Make Dual OS Boot Drive Active?
May 31, 2012
I have several HDD and one SSD. The SSD was my boot "C" drive and single win 7 OS. The SSD failed so I installed Win 7 on one of the back-up HDD. The install made that drive "C". I replaced the SSD and installed WIn 7 as a second OS on the SSD and it became drive "B". I can boot to either OS install on start-up but regardless of which install I boot with, drive "C" becomes the active system drive, even though the desktops are different (as they shoujld be for the two OS installs). SO, even if I boot from the SSD "B" drive, in windows disk manamgent it indicates that "C" is the "system" and "active" drive while it will indicate that "B" is the "boot" drive.
I want to format drive C so I can change its drive letter and reinstall Win 7 as a single OS to the SSD and make it drive "C", but windows will not let me change drive letters or format the current HDD labeled as "C" - obviously because it considers it the active sytem drive even when I've booted from the "B" SSD.
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Nov 29, 2012
I wanted to use my 180gb ssd as a boot drive and I do not know what to do. I installed windows and some drivers on the hdd but i want to start over and I need some guidance.I am doing a clean install now. once thats done how do i make the ssd the boot drive to make my system scream! also will i need to put drivers on both hdd and ssd?
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Jun 23, 2011
I would like to make my PC dual-boot with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit version & Linux Ubuntu. I know about Wubi to install Ubuntu within Windows, But would like more space than the 30gb limit that Wubi uses. How do I create an partition with Windows that can be used for a dual-boot. doctorwhovian11-24144041650249291689021989539000 has chosen the best answer to his/her question. Click here to view the answer that was selected.
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Jan 12, 2013
What happened to my computer is, I kept getting the BSOD, I went into safe mode, removed the most recent programs I had installed, and it stopped happening. I then proceeded to plug in my external hard drive. It was not recognizing it for some reason, so I went to disk management. It was listed there, just without a drive letter. I tried to assign it a drive letter, and it gave me an error message saying something about refreshing the list, (this is the error message I should have researched), I tried refreshing the drive list, and tried reassigning the drive letter, same message. I right clicked on the drive again, and I saw mark as active. For some stupid reason, I clicked on this. Then seeing that it didn't do anything, I thought maybe restarting the computer would maybe do the trick. Now my computer won't boot.
It gets to the windows logo, and boom, restarts all over again. I tried many things like, startup repair, system restore, marking partition as active CMD, with diskpart, I also tried some of the commands in bootrec.exe. By the way, if this helps at all, my hard drive is a solid state drive, I also have a slave drive in there which does also have a copy of windows installed on it, (it was my old hard drive), I tried setting that as my primary boot and it boots into my old install of windows, before i got my solid state drive. Is there a way I can fix the startup by having access to it from an operating system instead of the recovery environment?
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Jan 16, 2011
I am thinking about dual-booting my system with Windows 7 as the main OS, and linux ubuntu as a secondary. I have a few questions:
1. How much space should I leave for ubuntu's partition?
2. How do I make a swap partition (or whatever it is called, for swapping files between OS's)?
3. Can I set it up to automatically boot into windows unless I am holding down a specific key, or something similar?
BTW, my HDD is ~500gb, but my current (factory) windows partition is 450gb.
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Nov 25, 2012
Desktop runs Windows 7 (64bit) Laptop runs XP (32 bit)I have programs on my laptop that I want to be able to run on my desktop. Programs that I no longer have install information/CD keys for. I have no trouble making partitions. A 'clean' install of XP onto the partition allows me to dual boot flawlessly using EasyBCD.What i *want* to do is be able to 'clone' my XP drive to the partition to be able to run those programs.
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Nov 12, 2009
As currently configured, XP is on drive C:, Win 7 was added to drive E:, and the system is currently run as a dual boot. Attempting to boot without the XP drive present will yield a "NTLDR is missing" error very early in the boot process.
I have already tried the following:
(1) I moved the hidden Windows Boot Manager files (bootmgr as well as the associated Boot folder) from the XP drive root to the Win 7 drive root.
(2) After physically removing the XP drive, I rebooted to the Win 7 installation DVD, and used the "Repair Your Computer" option to pull up the "Recovery Tools". Then, using the command prompt utility, ...
(3) I attempted to write a new boot sector to the Windows 7 disk using the command: Bootrec /fixboot, - that yields an error though. The Bootrec /fixmbr claimed success, but ultimately did not make Win 7 drive bootable.
I had to reconnect drive C: just to boot into Win 7 again to write this. I do have files backed up, but to format and reinstall files would take many hours beyond just the time to transfer 400 GB of data, since I have dozens of purchased applications that need to be freshly reinstalled and validated as well. Basically I want my E: drive now to be my boot drive while the C: drive is reformatted and used for general storage.
Any idea how to make my Win 7 drive bootable? Do I need a partition program that is more adept at creating a viable boot sector, or is that even the problem?
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Sep 12, 2011
i have a new work laptop with xp sp3 on it. I want to install w7 64 bit as a dual boot, but only have 1 physical drive. i cannot remove my current installation as it is pre-build from work, but can partition the drive etc. However on trying to install w7 64 bit I get a message saying cannot install windows 7 on efi drive with mbr, not gpt. Can I do what I want without screwing up my xp installation?
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Mar 26, 2012
when i run: "net user administrator /active:yes".I get: "System error 5 has occurred.Access is denied".
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Mar 28, 2012
Every icon on my taskbar only open off screen. I can see they are open by the thumbnail picture, but I can't make it my active window. I have tried the alt-tab, move method but still can't get them to appear. Is the problem caused because my computer thinks there are two monitors, when I actually have only one? How do I stop this from happening?
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Jan 2, 2010
I have Win XP 32 bit on my old drive. I buy Win 7 full retail and a new HD. I set bios to boot from cd etc. Win 7 starts up. It shows the 2 drives, so I select new drive...no problems. It starts install. I leave it to do its stuff.When I come back its up and all ok.I dint get any option to boot from XP. The drive was listed as "SYSTEM" but not old Windows or anything.
Also ASUS chipset drivers dont work and they were listed as 7 drivers.I tried Vista drivers but it normally shuts down and restarts. Nothing.
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Jan 24, 2012
how do i make the full file path appear in the active tile bar? spent ages trawling through 'help and support' but havnt found the answer yet.
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Oct 12, 2012
A while ago I was using Windows XP Pro on my laptop. I was then forced to switch completely to Windows 7, but because I had so many application and configurations done on the XP, I created a VHD from it (using this) before replacing it. Now, I want to know if its possible to set that VHD beside my current OS as dual boot.I searched and found solutions, but those are either to add a new VHD (Windows 8 mostly) to the dual boot, or loading VHD in virtual machines.Also, if it is possible, can I copy the VHD on my external HDD and load it every time from there?The whole idea is because my laptop is not so powerful and it wouldn't handle VMs very well. Because of the same reason, XP Mode is not an option.Normal dual boot also is not preferred for two reasons:
1. I want my configurations which are already set on the VHD,
2. My laptop's HDD is only 150GB which does not have too much capacity left already. I can spare like 20-30GBs for XP, but I really cannot deal with the dual booting mess now! I will rarely use the XP for specific tasks, so VHD would be much easier if I will have the option.
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Apr 26, 2009
ok so im having a weird problem thats probably very easy to fix.
background info: before my Windows 7 install i had 3 partitions
vista 64
xp 32
empty (soon to be linux)
when i downloaded the newest win 7 build i deleted my xp 32 partition and installed Windows 7 on that partition. because Windows 7 creates that "reserve partition" or what ever, it extended my EMPTY partition with my vista partion. which cause it to become a "logical drive" rather than a "boot" drive. aka i cannot figure out how to access my vista OS.. rather annoying since im just toying with Windows 7 atm.
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May 8, 2012
I want to make a recovery disc to reset my entire 4 partition dual boot hard drive back to its current state. the recovery would reset both xp and win 7 which i have dual booting. can i make one single image to do this without it screwing up my boot loaders etc? what should i use? 3rd party software?
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Mar 3, 2011
I have Win 7 installed on my netbook, for watching movies would be XP better. So I have divided the disk into 2 partitions, I have an installation file with Win XP on my disk... I have read some tutorial but still am not sure how to do that - as I do not have CD/DVD on my ntb (and an easy way, hot to repair a system)?
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May 9, 2012
I am working in an office that uses dual screens to view stocks and things. When the users hit PrtSc, the system prints BOTH screens. I thought there was a hotkey that allows printing of the "active" screen only. The users are not in a position to paste things to the clipboard or snip. They just need a quick print of their ACTIVE screen.
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Apr 18, 2012
I've had a Windows 7 PC that's motherboard recently broke so I have been trying to use the hard drive with another PC. The PC I'm trying to put it into has all Windows 7 compatible parts. I get to the starting windows screen and it restarts the computer and gives me the option to Launch Startup repair. I launched startup repair and it says that it cannot fix the problems automatically. I can hookup the hard drive as a secondary hard drive and access all of the files on it but I cannot make it primary it just wont boot. The computer that the hard drive originally came from did not include a recovery/install CD.
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Nov 18, 2009
I've got a bit of a perplexing problem here that I hope somebody can provide some insight on. Set up the dual boot with your (very awesome) tutorial and everything works perfectly there. Windows 7 was installed first to the C: drive, XP is on an E: partition of the same drive. The D: drive is a second physical drive that is just used for file storage. If it matters, both physical drives are paired drives in Raid1.
The problem comes when I've loaded into Windows XP, I can't access the D: storage drive. It reads as size 0, and can't be formatted or read.
Under Windows 7, everything works. I can access the storage drive fine and have no problems using it.
I originally thought it was a permissions thing because the D: drive was formatted in Windows 7, but in XP I can read from the Windows 7 C: drive just fine.
I am at a loss, can anybody offer any suggestions as to why the drive would read fine under 7 but not when in XP?
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May 27, 2009
I installed windows 7 on my desktop where XP was already installed. Now, unless I have the RC1 DVD in the drive, the computer automatically boots to XP with no option. If I leave the DVD in the drive it gives me the ''press any key to boot from CD or DVD" then automatically goes to Windows 7 if I dont press anything. I used BCD while in 7 and it didn't seem to have an effect.
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Jun 14, 2009
1. My machine has XP on a single hard drive w/ 3 partitions. In order to try Windows 7 the easiest thing for me to do is to install it on my E: partition. If I boot into Windows 7, do the drive letters change around or do the Windows 7 system files still show up as E:WINDOWS?
Are there any downsides to this installation that I don't know about? If I got tired of Windows 7 would it be a problem to get rid of the bootloader?
2. My original plan was to buy a second hard drive, install it by itself, and load Windows 7 onto it. Then reconnect the original hard drive and dual boot by changing the boot order in the BIOS. What does this do to the drive letters?
I would have one hard drive with 3 partitions and another hard drive with one partition. If I boot Windows 7 I'm guessing that its hard drive would become C: and the other hard drive would become D:, E: and F:. But what happens if I boot XP from the other hard drive? Does it stay C:, D: and E: and the second hard drive becomes F:, or do the letter scramble differently?
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Oct 23, 2009
I currently have a system running XP with two IDE hard drives and 3 partitions.
I have taken Windows 7 as a chance to get myself some much needed extra space! and purchased a new 1tb SATA drive.
I really dont want to lose the exisitng data I have so my original plan was to take my main IDE harddrive with most of my data stick it in an external USB carrier and then start fresh in the system with the 1tb and Windows 7.
What would be cooler would be if I could add the 1tb to the exisiting system and install Windows 7 on that (ideally with that as C and either then have much quicker access to transfer data to the new drive or even dual boot with XP at first incase I have any issues with Windows 7. Can anyone advice me on how easy/risky this is? And what they would suggest to someone trying to maximise the uptime of their PC?
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Dec 6, 2009
I've just got a new HP laptop with windows 7 Home Premium.
Anytime Upgraded to Ultimate.
i want to boot to windows XP (SP2) on this new laptop..(Not necessarily Dual-Boot). there is only on program i need to use under XP.
the dual-booting tutorials here are quite in depth and potentially problematic for none techie like me. i would prefer not re-partion the drive and 'hide' one operating system from the other, so what i would prefer to do is this...
1. Plug in an External hard drive (USB 2.0).Clean and factory formatted.
2. Go into my BIOS > Disable boot from internal hard drive > enable boot from CD Drive (first)
3. Exit BIOS having saved changes
4. insert win XP Install disk in drive.
So, in theory XP Install should be like on a brand new machine.
when i want to use windows 7 i would reverse the BIOS changes and make sure external drive with XP is not connected.
So, windows 7 would not know XP is even in use.
Is all this viable... or is there something that would prevent it from working?
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Feb 15, 2009
I have a simple xp 32 computer and would like to dual boot (from a partition) with windows 7. my problem seems to lie in whether i have enable my usb to be bootable as a dvd install of windows 7. it seems very complicated, and i am interested in figuring out whether it was possible to simply create the partition (with gpart) than in windows mount windows 7 and when it asks where it wants to be installed, I would than chose my new partition.
I don't know... (don't want to screw up)
I hope this makes sense...
I really would like to try widows 7, and any help would be very much appreciated .
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Dec 30, 2009
I have a Dell Inspiron 1440 laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. Some of my older applications do not support this platform. My processor does not support Window Virtual PC and Windows XP mode so I was hoping to add XP as a dual boot. Is it possible to boot XP from an external harddrive or USB instead of having to partition the internal hard drive. Or do you have any suggestions on how I can load XP after Windows 7 is already loaded.
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Dec 30, 2009
Well, I did a dual-boot system with Vista 32-bit and 7 64-bit. Now the problem is that, when I'm in Vista, the drive letter of Vista would be C: and 7 would be in B:.
But when I'm in 7, its partition would have the letter C: while Vista would have B:.
Is this normal? What would happen if I installed a program on the path C: in Windows 7?
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Jun 1, 2011
I ve managed to install Win XP after Windows 7 installation as in tutorial. Win 7 is on Drive C and Win XP on drive G. Then Ive decided to only keep the XP version and move it on drive C (currently occuied by Win 7).
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Mar 7, 2012
I have a Sony C series 64 bit laptop. I have a 2.5" IDE drive from my old laptop which has XP.
I was thinking to image Win 7 on my Sony to a cd; so that I have a clean disk. How can I then clone my XP ide drive onto the new laptop drive - which is an Hitachi ATA (mSata?) - so that I will have a dual boot system? Although if the XP works fine, that is what I will use.
I do a sysprep 1st, then use Bart PE. However I believe Bart PE only goes to XP SP3, and I only have the whole drive - with all my docs on it. No installation disk.
Do I need to do a "sysprep"? Is it possible to "slipstream" a whole drive with all the necessary drivers? Will it be an issue if the XP is 32 bit, and my new machine is 64bit?
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Oct 16, 2009
I have Windows 7 RC1, and am trying to install XP on a separate drive but am getting the following error:
"Setup could not load the keyboard layout file KBDUS.DLL.
Setup cannot continue. Power down or reboot your computer now."
I restart and am able to go back to Windows 7...Any ideas on how to get around this??
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Oct 18, 2009
In 7 everything is all right.7 is c: and the boot partition is hidden.
But in XP the hidden partition is c: and visible.XP is d:,so some programs use default dir can't work.I tried disk management to change xp to c: but didn't succeed.
Anyway to change the drive letters and hide the 100m partition?
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Oct 23, 2009
1) I currently am running Vista on a laptop on which it is the only OS. I want to install 7 on a second partition for dual boot. However, to keep things tidy, I would like to make Windows 7 Drive C: (which currently contains Vista). Is there a way to image the hard drive then reload it onto drive D: after I install 7 on C:?
2) I guess my other option is to install 7 on the formatted HD, then create a D: partition to run the Vista recovery disks on at least that would restore my drivers, etc. But I really wanted to keep my current configuration around for those programs that are slow to catch on to the new OS. (Or do I even have to worry about this?)
3) If all this dual boot stuff is too complicated or if I really don't need to worry about the driver/software compatibility, I might just do away with that idea and clean install it on the C: drive and forget about Vista. (reluctant to do so since I rely on this computer for school). I will be keeping my C: drive image that I took yesterday so taht I can recover to Vista if need be.
Edt: 4) I just had anther thought. If I install Win 7 clean could I then take my Vista hard drive image and make it into a VHD? that would pretty much solve all my troubles I think. Unless I would need to reinstall Vista onto the VHD.
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