Windows 7 Repair Install Failed

[gregrocker]

You should be able to set which HD is first to boot in BIOS setup. If it will not keep the preferred HD set to boot first then make sure it is plugged into SATA 1 port to be first in order. But sometimes SATA1 OS disk not disk 0 - Windows 7 Help Forums.

Why do you have two Win7 installations? Do you plan to keep both? You need separate licenses for each.

If you plan to keep both then I would make the preferred Win7 OS as Disk0 plugged into SATA port 1, add the other OS's from that one using EasyBCD. If you've already set up EasyBCD from another OS then go there and delete the EasyBCD listings for the other OS's leaving only the native OS listing.

If booting via BIOS is to your liking, then remove the Windows Dual Boot menu by deleting the other listings in EasyBCD than the native one.

 

[dlwmacgregor]

Actually if I bring up the Boot sub-menu, it only shows the XP disk and DVD drive as boot options.
As I mentioned, I can select any one of the 3 HD's from the Boot Selection Menu (or the DVD).
Right now I select the Old Win7 drive as my boot drive and the 3 EasyBCD selections work perfectly.

I will check which drive is connected to the SATA 1 port.

The only reason I have 2 Win7 installations is that I could not do a Repair Install on the Old Win7 no matter what I tried (and believe me I tried).

So I opted to do a new install on the spare XP drive (never used, just used as a maintenance copy). You can check back in the thread for details if you like.

As soon as I am satisfied with the new Win7 install I will use the old Win7 drive as an Image Backup drive.

I will then install and run EasyBCD on the new Win7 drive and add the XP drive as a legacy entry.
I prefer using EasyBCD because my wife is not tech savvy and she needs to be able to boot into my main OS(whatever it is) without selecting anything from either the BIOS or EasyBCD (using the default OS).

I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the quick response Greg.

Doug

 

[dlwmacgregor]

I was looking in the wrong place for the Boot Priority Menu.
I found it and set the proper order.
Here are my SATA Port connections.

SATA1 - Old Win7
SATA3 - DVD
SATA5 - XP
SATA6 - New Win7

They have been that way since I built it 18 months ago. No particular reason for the assignment...just random connections.

I don't understand the importance of having my Main OS connected to the SATA1 port because in a dual-boot situation one of my drives will NOT be connected to that port but I will still be able to boot from it.
Could you enlighten me?

 

[gregrocker]

I only suggested it as a troubleshooting step to find out why the BIOS is not keeping the preferred HD set to boot first.

Otherwise we suggest to have the System HD as DISK0 because if there are any preceding Primary partitions to the System partition, then the boot files can be derailed to them during a reinstall or Startup Repair. This can also be avoided by unplugging all drives during such a reinstall or repair, or assuring that all data partitions preceding the System partiiton are Logical which cannot accept boot files.

As you said your goal is to delete the old Win7 partition (the correct way to uninstall an OS) I would make sure that new Win7 HD is in DISK0 first, set to boot first, with only it wearing the System Active labels since only the System partition should be marked Active. The Active flag points to the partition you intend to be booting the OS('s) while the System flag confirms this.

 

[dlwmacgregor]

Understood.
Thanks Greg.