Two HDD's, Dual boot, Wrong Drive is SYSTEM

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  1. Posts : 11
    Win 7 Pro 64 bit
       #1

    Two HDD's, Dual boot, Wrong Drive is SYSTEM


    The simplest way to put my problem is that in DOS, I could solve it with "sys C:\" then FDisk to make sure the drive I want is Boot, Active and System.

    Some years ago, I set up a 1 TB SATA drive to dual boot XP Pro 32 bit and 64 bit. Lots of things changed since then but drives C:, D: and E: are still there. I bought Win7 Pro the day M$ made it available, installed it on a new 640 gig SATA drive and somehow set up dual boot with 'older OS' (XP Pro 64, no longer runs), Win 7 Pro RC and the full retail Win 7 Pro 64. Right, the only functioning OS in the boot menu is Win 7 Pro 64 retail. I discovered yesterday morning that the new 640 gig Win 7 drive is NOT the system drive. The old 1 TB drive did not spin up and the boot menu returned the error "ntldr not found, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to reboot." DUH.

    Back in DOS days gaming, I had to know how to do all this stuff manually. You sure didn't get any help from Windows! But I haven't had to even install an OS often enough to remember much about the process in years.

    So, is there a simple, easy way to make my Win 7 installation drive the System drive? Then can I do away with the multi boot menu and just boot straight into Win 7 Pro like I want to?

    Thanks all!
      My Computer

  2.    #2

    We need to see a picture of your maximized Disk Mgmt drive map with listings - using the Snipping Tool in Start Menu - to give you the exact steps. Screen Shots

    Tell us what is on each partition, which you want to keep and elminate, and whether you want to recover the disk space for those deleted and to where.
      My Computer

  3.   My Computer


  4. Posts : 240
    Win 8 RP, Win 7, XP
       #4

    Disconnect 1 TB drive. Reconnect 640 GB drive to be first and only HDD.

    Start Windows 7 DVD/CD and Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times.

    Your Windows 7 should boot.

    Later attach 1 TB drive as second HDD. See if you can access data there and backup important (personal) files !
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 11
    Win 7 Pro 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I guess I was too tired to remember to leave the rig running. That old 1 TB drive didn't start this morning. I don't have a printer here yet and didn't write out the instructions I'd found in a couple of places, so booted the Win 7 64 bit DVD. Took 3 manual reboots for it to fix the windows startup issues. But I have my desktop back now. Just missing the old drive and partitions C:, D: and E: !!

    Disk Management just now:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Two HDD's, Dual boot, Wrong Drive is SYSTEM-diskmanagement02.jpg  
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 11
    Win 7 Pro 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    boyans said:
    Disconnect 1 TB drive. Reconnect 640 GB drive to be first and only HDD.

    Start Windows 7 DVD/CD and Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times.

    Your Windows 7 should boot.

    Later attach 1 TB drive as second HDD. See if you can access data there and backup important (personal) files !
    BOYANS, after reading these posts and others, your instructions are what my plan still is. The Win 7 setup at boot gives you clear options. I read the Help files anyway. And picked the (R)epair computer option. No brainer there. The old 1TB drive was disconnected, I checked BIOS and saw the Win 7 drive is the only drive present, other than the optical drive, and was set to boot from CD/DVD.
    I got the 'ntldr not found' error twice, booted into the same repair screen twice, on the third boot, Win 7 booted.
    Now, if I can sweet talk that old drive into running again, I have 537 gigs of free space on my NAS 1TB drive to get stuff over to.

    Thanks!
    Last edited by McGrandpa; 03 Feb 2012 at 09:22. Reason: grammar, spelling
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 11
    Win 7 Pro 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Thanks Everyone! This solution worked. Although my old drive is a problem to deal with still, Win 7 Pro x64 boots from its own drive now. Thanks again for the help!
      My Computer

  8.    #8

    Run the maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan on the problem HD to check its condition and see if it can be repaired. Follow this with full Disk Check to check the file system.

    It would still be good to see the Disk Mgmt screenshot as there are other factors to consider.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 11
    Win 7 Pro 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Drive was built March 2008, it's a WD "Green" 5400 rpm 1 TB drive. It started up this afternoon. I had turned it upside down and it spun right up. I also picked up a tiny 2.5" USB 1 TB drive from WalMart today. I'll copy everything I want over to it from that old drive before I turn the system OFF again. I got a screen shot of what was and what is now current.

    DiskManagement 01 is what I had before the drive wouldn't start.
    DiskManagement 02 is what Windows RE gave me without the 1TB drive hooked up.
    DiskManagement 03 is what I have right now, thanks to the very easy repair option.

    I COULD have fixed the problem two years ago, if I'd realized then that there was one.
    Right now, the old drive with C:, D: and E: on it is simply a data drive. Win 7 boots from the Win 7 install drive whether the old is in the system or not.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Two HDD's, Dual boot, Wrong Drive is SYSTEM-disk-management-01.jpg   Two HDD's, Dual boot, Wrong Drive is SYSTEM-diskmanagement-02.jpg   Two HDD's, Dual boot, Wrong Drive is SYSTEM-diskmanagement-03.jpg  
      My Computer

  10.    #10

    Is it F alone you are wanting to keep? Because it is configured correctly as shown by the third screenshot - except that when booted Win7 should always show as C unless it is incorrectly installed from an OS instead of from booted installer.

    If you want to boot C shown, I would unplug F and run the 3 Repairs on C so that it also hosts it's own System boot files and can boot on its own. Then set preferred OS HD first to boot in BIOS setup, choose the other one using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key at boot.
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