Windows 7: "reboot and select proper boot device" weirdness

When I boot my system, I get the error "reboot and select proper boot device". I verified my BIOS settings are good (#1 CD, #2 HD). The only thing I can think of that might have caused this is a have booted a few times from a Live Linux disk (Tails) but I thought live disks were not supposed to modify hard drives, right?

Anyway, I inserted Windows 7 setup disk, ran Startup Repair, but it find no issues. I discovered by accident that with the setup disk inserted, rebooting the system works fine.

What's this about? Would installing the bootloader to the MBR with EasyBCD fix it?

Thank you!

Here's the contents of the detailed boot entry from BCD:

Mark the Win7 Partition or it's 100mb System Reserved (preferred) Partition Active then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times. Make sure Windows 7 HD is set first HD to boot in BIOS setup.

If this fails work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

My Windows 7 partition already was marked active, at least according to Disk Management and MiniTools (Active, System, Boot, Primary, PageFile, Crash Dump).

I have run the Startup Repair 3 times in a row, but still, the only way I can boot into my C: Windows 7 installation is to have the Windows 7 setup DVD in the drive. I just ignore the "press any key" and let the system boot up. If I take out the DVD, I still get the "Reboot and select" error.

After trying Startup Repair at least 6 times, I tried EasyBCD, following their FAQ: first "BCD Deployment" i.e. Install the Windows 7 bootloader to the MBR (wonder if I also was to have done, "install BCD" to my system partition...Hmm.. When that didn't have any effect, second was to run "Reset BCD Configuration", and that also did nothing, so next I tried Re-create/repair boot files". That too had no effect.

My drive has been partitioned this way for over a year without any trouble til I booted into Tails Live CD, but reviewing the partition table in diskpart, showed me that the numbering of the partitions seems weird, and I wonder if that's something to do with it.

In the order they exist on the drive physically, the drives are lettered C, E, X, and V (with X being a small extended/logical partition), but their respective partition numbers are: 1, 2, 0, 4, 3 (0 and 4 are both drive X).

Here's an image if that helps. I realize looking at this mess maybe I'll wipe everything and install clean on a re-formatted disk. But still I'd like to get this problem figured out.



Thanks,

You may have irreparable corruption in the boot files on C.

If the problem is not solved by running Startup Repair x3 to repair or rewrite the System Boot files on C, you can try constructing a System Reserved partition by resizing C from the left by 200mb using Partition Wizard boot disk to Resize Partition - Video Help.

Create a Primary NTFS partition labeled System Reserved and mark it Active, then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times until Windows 7 starts on its own and the 200mb SysReserved holds System Active flags.

To create another Primary partition you'll first need to convert the Data partition to Logical using free Partition Wizard bootable CD.

Back up your files and a Windows 7 backup image of C first.

If you Clean Reinstall be sure to wipe the HD first with Diskpart Clean Command

Thank you, this is invaluable help. I will try your recommendations, and am glad for having CrashPlan, should I decide to "clean" the disk. Two questions: is Minitool Partition Wizard the one you mean? I have that, and am ready to burn a CD if that's the recommened tool. Also, should I make the 3 primary partitions contiguous, by moving the Extended Partition to the last area on the disk?

You already have 3 primary partitions and 1 extended. "system reserved" as primary is impossible! Convert Data (E:) to "logical" first using minitool PW

Read this http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...e-problem.html