I have an external seagate 320g usb hard drive, I would like to know if this is possible?
1. partition the drive into like 4 partitions..(I understand how to do this already)
2. have partition 1 have windows 7 boot disc to install windows from usb drive
3. Have a windows xp boot disc to install from usb drive
I know how to get the xp boot etc in the partition, but I would like to be able to plug the drive in, select usb drive as boot device in bios, and have it search for both OS's and give the option of which to boot from.....Can this be done?...I heard something would have to be done to the usb hard drive o make it bootable in a dos environment, but not sure.
I'm a long-time reader but new poster. I am currently running Windows 7. I want to install Windows XP onto another disc and have a dual-boot setup. I keep Windows 7 up to date and secure, but for the XP partition, I would rather not have antivirus running or even installed, in order to limit background processes. I will not be logging into any place or making any credit card purchases when booted into Windows XP. It will just be used for surfing, games, etc. Further, if and when XP becomes compromised or buggy, I will simply overwrite the partition with a backup image.
If I use Bitlocker to lock down the Windows 7 partition (with the encryption key on a thumb drive) and boot into Windows XP, am I correct in thinking the XP installation see or can't access the Windows 7 partition? If XP gets compromised, can a virus access or write to the Windows 7 partition?
Is there any other reason why this would not be secure? Can a virus write to the BIOS?
I have Windows 7 ultimate 64-bit installed on DELL desktop (Optiplex 990) i7 Core. I have two HDD: Disk 0 contains the operating system 500GB. and Disk 1 empty 1TB.
I want to make a partition on disk 1 to mirror the operating system partition and keep the remaining for data storage. I tried to do but I had the following error message: "All disks holding extents for a given volume must have the same sector size, and the sector size must be valid."
I'm building a new computer. Can I partition the hard disk, copy my laptop HD to boot from one partition and run a new windows 7 pro os from the second partition?
this is what I did, since I have no CD-ROM, to install Windows 7 I created a partion X: NTFS and set it as the ACTIVE ONE, the put there the Windows 7 installation files, and opened prompt command to type bootsect.exe /n60 X: , next I restarted my computer, and automatically it booted into the Windows 7 setup, I installed Windows 7 on the partition C: and formatted the partition C:, everything installed and after the installation finished, a multiple choice menu appears that reads:[CODE]
I have a Boot Camped Mac Mini with Windows 7. I recently needed to allocate more disk space to it as i only had a gig left, i booted into MacOS and used Disk Utility to make the Mac partition smaller, i rebooted into windows and downloaded software called 'Partition Wizard' from www.partitionwizard.com. I dragged the Windows partition all the way so that it used up all the Unallocated Space, it required a reboot to finsih and when it did it displayed an error such as thistatus:0xc0000255Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required informationI have the Installation Disk and i have tried repairing more than 3 times and it seemed to do nothing, so i tried using the CMD and bootrec.exe and now when i start the repair wizard it says there is no windows partition yet i can still try repairing things (Yet still does not repair anything). I downloaded EasyBCD but im on my Mac partition right now and its an exe, i have no clue how to run that within windows to try and repair the Bootloader. I do however have access to the BOOTCAMP partition through the mac side, and i can access all the files. Is there some way i can repair the bootloader through this?
System has XP pro and Vista installed, single hard drive (with 3 partitions, XP and Vista each on their own partition, 3rd partition is for data) Removed existing hard drive Installed brand new hard drive Installed Win 7 ultimate x64, works great Installed original hard drive (the one removed in step 2) So now, system has BOTH hard drives in it. Boot up, only XP/Vista boot menu appears (I can boot to XP or Vista, but not WIn 7) Also, when booting to XP with both drives in, the new drive with Win 7 shows up as Disk 1, with original disk as Disk 0.
I initially installed Windows 7 Pro 64-bit along side my Windows XP 64 bit on two seperate hard drives. What I'm trying to do is remove the drive that had XP on it and put it in my other system to do a fresh Raid 0 Windows 7 setup. But when I remove the XP drive, it wont boot into Windows 7. I'm fairly sure that Windows 7 rewrote the XP bootsector and so without that drive it wont boot. Can I recreate it on the Windows 7 drive?
I've tried the recovery stuff on the DVD, including all the command line tricks in the tutorials. When I go into the recovery mode, it doesn't even see my Windows 7 installation. However, in Command Prompt mode, i can browse into the hard drive, and see all the windows files.
I currently have Windows 7 64 bit installed in two partiions:C: drive and E drive. Everytime I start, windows from the C: partition automatically boots. How do I get the Windows from E drive to boot? Ultimately I'd like to use the windows from E drive (which has all my installed software) and delete the one from C: drive. The problem is that I installed the one on C: drive most recently. (Long story short, I tried to delete and old version of windows unsuccessfully, and had to unmount and reformat the partition.)When I go to System Configuration under the Boot tab, I only see Windows in one partition (C: drive), so it won't allow me to delete that.
My sister just got a new laptop with 7, then accidentally installed a friend's version of 7 on top of it, thinking it was Microsoft Office. I'm trying to restore to factory settings so she doesn't lose all the software that came with the computer.
I know the recovery partition is on the computer (I made it appear by assigning it a drive letter). But I cannot boot from it (or whatever I need to do to access it).
I have tried the following:
1) Advanced Boot Options -> Repair -> System Image Recovery: no system image -> System Restore: no restore point
2) all possible F# keys at startup, including F10 which got me to Edit Boot Options, which seemed hopeful because it named the partition number, 3, but did not allow me to change it (the recovery partition is 2).
3) F2 -> setup (nothing there)
4) burning an iso of Windows 7 recovery disc, which just gave me the same repair tool as in the 1st attempt.
5) setting the recovery partition as "active" (in fact, I think it was already active).
I normally run Windows 7. Today I decided to try out Windows 8 as well. I went into Disk manager and created a partition. I then booted off of my Windows 8 DVD and installed it on that partition. Now, my computer is only booting into Windows 8. What I really want is an option to choose which OS to boot into, but I would really like to be able to get back to Windows 7.
So i had two partitions on a physical disk, and wanted to delete the first and enlarge the second. I usually use gparted off the ubuntu live cd because it completely separates itself from windows details and allows a lot of disk changes in one interface; no conflicts. I moved forward with my changes and rebooted the computerI now find myself standing at this boot screens with error 0xc0000225 and a "corrupt" /boot/bcd file. Googling that information, the first hit was a solution about using gparted and getting this error. I thought perfect, but going through the steps, i still have no resolve. I have now been in and out of every boot problem thread on the internet and cannot figure it out.I have tried: windows 7 repair startup tools- rebuilding the bcd from scratch- bootrec /fixmbr and /fixbootWhen i boot into ubuntu or repair mode, i can browse the file system fine. can see the /boot files, create a new bcd file, and so on. One thing to mention is every test i have tried yeilds the same consistent error. The error has not changed whatsoever. My assumption is not that the /bcd file is corrupt or configured wrong (as the gparted solution/post suggested)
I am running Windows 7 dualbooted with WinXP, everything works fine. I want to get rid of the XP partition, and keep the Windows 7 one only, but there is a problem. THe partition on which XP is installed is set as system and active. I've googled around but I've found no easy solutions to this. Any ideas on how to do this without reinstalling the OS?
My second question would be about the Windows 7 update: I installed the 7100 build, when it got released, but as I saw now, the latest builds are like 7200+. Are the changes updated on my build somehow, or I would have to reinstall to have the new build?
I decided a week ago to install Ubuntu 11.04 alongside my Windows 7, which as you know, created a new parition. As you also know, Ubuntu likes to use it's own boot manager. Well, I decided that I was going to download and install the Windows 8 Build 7955 (as I found on Windows 8 Forums) onto the partition that was occupied by Ubuntu.. so, I downloaded the image and then, in my disk management, deleted the entire parition that Ubuntu was installed on. I went to restart my computer to finish an AntiVirus update shortly thereafter, and got a message saying something along the lines of "Grub error; unknown filesystem." I attempted a repair with my disc and nothing worked.Right now, I am installing Windows 7 on the new parition in the hopes that I can get it working again, just to get at my files on the main parition. If not, I do have a SATA-to-USB adapter that I can use to manually extract the files onto another computer, and then just wide the drive entirely, but I'm really hoping I don't have to do that, as it would be SUCH a nuisance if I had to re-do EVERYTHING on my laptop. So, what I'm asking is, if the fresh install on the new partition doesn't work, is there any way to restore the original boot manager, or am I kinda dead in the water?
I have Windows 7 on a Partition with 37.22 GB and Unallocated space with 37.31 GB. I want to extend the Windows 7 Partition to the Unallocated space. Is there any way to extend the current/boot partition? I tried diskpart but obviously that won't work I guess since I read later that you can't do it on the boot partition? Then how else are you supposed to do it?
I just recently installed windows 7 on a partition that previously had vista, and backed up my "users" folder on another partition. I copied all the files back to the 7 partition and used a program like partition magic to delete the backup and extend the 7 partition. my computer won't boot now. I've tried resetting the mbr, bcdedit, bootfix
I installed Windows 7 on my second hard drive g: (1st partition drive 1) and Windows set up a dual boot with Windows XP on the C: drive (1st partition drive 0) and Windows 7 on the G: drive (1st partition drive 1). Everything worked fine for months until I decided to dump Windows XP to try out Windows 8. I created an Win 8 installation USB FOB. I deleted the old XP Partition on C: then the install failed and I could not boot, (c: was deleted).No problem (I thought), I just swapped the hard drives to boot off my Windows 7 partition. Surprise! It won't boot either. I tried using partition Wizard to repair the MBR, from another computer. That didn't workThen I created a Windows 7 installation USB FOB (no CD drive on target computer), to see if Windows repair would take care of the problem. It could find no Windows installation. So I selected start up repair, it ran for a few minutes then said it was going to reboot, so I pressed the finish button.[CODE]
I just bought a new laptop and they split the drive into a c and d partition which i dont want, I removed the d partition and then tryed to expand the c partition to the right but the expand is greyed out. I tryed expanding it with partition magic which also failed, anyone know why its not working or how i can perform the task? Windows 7 home pro.
My last windows update went haywire and left me unbootable. I ran a live linux distro off an SD card to retrieve my HDD data, then decided it was time for a reformat/fresh windows 7 install. However, the factory reset process in my Gateway laptop failed a couple of times, and then the third try I would get stuck at a bootloader error and was thoroughly screwed.So I burned a Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (correct) cd to an SD card and used that to boot, formatted the HDD and installed a fresh clean Windows 7.Unfortunately the sticker on my laptop is worn out and while it's 99% legible Windows isn't accepting it. I went into trial mode, and realized I was also missing a ton of drivers and whatnot.I know that installing through the recovery partition, while full of bloatware, I get my Windows product key and proper activation, as well as all the drivers and stuff I need.... F8 into startup repair doesn't help, and instead starts a recovery process on C:, not X:.When I try Gateway's alt-F10 keysmosh it stops halfway through "loading files" and I get "An unexpected I/O error has occurred," 0xc00000e9
I have a laptop that I have set-up with 3 OS's; windows 7 (to use), windows 8 (to learn), and Linux (to do everything else). The other day I noticed a few issues and decided I needed to remove windows 8 and Ubuntu in order to prevent a system crash (kinda ironic once you read the whole thing). When I installed Ubuntu and windows 8, I created a 45gb partition for them. Not a big deal. The problem is when I removed ubuntu/windows 8 and their partition, I forgot to set something with the windows 7 partition so it was the main boot partition. Now its trying to boot from a partition on the hard disk that doesn't exist. I know for a fact that the windows partition is completely functional and intact. It's a rookie mistake and I make no excuses. At this point I'm 90% sure I need to reinstall windows 7, which I can easily do as I have restore disks and multiple back-ups. I was just curious if there is a way to change this either through BIOS or using a USB/SATA cable to externally boot and access Windows 7 system files.
About 8 months ago, I built a computer for myself;SINGLE Hard drive, 1 T;1 Partition..Windows 7 Home Premium service pack 1..The BIOS identifies the HDD..Last week, the computer worked properly, with regular shut down.3 or 4 days later, when the PC was turned on, it booted through the Windows 7 splash screen, but the log on screen did not appear.After a spontaneous reboot, the Windows 7 repair utility informed me that the situation could not be fixed. I selected advanced options and tried 2 different restore points from about a week before the last happy event. [code]
This tutorial describes how to install Windows XP and Windows 7 on the same partition (first tutorial for one partition written).The short concept: Install XP twice and have 7 replace the first installation.Need more testers to confirm it works for everyone and the instructions are clear enough.Requirements: Both Installation discsA Windows XP LiveCD (might work with other OS, but no guarantees)EasyBCD.Install Windows XP normally if you're not already running it.Don't bother installing any drivers or software on it.Start another installation of Windows XP. Choose the same hard drive and leave it unchanged without formatting. When it asks you what to do then choose to install in a different directory "C:Windows.xp".Finish installing that one and only the necessary drivers.afterwards.Install Windows 7 on C: over the regular C:windows. A warning will tell you that it will move the old files to "Windows.old" directory. The good thing is it doesn't touch the Windows.xp directory.Install and run EasyBCD. Go to "Add/Remove Entries" and add an entry of "Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3" type and a name of your choice. (as shown in the attached image)Don't forget the "Save" button.You may also want to adjust the loader timeout from "Change Settings".In C: you will find a (hidden) file "boot.saved". Open it, remove the entry to the "WINDOWS" directory and make the "WINDOWS.XP" your default one (if it's not) and save as boot.ini".Restart and boot from the Windows XP LiveCD (which you should have burned and tested on CD or DVD before starting).Open the Command Prompt (Run "cmd") and enter the following lines in order
I installed Win7 on the same Partition as WinXP. I was in a hurry and forgot totally to partition the HD before I installed, was doing 100 things on the side during the Installation, and noticed my mistake only after the install was complete. Is there any way I can do a Multi boot for those two OS now? The WinXP folder has been renamed to Windows.old, and even with EasyBCD there's no way I can get the Comp to boot into WinXP.
I recently installed a 90GB Kingston Technology SSD and then created a shadow copy of my previous hard drive (which was 62.4GB), meaning that currently I only have access to this amount of space on the new hard drive.
resize this boot partition to allow me to use all the space currently unallocated?
So long story short, my current os (w7) is installed on a non-boot partition of a now internal drive that used to be external. This wasn't an issue/I didn't notice because I had another unused internal hdd which DID have an old bootable os partition, and then I'd just choose the correct instance of Windows when that one booted.I have to get rid of the old HDD with the bootable partition. Is there anyway I can change the non bootable my currant OS is on to a bootable partition (ie thru windows, cmd, bios etc)
My Old HDD crashed, it had windows 7 x64 on a D: logical drive with an extended partition. My old HDD also had two other primary partitions one of which probably had some system/boot files etc,. I do not have a backup of these two primary partitions, however, I do have a paragon backup of my logical drive D: extended partition. I got me a new HDD, created a new NTFS primary partition with a drive letter C:. I then restoed the paragon backup of my windows D: drive on to this new primary C: partition. Now, I am not able to boot windows 7. Seems like I need to create a new system partition with boot files to be able to boot my Win 7.
Here is what happened to me, I had windows 7 installed on a SATA HDD. I bought an SSD and installed a fresh copy of windows 7 on the SSD. then I took out the SATA harddrive which I learned it contained the system parition. Now the new windows doesnt boot.
If I open diskpart and do a LIST VOL I only get one which is the SSD and inside I only have one partition with the windows files.
After a few comamnd I was able to see the installation when I start the recovery console. but when boot up. as soon as the little cicles for the windows logo comes up it freezes and reboots.
I tried making the volume parition active, but from what I have read, looks like I need to create a system parition. Is that possible. or do I have to reinstall from scrtach. (the old SATA drive is formated so no going back) Its just so close, i see my data intact on the drive lol but cant get windows to boot.
In setting up my wife's computer, I allocated 30 gigs to the C: partition...probably a big mistake. I'd like to increase its size by about 100G, and I have shrunk the D: and E: partitions accordingly, using the Disk Management tool.
Now however I am stuck with two separate blocks of unallocated space, and apparently no way to expand the C: partition into that extra space. Is there any way this can be done within Windows 7 or do I have to seek out some additional software?
Is there a dynamic partition manager out there for Win 7...something like what Partition Manager used to be? Also, I'm thinking of adding a version of Linux to my system and I'm looking for an easy to use boot-manager-editor to use in Win 7?
As opposed to just the hard disk that the partition is on? For example, would I be able to create a small partition on my C drive then go into the BIOS and set it as my primary boot device?
