Reinstall Win 7 has stopped dual boot


  1. Posts : 22
    Windows Vista and 7
       #1

    Reinstall Win 7 has stopped dual boot


    I have 3 partitions - 1=Vista, 2=Win 7, 3=Data.

    Dual boot had Vista as default but Win 7 available too.
    The Win 7 installation started coming up with a Winload error and would not repair.

    I Booted from Win 7 RC DVD, deleted partition 2 and re-installed Win 7 on the new, unallocated partition 2.

    Now the system boots ONLY into Win 7 with no Vista option.
    Advanced System Setting shows only Win 7. How can I add my Vista, partition 1, into the dual boot set up?
    Vista is my "LIVE" system. Win 7 is for evaluation, learnning only.

    Regards
    Doug
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #2

    You could repair Vista to get that booting, using the DVD, and then do away with your dual boot setup. I despise them for many reaosns, but this being one of them. You're top priority is getting your production system back online, and then you can worry about testing Windows 7 later. By now, you probably know what you plan to do when it is released, so I wouldn't bother putting an RC back on there. If anything, get the RTM from Microsoft if you need to do more testing.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 28,845
    Win 8 Release candidate 8400
       #3

    dougham said:
    I have 3 partitions - 1=Vista, 2=Win 7, 3=Data.

    Dual boot had Vista as default but Win 7 available too.
    The Win 7 installation started coming up with a Winload error and would not repair.

    I Booted from Win 7 RC DVD, deleted partition 2 and re-installed Win 7 on the new, unallocated partition 2.

    Now the system boots ONLY into Win 7 with no Vista option.
    Advanced System Setting shows only Win 7. How can I add my Vista, partition 1, into the dual boot set up?
    Vista is my "LIVE" system. Win 7 is for evaluation, learnning only.

    Regards
    Doug
    If both OS'es are there and visible you can use bcdEdit to edit the boot loader. see the tutorial here for instructions BCDEDIT - How to Use

    hope this helps

    ken
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,797
    Windows 7 Ulti. x64
       #4

    Welcome to SevenForums, dougham
    I would also recomend that you try bcd. It is very easy to use and it will do the job that you are wanting done.
    Good luck to you and I hope that you enjoy your time here on SevenForums.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 302
    Windows 8 64bit Professional
       #5

    I have found, that with Windows 7/Vista & Ubuntu Linux dual boots that Linux must be installed last because of the GRUB Bootloader.

    Advice would be install Windows Vista first, and then update it 100%, and then install Windows 7. Once this is done, I would back up your drive using Norton Ghost, or some imaging program. It works wonders for what I do. :)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 22
    Windows Vista and 7
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Thanks


    Living in Australia, I appreciate the overnight response.

    I ran repair from the Vista DVD and now both OSs are visible.
    I'll use bcdedit as advised to change the default boot.

    Thanks again for the quick response.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,607
    Windows 7 x64 finally!
       #7

    Good to se it worked Doug.
    I suggest you mark the thread as read (click on the report icon on the upper right corner and state it is solved) so others can benefit from this.
    I also suggest you rep the members that helped you (middle icon, same place)
    Enjoy 7 mate!
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 53
    Windows 7 Ultimate/XP SP3
       #8

    This helped


    I had a similar problem.

    I reinstalled Windows 7 after uninstalling it a while ago and everything went haywire. My Win7 partition was somehow Logical instead of Primary and the boot sector code for disk partition was corrupted. After finally fixing those problems with Partition Magic and the Recovery Tools I got Win7 working.

    Unfortunately it just started right up, XP was no longer a boot option.

    The information on the page about bcdedit totally fixed my problem. Specifically this step:

    bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d "Windows XP"

    bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=F:

    bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr

    bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast
    Creating that allowed me to boot from XP again.

    I just wanted to point out that specific part as it relates to dual booting XP and Win7.


    EDIT: Ack I lied! When I go to start XP it just restarts my computer and gives me the boot choice screen again. Well I'm sure that'll help SOME people anyway.
    Last edited by sagebrushfire; 13 Oct 2009 at 08:39.
      My Computer


 

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