 15, 2011
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    Yes thats what i would do in fresh installs lol :) but now i want to fix the current setups :)

    To hopefully simplify my questions :

    My current windows XP & 7 setup was made with both physical drives pluged in and i installed windows 7 last and once discovered the XP installation on the other drive, i allowed the installer to create a multiboot option start menu (and now the 7 drive depends on the XP drive to start. Apparently the 7 dvd wrote the boot information on the XP drive)

    What i want to do now is to make both installations / drives totally independent from eachother and i want to be able to choose OS only from the bios F11 (or F12 in some boards) key at boot time. I am more troubled if i can revert the XP MBR to a virgin XP single OS form. (as i think its easy to do that for 7 with their setup DVD "fix boot" function - with the XP drive unpluged)
     
  4. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

    Aug 13, 2008
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    From xp install disk:

    >fixboot

    >fixmbr

    You need a xp install and do it from repair console.
     
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