Windows 7: Default boot choice at startup

I have a strange problem. After an attempt at installing Win Server 2003 resulted in a dreaded blue screen, I contacted Dell and discovered that my PC was not compatible with server 2003.

Unfortunately, the Default boot choice at startup is now this failed installation setup. And only my actual system - Windows 7 Pro - appears in the Advanced window of System properties.

So unless I manually choose Win 7, my PC boots to this nonexistent installation and winds up in a blue sceen.



I'm attaching a screenshot of the bootmgr and bootloadersettings, displayed with Visual BCD Editor. Can anyone see what I need to edit, what I need to delete this false boot choice -- or at least set Win 7 as default.

Thaniks!

Right click on Computer.
Click on Advanced system settings.
Under Startup and Recovery, click on Settings.
Select Windows 7 in the Default operating system drop down box.

That should fix it for you.

If you set the Time to display to 0 then it will boot there immediately, no delay.

Edit: You can also install EasyBCD and remove the Server info via the Edit Boot Menu selection.

You should also delete that entry.

1. Just run "Dual-boot Repair" utility -> "Automatic Repair" and confirm.
This will write again MBR, PBR and set default to Windows 7. Boot files left from server installation will be gone.

2. To fix advanced boot options - on admin prompt in Windows 7:
ReAgentC /disable
ReagentC /enable

This would be all.

Note:
In Disk Management check which drive is marked as "active" - if you do not have a "System Reserved" marked as active the Windows 7 partition should be marked as active !
So mark it active and repeat steps 1. and 2.
This will put boot files to Windows 7 partition.
Then it is save to delete other partitions if you want.

Boot related files are always on active !

Thanks, but please read my post again. I've tried this. Only Windows 7 appears as a choice in that drop down box.

I attached screenshots of the BCD using a program that works just like EasyBCD. Please take a look at those screenshots. My question is:
To get rid of that failed installation boot choice what do I need to delete here?
Or:
How can I edit the BCD setting to set Win 7 as default?

Again, as it works now, the setup for a broken Win server 2003 installation is listed at boot -- AND set as default.

Thanks again.

Take a look at this tutorial and see if it helps, and note it uses EasyBCD.

Dual Boot - Delete a OS

When I run the Dual-boot Repair >automatic repair, a window pops up saying telling me that the repair was successful and Windows 7 is now default.

Unfortunately, a restart gets me to the same 2 boot choices, with that failed setup attempt on default, waiting to time out into a boot setup routine that runs into a blue screen. iow, the repair had no effect.

When I enter ReAgentC \disable into an elevated command prompt, this message appears:
REAGENTC.EXE Operation Failed: 57
The Parameter is incorrect

Thanks again, this is real head-scratcher...

If you ask for our help you should agree to use our tools which represent countless thousands of successful uses instead of demanding we use your unknown tool.

Install EasyBCD to remove the ghost listing on Edit OS menu.

Confirm you have deleted the old OS correclty by deleting it's partition in Disk Mgmt.

1. It is not possible that "Dual-boot Repair" does not fix the problem if no errors are reported - it uses "bcdboot.exe" from MICROSOFT as working horse.

bcdboot, I suppose, has been used by millions if not more.

2. The default boot-menu choice is stored in element "DefaultObject" of {bootmgr} object.

In Visual BCD Editor to set a loader as default you do this:
a) Select loader in left pane.
b) click on Object tab in right pane
c) click on button "Set as default loader" in Object tab



3. ReAgentC is the utility from Microsoft for dealing with recovery environment.
It needs the file "\Windows\System32\Repair\boot.wim" for setting recovery environment. It is there by default.
If "boot.wim" missing see here how to get "boot.wim" for Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit


If the utility fails you should check the parameter you supply:
ReagentC /disable - here the command again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
@gregrocker
If you do not know about Visual BCD Editor just search for "bcd editor" on Google. Google knows it.

Thanks -- and good point about using the same tools. I've run EasyBCD and Dual-boot Repair, this time making screenshots of both. Attaching 3 shots of my settings in EasyBCD and two -before/after- the Dual-boot Repair.

Once again, the dual-boot repair did not work. The ghost boot remains, and remains set as default. As you can see, in EasyBCD, there is only one boot option.

The command line attempt still results in the same message as before.

Definitely a ghost boot...!

Thanks again...

[/QUOTE]

1. It is not possible that "Dual-boot Repair" does not fix the problem if no errors are reported - it uses "bcdboot.exe" from MICROSOFT as working horse.

bcdboot, I suppose, has been used by millions if not more.

2. The default boot-menu choice is stored in element "DefaultObject" of {bootmgr} object.

In Visual BCD Editor to set a loader as default you do this:
a) Select loader in left pane.
b) click on Object tab in right pane
c) click on button "Set as default loader" in Object tab



3. ReAgentC is the utility from Microsoft for dealing with recovery environment.
It needs the file "\Windows\System32\Repair\boot.wim" for setting recovery environment. It is there by default.
If "boot.wim" missing see here how to get "boot.wim" for Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit


If the utility fails you should check the parameter you supply:
ReagentC /disable - here the command again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
@gregrocker
If you do not know about Visual BCD Editor just search for "bcd editor" on Google. Google knows it.[/QUOTE]