Windows 7 - BCDEDIT changing defaults

Hi everyone.

I have a fully up todate pc that has XP P (32bit) on one partition and Windows 7 P (64bit) on the other partition. (same HD)

Both Operating systems are fine.

My problem is that for some reason between switching the pc off and back on the following morning the mouse and keyboard do not work so I cannot tab between which operating system I want. (the keyboard and mouse work fine once either operating system is loaded, so its not faulty gear or connections

Set that aside for the moment, as my real question is..

Last Time, I let the pc default boot into Windows 7 and used BCDEDIT to change the boot so it defaulted into XP, now I want to change it back to default into Windows 7 how do I do this in W XP ? Please.

I will sort the keyboard and mouse out later but obviously I cannot get into the bios either.

If the Windows 7 is 32bit then you can try this.

You will need to find where the BCD file is located, drive and path. On the root of the drive you will find the file bootmgr and the folder boot, the BCD file should be found in the boot folder. If XP was installed first then it'll probably be on the XP drive. These are hidden system files so you will need to open folder options and set to show them.

Next browse to the Windows folder for Win 7, hold down Shift, right click System32 and click "Open command window here".

Type "bcdedit /store [Path to the BCD file]" and press enter, eg. "bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd".

Look for the Windows Boot Loader entry for Windows 7 and copy the Identifier for the next command. Make sure to include the curly braces in the identifier.

Next type bcdedit /store [Path to the BCD file] /default [Identifier for Win 7]

Now hopefully that works. If you get any access denied or file in use errors you may need to boot from the Win 7 DVD if you can without the keyboard.

Check the BIOS settings on your machine.
They may have changed (i.e. If you have a USB keyboard and mouse, the BIOS options may no longer be set correctly).

Thanks Duzzy but as I said Windows 7 is 64bit and XP returns "not a 32bit programme" (even though it is in the system32 folder.

lehnerus2000 thanks for your reply, but with no keyboard and mouse I cannot get into BIOS and dont want to at the moment because if I return bios to default, by, say changing the battery, my machine might not start and that would be a serious problem, at least everything is working om XP and I can read the Windows 7 partition even if I cannot boot Windows 7.

I have by the way tried other keyboards and mouses ? no difference but they all work fine once I boot into windows my Mouse and Keyboard are USB..

This mobo is Rampage Extreme mk1 and only has a mauve keyboard connector and a keyboard direct into that does not work either.

Keep the help coming please !!!!

Hello Cameraman, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You may be able to use OTION FOUR in the tutorial below with EasyBCD to change it back to Windows 7 as the default startup OS. However, you will need to install .Net Framework 2.0 (32-bit) version in XP before using EasyBCD.

Default Operating System - Change Default Boot OS

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Sorry I must of read your post to quick and missed that.

If you don't want to install EasyBCD and want to try my steps first then I've attached the 32bit version of bcdedit. Put this in your Windows XP System32 folder and just open a command window anywhere then follow my steps in my first post.

It's been a while since I used XP but you probably will need to run cmd.exe as Admin if your not logged on as a admin.

And sorry this was for working in Win 7 not XP.

Thank you everyone for your ideas. I'm going to have a go with EasyBCD first, (legs and arms and fingers crossed) (hope I'm not getting in too deep for my level of knowledge. They also have a really good programme called iReboot that will make my life much easier too. Now if I could only solve my keyboard and mouse problem I wouldnt need to do any of this, its really odd Monday it was fine, normal shutdown, Thuesday morning nothing, if I dissconnect the USB Mouse and Keyboard and plugged another one I have into the mauve connector the mobo says "keyboard missing" or not detected" cant remember which. cant believe its the battery, cant check the battery, so dont want to re-set the bios by removing battery and altering the bios settings just incase its something else and I screw up big time, otherwise a perfectly ok system.
anyway thanks again for your suggestions, its a lonely old world out here when you have problems so I'm very grateful for your help.

You're welcome Cameraman. Please let us know how it went.