Bootmgr not on C: drive with OS, on secondary HDD - Possible to fix?

[Shasta11]

New Edit -

Hello all.

So I used the EasyBCD and it moved over the boot to C:/ like recommended here.

I then made sure windows boots off SSD.

Problem is I can't remove F as active nor can I delete the bootmgr file in F: drive because it states it's in use, which makes me wonder how if I'm supposedly booting from C: now.

Also, when I wen't into f8 and to repair to see what it listed as the os drive it freaking says F: still not C:

Little lost on what to do now since F still has active and has the boot folder and bootmgr file that I can't delete.

 

[AddRAM]

You have to unplug every drive except for Disk 2 (C) then run startup repair until C boots on it`s own.

Disk 2 has to be marked Active before it will accept the system files.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

When done mark any other drive inactive.

And move Disk 2 (C) to the number 1 sata port on the motherboard.

For some reason your games drive is also marked Active and also has a page file on it, it should not have either.

The reason this happened is because you did not unplug all the other drives when you installed windows on disk 2

 

[Shasta11]

You have to unplug every drive except for Disk 2 (C) then run startup repair until C boots on it`s own.

Disk 2 has to be marked Active before it will accept the system files.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

When done mark any other drive inactive.

And move Disk 2 (C) to the number 1 sata port on the motherboard.

For some reason your games drive is also marked Active and also has a page file on it, it should not have either.

The reason this happened is because you did not unplug all the other drives when you installed windows on disk 2

Oh, ok. That makes sense. May I ask, because while I was waiting I was trying to read up on this and found a site that claimed I could use BCDBoot commands through admin control prompt. Is this another method as well, since I don't have W7 disk to repair install?

I'll quote from the website:



C:\windows\system32>bcdboot /?

Bcdboot - Bcd boot file creation and repair tool.

The bcdboot.exe command-line tool is used to copy critical boot files to the
system partition and to create a new system BCD store.

bcdboot <source> [/l <locale>] [/s <volume-letter>] [/v]
[/m [{OS Loader ID}]]

source Specifies the location of the windows system root.

/l Specifies an optional locale parameter to use when
initializing the BCD store. The default is US English.

/s Specifies an optional volume letter parameter to designate
the target system partition where boot environment files are

copied. The default is the system partition identified by
the firmware.

/v Enables verbose mode.

/m If an OS loader GUID is provided, this option merges the
given loader object with the system template to produce a
bootable entry. Otherwise, only global objects are merged.


Examples: bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us
bcdboot c:\windows /s h:
bcdboot c:\windows /m {d58d10c6-df53-11dc-878f-00064f4f4e08}
This means that I could type this from an Administrator Command Prompt:

bcdboot c:\windows /s c:

And BCDBoot would basically re-gen the BCD stuff I needed on the C: drive given what it knows about the C:\Windows install.

 

[Layback Bear]

Page files had to be moved to the non "C" partition and put on "F" partition.
I have no idea why one would do that.
Could someone explain the reasoning behind doing such a thing?

 

[derekimo]

Page files had to be moved to the non "C" partition and put on "F" partition.
I have no idea why one would do that.
Could someone explain the reasoning behind doing such a thing?

Looks like it's on every drive, and since the first line is,

So I've found a problem that I didn't know existed until I booted from a USB recently. I can only assume something messed up a long time ago when I used a migrate to SSD software back when I got my SSD.

I doubt it is something they were aware of much less know why.

 

[Layback Bear]

You are right Derek, it is on every drive.

I didn't know it could be done without the owner/operator directing Windows 7 to do it.
You are saying some how it was done with out the owner/operators knowledge.

Is it possible to explain how. I would like to know so I don't make such a mistake.
Well a mistake in my opinion with my limited knowledge.
I do like to learn things.

Shasta11 might also like to know how it happened.

 

[DavidE]

I believe the bootloader that is used is on the Disk 1 / System Reserved partition.
NO Drive letter, so it can't be seen in Windows (file) Explorer, and that's ok.
In the screen print in post #1 System Reserved is the System / Active partition.

A simpler way to move the boot code to C might be this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/209885-bootmgr-move-c-easybcd.html

 

[derekimo]

You are right Derek, it is on every drive.

I didn't know it could be done without the owner/operator directing Windows 7 to do it.
You are saying some how it was done with out the owner/operators knowledge.

Is it possible to explain how. I would like to know so I don't make such a mistake.
Well a mistake in my opinion with my limited knowledge.
I do like to learn things.

Shasta11 might also like to know how it happened.

Why don't you let the original subject get answered before sidetracking to the next.

I don't know how it happened I was pointing out that they didn't know they had any problem to begin with.

I'm sure they would like to know but the question at hand is moving the bootmanager.

 

[Layback Bear]

I will do as you suggested and drop the subject.
If anybody knows just PM me.

I should of paid more attention to this. Sorry for my short sightedness.

Who are we to query? Let's focus on solving the issue. ~ Golden​

I will go back to watching and learning.

 

[AddRAM]

Forgot to mention you can make a system/startup repair disc from your PC, you need a blank CD and a CD burner.

 

[Shasta11]

Hello all.

So I used the EasyBCD and it moved over the boot to C:/

I then made sure windows boots off SSD.

Problem is I can't remove F as active nor can I delete the bootmgr file in F: drive because it states it's in use, which makes me wonder how if I'm supposedly booting from C: now.

Also, when I wen't into f8 and to repair to see what it listed as the os drive it freaking says F: still not C:

Little lost on what to do now since F still has active and has the boot folder and bootmgr file that I can't delete.

 

[DavidE]

The problem now might be because you have a Page File on the F drive.
I would remove the Page File on the F drive, re-boot and see if that makes a difference.
The Page File is a "System File".

You have Page Files on F, D, and E, but don't have a Page File on C.
I don't know how that setup might interfere with everything.

 

[Shasta11]

The problem now might be because you have a Page File on the F drive.
I would remove the Page File on the F drive, re-boot and see if that makes a difference.
The Page File is a "System File".

You have Page Files on F, D, and E, but don't have a Page File on C.
I don't know how that setup might interfere with everything.

I disabled page file didn't do the trick.

Says the file is open by another program like it's in use? I also don't see the ability to stop it from being active, maybe that's the reason?

 

[DavidE]

You don't see "Page File" on F in Disk Management now, right ?

Did you do any other changes such as move User folders to the F drive ?

As it's a Games partition, that might cause problems, if Games are installed (and running) on F.
Maybe Windows sees installed programs (games) on F and is locking the partition.
I don't know, just guessing, i'm not a gamer.

If any Games programs are auto running, can you disable them in startup, not run them, and see what that does ?

 

[Shasta11]

You don't see "Page File" on F in Disk Management now, right ?

Did you do any other changes such as move User folders to the F drive ?

As it's a Games partition, that might cause problems, if Games are installed (and running) on F.
Maybe Windows sees installed programs (games) on F and is locking the partition.
I don't know, just guessing, i'm not a gamer.

If any Games programs are auto running, can you disable them in startup, not run them, and see what that does ?

Correct, it just says active and Primary Petition.

On G I have the Users folder so it didn't take space on my SSD (with windows). One of these drives is split, or I'm not sure how to call it...it's one HDD that just appears to be labelled two seperate drive letters, I'm not sure which ones though (E,F or G two of these are the same physical HDD) could that be the issue?

 

[DavidE]

Another possibility you could try.
Boot the PC in Safe Mode, then try to set F as not active.
In Safe Mode, minimal drivers, services, and programs auto start, here is a tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/69585-safe-mode.html

We cross-posted, i'll think about your last post, and let you know if i find anything.

 

[DavidE]

One of these drives is split, or I'm not sure how to call it...it's one HDD that just appears to be labelled two seperate drive letters, I'm not sure which ones though (E,F or G two of these are the same physical HDD) could that be the issue?

Your screen print in Post #11 doesn't show all the info.
Post a maximized/resized screen print so ALL info is displayed using these instructions:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

 

[AddRAM]

Just use Partition Wizard to set F Inactive

https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html