I had installed Windows 7 to dual-boot along with my old installation of Windows XP so that I could finish backing up the old files before deleting it. Well now I've pretty much got everything off the XP partition so I don't need it anymore. So I set 7 as the active partition, and it was already set as C:. The 7 partition comes after the XP partition, and though it is marked as (Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition), the XP partition is marked as (System, Primary Partition). Is it safe to delete it? Or if not, how do I make the Windows 7 Partition the System partition?
Hello danime91, welcome to Seven Forums!
Are XP and Windows 7 on separate Hard Disk Drives?
Before we make any specific recommendations will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map with a full description as to which drive/partition is which, so we can see what you have going on as there may be a fairly simple way to resolve the situation.
In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a snip of that.
How to Upload and Post a Screenshot and File in Seven Forums
Are XP and Windows 7 on separate Hard Disk Drives?
Before we make any specific recommendations will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map with a full description as to which drive/partition is which, so we can see what you have going on as there may be a fairly simple way to resolve the situation.
In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a snip of that.
How to Upload and Post a Screenshot and File in Seven Forums
I have both partitions on one HDD. C: is the drive that Windows 7 is installed on. D: is the unneeded Windows XP drive.
After you have copied out or made back-ups of the data you need to save to external media, have a look at this tutorial at the link below to recover all the space to the left of Windows 7 into the C: partition and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.
Partition : Recover Space Used by an Older OS
Partition : Recover Space Used by an Older OS
So now apparently I need to load the drivers for my hard drive. Been looking on google, but no luck. Does anybody know where to download drivers for a WD5000AAKS-75A7B2 HDD?
What makes you think you need your SATA controller drivers? You'd really only need them if you were installing XP, not removing it.
What is the exact error code you are getting and when is it encountered?
What is the exact error code you are getting and when is it encountered?
It is not so much an error code. Before I get to the system recovery options screen, it tells me to select the operating system I would like to repair, but the field is blank. At first I tried just going ahead with this, but it doesn't work. So now I'm trying to go with the option of load drivers.
At the first screen after booting DVD/Repair CD, press Shift + F10 to open a Command Line, type:
bootrec.exe /fixboot
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
Now enter Repair console to see if it finds an installation to repair.
bootrec.exe /fixboot
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
Now enter Repair console to see if it finds an installation to repair.
For the /fixboot it returns the message "Element not found" but for the /fixmbr it returns "The operation completed successfully". And it still doesn't find an operating system to repair.
EDIT: I don't know whether this is significant or not, but when I open the command line the address is X:\Sources
EDIT: I don't know whether this is significant or not, but when I open the command line the address is X:\Sources
Use free Partition Wizard bootable CD, rightclick Win7 partition to Modify>Set to Active, click OK.
Then from Disk tab choose Rebuild MBR, Apply all steps.
If this fails, click through to Recovery Options to run Startup Repair anyway.
Then from Disk tab choose Rebuild MBR, Apply all steps.
If this fails, click through to Recovery Options to run Startup Repair anyway.
It is already set to active, and just thought to mention that none of the partitions seem to have drive letters. Anyway, everything under the Disk tab is greyed out, so I can't do Rebuild MBR.
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".
If this will not force WinRE to see the installation, try running Startup Repair x3 anyway.
If that fails, what I would do now is make a small partition at the front of your HD to install Win7 upon, at startup install EasyBCD to Add OS, selecting Win7 and the stranded partition's drive letter. Restart to see if you can now boot it. http://neosmart.net/blog/2010/welcome-to-easybcd-2/
We will help you later remove all of the files except those for booting on the rescue install, shrink the partition down to around 200mb to serve as a boot partition, then Resize Win7 into the rest of the recovered space.
I would wait til morning to see what BareFootKid has to suggest since you are using his tutorial to recover deleted XP space into Win7 install.
If this will not force WinRE to see the installation, try running Startup Repair x3 anyway.
If that fails, what I would do now is make a small partition at the front of your HD to install Win7 upon, at startup install EasyBCD to Add OS, selecting Win7 and the stranded partition's drive letter. Restart to see if you can now boot it. http://neosmart.net/blog/2010/welcome-to-easybcd-2/
We will help you later remove all of the files except those for booting on the rescue install, shrink the partition down to around 200mb to serve as a boot partition, then Resize Win7 into the rest of the recovered space.
I would wait til morning to see what BareFootKid has to suggest since you are using his tutorial to recover deleted XP space into Win7 install.
I'm sorry but could you be a little more detailed as to how to use EasyBCD? The documentation is not very helpful in this. And by install do you mean boot from a disk? Because right now I cannot boot Windows 7 due to the missing bootmgr error.
Here's how to add using EasyBCD, though this says Vista it's the same.
click to enlarge
Yes, boot from the disk to install Win7.
Alright, so now there seems to be a problem. Now when I try /fixboot and /fixmbr they both give me "The system cannot find the path specified." the Bootsect.exe part seemed to have worked, since it gives a "Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes." But I still can't see the installation. So I try running Startup Repair. But now Startup Repair gives me a "Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically" error. Here's the problem signature.
Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem Signature 01: 0.0.0.0
Problem Signature 02: 0.0.0.0
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 0
Problem Signature 05: unknown
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: unknown
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
So then I used Partition Wizard to create some free space at the front of my HDD, then tried installing Windows 7 on it. But after I click "install now" it gives me
Load Driver
A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.
It seems that all this happened because I marked my Windows 7 partition as the boot partition. Could I at least be able to boot in to 7 again if I make Windows XP active?
Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem Signature 01: 0.0.0.0
Problem Signature 02: 0.0.0.0
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 0
Problem Signature 05: unknown
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: unknown
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
So then I used Partition Wizard to create some free space at the front of my HDD, then tried installing Windows 7 on it. But after I click "install now" it gives me
Load Driver
A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.
It seems that all this happened because I marked my Windows 7 partition as the boot partition. Could I at least be able to boot in to 7 again if I make Windows XP active?
Your problem suggest you need to rebuild your BCD. You were probably originally booting through the XP partition.
Do the following from the system repair disk command prompt.
>bootrec /scanos
This should come back and identify the Windows 7 OS partition.
then
rebuild the MBR
>bootrec /fixmbr
then
Fix the Partition Boot Record/Boot sector.
>bootrec /fixboot
then
importantly, rebuild the BCD
>Bootrec /rebuildbcd
Do the following from the system repair disk command prompt.
>bootrec /scanos
This should come back and identify the Windows 7 OS partition.
then
rebuild the MBR
>bootrec /fixmbr
then
Fix the Partition Boot Record/Boot sector.
>bootrec /fixboot
then
importantly, rebuild the BCD
>Bootrec /rebuildbcd
Alright, I tried it, but /scanos returns 0 identified Windows installations.
When you boot the system repair disk it generally also has a look for an OS - does it find one?
Anyway try the other 3 bootrec commands. The BCD rebuild is important and shouldn't succeed if an OS isn't present.
Anyway try the other 3 bootrec commands. The BCD rebuild is important and shouldn't succeed if an OS isn't present.
fixboot and fixmbr both return that the system cannot find the path specified. rebuildbcd also scans for windows installations and finds none.
So Disk 0 is a dead duck at the moment after attempting removal of XP?
Do you have any system images?
Do you have any tools for examining disk 0 apart from system repair?
For some information on the status of the disk, again from the repair disk:
>diskpart
>list disk
>list volume
>exit
describe the output.
When you select recover from an image you can select install drivers not to install drivers but get a windows explorer like feature. You can look and see what you find on C:. Then just backtrack out of the install drivers.
Do you have any system images?
Do you have any tools for examining disk 0 apart from system repair?
For some information on the status of the disk, again from the repair disk:
>diskpart
>list disk
>list volume
>exit
describe the output.
When you select recover from an image you can select install drivers not to install drivers but get a windows explorer like feature. You can look and see what you find on C:. Then just backtrack out of the install drivers.
list disk returns no fixed disks to show. list volume returns there are no volumes. And as far as I can tell, drive C: is non-existent. It only shows a drive called Boot (X: ).
Doesn't Partition Wizard show the disk like it apparently used to?
(also correction bootrec /scanos will not report an OS already in the BCD.)
(also correction bootrec /scanos will not report an OS already in the BCD.)
Yes Partition Wizard is still able to display all the partitions correctly.
I've no idea why list disk & volume don't come up with anything.
From Partition Wizard
What's on the D: partition right now?
Is it still marked system
and C: is marked active?
From Partition Wizard
What's on the D: partition right now?
Is it still marked system
and C: is marked active?
Follow SIW2's advice several posts below to use PW boot CD Partition Recovery Wizard to attempt to recover the C partition to the beginning of HD.
If this doesn't work I'd boot PW CD, rightclick first 2 partitions + Unalloc space to Wipe (to get as much code off the HD as poss), create a Primary partition there, mark Active, Boot 7 DVD to install there.
Now install the latest EasyBCD version, click Add OS tab, choose Win7 on C partition, Save. Reboot to see if it adds to Boot menu.
Later we can help strip all of the files out of rescue partition except boot files, shrink it to a boot partition.
We can help try to rescue C as long as you want, but what are the barriers to wiping the HD now to re-install windows 7?
Do you have your files from Win7? Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console
If this doesn't work I'd boot PW CD, rightclick first 2 partitions + Unalloc space to Wipe (to get as much code off the HD as poss), create a Primary partition there, mark Active, Boot 7 DVD to install there.
Now install the latest EasyBCD version, click Add OS tab, choose Win7 on C partition, Save. Reboot to see if it adds to Boot menu.
Later we can help strip all of the files out of rescue partition except boot files, shrink it to a boot partition.
We can help try to rescue C as long as you want, but what are the barriers to wiping the HD now to re-install windows 7?
Do you have your files from Win7? Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console
That's the strange thing about Partition Wizard. It shows all the partitions, but not their labels. I know which ones are supposed to be C: and D:, but they are not labeled C: and D:, it's just blank.
Following gregrocker's post. Can you do a clean install of Windows 7 on the disk?
Regarding the letter assignments. I suggest you assign your win 7 old C: the letter C using PW. Then follow the gregrocker steps. This may give you large system reserved partition which can be trimmed in size later.
So with this new active primary at the front and the OS marked C: (not active) try running the automated (System Repair) x3.
Regarding the letter assignments. I suggest you assign your win 7 old C: the letter C using PW. Then follow the gregrocker steps. This may give you large system reserved partition which can be trimmed in size later.
So with this new active primary at the front and the OS marked C: (not active) try running the automated (System Repair) x3.
Are you able to run partition recovery from PW?
If not, I would d/l gparted, boot it up.
Download gparted-live-0.8.0-3.iso (123.5 MB)
Assuming it sees the partitions - take a screenie ( you will need somewhere to save it , so you can post it up ).
If you can't save the screenie anywhere :
use gparted to create a partition - inside the part of the HD that you don't need data back from - that would be the partition that held XP.
Make sure you only do that with the XP partition - don't stray over the boundary to the 7 partition.
When you have done that, boot PW again and run the partition recovery to recover the windows 7 partition.
If not, I would d/l gparted, boot it up.
Download gparted-live-0.8.0-3.iso (123.5 MB)
Assuming it sees the partitions - take a screenie ( you will need somewhere to save it , so you can post it up ).
If you can't save the screenie anywhere :
use gparted to create a partition - inside the part of the HD that you don't need data back from - that would be the partition that held XP.
Make sure you only do that with the XP partition - don't stray over the boundary to the 7 partition.
When you have done that, boot PW again and run the partition recovery to recover the windows 7 partition.
Well I'd really like to try to keep my C: drive as intact as possible. For now I just used Partition Wizard to mark Windows XP as active again, and now I can boot into XP. Still can't boot into 7, but for a new reason. Now it says that Windows failed to start, gives some advice on how to fix it (it doesn't work of course), and this error information.
Status: 0xc0000225
Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.
For now could someone help me just get it so that I can boot Windows 7 again, and possibly find another way to get rid of the XP partition afterward?
Status: 0xc0000225
Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.
For now could someone help me just get it so that I can boot Windows 7 again, and possibly find another way to get rid of the XP partition afterward?
I thought you were following BareFootKid's tutorial to Recover Space Used by an Older OS , but you left XP on the HD? The steps were not followed correctly.
From XP access EasyBCD, click "Useful Utilities" then Power Console for a Command Box, or from the Win7 DVD Repair Command Line type:
bootsect /nt60 <whatever the 7 drive letter is>:
then press enter, Mark Win7 partition Active, Restart.
If Win7 will not start, try Repair from DVD again.
From XP access EasyBCD, click "Useful Utilities" then Power Console for a Command Box, or from the Win7 DVD Repair Command Line type:
bootsect /nt60 <whatever the 7 drive letter is>:
then press enter, Mark Win7 partition Active, Restart.
If Win7 will not start, try Repair from DVD again.
I actually was following BareFootKid's guide. I was stuck at step 1 though. But now that I set the Windows 7 partition to active, it won't even let me get into Windows XP, just gives me a bootmgr is missing message. Startup Repair just gives me the same cannot repair this computer automatically message.
Run the command I gave above and report back whether Win7 starts.
If you want to start XP we can give you the command for that next.
It would be helpful at this point if you could post back a clear camera snap of PW drive map with listings, or at least type them all out.
If you want to start XP we can give you the command for that next.
It would be helpful at this point if you could post back a clear camera snap of PW drive map with listings, or at least type them all out.
Running the command from the Windows install DVD returns that it could not map the drive name to a volume or something. The drive map for PW looks like this, since I don't have a digicam on me.
The first NTFS partition is Windows XP, the second is 7.
Partition_____File System_____Capacity_____Used_____Unused_____ Status_____Type
Disk 1
-------------
*: ____________FAT________62.72 MB____9.26 MB___53.46 MB_____Hidden____Primary
*:OS__________NTFS______200.04 GB____49.27 GB__150.77 GB_____None_____Primary
*:_____________NTFS______249.99 GB___232.15 GB__17.84 GB_____Active_____Primary
*:__________Unallocated_____15.67 GB________0 B___15.67 GB_____None_____Logical
The first NTFS partition is Windows XP, the second is 7.
Partition_____File System_____Capacity_____Used_____Unused_____ Status_____Type
Disk 1
-------------
*: ____________FAT________62.72 MB____9.26 MB___53.46 MB_____Hidden____Primary
*:OS__________NTFS______200.04 GB____49.27 GB__150.77 GB_____None_____Primary
*:_____________NTFS______249.99 GB___232.15 GB__17.84 GB_____Active_____Primary
*:__________Unallocated_____15.67 GB________0 B___15.67 GB_____None_____Logical
The System boot files have been removed from XP but not yet written to Win7. Have you run the three Startup Repairs with reboots between each from the Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD? Try them again. Then boot PW CD, rightclick>Wipe the first two partitions and Unalloc space, then run the Repairs again to eliminate any code that might be blocking Repairs. Make sure Win7 remains Active.
Next follow these steps in order and report back what occurs after each:
�� Quote: Originally Posted by gregrocker 
Next follow these steps in order and report back what occurs after each:
�� Quote: Originally Posted by gregrocker Follow SIW2's advice several posts below to use PW boot CD Partition Recovery Wizard to attempt to recover the C partition to the beginning of HD.
If this doesn't work I'd boot PW CD, rightclick first 2 partitions + Unalloc space to Wipe (to get as much code off the HD as poss), create a Primary partition there, mark Active, Boot 7 DVD to install there.
Now install the latest EasyBCD version, click Add OS tab, choose Win7 on C partition, Save. Reboot to see if it adds to Boot menu.
Later we can help strip all of the files out of rescue partition except boot files, shrink it to a boot partition.
We can help try to rescue C as long as you want, but what are the barriers to wiping the HD now to re-install windows 7?
Do you have your files from Win7? Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console
If this doesn't work I'd boot PW CD, rightclick first 2 partitions + Unalloc space to Wipe (to get as much code off the HD as poss), create a Primary partition there, mark Active, Boot 7 DVD to install there.
Now install the latest EasyBCD version, click Add OS tab, choose Win7 on C partition, Save. Reboot to see if it adds to Boot menu.
Later we can help strip all of the files out of rescue partition except boot files, shrink it to a boot partition.
We can help try to rescue C as long as you want, but what are the barriers to wiping the HD now to re-install windows 7?
Do you have your files from Win7? Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console
Here is a possibility.
When you mark the win 7 partition active that's where the BIOS goes to find the boot manager but there isn't one - hence the boot manager missing message.
When you try a repair a BCD probably already exists on the XP partition so you don't get anywhere.
Therefore, if there is a folder on the XP partition called [Boot], delete it. Set Win 7 active and run the repair x3.
You can try this after the last suggestions.
Edit: you should delete the bootmgr as well if it exists on the XP partition.
I thought XP had been wiped until just above.
When you mark the win 7 partition active that's where the BIOS goes to find the boot manager but there isn't one - hence the boot manager missing message.
When you try a repair a BCD probably already exists on the XP partition so you don't get anywhere.
Therefore, if there is a folder on the XP partition called [Boot], delete it. Set Win 7 active and run the repair x3.
You can try this after the last suggestions.
Edit: you should delete the bootmgr as well if it exists on the XP partition.
I thought XP had been wiped until just above.
Had assumed the XP partition was deleted all along using BareFoot's tutorial since it is the first step.
Wiping everything up to Win7 partition should give a cleaner slate for running Repairs.
Wiping everything up to Win7 partition should give a cleaner slate for running Repairs.
Tried doing what SIW2 said, with Partition Recovery Wizard, but after selecting which partition I wanted to scan/recover, it asked if I was sure twice, said yes twice, then it just doesn't do anything.
Then I do the next method, installing Windows 7 to the new primary partition, marked as active. But after clicking Install Now, it says something about a necessary device is missing and takes me to a load driver screen where it says "select the driver to be installed" and it's all just blank.
Then I do the next method, installing Windows 7 to the new primary partition, marked as active. But after clicking Install Now, it says something about a necessary device is missing and takes me to a load driver screen where it says "select the driver to be installed" and it's all just blank.
Is this the Win7 installer you used to originally install on this HD? Did it have any problems then? Do you have another HD to try the install upon?
I am guessing you have corrupt boot sector requiring wiping the HD.
I am guessing you have corrupt boot sector requiring wiping the HD.
Yes this is the same installer I used to install Windows 7 before. I do not have any other HDs to try installing upon. I honestly hope that it does not come to wiping the HD. Also, checking the Windows 7 compatability site, I notice that even though my hard drive is listed on there (WD5000AAKS) it is listed SATA, while mine is SCSI. Does that make any difference at all?
Did you get the prompt to load drivers during your first install to this HD?
Did you Wipe with one set of zeroes before creating the partition?
Do you have your SATA controller drivers from the Support Downloads webpage for your computer or mobo? Unzip them to stick or CD to browse to from the Load Drivers link. This should not be necessary with Win7, especially if it wasn't before, but could be exceptional.
If you need help finding the drivers, post back your computer or mobo model.
Did you Wipe with one set of zeroes before creating the partition?
Do you have your SATA controller drivers from the Support Downloads webpage for your computer or mobo? Unzip them to stick or CD to browse to from the Load Drivers link. This should not be necessary with Win7, especially if it wasn't before, but could be exceptional.
If you need help finding the drivers, post back your computer or mobo model.
Well, I have a disk of drivers and utilities that came with my computer, its just that all the drivers are labelled with long strings of numbers so I have no clue which one is the one I want. My computer is a Dell XPS 625, though not sure as to how that will help.
Your SATA drivers are here. http://support.dell.com/support/down...n&catid=&impid=
Click Change Product, Put in your Tag Number to get more exact choice for your build. Then download and unzip SATA controller driver (likely the AMD) to stick or CD, browse to it from Load Drivers link.
Click Change Product, Put in your Tag Number to get more exact choice for your build. Then download and unzip SATA controller driver (likely the AMD) to stick or CD, browse to it from Load Drivers link.
Thank you so much. The driver is exactly what I needed to get it to work. After I loaded the driver, it was able to detect Windows 7. I ran Startup Repair, only had to run it once in fact, and now I can log in again. The best part is, thanks to the messing around with Partition Wizard, now it's the only OS on my computer, located at the front of my HD, and more or less has the entire HD at its disposable. Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to give me advice on how to get through this mess.
Glad that it worked as we were overdue for some good news on this.
I have never heard of the Repair utility needing SATA controller drivers to be able to repair.
If you'll post back another screenshot of the full Disk Mgmt drive map, we can look it over to be sure there are no potential problems.
It sounds like you Resized Win7 into the left hand side of your HD. If not is that what you want to do?
I have never heard of the Repair utility needing SATA controller drivers to be able to repair.
If you'll post back another screenshot of the full Disk Mgmt drive map, we can look it over to be sure there are no potential problems.
It sounds like you Resized Win7 into the left hand side of your HD. If not is that what you want to do?
Yes, I had used Partition Wizard to resize it to the left of the HD before loading the driver and running Startup Repair. And apparently installing Windows 7 on SATA hard drives is an issue for a lot of people. Here's the disk management screen.
In hundreds of repairs we have helped with here, SATA drivers were never required.
In only the rarest cases are they required for install because Win7 has almost all SATA drivers in the installer but not some older IDE drivers.
We will learn from this and take the error at face value in the future, since it can also mean other things like corrupted install media.
Nice work for sticking with it. We never give up either.
In only the rarest cases are they required for install because Win7 has almost all SATA drivers in the installer but not some older IDE drivers.
We will learn from this and take the error at face value in the future, since it can also mean other things like corrupted install media.
Nice work for sticking with it. We never give up either.
Hello again, well done; that's a lot better than what you started with.
Okay so I'm trying to change my system partition as well. I bought my laptop and decided to install Windows 7 Ultimate to partition C:. Now I have a left over OS on my smaller system partition F:. It bugs me for two reasons: 1) I still have left over files on the drive and 2) I still have this old OS as a boot option in my boot loader. Here is a screenshot of Disk Management:
How do I go about changing this partition F: to a deletable partition?
How do I go about changing this partition F: to a deletable partition?
First move the System flag (and boot files) to C by running Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times.
Once the System flag is on C, you can delete F and resize C into the space to the left which is the preferred area of the HD for the OS. This tool makes it fun and easy: Partition Wizard Resize Partition Video Help.
Download the Bootable CD ISO for PW which is safest, burn to CD using Windows Image Burner. Boot CD, rightclick F to Delete, click OK.
Then rightclick C to Resize, drag left border to the left to take up deleted F's space, click OK, Apply Steps.
In rare cases resizing on the boot sector requires running Startup Repair again so keep the disk handy.
Once the System flag is on C, you can delete F and resize C into the space to the left which is the preferred area of the HD for the OS. This tool makes it fun and easy: Partition Wizard Resize Partition Video Help.
Download the Bootable CD ISO for PW which is safest, burn to CD using Windows Image Burner. Boot CD, rightclick F to Delete, click OK.
Then rightclick C to Resize, drag left border to the left to take up deleted F's space, click OK, Apply Steps.
In rare cases resizing on the boot sector requires running Startup Repair again so keep the disk handy.
sorry to pick up on a thread so old but I need help. Due to a number of power cuts (and maybe some viruses) my computer stopped booting and asked to boot from cd/dvd rom. so I got the Win 7 disc, since Win 7 was the OS it had before it stopped booting. My intention is to make a clean installation of Win 7. Everything runs smoothly up until I get to the point where im supposed to choose the partition in which im to install the OS. These are the drives I have, the 1st one is " Disk 0 Partition 1 (size: 232.9 GB) (type: System) " and the 2nd one is " Disk 0 Unallocated Space (size: 8.0 MB) (type: not stated) ". Okay, I read on the net that if I delete the system partition drive, my computer wont boot properly. I tried to install the OS directly into the System partition drive (since its the biggest) but that resulted in an error. Is it possible for me to reduce the System partition drive from 232.9 GB to about 100 MB so that I can have enough space to extend the 2nd partition drive in order for me to install the OS in it?
Back up your files, power down to unplug all other hard drives except the target drive. During the Clean Install Windows 7
use the Drive Options pictured to delete all partitions shown, then create and format your install partition of the size you want. Ignore the small boot partition it creates. Highlight the install partition and click Next.
Study these same steps for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which assure a perfect install.
If problems persist work through these steps for Overcoming Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums
use the Drive Options pictured to delete all partitions shown, then create and format your install partition of the size you want. Ignore the small boot partition it creates. Highlight the install partition and click Next.
Study these same steps for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which assure a perfect install.
If problems persist work through these steps for Overcoming Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums
Greg, thanks man. But I just want to be sure cause I guess I have been terrified by posts I saw on the internet about how deleting the System partition will cause problems during the booting stage. So, just to be clear, I should delete all my partitions?? including the system one??
If you begin the installation and delete all partitions when you come to the partitioning screen and then continue the installation, the necessary system partitions will be re-created.
Yes if you want, delete all the partitions down to un allocated space, unless a partition has something on it you wish to keep, data, software, movies, pictures etc. Do not delete or format that partition.
I'm having a very similar issue that I think is related to this. My computer had a 128gb SSD that I'm trying to upgrade to a 240gb SSD. I've used Windows Home Server for backup and restore for years and never had an issue with it. Attempting to restore from WHS, I'm able to restore my primary C partition and the 100mb reserved system partition.
All of the data is there but when I boot with the new drive in the computer, I get "loading operating system... a disk read error occurred press ctrl+alt+del to restart" And that happens over and over again. I've restored 3-4 times now. I've plugged in the old SSD to the same cables, it works great. I plugged the new SSD into other cables, still works great. I think it's a problem with the boot configuration or a driver issue with the drive or something. I'm hoping someone a little more knowledgeable than me can push me in the right direction to resolve this.
With both drives plugged in, I can boot from my old drive and see the new drive just fine. It shows the reserved system partition and the OS partition on the new drive. The OS partition is not flagged as boot, though. And the reserved system partition is not flagged as system. These are two differences I see between the new drive and the old one. The problem is, I don't know how to change that. When I run through the automated repair steps (with just the new drive connected) it can see the OS partition. When I repair it, it tells me the repair was successful and it adds a second partition called recovery or something like that. When I reboot, I just continue to get the same error. I tried doing a repair on the second recovery partition that it created and it says that failed. The message is "boot configuration is corrupt."
And I've tried running bootrec with the 4 different switches. The middle 2 tell me they're successful. The first and last tell me no OS was found. But when booting to a command prompt, I can browse to both partitions, I can see all of the files there. I've run chkdsk /s /x /f (I think I remembered the switches correctly) as many have recommending. 0 bad sectors found, everything seems to be correct. But I can't get the darn thing to boot. And I've tried updating the BIOS as many have suggested. I even tried using the new drive to do a clean install of Windows but unfortunately I get the same behavior then too. It says it installs fine but when it reboots, I get the same error.
One thing of note is that when I do put in the old drive and the new one at the same time and boot from the old drive, it tells me it's detected a new drive and it says it is installing drivers. Both drives are SATA drives. I've plugged them into the same cable at different times. So I'm not sure why the OS thinks there's new hardware there that it needs to install drivers for. And I'm not sure if that's causing problems or what but given the comments on this thread, I thought it was worth calling out.
Any ideas from this group? I'd really appreciate any help or insight you can provide. Thanks!
All of the data is there but when I boot with the new drive in the computer, I get "loading operating system... a disk read error occurred press ctrl+alt+del to restart" And that happens over and over again. I've restored 3-4 times now. I've plugged in the old SSD to the same cables, it works great. I plugged the new SSD into other cables, still works great. I think it's a problem with the boot configuration or a driver issue with the drive or something. I'm hoping someone a little more knowledgeable than me can push me in the right direction to resolve this.
With both drives plugged in, I can boot from my old drive and see the new drive just fine. It shows the reserved system partition and the OS partition on the new drive. The OS partition is not flagged as boot, though. And the reserved system partition is not flagged as system. These are two differences I see between the new drive and the old one. The problem is, I don't know how to change that. When I run through the automated repair steps (with just the new drive connected) it can see the OS partition. When I repair it, it tells me the repair was successful and it adds a second partition called recovery or something like that. When I reboot, I just continue to get the same error. I tried doing a repair on the second recovery partition that it created and it says that failed. The message is "boot configuration is corrupt."
And I've tried running bootrec with the 4 different switches. The middle 2 tell me they're successful. The first and last tell me no OS was found. But when booting to a command prompt, I can browse to both partitions, I can see all of the files there. I've run chkdsk /s /x /f (I think I remembered the switches correctly) as many have recommending. 0 bad sectors found, everything seems to be correct. But I can't get the darn thing to boot. And I've tried updating the BIOS as many have suggested. I even tried using the new drive to do a clean install of Windows but unfortunately I get the same behavior then too. It says it installs fine but when it reboots, I get the same error.
One thing of note is that when I do put in the old drive and the new one at the same time and boot from the old drive, it tells me it's detected a new drive and it says it is installing drivers. Both drives are SATA drives. I've plugged them into the same cable at different times. So I'm not sure why the OS thinks there's new hardware there that it needs to install drivers for. And I'm not sure if that's causing problems or what but given the comments on this thread, I thought it was worth calling out.
Any ideas from this group? I'd really appreciate any help or insight you can provide. Thanks!
Could you please post a shot of Disk Management with both drives hooked up.
I'll take a picture of the screen when I get home again. I was able to confirm again that doing a clean install of Win7 exhibits the exact same behavior. As best I can remember, the system reserved partition is not marked "system" and the primary OS partition is not marked "bootable." Everything else seems to align, though. It's marked primary and active and all that good stuff. But I'll post the picture later today. Thanks for your help.
For some reason, the upload of my screenshot if failing. Repeatedly. Here's what I'm seeing:
Disk 0 (the new disk):
"New Volume" 99MB NTFS Healthy/Active/Primary Partition
"E:" 223.47GB NTFS Healthy/File Page/Primary Partition
Disk 1 (the old disk):
"System Reserved" 100MB NTFS Healthy/System/Active/Primary Partition
"C:" 119.14GB NTFS Healthy/Boot/Crash Dump/Primary Partition
Disk 0 (the new disk):
"New Volume" 99MB NTFS Healthy/Active/Primary Partition
"E:" 223.47GB NTFS Healthy/File Page/Primary Partition
Disk 1 (the old disk):
"System Reserved" 100MB NTFS Healthy/System/Active/Primary Partition
"C:" 119.14GB NTFS Healthy/Boot/Crash Dump/Primary Partition
Use this tutorial by Golden to post the requested screen shot.
Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image
Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image
I was exceeding max size. Error was internal server error 500 which wasn't helpful. See attached. Thanks!
Disk 0 is the new disk. Disk 1 is the old one. I think this was after doing the clean Win7 install. But I'm getting the same info whether with the restore or the new install.
Disk 0 is the new disk. Disk 1 is the old one. I think this was after doing the clean Win7 install. But I'm getting the same info whether with the restore or the new install.
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