W7 has lost its boot setup

[jenny712]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section but I'm not sure where it should be. It's a kind of crash

Our computer has a dual-boot XP and W7 system.
XP is in a 21GB partition labeled 'D'.
Windows 7 is in a 211GB partition labeled 'C'.

When booting, the menu used to show two options:
'Earlier version of Windows'
'W7'

We asked a friend to remove the XP option from the Boot Menu so that the computer went straight into Windows 7. He installed a program called EasyBCD and tried to fix it with that.

I'm not sure what went wrong but he accidentally removed BOTH boot options. He's just emailed me at work and says, "Now, when I try to 'Add New Entry', I get the message "The boot configuration data store could not be opened. The volume for a file has been externally altered so that the opened file is no longer valid."

He's apparently asked the EasyBCD people for help but they haven't responded. Does anyone here have any suggestions about how he can fix this?

 

[felon]

Download SuperGrub and burn it to a cd, boot from CD and select one of the two options at the bottom of the list to boot into windows. Once in Windows right click my computer > properties > advanced system settings > click the settings button under start up and recovery. you can select what OS to boot (windows wise) and the menu timeout.

 

[teckneeculler]

Well...I've just had a look at the computer and it's still running. I mean, our friend didn't turn it off after the problem with EasyBCD in case he couldn't boot it again.

So I can access the area that you described without needing a boot CD. I'm looking at the Startup and Recovery settings screen as I type this.

 

[felon]

oh thats good! I just fixed a desktop (again) with almost identical issue. so give it a try and let me know how it goes, if you get errors try and take a pic, or if all else fails write it down

 

[Golden]

Alternatively, boot from a Macrium WinPE ISO and use the menu option to rebuild the Windows bootloader.

 

[jenny712]

Felon, I don't understand. Why would I use a boot CD to get back to the area I'm already in?

As I said, I haven't rebooted since EasyBCD caused the problem.

Right now, I'm looking at the settings under Startup and Recovery. Windows 7 is already selected. Isn't it possible that EasyBCD hasn't managed to actually change anything?

Also, using cmd as administrator and typing bcdedit, nothing has changed since EasyBCD was run. 'Windows Legacy OS loader' still shows its original settings as does the 'Windows Boot Loader' section. Nothing there has changed.

 

[felon]

well have you tried what Golden said? if so and still no go, use a different win7 computer and create a rescue disk. Thats what I did to fix mine.

 

[jenny712]

I don't seem to be getting through to you. Sorry, I'll have to try and find another forum. Thanks anyway.