Restoring Dual boot Xp/Win 7 to single boot Xp

[destroyme220]

Hey Guyz !!
First of all .... Since i'm new in town here, Accept HI to all here @ Sevenforums.

Now, i'm stuck with a problem .
I've a Dual Boot with Xp/Win 7 on my office Desktop workstation. Window7 is the beta version of the Win 7. And like all other companies.... my company also want it's wallpaper and screen-saver on each machine ..... But i somehow manage to install Window 7 on my office Desktop.
Now i want to remove Window 7 partition and restore my Xp MBR and that too without using Windows Xp Bootable CD ( as CDs are not allowed in my company )...

How can i restore my Xp MBR while accessing my Xp Partition as i already have deleted my Windows 7 partition ...

Thanx in advance

 

[FliGi7]

If you can't have CD's, then how did you install Windows 7 onto your machine?

 

[gregrocker]

Download EasyBCD 2.0 beta to XP. It will require Net Framework 2.0 to be installed.

on Add/Remove tab highlight Win7 listing and click red Delete button

now on the Manage Bootloader tab, select Uninstall Vista Bootloader (use to restore XP), click Write MBR

now you can delete Win7 partition in XP Disk Management

View attachment 42141

 

[destroyme220]

Thanks @ fligi7 for replying !!

Thanks @ gregrocker for the resolution ..... i've applied it ... it looks fine now But the MBR still contains other OS listings which u can see from my MBR content.

;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=0
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

Can u tell me how to remove the other listing from MBR so that it'll look like a fresh one.

Thanks again for your help gregrocker

 

[gregrocker]

First run msconfig and look on the boot tab for any XP listing to delete.

If not, run EasyBCD and see if there is still an XP listing there to Remove.

 

[destroyme220]

I'm attaching my msconfig window screeshot ..please advise me on the line which doesn't corresponds to Xp as i only want Xp information in boot.ini file and it should automatically boots to Xp ( it is still doing it as timeout = 0 it contains few extra redundant information which i want to clean )

Thanx again my friend !!

 

[gregrocker]

Someone else might see a listing there to delete, I don't.

Are you still getting the dual boot menu when you start up?

Try EasyBCD to see if it is more evident.

SIW2?

 

[destroyme220]

Hi gregrocker ...
since the timeout is 0 in the boot.ini file ... Dual boot screen is not turning up and my PC is automatically booting to Xp.
Problem looks solved for now ... coz i don't think so anyone would try to see my boot.ini file just out of suspicion.

But yupp ... as i said in my first post ... before making changes in my boot.ini file .. i deleted the Win7 partition .. but i didn't notice that i'm not able to format that partition.

Windows Can't format this drive. Quit any disk or other program that using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the content of the drive. Then try formatting again.

Can u tell ... how can i format the partition now.

and Thanks again gregrocker 4 the help.

 

[gregrocker]

You can't format the space where WIn7 was most likely because a partition needs to be created there first.

Or you can extend the XP partition into the deleted Win7 space.

This must be done with a 3rd party partitioning software like free Partition Wizard.

If you want to be sure first, post back a screenshot of the Partition Wizard disk map so we can advise you better.

You'll need to use XP Paint adapting the tutorial here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9717-screenshot-paint.html
Then attach the file using paper clip in reply box.

 

[FliGi7]

First run msconfig and look on the boot tab for any XP listing to delete.

If not, run EasyBCD and see if there is still an XP listing there to Remove.

I did this and it removed the annoying boot menu when booting to my XP drive (C which was great, however now I can't boot to my Win7 drive (F. It says the NTLDR is missing.

 

[gregrocker]

First run msconfig and look on the boot tab for any XP listing to delete.

If not, run EasyBCD and see if there is still an XP listing there to Remove.

I did this and it removed the annoying boot menu when booting to my XP drive (C which was great, however now I can't boot to my Win7 drive (F. It says the NTLDR is missing.

Please start a new thread .

 

[FliGi7]

I was simply trying to remove it from the boot process when I boot up my main XP hard drive, as whenever I would boot from my C drive, I would get the option to choose Windows 7 (which was no longer there from a previous install). I then reinstalled Windows 7 on my F: drive (completely independent of C and now it no longer boots. Is there a way to fix this?

 

[gregrocker]

You are not the original poster here so I do not have the background of your case.

If you reinstalled Win7 it should have reconfigured the dual boot menu correctly. Something must have blocked it.

Boot into the Win7 DVD repair console and run Startup repair repeatedly to get Win7 started.

Post back a screenshot of the EasyBCD listings so we can what needs to be adjusted. If XP is missing after Win7 Startup repair, add it by name, type and correct drive letter.

 

[FliGi7]

You are not the original poster here so I do not have the background of your case.

If you reinstalled Win7 it should have reconfigured the dual boot menu correctly. Something must have blocked it.

Boot into the Win7 DVD repair console and run Startup repair repeatedly to get Win7 started.

Post back a screenshot of the EasyBCD listings so we can what needs to be adjusted. If XP is missing after Win7 Startup repair, add it by name, type and correct drive letter.

I reinstalled Windows 7 onto a separate drive with only that one connected so as to help prevent it from installing onto other drives. So, the dual boot menu on my C: drive still lingered for a while (with nothing associated with it after dual booting from that drive to Win7 but then blowing Win7 away after deciding to go for a separate dedicated drive for it).

 

[gregrocker]

See if you can boot into Win7 by setting it as the HD to boot first in BIOS setup after DVD drive.

Then if you need to boot into XP, you can use the BIOS Boot Menu shortcut F-key given on first bootup screen.

This is actually better because it makes the HD's independent of one another and can come and go as you wish.

If you still want to create a Dual Boot menu then you will need to boot into Win7 with XP plugged in and run a http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html?ltr=R to correctly reconfigure a dual boot.

 

[FliGi7]

That is actually how I have it set up. Both drives are (were) configured to boot independently. At startup, I hit F8 to choose which HDD to boot from. However, after booting into XP and using the Vista bootloader uninstaller, when I tried to boot back into the Win7 HDD via F8, it says it was now missing the NTLDR. I wasn't aware that uninstalling it on my XP/Win7 Drive would remove it from my new dedicated Win7 drive as well.

 

[gregrocker]

When you use EasyBCD to uninstall Vista bootloader it finds that bootloader and uninstalls it, which is why you can't boot Win7. If you were trying to delete the ghost listing given at XP startup, it needed to be done in msconfig>boot tab or EasyBCD Add/Remove listing.

Have you booted into the Win7 DVD repair console and run Startup Repair 3 separate times to attempt repair and then rewrite the MBR to Win7? Unplug the XP drive first.

Can you boot into an OS now? Which?

Please boot into that OS and post back a screenshot of the EasyBCD listings AND the full Disk Management drive map. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-how-post-screenshot-seven-forums.html

 

[FliGi7]

I'm gonna try the Windows 7 Repair Disc tonight with all other drives unplugged. Then, hopefully that fixes the Win7 drive. Then, I'll disconnect the Win 7 drive, boot into XP, and run the Vista bootloader uninstaller again to get rid of it (because it's back now for some reason - i think i was playing with stuff and added it back). Anyway, I'll report back regardless of what happens after this.

 

[gregrocker]

Remember to run Startup Repair 3 separate times to get Win7 restarted as it assumes each fix will work until you come back for another, until it finally rewrites the MBR. Many ignore this and then wonder why their computer won't start.

The Vista bootloader is not responsible for the ghost listing at XP boot. As stated earlier, it is removed in XP msconfig>Boot tab, or by removing the listing (not the bootloader) on EasyBCD's Add/Remove tab.

View attachment 44191

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

You just need to boot into 7, install Easybcd, click Useful Utilities>Easybcd Power Console.

An elevated command will open at easybcd bin folder, type:

bootsect /nt60 c:

then press enter.