WIN7 7601 error on GENUINE WIN7

My ‘complimentary win7 disc’ arrived today in the post. I have just custom installed it, it has been validated Microsoft etc.


I suspect I have screwed up the installation though, and need to some advice as to what to do.

I have two petitions on my laptop: ‘C’ is the Primary System; ‘D’ is for my data. Win7 has been installed in my ‘D’ partition so my questions are:


(1) Do I need to change the ‘D’ partition to ‘primary system’ – if so, how do I do this. (At present when turning on the computer I get the ‘black screen’ asking which win7 I wish to use, due to the previous win7 still being in ‘C’ partition.


(2) Can I just delete all data programs that is in ‘C’ partition?


(3) OR would it be easier to just delete what is in ‘D’ partition (New Win7) and re-install it all again, this time selecting ‘C’ primary system partition’?

Any assistance would be most appreciated.

Okay, thanks for replying back. I have taken a screen save of above, but have no program to paste it in!

This is what it reads (me typing it out) (not sure how to do both boot reads???)

RECOVERY PARTITION - 9.77 GB HEALTHY

SYSTEM RESERVED (G) 100MB NTFS HEALTHY (SYSTEM ACTIVE)

DATA (D) 108.51 GB NTFS HEALTHY (Boot page file, crash Dump, Primary partition)

PRIMARY SYSTEM (C) 114.51 GB NTFS HEALTHY (PRIMARY PARTITION)

Not sure if you wish me to type out the top bit of the page?

Hi Noel,
Shall I proceed with the instructions below now?

I would just like to make sure I have this very clear...

(1) Re-install Win7 Disc making sure it goes into 'C' Primary System. (will this still validate, or will it read there are now 2 users, using this on the same laptop?)

(2) Delete all files in 'D' partition.

(3) How do I remove fault in Boot process???

Many thanks
love Realeyes

Ps. Both C and D when I go into system properties both are reading the new install Win7 activation, so the 2 partitions are speaking to each other.

NoelDP said:

I hate it when that happens!
It can be a royal pain to sort out.

My preference would be to first reinstall Windows to the correct partition, then delete the Windows components in the incorrect one, then remove the fault in the boot process.

This avoids losing any data, but is a longer process.

Before doing anything, please post a screenshot of the Disk Management Console - diskmgmt.msc - so that we can see whet's happening. (It may be a good idea to post it from both boots, just in case - make sure that you label them appropriately!!)

Does the original C: drive contain any data at all, or were you planning on a clean install?
Does the new C: drive still have data in it?

The easiest option is to back up to external storage and reformat everything :)


This is what we need to see - please make sure that we can see the status culumn fully!

Okay I took the bull by the horns...

(1) I have re-installed Win7 on the 'C' primary system. All old files on 'C' now in file titled 'windows.old'. Followed microsoft instructions on how to remove 'windows.old' from 'C' using disk clean up - didn't work, no option to click on 'previous windows' to clean up. Any ideas????
Update on (1) - Now Solved, 'right click' on disc clean-up this gives administator powers and then reads the 'windows.old' files and removes them!

(2) 'D' partition now been quick formatted - so win7 now gone from here. In Disk Management it reads - 'Data (D), 108.51 GB NTFS HEALTHY (Primary Partition). Question, should it still be reading primary partition???

(3) PRIMARY (C) 114.gb NTFS, HEALTHY (Boot Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) ?????? Is this because I now need to remove previous Win7 from Boot? Black screen still apearing on start up. PLEASE, how do I do this, step by step, and also how do I know which win7 needs removing as they read the same name.

(4) Do I need to make a Boot disc, so that if I ever need to wipe off Win7 and re-install it from 'clean', as the instructions said I had to install it from desk top, which doesn't sound like a boot disc.

Any advice would be brilliant! Thanks Noel you are a Star!

Ps. I seem to have forgotten my password for this site, so cannot connect the win7 laptop at present to show you readings etc. I am using an old laptop that is instantly recognised on this site and allowing me to post.

Hi Noel, if you are reading this thread, any ideas with how to tackle the below? Many thanks -Realeyes X

realeyes said:

(2) 'D' partition now been quick formatted - so win7 now gone from here. In Disk Management it reads - 'Data (D), 108.51 GB NTFS HEALTHY (Primary Partition). Question, should it still be reading primary partition???

(3) PRIMARY (C) 114.gb NTFS, HEALTHY (Boot Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) ?????? Is this because I now need to remove previous Win7 from Boot? Black screen still apearing on start up. PLEASE, how do I do this, step by step, and also how do I know which win7 needs removing as they read the same name.

(4) Do I need to make a Boot disc, so that if I ever need to wipe off Win7 and re-install it from 'clean', as the instructions said I had to install it from desk top, which doesn't sound like a boot disc.

Any advice would be brilliant! Thanks Noel you are a Star!

Ps. I seem to have forgotten my password for this site, so cannot connect the win7 laptop at present to show you readings etc. I am using an old laptop that is instantly recognised on this site and allowing me to post.