Solved Reinstall of Win 7 cannot dual boot with Win 8.1 anymore

[Mellon Head]

Hi guys,

I know I'm probably just doing something stupid, but I recently had to reinstall Windows 7 in my dual boot system. Windows 8.1 can no longer "see" Win 7 and won't dual boot with it. I tried EasyBCD and all it did was corrupt Win 8.1's Bootmgr to the point where I had to use Automatic Repair from the Win 8 install disk to get 8.1 to boot again.

Short of reinstalling Win 8, is there anything I can do from Win 7 that will re-enable dual boot? Or is there a way in Win 8? I tried a couple of the Win 8 tutorials, but the option for Win 7 never came up in the boot options screens.

Any ideas gratefully received.

 

[theog]

Try Using the Rebuild BCD in this tutorial:
Use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

 

[gregrocker]

I have been able to add Win7 from Win8 using Easy before. Were you using the latest version and deleted any extant entry for Win7 first before adding a new one?

If that doesn't work then you can try starting Win7 to add Win8 with EasyBCD which may work better.

To start Win7 Mark 7 Partition Active , then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times
until Seven boots and holds the System Active Boot flags.

Then if necessary install EasyBCD to Win7 to add Win8.

 

[Mellon Head]

Try Using the Rebuild BCD in this tutorial:
Use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

I'm sort of afraid to do that 'cause I might muck up my Seven installation...

I have been able to add Win7 from Win8 using Easy before. Were you using the latest version and deleted any extant entry for Win7 first before adding a new one?

If that doesn't work then you can try starting Win7 to add Win8 with EasyBCD which may work better.

To start Win7 Mark 7 Partition Active , then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times
until Seven boots and holds the System Active Boot flags.

Then if necessary install EasyBCD to Win7 to add Win8.

I was using Easy version 2.2, I believe. It's the last free version. I had installed it to Win 7 and tried to add Win 8. That's when things went wrong and Win 8 didn't work anymore.

 

[gregrocker]

EasyBCD supports Windows 8.1: https://neosmart.net/wiki/easybcd/supported-operating-systems/

I would set a Restore Point, install it and add Win7 to a Dual Boot.

You may want to first back up a System Image of Win8, but Automatic Repair should work again in the worst case.

You can also run Win8 Refresh or Win7 Repair Install, but Easy is Easier.

 

[Mellon Head]

I'll give that a try, Greg. Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Mellon Head]

Thanks Greg, it worked. Weird thing is when it starts Win 7, I get the old Vista caterpillar crawler, not the flying colors.

That's OK, I'll take it. It works at least and I don't have to fiddle with the BIOS to get it to load.

 

[gregrocker]

The only fix for that I've found that will sometimes work besides reinstall is this one:

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/300897-windows-vista-boot-animation.html#post2496176

Create a System Restore Point first.

 

[Mellon Head]

Tried it. No go. That's alright, I can live with the Vista animation. At least it works.