BOOTMGR missing when removing HDD1

[gridsystems]

Hi,
I have been dual booting XP on HDD1 and Win7 on HDD2 for a while.

Now I want to completely remove HDD1 from the system and only keep the current Win7 installation on HDD2 (not re-install Win7).

But when I remove HDD1 and switch the HDD2 SATA cable to SATA0 connector on the motherboard, I cannot boot at all because "bootmgr is missing".

I presume all bootdata is on HDD1. How can I get Win 7 to boot when only HDD2 is connected?

Thanks!

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi,

Do you have the Windows 7 DVD? If so you can boot from it (without HDD1 plugged in) and once the setup screen comes up choose to 'Repair' you computer. This will run a check on the current HDD and automatically try to fix any errors it detects, 1 of which is a missing BOOTMGR as I've had the same happen on my machine.

   Tip

You may need to click the 'Install Windows' button first to access the next page in the install

Hope it helps


OS

 

[gridsystems]

Hi, thanks for your quick reply.
Yes, I have the Windows DVD.

1) Is this procedure risky in any way? I can't afford to muck up my Win7 installation just this week. I get a bit nervous when you say I might have to click install Windows first to get the right options. How do I know I don't begin to re-install everything?

2) My Win7 is 32-bit but I just realized I have that disc at the office. I have a 64-bit Win7 DVD here at home though. Would that one do just as fine?

Thanks!

 

[Orbital Shark]

My mistake

Once you enter the Regional Information you can then click the 'Repair your compuuter' option.




The 64bit disk should still detect the error with the BOOTMGR

OS

 

[gridsystems]

Hmm... It repaired at first, but then it would not boot anyway (bootmgr still missing). I realized I had not connected the HDD2 cable to SATA0 connector so I did that. It would still not boot. I ran the DVD again but this time it said (after having listed the entry for the recovered OS) that this version of system repair is not compatible with the OS you are trying to recover.

I don't know what to do. I think I will just maybe buy a new HDD and use that one in my new computer and lkeave these 2 HDD in the current computer and be done with it.

Thanks for your help.
If you have any other ideas, though, feel free to share them.

(I did tri-boot with Linux for a while and then I had to fix entries with NeoGrub. Maybe I messed something up royally back then which Windows can't fix.)

 

[Orbital Shark]

Does plugging in the old XP (HDD1) solve the problem? You might have to wait until you have the 32bit DVD then try the repair option again. If I think of anything else I'll post back

 

[Orbital Shark]

Also, try looking at the following tutorial

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2288-operating-system-start-delete-os-list-boot.html

See if that helps

 

[gridsystems]

Does plugging in the old XP (HDD1) solve the problem? You might have to wait until you have the 32bit DVD then try the repair option again. If I think of anything else I'll post back

It doesn't solve the problem of getting the system to boot with only one HDD but it does enable me to get back to status quo and boot Win7 with both drives connected.

 

[Orbital Shark]

Also, try looking at the following tutorial

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2288-operating-system-start-delete-os-list-boot.html

See if that helps

You may then want to look at the above

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello gridsystems, welcome to Seven Forums!



First here's a link that you can download a Windows repair disk that will do the startup repairs, just be sure to get the correct bit-rate you're trying to repair.

How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc


Disconnect all but the HDD with Windows 7 on.

Then set the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) with the Windows you want to keep as the first boot device in the PC bios and boot the created repair disk, then first you will have to mark the partition with Windows 7 on as "Active" (see Option Two) in this tutorial at the link below.

Then you will have to do the 3 separate startup repairs with the restarts discussed in the same tutorial to create a new set of boot files to the Windows 7 partition.

Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times


Be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.