XP/7 Dual Boot Disaster - Unplugged?

If it boots now with XP partition plugged in, you can unplug XP for the repairs so that you have a method you know boots to fall back on until Win7 will boot itself..

Good morning gregrocker,

I am proceeding with the repair this morning with a clear head and on my day off so I can devote my time and concentration on the matter at hand. I have printed out all of your instructions and sub-topics to aid in a successful repair attempt.

Right out of the box, there seems to be a reporting conflict. My Computer Management screen indicates that C: is Disk 0 --- and my D: is Disk 1.

However, at Command Prompt DISKPART> list disk
Windows indicates Disk 0 Online 596 GB - 9MB Free - Dyn (My D:)
and Disk 1 Online 279 GB - 9MB Free (Not Dyn, my addition) (My C:)

This is oppposing information. Logic would assume the selection of Disc 0 for "Clean All" but I want to check with you first. Thank you.

Another reason to wait to wipe D until after you know for sure Win7 will recover it's boot files back into C.

So for now confirm in Disk Mgmt Win7 is still marked Active, power down to unplug the HD you know is D so it doesn't interfere.

Then boot the DVD Repair console, accept any offered Repair, if Win7 doesn't start boot back into DVD System Recovery Options to run Startup Repair repeatedly with reboots until it starts.

Unless Win7 is otherwise damaged it should write the System boot files to C within three Startup Repairs with system reboots.

The C: drive remains Active. I have disconnected D: I have repeatedly run Startup Repair as instructed. The Repair Detail indicates only 1 repair attempt each time.

System Disk = \Device\Harddisk 1
Windows Directory =
AutoChk - 0
Number of root causes = 1

Test Results are Successful

Root cause found:
The partition table does not have a valid System Partition.
Repair action: Partition table repair
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 2043ms

The system repeatedly boots from the DVD ROM.

It's almost like there's nothing on C:?

Make sure C HD is set first to boot in BIOS setup, then try starting it.

NTLDR is missing
Control alt delete to restart

Unplug all other HD's and peripherals, confirm Win7 is still marked Active then run Startup Repair again x3.

Do you have free Partition Wizard bootable CD? You can check Active using it and from the DIsk tab "Rebuild MBR."

I can do that but the only way to confirm Win7 Active would be to boot from D: currently unplugged - Got to get to Disk Management through Windows. I don't have the Partition Wizard tool.

Could D: have created a C: partition on its drive during the installation of Windows 7? Might that explain why there appears to be nothing on C:? If so, could the C partition and all of its contents be moved to the C: DRIVE and commence repairs that way?

OR, would you recommend a fresh install at this point? Thanks!

In your screenshot it shows you are booted from C which is using 30gb of disk space. I don't know why you think there is nothing on C. It also shows your System boot files are on D.

You can confirm active by using this: Partition - Mark as Active. Again, unplug all other HD's.

If you need to copy files out of C use this: Partition - Mark as Active

Then when you're ready to clean reinstall, with only target HD plugged in follow these steps which apply to get a purrfect install: re-install windows 7