Windows 7: Bad boot sector

Hi there. I was running XP and windows 7 64bit on the same disk. I wanted to repair XP for a new motherboard. Well it won't start, because of a driver problem so I get a blue screen. At this point I no longer care, I want to boot into my Windows 7 installation. However, the boot sector is messed up and boot process goes straight into XP. When I use the windows 7 64 bit install disk, it offers no repair options. What now? How can I fix the boot sector for windows 7? I already used fixmbr with the XP disk. HELP! Thanks in advance for your tip.

Hello.



Have a look at this tutorial at the link below, you may need the outlines in Option Two so scroll down and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.


Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

DISKPART : At PC Startup

XP Repair Install

Thanks, Bare Foot Kit; I was able to create a Repair Disk and it worked like a charm.

Thanks, theog, for that link. I didn't have these detailed instructions when I attempted my repair of XP. Nonetheless, it bugs me that my repair overwrote the boot sector in the first place and killed the dual boot info. So when the repair process went wrong because of a driver issue, all the system did was to boot into this flawed XP installation. Guess I will have to move Windows 7 to a different disk (a sata disk) and reinstall XP from scratch on the first disk (IDE). Hope that will create separate boot sectors on each disk and give me the right choice no matter what goes wrong.

It is always better to install OS's on separate HD's if able. Then keep the other HD unplugged during install, after install plug it back in, set the preferred OS HD as first to boot in BIOS setup, boot the other one using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

This keeps the HD's independent to come and go as you please, wherease Windows Dual Boot interlocks them requiring surgery to remove one.

In your case with having XP on the same drive, a repair Install will always steal the boot back from Windows 7 until you either add it from XP using EasyBCD 2.0, or start Windows 7 (using the steps you followed) to add XP from Windows 7 which is often easier.

But since you're able to have separate HD's you can get a much cleaner configuration booting via BIOS. Or try XP Mode in Ultimate, or Virtual machine, VIrtual Player or VMWare freeware to virtualize XP to avoid the mess.

Hello again, glad I could help and thanks for the update.


Separate HDDs are the way to go!

Thank you, gregrocker, for your help, too. Those were valuable tips that I wasn't aware of. I'll go accordingly.

You are welcome.