Windows 7 boot loader

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by tusharkalbhor, Oct 28, 2011.

  1. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    I am not sure whether to post this under XP or 7.
    I have had XP on an 160GB(C: is 40 GB) drive for some time.
    Then I bought an 120 GB HDD from a garage sell. (It was pretty old but working).
    I parted the 120 GB in 2 equals. & installed Windows 7 on first half of the 120 GB drive. Somehow, the bootloader of 7 was installed on 160 GB HDD. so if I kept only 120 GB HDD which had 7 installed on it, it wont boot. And if I kept only 160 GB, It will show a windows 7 loader, with 2 options: default win 7 and 2nd win xp.
    Still, it went fine for about 6 months and then 120 GB hard disk gave up. it became un repairable and was not in warranty either.
    Now I dont have the 120 GB hard disk and neither the windows 7 on it. but I have windows xp on 160 GB which is working fine. But every time it boots, It shows the win 7 boot loader and default is windows 7, so if i dont pay attention within 30 seconds, PC tries to boot in 7, and obviously, fails.

    1. why was Windows 7 loader installed on 160 GB drive when Win 7 itself was on 120 GB?
    2. Is it possible, without formatting windows XP, to remove windows 7 loader and boot from Win xp directly?
     
  2. stayboogy

    stayboogy MDL Addicted

    May 1, 2011
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  3. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    i booted to xp, then in C: there was a boot folder. I tried to delet it. some items were deleted, & then deletion was interrupted saying 'can not delete, already in use by another application'. so I left it there thinking I have damaged the win 7 loader and no I should be able to boot to xp directly. So i restarted. This time 7 loader did not come up.Instead it straight away tried to boot to win 7 and displayed error. Now I m not getting the 30 sec countdown to chose 7\xp.
    So i booted from XP CD and chose recovery console. then in command prompt tried to delet the boot folder but i got access denied error. i can not make any alterations on this drive.
    i can not create folder using 'md'
    i can not delete 'any' folder.
    i can not enter in documents and settings directory so i can copy my desktop and my documents.

    I tried these commands: chkdsk /r C: fixboot fixmbr
    after trying each of the 3 commands I exited recovery and tried to boot to xp, but all i got is windows 7 boot error.
    It seems formatting and setting up xp is my final option, but i cant enter documents and settings to copy my data.
     
  4. stayboogy

    stayboogy MDL Addicted

    May 1, 2011
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    #4 stayboogy, Oct 29, 2011
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2011
    there is no reason at all that you can not perform fixmbr and fixboot commands.

    boot from xp cd, choose repair, and it will list your xp and what drive it is on, then choose the corresponding number to it, which should be 1, then type your administrator password if you have one, if not, leave it blank, if leaving it blank doesn't work, us "*" without quotations.

    then type "map" (again without quotations), this should list all partitions, and if xp is on the first partition of the first hard drive then you type this: fixmbr \device\harddisk0\partition0 and hit enter--or you type the corresponding output from the map command that is where you xp install is located

    it will give you a warning that there is a non standard mbr code present and ask if you want to repair it and you type "y" for yes and hit enter. this will repair the mbr

    after this is completed it will tell you that a new mbr has been written, then you type the following: fixboot C: and hit enter and you are done. reboot the pc and you should boot right into xp and be able to finish deleting the 7 bootloader files.

    if you can't figure this out, i'm sorry, i can't do it for you:p

    but there is absolutely no reason whatsoever fixboot and fixmbr will not work using recovery console. the only way they don't work is if you don't use the right syntax which i linked you to which you apparently didn't read. if you follow my directions you should be back into xp in less than 5 minutes :p
     
  5. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    right said
    I missed the syntax :eek:
    will do it carefully now.:biggrin:

    but, Why i am getting access denied error if i try to do anything (CD, MD, DEL) in repair command prompt?
     
  6. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    #6 tusharkalbhor, Oct 29, 2011
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2011
    (OP)
    something's definitely wrong here

    in recovery option, i have always seen the OS options, then the password prompt.
    but for some reason, i am directly at C:\>
    anyway, i did C:\>map
    heres the response that I got:
    G: \Device\CDRom0
    just one line.
    my hard disk is not listed.
    but i can navigate in my partitions with CD D: and like that.
    I cant delete anything on any partition. neither i can create a directory with md.....
    I tried to use command bootcfg \scan
    it returned an error: "failed to succdessfully scan disks for windows installations. this error may be caused by corrupt file system. use chkdsk"

    so I ran chkdsk \r on C:
    and again used bootcfg \scan. this time same error.
    then i ran C:\>map command. same result: just my cd rom
     
  7. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    thanks!!!

    well, well, well!!!
    i did chkdsk again and then did map,fixmbr,fixboot
    and my PC directly booted to XP:::


    Thnx a million,
    Tushar
    :worthy:
     
  8. stayboogy

    stayboogy MDL Addicted

    May 1, 2011
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    glad you finally got it :D
     
  9. tusharkalbhor

    tusharkalbhor MDL Junior Member

    Jul 9, 2010
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    Yeah,
    wouldnt have got it without you!!:biggrin: