Dual-Boot Option Lost After Reinstalling Win 7


  1. starvinmarvin
    Posts : 18
    Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit / Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit dual-boot
       New #1

    Dual-Boot Option Lost After Reinstalling Win 7


    Hi everyone. My Win 7/Win 8.1 dual-boot screen is gone since i reinstalled Win 7. Thought it might be fixable using Repair my computer/Automatic Repair option of Win 8 install disc, but strangely it only offered to fix Win 7. So, not wanting to mess it all up i decided to come here for help.

    My system and install history over a 2-year period is:

    Installed Win 7 Home Premium on a 240GB SSD - OK
    Installed Win 7 SP1 - OK
    Added 2 x 1TB data drives - OK
    Installed Win 8 Pro on a second SSD (which created dual-boot option) - OK
    Changed default OS on dual-boot to Win 7 w/SP1 - OK
    Added 2TB data drive - OK
    Updated Win 8 to 8.1 - OK

    Gradually filled up Win 7 SSD and used it heavily. It gradually became sluggish. Rather than restore a backup image i decided to secure-erase the SSD and do a fresh install of Win7 w/SP1.

    Secure-erase and fresh install of Win 7 w/SP1 went OK. System is quick and snappy, no problems. However, the dual-boot screen no longer appears and it boots directly to Win 7. On the "msconfig" window the "Boot" tab lists only Win 7; there's no mention of Win 8.1.

    In Win 7, under Computer the Win 8.1 SSD is visible, and i can explore all the Win 8.1 files, no problem. So, Win 8.1 plus all user data is still there.

    The question is what are the correct steps to restore Win 8.1 as a boot option, i.e. fix the dual-boot setup?

    It doesn't matter which OS is the default because that's easy to change.

    Can anyone give me a step-by-step, please?
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  3. gregrocker
    Posts : 50,642
       New #2

    Normally running Windows 8 Automatic Repair should add Win7 to a Metro style Dual Boot menu. I would try it again according to the tutorial.

    If not install EasyBCD 2.2 (click Download - no Name or Email required) to Win7.

    Add Windows 8 on Add OS Entry tab.

    Reboot to Dual boot menu.

    Are you using UEFI?
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  4. starvinmarvin
    Posts : 18
    Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit / Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit dual-boot
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately, neither suggestion worked. Just kept getting an error message that Windows/System32/winloader.exe is corrupt. Also tried a couple of other fixes but to no avail. Finally secure-erased the Win 8.1 SSD and did a fresh install with my Win 8 Pro disc then updated to 8.1. After personalising/customising it a little i'll make a system image backup.
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