Wow, I am stuck. I have Win 7 Ultimate build 7600 on OS primary partition and Win 8 Pro build 9200 on a second primary partition. I previously had the preview and was removed. I now get a recovery window when starting Win 8 at startup(Win 7 starts fine). I did a clean install and reformatted even removed partition - ran disk check etc... and recreated the partition. I have installed Win 8 off of a flash, the install flash is good cause I was able to install on another computer. When installing on the other computer it took me to the activation screen which I did not get in the partition installation. It's almost as if it recognized the previous install of the preview. Yes I have used EasyBCD and ran the bootrec/ commands hoping this would help, did not. I do not think this issue has anything to do with the boot loader, I do however think there is something now stuck in Win 7(an .ini, .dat or some other file/registry entry) causing the problem from the preview install. I have read the Win 8 loader takes over from Win 7, if this is true is the loader now being used residing in Win 7 and has 7's been replaced(in Win 7) with the Win 8 loader from the Win 8 install? Yes, I even tried the mighty EasyBCD v2.2 to no avail. Confusing to say the least. So, does anybody have any thoughts on this issue? I have been scouring the net and have not seen anyone else with this problem, YET! I'm sure there will be others to follow with same issue. Thank's ahead of time for the help.
Have you tried booting the W8 DVD & doing a start-up repair? You may have to run it 2x. If that doesnt work try the W7 DVD.
I have used the startup repair but not 2 times in a row. Certainly will try that. There is a Directory under C: called Local Disk E:_13201330, it is empty. E: is the drive letter used on the Win 8 partition. Is this directory needed? I believe since Win 8 is relatively new, there are a few ghosts in the closet that have yet to be discovered even after extensive MS testing. That is one reason I want the Win 8 on a separete partition to continue testing before swapping out. If I can overcome this I think the OS is good. In the Win 8 Preview, I had my desktop looking and acting just like my Win 7. The Metro start comes out of the desktop anyhow, they have just hidden many features. Anyone that wants the start menu back, I Highly recommend Start Menu X. I use it on Win 7 and have used it on Win 8 Preview without a hitch. FREE and excellent - even has a start orb with option to jump into desktop without Metro! Now if I can just get it to startup again.....
You could also try "Dual-boot Repair" that comes with Visual BCD. When you select Automatic Repair it fixes booting to latest Windows OS, in this case Windows 8. If Windows 7 not present in boot menu after repair it can be added later when in Windows 8 - use Visual BCD Editor and select "Create missing Windows loaders". Nothing more to specify, the tool will find Windows 7 and add it to boot menu.
OK, thanks but did not work. Tried VisualBCD no luck there. I don't think it's the loader. Something else is a miss. When selecting Win 8 I get the recovery screen. This time error message is, The system registry file is missing or contains errors. File: \windows\system32\config\system - Error Code 0xc0000001. Well, the system file is there. Corrupt, maybe - however every attempt for Autofix or Restore System in Advanced menu have failed miserably... Have done a completely clean reinstall and that also failed. Between the Metro start screen scaring off some, and problems like this, no wonder why people are afraid to switch over - it seems like a coin toss(either it works or it don't). Shame on MS for not giving people a choice and thinking that they should try to give something like Google Android a run for it's money. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!!! MS Stick to PC's - something you know!!! Google Android is too well established and wonderfull to those in the know - easy system to change(rom's and Kernals) update and very usefull when rooted.... SO, Even though my computer doesn't support VM's I have read that Virtualbox Portable could be used with Win 8. Might consider that when time permits, I do have a spare portable(USB) good 60GB HD lying around. I definately think I will have learned a thing or two to add to my vast repertoire of knowledge when ALL is said and done..... LOL
Fin Well, look's like no solutions to this problem. So, I will call this one done. I have installed Win 8 to go on a second 60GB IDE USB HD. Works fantastic! The only thing missing is the Metro STORE. Seems that when it's a TO GO OS MS think's you don't need OR wan't the STORE. No big loss. The simple fact is my machine boots off the to go drive just fine. That being said I'll say my feelings on the problem are: That there DEFINATLY is something in Win 7 holding back that startup of Win 8 and NO it's NOT the Loader! I still think that somewhere in the Win 7 registry there is an entry blocking Win 8 startup that needs to be either taken out or changed from a 0 to a 1 OR something like that! I do think Win 8 is a good OS just that MS needs to put back the start menu and a few other minor changes. Good luck to ALL!