can't boot from hd without cd


  1. Posts : 3
    7
       #1

    can't boot from hd without cd


    1.i had a dualboot with ubuntu on one drive and 7 on another (the 7 hd is dynamic) everything worked fine using the windows bootloader. i no longer needed ubuntu so i booted intro acronis and cleared the drive and reformatted it as ntfs. also, i deleted the ubuntu folder on my c: drive.

    2.i couldn't boot into windows and as far as i could tell acronis had somehow damaged my dynamic disk. a test disk rescue cd was able to fix that problem so my windows installation showed up when i started repair from the 7 disk.

    3. despite that, ubuntu still shows up on my o/s choices menu at startup and i can't boot into 7 without selecting boot from cd (via bios) and ignoring the "press any key to start from cd" and then letting it boot from the hd. if i try to boot directly from the hd i get an error saying a required device is inaccessible.

    what i've tryed
    -startup repair- detects no issues

    -bootrec
    /fixmbr /fixboot /rebuilbcd
    the first 2 complete but don't fix the issue and rebuild bcd doesn't detect any os (but an installation is recognized when i click "repair" from the 7 disk)

    everything here MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record

    sfc and chkdsk inside windows

    i still have to select the cd at boot and i can't get the ubuntu option to go away. any ideas?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 3,187
    Main - Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-Bit; 2nd - Windows Server 2008 R2
       #2

    Have you looked at the hard drive boot priority? My housemate has two identical drives and after a BIOS reset her computer decided it really REALLY wanted to boot from the non-OS drive. Try it again with the Hard Drive Priority changed to the other drive.
    Last edited by profdlp; 23 Aug 2010 at 00:59. Reason: typo
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    profdlp said:
    ... Try it again with the Hard Drive Priority changed to the other drive.
    didn't work. it was already set that way.

    i thought the missing device might be windows not finding the windows hd because its listed as e: in the repair software (its c inside windows). i tried changing the drive letter with diskpart but it reverted back after a restart. i then marked the windows partition as active.

    --------------------------------------------------------------
    having marked the drive active i now get an error about missing information in the bcd. i can still boot with the cd though.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 3
    7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    problem solved!!!!!

    i was doing so much screwing with bcd i ended up deleting it. also, all the tutorials online assume c is your windows drive. mine was seen as e: in the repair menu so i moved my bcd.old backup from c: to e: and got everything working!

    if anyone else experiences this problem i suggest the following
    1.make sure your partition is at least recognized in diskpart. if it's listed as foreign, google "system rescue disk" and boot from that. test disk will repair the partitions
    2.use diskpart to make the correct volume (where windows is installed) active
    3.follow the mbr tutorial listed here MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3,187
    Main - Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-Bit; 2nd - Windows Server 2008 R2
       #5

    Glad to hear you got it, and thanks for posting your solution.
      My Computer


 

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