Can't access System Recovery or boot to Win-7 after installing XP

I am in a bit of problem... please read.

I recently created a new partition with 200GB of space on my Windows 7 64bit (HP Elite) PC system. I installed Windows XP Professional on that new partition (trying to create dual OS). After Windows XP was installed, I was unable to find "Windows 7" as a boot option under "Startup and Recovery"... I could only see Windows XP Professional. I went to Disk Management and right clicked on the partition where my Windows 7 OS was under, and chose "Make partition active"... I got a warning system MAY not be able to boot, but I chose to proceed anyways. I tried restarting and got an error "BOOTMGR is missing / Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" ... I tried pressing F11 after restarting to get into "System Recovery" but it would go directly to the error message. I was still be able to access everything else during boot except "System Recovery" such as BIOS, etc.

I re-installed Windows XP Professional on the same partition... and was now able to get into the Windows XP Pro OS again. I'm still unable to access "System Recovery" when booting. F11 option is being bypassed and going directly into XP OS. This is my first concern, how do I get "System Recovery" to get working again? It used to work before as I re-installed Windows 7 couple of months ago. I can still see "FACTORY IMAGE" drive in My Computer (could be on a different drive letter than before). And second, how do I boot to my original Windows 7 OS (C-drive seems intact and all Win-7 system files are there)?

Any suggestion is highly appreciated.

DMHolt57 said:

Quick explanation... You can install 7 on a machine with XP as a dual boot, but if you install XP on a machine with 7, it's a downgrade and you have to re-install 7.

Thanks for the quick response.

I can re-install Win 7 if I have to but I can't do that now because I am unable to access System Recovery during boot. How can I fix this?

XP steals the boot from Win7 when it is installed last in order.

To restart Win7 you must mark Win7 partition Active then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times to write the System boot files back to the Win7 partition.

You can then add XP to a dual boot using EasyBCD 2.02. EasyBCD 2.0.2 - NeoSmart Technologies

There is no reason to reinstall Win7.

I went to Disk Management and right clicked on the partition where my Windows 7 OS was under, and chose "Make partition active"...

Remark the ACTIVE flag back to where it was.

I can re-install Win 7 if I have to but I can't do that now because I am unable to access System Recovery during boot. How can I fix this?

   Information

We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD.
startup repair disc-create

Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

Thanks for the help. So basically I fixed the problem by downloading "windows 7 recovery disk" torrent and burning it onto a disc. I then restarted the computer with the disc inside, and the system recovery was able to fix the problem after 2 restarts.

Right now, the only problem I have is I'm unable to access system recovery (without disc) when pressing F11 at boot screen.

Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map and listings, using Snipping Tool in Start Menu.

Was Recovery partition originally marked Active?

Do you have your Recovery disks, which are not the same as the Repair CD but used to restore your computer to factory condition the same as the Recovery Partition.

HP Recov DIsks - make another set

HP Recover Windows 7 Operating System Using HP Recovery - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

I don't know whether or not Recovery partition was orginially marked active. I didn't notice a SYSTEM (F) drive originally being there in "My Computer"... it was just C and D.

System should have been marked Active when you unnecessarily reinstalled so the System boot files would be rewritten there. You can replace the System boot files there now by marking System Active, then booting into the Win7 DVD Repair console to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times.

This may not re-enable the Recovery Partition to run from it's hotkey as it's frequently lost after a clean reinstall. Our expert SIW2 here can possibly help you recover the hotkey as he's done so in the past. Otherwise I'd either rely on the Recovery Disks which should have been made when you set up the HP or can be ordered now or when needed from HP - in which case you can delete the Recovery partition and extend C into its space.

Or you can even run them now to reinstate the HD to original Factory Condition.

You can also rely on Win7 backup imaging to save a backup image externally to use in place of Recovery or Reinstall: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup