PC no longer boots to c: drive ??

trinaz · 21 Apr 2014

I have multiple HDDs in my box...the main Win 7 Pro installation is on c: drive - a Samsung SSD 840 128GB. Some how...the boot menu setup changed...did noting I'm aware of tto cause the change...but apparently one of the HHD's has a Win XP Pro cloned drive...thought is was simply a backup of my laptop (XP) ?

Anyway if I let my system bios start normally...it starts the XP version (never ever did this before)...I have a 'choose boot drive' option in the bios and if I select that...I can start the Win 7 Pro 64 bit with no issues...but rebooting and letting the bios start normally...I'm back to the XP drive

If I disconnect the XP drive...I get an error at boot saying something like insert or add boot drive...

Attached is the current boot.ini.saved(.txt) file on my c: drive...referring to XP. There's no plain boot.ini drive that I can see. I have show system & hidden files on in Explorer

I have EasyBCD 2.1.2 installed...it just shows Win 7 drive....nothing referring to XP that I can find ?

Before I completely lose my Win 7 system...how can I remove the reference to XP at boot and restore the boot.ini file to load Win 7 Pro 64bit?

This was a clean install of Win 7 Pro...not an upgrade from XP or anything else...only connections to XP was on the extra HDD that I thought was only a Tib backup of my laptop XP system

Thanks...TiminAz

AddRAM · 21 Apr 2014

Can you post a screen shot of disk management from Windows 7 ?

trinaz · 21 Apr 2014

AddRAM said:

Can you post a screen shot of disk management from Windows 7 ?

Thanks...attached is a screen shot...since my post I formatted the J: drive which was the XP Installation...since there's obviously no point to XP anymore.....

Now I am booting ok again to Windows 7 without issues....but...there's one weird issue now:

My C: drive is an SSD...and 'Samsung Magician' says AHCI is not enabled...if I go into the bios and enable AHCI (IDE now) and reboot I get the attached error message in mbr-error.jpg

I think if I can now get rid of the boot mbr error...I will be back to normal....would like to have AHCI enabled ?

Thanks again....TiminAz

gregrocker · 21 Apr 2014

The issue is caused by the BIOS Boot priority menu being changed to the other HD. When you formatted XP its HD no longer had a bootable OS, so is going to the next bootable device which apparently is your floppy drive - until there is no response to the prompt to Press any Key so it finally defaults to the correct HD.

I'd boot into BIOS Setup to change it to boot from the HD you know for sure Win7 is on. When needed you can trigger DVD or flash stick boot using the one-time BIOS boot menu key.

Further I would either disable the ancient floppy drive in BIOS or physically uninstall it or pull its cables. These can begin to cause problems otherwise.

If you want Win7 in AHCI mode after it's already installed then follow these steps for AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista - Windows 7 Forums

More tips here in Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

trinaz · 22 Apr 2014

gregrocker said:

.........

I'd boot into BIOS Setup to change it to boot from the HD you know for sure Win7 is on. When needed you can trigger DVD or flash stick boot using the one-time BIOS boot menu key.

Further I would either disable the ancient floppy drive in BIOS or physically uninstall it or pull its cables. These can begin to cause problems otherwise.

If you want Win7 in AHCI mode after it's already installed then follow these steps for AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista - Windows 7 Forums

More tips here in Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

Thanks...there is a floppy in the box but it has never been activated...I think it was in this box when I installed (clean install) Win 7 and I just never took it out. It has no power or ide cables attached and I don't believe it ever had under the Win 7 install...the booting up to XP never happened until a few days ago...this box was not setup as a dual boot...only dedicated Win 7 Pro 64bit ?

AHCI was activated and working fine prior to the XP issue starting up a couple days ago...so I think Win 7 does already have the drivers installed...did this when I 1st got the SSD.....the issue is if I leave in the bios setup my drives to IDE...everything is fine...but if I activate AHCI in sata configuration...then I get the boot to floppy error...but there's no floppy connected or installed ?

Is there a way to rebuild or re-initiate the mbr for the system now with only 1 OS in the box so to remove the boot to floppy error and/or activate the AHCI ? or...where is the mbr kept/stored...could I restore this (mbr) from an Acronis tib system backup prior to this issue starting ?

gregrocker · 22 Apr 2014

What about the boot order priority now?

Is there a newer BIOS update on the PC or Mobo's Support Downloads webpage? If not reset the BIOS to defaults.

There may be interference from one of your HD's.

Unplug all other HD's except Win7, set to AHCI in BIOS setup, boot into Win7 installation media or System Repair Disk to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times.

trinaz · 22 Apr 2014

Ok...things working better now....however bios seems to be changing itself from boot to boot. Have never 'updated' the bios on this board. There are about 7 or so bios updates after my current one on the MB website (Asus)...if I update...can I just use the latest version...or do I have to go one by one to the most current ?

Will also disconnect all drives except the boot (SSD) and try reconnecting one by one to see if this corrects issues....thanks so much for your help...this stuff is way beyond my 'realm of expertise' !!

gregrocker · 22 Apr 2014

It would prompt you if you need to go incrementally on BIOS update. I doubt it. But be sure to follow the steps carefully, with no chance of losing AC power, since there is some risk. Ask back if you want help.

While you have only the Win7 drive plugged in, run a few Startup Repairs to see if it finds anything to correct.

trinaz · 22 Apr 2014

gregrocker said:

............While you have only the Win7 drive plugged in, run a few Startup Repairs to see if it finds anything to correct.

Have tried startup repair numerous times...always get the error in attached jpg ??

trinaz · 24 Apr 2014

trinaz said:

gregrocker said:

............While you have only the Win7 drive plugged in, run a few Startup Repairs to see if it finds anything to correct.

Have tried startup repair numerous times...always get the error in attached jpg ??

Ok guys...everything seems to be back in order...system booting properly with dvd drive as 1st choice or normal Win 7 Pro startup if nothing in dvd drive

one item only having to do with startup repair...as above...have ran Startup Repairs with both normal box set up and with everything (including usb drives) removed but always same notice as in jpg in my last post above..."remove something/anything new and try again"

Also have searched both C:\Windows\System32\Logfile\Srt\SrtTrail.txt and entire system for Srttrail.txt and can not find SrtTrail.txt anywhere in the box ? Is this an issue I should explore ??

Thanks again for all who helped get me back up and going....!!!

TiminAz