Windows 7 Recovery - (Bootrec.exe 0 Windows Installations found)

Please if someone knows the answer to this question or if anyone has any experience in this problem. Can someone guide me - I am not much of an windows expert.

The problem started, with a never ending loop of restarts - after I put the computer to sleep mode. I regret doing that but it was no use since the problem started. So to do a quick fix I plugged in my Windows XP recovery disk and did the following - chkdsk /r, chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr. And doing this - I made a temporary fix as I was able to boot into Windows XP but while booting I got this msg. Invalid boot.ini (Booting from C:/Windows)

So Next I tried using my Windows 7 recovery disk to do /fixboot, /fixmbr and when I was typing in /rebuildbcd this came out - No Windows Installation found (0 Windows Installation Found). So what must I do.?

Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot which try everything possible to start the OS leading up to if necessary rescuiing your files to run Factory Recovery or do the vastly superior Clean Reinstall.

Since XP will start let's try to repair Win7 and at the same time reconfigure the Dual Boot by running Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times.

First confirm the Active partition using Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two).
If Xp was installed first then it probably holds the System Boot files along with the Active flag. Run the repairs with the Active flag there first.

If it refuses to start to a working Dual Boot menu, or Win7 won't start on its own, then move the Active flag to Win7 partition and run the repairs again, up to 3 times no matter what it reports.

If this fails, use Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console to browse into the XP partition and copy the WIn7 boot files boot, bootmgr and bootsect.bak to Win7 partition to run the Repairs again making sure the Active flag remains on Win7 partition.

If Win7 starts you may need to install EasyBCD to add XP back to the Dual Boot menu, even have to delete it first to recreate it if it's not working.

If it won't start then you can either work through the other steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start or skip to the reinstall on the Win7 partition, which should reconfigure the Dual Boot with XP. Rescue your files first, then during Steps 7 and 8 in Clean Install Windows 7 delete the WIn7 partition to create and format a new one for install.

It shows in the tutorial how to see a graphic picture of your Disk Mgmt using Partition Wizard bootable CD which can also mark partitions Active for you. If you do this, or can access Disk Mgmt in XP, it would help us a lot to help you if you can post back a camera snap or a screenshot of the full Disk Mgmt drive map and listings. Screenshot with Paint in XP
Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums - Windows 7 Forums

Sorry for the delayed reply also I forgot to mention - I am very grateful to you for helping me out with this problem. This thing has been killing me and somehow I must get access to my Windows 7. It would be great if we can fix this without the need to format and reinstall but should the situation be already worser than what it is now - I am willing to do a Fresh Clean Install under your guidance.

Before I get on with the steps you have listed - You requested to see my Disk Management so you could help me out even better. Here it is - I did the print screen method since I am able to use XP without any problem.

If XP is running here is what I would try:

In XP Disk Management Mark XP Partition Active , then boot the Win7 installer or System Repair Disk to run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times to see if it will repair the Dual Boot which now has the System boot files on the XP partition.

If this fails then in XP Disk Management mark Win7 partition Active: Partition - Mark as Active . If necessary you can also do this from the boot disk as shown in Option Two. The Active partitions should now be XP and Win7, as you can have one on each HD.

Power down to unplug all except the Win7 HD, then run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times to write the System Boot files to Win7 so it boots itself. Once it starts it should be labeled System, too.

Now set preferred HD first to boot in BIOS setup, boot the other HD using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key. If this is not satisfactory, install EasyBCD (click Download - no Name or Email required) to Win7 to add XP to a Windows Dual Boot Menu.

When you mark the WIn7 partition Active it signals the repair function to attempt to repair, rewrite or (if missing) write the SYstem boot files to that partition. If XP is still plugged in it will confuse the repair utility.

Just ignore any messages to run Startup Repair 3 separate times with reboots to have it attempt and then finally write the boot files. It explains more about what happens in the tutorial Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

If this fails copying them into the WIn7 partition manually will sometimes work if you run Repairs again.

I tried doing the first step of running Startup Repair up to 3 times with the XP Partition active. It seems the only thing that it fixed was the 'Invalid Boot.ini' message that I get when booting into XP.