Alright so boot the PW CD, Resize the left side of C partition by 200mb, then create a Primary NTFS partition there labeled System, Modify>Set to Active, then boot into Win7 DVD to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots to write the System boot files to it. This creates a fresh new boot partition.
Greg:
Just for the heck of it I plugged the application drve back in. If I leave the repair disk in I can get into windos. Said autocheck not found though.
Michael
There's something dysfunctional about an install that will not write boot files to the target partition successfully so that it can boot the OS. My guess is that there's corruption in the boot sector of the HD which if it will not be repaired by Startup Repair or the bootsect command may need wiping with Diskpart Clean Command - which also happens to solve about half of installation failures. But that requires reinstalling the OS.
If you're sure you've tried 3 separate Startup Repairs with reboots to C which is marked Active, with all other HD's unplugged, run the bootrec and bootsect commands correctly, then what's left is to try constructing a System Reserved boot partition which when marked Active might accept the boot files via Startup Repairs, or Clean Reinstalling after wiping the HD.
In addition since you can start with the other HD plugged in you can try installing EasyBCD to Move Bootmgr to C:\ with EasyBCD - Windows 7 Forums. But it's a long shot since the most reliable way to do this is via Repairs.
Last edited by gregrocker; 18 Dec 2012 at 22:57.
Greg. Do you think that the application that supposedly pulled up my win product key will return the right key? Or is that voodoo?
Michael
Are you sure you've got the Win7 HD set first HD to boot in BIOS?
If a keyfinder found a 25 digit (5 groups of 5 characters) labeled Product Key and not just Product ID, then it should work if it was activated with the retail Product Key.
There's another thing to try since you can boot WIn7 with the XP HD attached. Boot into it and try Move Bootmgr to C:\ with EasyBCD - Windows 7 Forums.
Last edited by gregrocker; 18 Dec 2012 at 22:39.
Greg. OK. There seem to be a lot of different possibilities. Will try them all when I get home. Will start with the first suggestion and run them in your order unless you advise a different sequence.
When/if we get to the installation of Windows how do you prevent Windows from eating the entire drive,thus preserving the first install?
Thanks.
Michael
Last edited by goofeyfoot; 19 Dec 2012 at 06:53.
If you get to the point of having to reinstall then it should be to wipe the HD first which wipes everything out, so you'd need to back up your files and unplug all HD's to do that. '
But first I would try unplugging all other HD's again to run 3 separate Startup Repairs again with reboots in between - just to be sure it was done correctly.
If that fails, use Partition Wizard bootable CD to resize Win7 from the left by about 200mb to create a System REserved partition to boot it.
To do this with all other HD's unplugged boot into PW CD, rightclick on C to Resize, drag left border to right 200mb, click OK.
Then rightclick the 200mb space to Create New partition NTFS Primary, labeled System Reserved and given a letter, click OK.
Now rightclick the new partition to Modify>Set to Active, OK.
Then click on the HD # to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, OK, Apply all steps.
Reboot to see if Win7 starts. If not boot into Win7 DVD or REpair CD to run 3 separate Startup Repairs to write the System boot files to the Active partition until it boots it.
If this fails then you can wipe the HD to reinstall.
Greg.
Hello again.
Just for fun I put my original hard drive, the one I thought was dying back in. All by itself. That wouldn't even turn over.
For further fun, I put the old APPLICATION/PERSONAL drive back in. After one repair session everything was back to normall. Was never so glad to see my crappy desktop.
So that would seem to mean that these two drives are married some how. I originally imaged this bizarre SYSTEM via the Windows backup and restored THAT onto the brand NEW drive. Funny Windows insisted you use two drives. That's when you and I started this thread eons ago.
Wonder whether you think there is a better way to move onto the new drive. With Windows you only get one way. I have Acronis True Image if that gives you any ideas.
Sorry to add further complexity. Just got tired of looking at black screens!
Thanks again.
Michael
Greg:
Thanks for all the help you gave me.
Here's what I finally did. I went back to my old install. I "weened" my Windows drive from the other drive that it seemed to be married to. I got that setup running rock solid. Real simple. Just the one drive.
After that, I backed up that one drive in the Windows 7 recovery image. Then I restored that image to the new drive, having wiped it first as you mentioned. After that I used that "Partition Wizard" that you showed me to come up with a more logical layout of the partitions. After I multi-repaired the boot files, I plugged one of my other drives in to see whether anything would explode. The whole business works without a hitch.
Again, many thanks. I learned a ton of stuff from you. I'm half hoping something breaks so I can use my new skills to fix it again.
Thanks again Greg.
Michael
Good job, Michael!
If you'll post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Mgmt showing both the drive map and all the listings we can look it over for any potential problems. Let us know what's on each partition, or anything you'd like adjusted.
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