Help! I've screwed up my XP partition

[Eviellan]

Really simple Question. did you boot to the DVD and then install Win 7 on S: (recommended way.) or did you do it from XP.(not recommended.)

I booted from the DVD.

 

[aem]

If you don't mind erasing W7 (format it's partition), i'd do it and see if the system can revert back to Xp. How you install your orginal OS might dictate whether this will work or not. Note: do it at your own risk

 

[Snufffed]

Ok, strange because that is also how I dual boot.
and my N: with Win7 stays N:
Vista stays C: no matter what I do.

where is you {bootmgr}
cmd ( as admin} bcdedit scan to find {bootmgr}

I did not see S: on your snip??

if you open "msconfig" go to boot what does it read.
post plz

 

[Eviellan]

If you don't mind erasing W7 (format it's partition), i'd do it and see if the system can revert back to Xp. How you install your orginal OS might dictate whether this will work or not. Note: do it at your own risk

I already did something similar to this, I had EasyBCD delete the vista bootsector (so XP would take over) and rebooted.
It said something like "NTLDR is missing". I tried to use the repair utility from the XP disc (bootcfg /rebuild), but it said that the XP drive had "one or more irrecuperable errors".
I can access that drive all right, so I'm guessing the problem is that it's marked as a logical partition. No idea how to fix that.

 

[Eviellan]

Ok, strange because that is also how I dual boot.
and my N: with Win7 stays N:
Vista stays C: no matter what I do.

>Sure, that's how I expected it to work...

where is you {bootmgr}
cmd ( as admin} bcdedit scan to find {bootmgr}

>I don't understand what you want me to type in cmd. "bcdedit scan" and "bcdedit /scan" did nothing.

I did not see S: on your snip??

>S: is now C:, for reasons I'll never understand.

if you open "msconfig" go to boot what does it read.
post plz

>Windows Vista (C:\Windows): Current OS, default OS.

10char

 

[Snufffed]

AEM help screw it further... maybe he can help you fix.
If you not very careful you will end up FORMAT and CLEAN INSTALL.

 

[gregrocker]

I wonder if the error is that neither XP or Vista is marked active, but instead your storage partitions are.

I'd mark the Win7 active and run startup repair 2-3 times until it starts. If that fails, boot back into Repair Command Line and run "bootrec.exe /fixboot" and "bootrec.exe /fixmbr" or if those don't work "Bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force".

Once you get your Win7 running, try EasyBCD again to add XP.

If that fails, I'd spend some time troubleshooting my Windows 7 issues here. You can always reinstall XP or find another method to recover its boot later after you test drive 7 awhile. It is the future.

 

[aem]

I highly doubt imaging your Xp logical drive and dumping it on a new parition will do u any good. For this to have hope, you need the boot files in it and that means you can boot to it.

You already did something similar? why not do extact? format/nuke your w7 partition from disk manager....now....hehehe.

 

[aem]

AEM help screw it further... maybe he can help you fix.
If you not very careful you will end up FORMAT and CLEAN INSTALL.

Did i? How ?

 

[Eviellan]

"Perhaps you can mark XP active"
Can't mark a logical partition as active.

"I highly doubt imaging your Xp logical drive and dumping it on a new parition will do u any good. For this to have hope, you need the boot files in it and that means you can boot to it."
The point of that was having XP in a primary partition, where (hopefully) I can fix it with the XP disk.

 

[Eviellan]

"Otherwise, mark the Win7 active and run startup repair 2-3 times until it starts. If that fails, boot back into Repair Command Line and run "bootrec.exe /fixboot" and "bootrec.exe /fixmbr" or if those don't work "Bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force".

Once you get your Win7 running, try EasyBCD again to add XP."
True, windows 7 wasn't marked as active.
I'll try this now.

 

[gregrocker]

OK found the answer here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/25603-install-win7-logical-partition.html

SIW2 is one the best resources on this board. If he says Paragon Partition Pro can convert logical to primary so it can be marked active and made to boot, then it is gold!

I had forgotten all about this issue I had with an office computer.

 

[Eviellan]

Problem is, there is also a boot folder in one of the storage drives, and it won't let me delete it.
Is there a way to unmark a partition "active", so that the computer won't access those files at boot?

 

[Eviellan]

OK found the answer here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/25603-install-win7-logical-partition.html

SIW2 is one the best resources on this board. If he says Paragon Partition Pro can convert logical to primary so it can be marked active and made to boot, then it is gold!

I just booted my Paragon disk and it does have that capability.

My memory must be failing me but then again I formatted that logical parition right after posting that question for another reason.

But that program isn't free... Can the demo version do that as well?
Just one way to know, I guess... I'll DL it and see what happens

 

[gregrocker]

Problem is, there is also a boot folder in one of the storage drives, and it won't let me delete it.
Is there a way to unmark a partition "active", so that the computer won't access those files at boot?

That is the fly in the ointment. You need to get that boot folder out of there, mark Win7 active and run Startup repair or the commands given to repair or force the bootloader.

 

[Eviellan]

"That is the fly in the ointment. You need to get that boot folder out of there"
It wouldn't let me delete that folder, so I just pulled the power cable for that HD. Then I ran startup repair, and it seems that the 7 startup is working fine now.

Paragon partition demo won't let me convert the XP logical partition to primary. Do you think I should try anyway and add it with easybcd?

 

[gregrocker]

"That is the fly in the ointment. You need to get that boot folder out of there"

It wouldn't let me delete that folder, so I just pulled the power cable for that HD. Then I ran startup repair, and it seems that the 7 startup is working fine now.

Paragon partition demo won't let me convert the XP logical partition to primary. Do you think I should try anyway and add it with easybcd?

Great now you have Win7 to test drive and troubleshoot while you consider your options for XP.

Can you copy your files over from XP, or did you already?

The blockage should now be gone for EasyBCD to do it's job if it can Add a logical partition.

 

[Eviellan]

"That is the fly in the ointment. You need to get that boot folder out of there"

It wouldn't let me delete that folder, so I just pulled the power cable for that HD. Then I ran startup repair, and it seems that the 7 startup is working fine now.

Paragon partition demo won't let me convert the XP logical partition to primary. Do you think I should try anyway and add it with easybcd?

Great now you have Win7 to test drive and troubleshoot while you consider your options for XP.

Can you copy your files over from XP, or did you already?

The blockage should now be gone for EasyBCD to do it's job if it can Add a logical partition.

Nah, the backup would take over 2 hours, so I thought I'd try other options before.

I'll do this now:
1 - do the XP backup, just in case
2 - try to add it using easybcd
3 - if it fails, which is likely, copy all the files to a new primary partition and try easybcd again

Man, this's being a bumpy ride...

 

[gregrocker]

I just meant drag your files via explorer from XP into their folders in Windows 7. You are going to leave XP behind anyway, probably sooner rather than later with your level of ability.

Logical drive CAN be added to a dual boot, so EasyBCD should work now that the boot has been removed from that storage drive and added to 7.

 

[Eviellan]

Okay, I added XP to easybcd and it shows up in the dual boot menu, but when I select it it says that "ntldr is missing" and takes me back to the boot menu, so I'm guessing the XP boot is screwed up as well.

I suppose I could fix this by copying the files to a primary partition and having the XP install disk repair the boot, but then I won't be able to access 7, and I don't want to reinstall it since that's what caused all this mess in the first place.
That said, I did get rid of the boot folder in the storage partition, so it should work all right now... Might be worth a try, I guess.

"You are going to leave XP behind anyway, probably sooner rather than later with your level of ability."
Don't know... I don't like 7 too much, but I've only been using it for two days. And I feel I've already gone too far to give up now...
I'll try what I said above, and if it doesn't work, I really don't have any more ideas, so I'll have to give up anyway.

Thanks a lot for your help!