Setup Installation :: Windows Bootloader In Multiboot System
Apr 3, 2014
I have (perhaps I should say had) a multi-boot system. Originally I installed my 6 Windows OS's and then installed my two favorite Linux distros. I like the ability to customize the Grub menu which Linux gives me. Unfortunately Grub did not detect all 6 of my Windows installations but one of the boot options it did detect took me back into my original Windows menu which showed all 6 of the Windows systems. So that's the setup which I have been using successfully for the past few months. (One boot menu which boots into another). Today my Windows boot menu has become unusable and probably corrupt.
At first I had the problem that I was only able to boot into Windows 8.1 (no windows menu at all). Then I used EasyBCD which I had inside Windows 8.1 At first EasyBCD indicated an inability to load any boot file at all. Subsequently after rebooting into 8.1 a few times more I tried it again. It then showed a boot menu but with only Windows 8.1 listed. I subsequently was able to use the add operating system function to add all the other Windows systems again. I then clicked save to save the new configuration. Now I do see all six Windows systems at boot but neither of them, even Windows 8.1 will boot. Where I should start to get back into one of these six Windows operating systems so that I can possible use the EasyBCD repair function to access the others. I think I had EasyBCD installed inside each Windows OS At the moment I am dependent on Linux alone for Internet access. I trust this is clear.
As nothing in Linux has changed, I assume I need to fix the problem from the Windows side of things. I do have that one option when I get into that blue Windows 8 style boot menu to "change options" I thought EasyBCD would have restored the Windows 7 style text boot menu but it did not. Other than that I have the various Windows installation disks and a Win7 repair disk as well as various full partition backups on an external hard drive. What do do about a corrupt bcd file without being inside Windows, and I don't know much about EasyBCD. Would a refresh/reset of Win 8.1 from the install disk be a good way to start? I did get the message of "files missing" when I tried to do a system recovery drive while inside Windows 8.1 today, so there are issues with that OS.
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Mar 16, 2012
Since a few days, I owned a new WeTab to play around with different tablet operating systems.
I'd like to install Windows 8, Android and Ubuntu in parallel and use the new GUI bootloader from Win8 to choose what to boot.
I started with installing Win8 and installed EasyBCD to modify the bootloader. A little test configuration shows the correct function of it.
When I start to intstall Android the fist time, everything was fine, but after installing ubunto the Windows 8 Bootloader turnd from GUI to text mode.
also
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
common Win8DVD repairoptions
can switch back to GUI mode
is there a trick to get the GUI back, because without Keyboard on the tablet it's quite hard to select an option :)
Ad. Info:
WeTab with 80GB SSD, 2GB RAM
Partition:
sda1 ntfs 350MB Windows Bootloader
sda2 ntfs 20GB Windows Partition
sda3 ext2 200MB /boot for Ubuntu
sda4 extended partition
sda5 swap 4GB /swap for Ubuntu
sda6 ext4 20GB / for Ubuntu
sda7 ext3 4GB / for Android
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Jan 5, 2013
I have been using Windows 7 Pro (64) for several years, and today installed a newly purchased Windows 8 Pro (64) OS. I looked on-line and found many articles on how to multi-boot back to Windows 7 after installing Windows 8, and believe I have done this correctly (more below), but when booting up I do not ever see a multi-boot menu, my system boots directly into Windows 8.
When installing Win 8, I booted from my CD/DVD drive with the Win 8 OS media in the drive. (I had previously reduced the volume of my Windows 7 drive and created a new partition that I called "Windows8". ). At the appropriate time in the Win 8 install I chose "Custom", then chose the newly created "Windows 8" partition, then proceeded with the Win 8 OS install. As mentioned above, I do not see the multi-boot menu when booting up, however when in Windows 8 I can see the Windows 7 drive in "Computer", so it was not over-written.
Startup Options - Choose a Default OS to Run at Startup in Windows 8
and am wondering if I should try Options 2 through 4 (1 of)? I build my own PCs so know something about PC's, bt not much about booting to an OS.....
Another options might be installing a third party boot manager, which I have not yet done.
my reason for getting back to Win 7 is to be able to use the PC while I learn and setup Win 8 over time. I went into this believing that getting a multi-boot capability would be very easy.
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Feb 19, 2014
I have recently Dual Booted my Computer with Win 7, XP and Windows 8.1.
I now cannot boot into Windows 8.1
I installed Easy BCD and was able to make a bootloader but i can only boot into Win 7 and XP
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May 8, 2014
I have removed a Linux Distro from my dual boot, it was running GRUB2 as the bootloader and now I need to repair windows to get the bootloader fixed and overwrite GRUB with the normal loader.
However for whatever reason, it is notoriously difficult to do this without a disc or having made a backup drive within windows before things went tits up.
Is there a simple way to install a recovery disc onto a USB, boot from USB and then repair?
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Aug 29, 2013
I tried to install ubuntu 13.04 x86 on my 16 GB flash drive using the pendrive program. When i restarted my laptop and selected boot from usb drive i then selected install ubuntu on my dva2 using ext4 and "/" on mount. After finishing the process i restarted my laptop and i was keep booting in ubuntu os without even asking me if i wanted to boot in windows. I then removed usb from laptop and the only os that exists is ubuntu. The only thing i noticed is that in the partitioning menu earlier where i selected the 16 GB flash drive, it also said Windows 8 loader next to it something that was a bit strange since my windows was installed on my 240 Gb ssd. I enter in ubuntu without usb and i can see all my files from windows desktop. Is there any possible way to recover my windows?
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Aug 21, 2014
I have Windows 8.1 installed and then I installed Windows 7 afterward and now the system is using the Windows 7 bootloader as opposed to the Windows 8.1 bootloader. What I want to do is get set the Windows 8.1 as the default bootloader.
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Jan 6, 2013
I have Windows 8,W7,Wxp working well in multiboot. But i have Windows 8 instaled in C:but it is the 2nd partition.How can i move it to first partition ?W7 and wxp are probably on the 1st D: partition.
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Dec 18, 2013
I had a working multiboot setup on my Acer Aspire One ZG5, running win xp, 7, 8.1, linux. I decided to add an extra partition, and in doing the resizing lost my Grub boot loader so can no longer boot into linux, but that's not important atm. I have also messed up my windows boot loader and at the moment I can only boot into win 8.1.
Win 8.1, 7 and legacy OS (xp) show in the boot menu but when I choose to boot into either xp or 7, I am presented with the message
windows failed to start
file: /ntldr
status 0xc0000225
Previously I had the message filesystem unknown , missing NTLDR, but I ran the recovery console and that message no longer appears.
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Jul 1, 2013
I have the blue win 8 bootloader with my os's but this is what it says when I choose Ubuntu
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Apr 2, 2014
I have (perhaps I should say had) a multi-boot system. Originally I installed my 6 Windows OS's and then installed my two favorite Linux distros. I like the ability to customize the Grub menu which Linux gives me. Unfortunately Grub did not detect all 6 of my Windows installations but one of the boot options it did detect took me back into my original Windows menu which showed all 6 of the Windows systems. So that's the setup which I have been using successfully for the past few months. (One boot menu which boots into another). Today my Windows boot menu has become unusable and probably corrupt. At first I had the problem that I was only able to boot into Windows 8.1 (no windows menu at all). Then I used EasyBCD which I had inside Windows 8.1 At first EasyBCD indicated an inability to load any boot file at all. Subsequently after rebooting into 8.1 a few times more I tried it again. It then showed a boot menu but with only Windows 8.1 listed. I subsequently was able to use the add operating system function to add all the other Windows systems again. I then clicked save to save the new configuration.
Now I do see all six Windows systems at boot but neither of them, even Windows 8.1 will boot. Where I should start to get back into one of these six Windows operating systems so that I can possible use the EasyBCD repair function to access the others. I think I had EasyBCD installed inside each Windows OS At the moment I am dependent on Linux alone for Internet access. I trust this is clear. As nothing in Linux has changed, I assume I need to fix the problem from the Windows side of things. I do have that one option when I get into that blue Windows 8 style boot menu to "change options" I thought EasyBCD would have restored the Windows 7 style text boot menu but it did not. Other than that I have the various Windows installation disks and a Win7 repair disk as well as various full partition backups on an external hard drive. What do do about a corrupt bcd file without being inside Windows, and I don't know much about EasyBCD. Would a refresh/reset of Win 8.1 from the install disk be a good way to start? I did get the message of "files missing" when I tried to do a system recovery drive while inside Windows 8.1 today, so there are issues with that OS.
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Dec 8, 2013
I've recently made a Windows 8 and a Windows 8.1 installation disc from the ISO images on MSDN. Each image includes Core/Core VL and Pro/Pro VL, 32 and 64 bit editions of each. I have the installation keys for all of these installations, but I don't want to have to type an installation key every time I go to use this disc. I've tried adding an installation key using WinReducer8 (which I do not recommend), but it only adds one key, which means I cannot choose which edition I want to install.
When I made my AIO Windows 7 ISO, I had no issues, as Windows 7 doesn't force you to add an installation or product key; you select your desired edition and you're good to go. Attached Image 1 shows what I'm referring to.
Now, however, Windows 8 has to choose your edition by the product key you enter (well played, Microsoft), and I want to find a way around this.
Win7 64 Test.pngWin8.png
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Jun 19, 2014
Here's my issue; I am a math and science teacher in a public middle school and am outfitting my class with thirty brand-new Lenovo touch computers. I consider myself above-average savvy with computers, having worked with every version of Windows extensively since the late 80s and DOS. The only OS that I haven't spent much time on is Windows 8.
These computers are all brand-new and of course have legal copies of Windows 8 -- irritatingly, though not yet updated to 8.1. Soo...It took me a larger part of one day just to get ONE of these computers ready for class use. It involved several stages of the Windows update/reboot dance, followed by removing myriad unneeded bloatware applications, setting up multiple child accounts on the machine, and finally installing some freeware educational materials needed for instruction. It was all unbelievably tedious!
I turned around and look at all the remaining twenty-nine computers with dread. Obviously I'm trying to work out some kind of shortcut to avoid having to spend my whole summer updating each of the new machines individually. In an ideal world, I would make some sort of image of the machine that I just spent several hours updating/configuring, and then replicate that across the other twenty-nine. In terms of hardware, this shouldn't be a problem since all of the machines are exactly the same make and model. But I anticipate other problems such as, for example, the serial number of the Windows version and the computer name will then be the same on all the machines and have to be adjusted. There very well could be other issues with replicated serial numbers, etc.
I'm thinking maybe I just have to bite the bullet and work at each individual computer one of the time. And then image them individually so that when the kids mess around with them, I can do an easy restore. How I could make this work?
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Oct 17, 2013
Because it does not contain enough free space. Clearly I have enough free space... [URL] ....
What should I do? I want to do a dual boot, so I can keep Windows 7 in case I don't like 8.1...
I formatted and deleted that partition and I tried again with 201gb, and no luck. [URL] ....
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Jun 15, 2014
I'm trying to recreate win 8.1 pro system reserved partition on my ssd. Initially I installed windows on my ssd (c: ) and windows created the sysres partition on my unformatted hd (without telling me anything). After some trouble I managed to be able to boot from ssd directly without going through the sysres partition on the hd. Now if possible I'd like to recreate the sysres on the ssd (by disconnecting my hd so that windows has no other options than creating this on the ssd). If a try a system refresh it tells me it would wipe away all my user installed apps.
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Mar 3, 2012
Ok so i am trying to install windows 8 X64 onto a different hard drive as windows 7 so i can switch between the two at startup.Ok so my problems started yesterday when trying to install windows 8 onto the Hard Drive i was getting"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks."To fix this i converted the disk to a GPT disk in Disk ManagerNow im getting the Error "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the setup log files for more Information." Here is a screenshot of disk manager at the moment.I am trying to install Windows 8 to Disk 2.
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Mar 29, 2014
I am currently running Windows 8.1 and I want to do a clean install back to Windows 8. I have the original 64-bit Windows 8 Pro DVD. I put this DVD into my DVD drive and rebooted. I then went into the BIOS and made sure the first boot device was set to DVD/CDROM.
When I restart my computer it never gives me the option of booting to the DVD it just takes me back to the Operating System (my login screen).
My question is, how do I get my system to bootup from the Windows 8 Pro DVD so that I can do a fresh install?
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Apr 19, 2014
Setting up a dual boot with Win 7x64 on a 120GB SSD. The partition for Win 8 has 48 GB, but the install is failing: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks." The first time I tried with the partition formatted, the second with it unallocated, both getting the same result. What am I missing?
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Mar 14, 2012
I set up Windows 8 Consumer the way I like it -- had to create a custom inf for the screen of my Dell Mini 10 among other things.
I then created a system image on another computer on my network.
Next I wiped and reformatted the disk in the Mini.
But now, when I try to restore from the system image on the network, Windows 8 can't see or recognize the backup. I can browse to the location on my network perfectly well, but no matter what folder I browse to, from the drive letter of the backup drive to the folder named "Backup 2012-03-14 015251," I keep getting a message that there is no image there.
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Jun 10, 2014
Been running this system since 2010 win7 and upgraded to win 8.
When I switched over to win 8 I also bought an ssd drive (C) and it seemed to be working fine ever since.
I recently bought a couple 3TB drives and wanted to replace the old HDD (F), installed the drives, transferred all data off F and then shut down the pc. I took F out of the pc and it won't boot.
Going from loads of tutorials on here I found that F was listed as active and a system drive.
Any attempts at making it inactive and activating C resulted in nothing. I used my startup repair disc but there was no OS listed to repair??
Whenever C is active and F inactive, I've no options at all with startup repair.
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Jul 13, 2013
I will need to do a complete system recovery. My computer originally came with windows 7 and then downloaded and installed windows 8. I have my product key. When I downloaded windows 8 it gave me the option of burning a copy of windows 8 to a dvd, however I did not do that. Whenever I do a system recovery will I be able to get windows 8 back without having to pay for another download?
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Sep 14, 2013
I want to install Windows 8 Pro onto the second partition of my laptop that already has W7 Pro installed. What are the correct settings for the second partition(simple, active, primary,etc) so that the existing System Reserved partition used by W7 won't get clobbered? Is this even possible?
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Jan 8, 2014
I installed Windows 8/8.1 on a system with a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H MB. When I look at the SSD where Windows is installed I have one partition. I also installed Windows 8/8.1 on an ASRock Z77 OC Formula MB. When I look at the SSD where Windows is installed I have three partitions - 300MB (Recovery Partition), 100MB (EFI System Partition) and 111.27GB (Boot,....Partition). Why did the Windows 8 installer create three partitions on the ASRock system? I think I understand the EFI partition since the ASRock BIOS has a "Load UEFI Defaults" option. The Gigabyte MB does not have this option in the BIOS? Is that because the ASRock MB has truly implemented EFI and uses the EFI System Partition to store boot information?
Why was the Recovery Partition created? I built this system from scratch so there is not any third party involvement. If I reinstall Windows 8 using a new - never used SSD will I get the three partitions? If I format the SSD with one partition prior to Installing Windows 8 what will I get?
I not concerned about the loss of 300MB,why I got different partition configurations on fresh installs of Windows 8 on two different MB's/Systems?
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Mar 18, 2013
I was having a problem since my computer shows "windows cannot delete the active system partition on this disk". How to delete the partition on which i have windows 7 installed.
Here is the screen shot ...
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Sep 15, 2014
I reinstalled windows 8.1 on my Samsung NP530U3C-A10EE. And now the problem this that I can't boot it without usb stick that contains windows installation files. I can boot up windows and remove the usb stick evertything is working perfectly, but if I try to boot up win without usb, it gives error "Operating system not found. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart". VOLUME C: is one where windows are installed (SSD), System Reserved is the system partition that windows create automaticaly (SSD), volumes D: and F: are my hdd volumes D: is empty & F: is stored with my personal files (photos, music etc.)
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Sep 15, 2014
I just bought a new SSD and did a fresh install of windows going from Windows 7 to 8.1.
I simply took out my old SSD and put in the new one, and installed windows 8.1 pro from a USB stick onto the new ssd.
2 existing HDDs were left on there, I'm also replacing them but I want to format them first to remove all data.
Disk 1 is the new SSD that windows was installed on. It is "Healthy (Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Drump, Primary Partition)"
Disk 2 is the drive I want to reformat and replace, it is "Health (System, Primary Partition)"
How do I make the C drive (Disk 1) the System disk?
I have backed up all the files I want to keep onto an external hdd.
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Sep 9, 2013
Factory reset on windows 8.
My son decided to reset his windows 8 laptop to original factory settings, during the reset process his mom decided it was taking to long and turned off the laptop.
Now when its turned on it shows the message "restoring your computer", this message will then change to "diagnosing your computer", the screen will then go blank and it start all over again.
I can boot it from a USB drive, but when I click on "repair" i get an error message that it cant repair the computer. When i try to run restore from the USB I get a similar message.
is there anyway to run the system restore from the DOS prompt?
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Nov 28, 2013
I recently did an update of my machine from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1. The update process did not show any errors or warnings and by the time it finished I was under the impression that everything went smooth.
After the update I was testing the environment and discovered that one of my desktop applications stopped working, I went to the developer's website and indeed I found there is a known issue with their software on 8.1 and to solve it, I had to completely uninstall the software and then install it once more. So I went to Programs and Features in order to do so and to my surprise the Uninstall button was missing from the interface. Right-clicking an item and selecting uninstall from the menu gives a warning message suggesting that the application might have already been uninstalled and asks if I wanted to remove the application from the Programs list. However, clicking OK or Cancel just closes the message box and nothing happens.
So I went and tried to Refresh My PC; Once I clicked Refresh My PC the verification process started and indeed it told my that some system files are missing and that it should take care of it provided I insert my Windows disc. Now since its an OTA update from Win 8 to 8.1 I thought that MS knows that some people will not have a physical copy of 8.1 and so I inserted my Windows 8 Pro System Builder disc hoping it would work, but sadly as you might have guessed, it did not. It told me that I needed the 8.1 recovery disc.
Now I have been looking everywhere for a recovery image to download and use to fix my problem, everywhere I go it suggests that I make my own copy. But how am I supposed to do that if my Windows is faulty and has missing files. I really don't wanna go back to Windows 8 and re-upgrade to 8.1. I have a monitored internet bandwidth and I cannot go and download the 3 GB 8.1 update once more.
How can I repair my 8.1 machine?
I came across this article describing how to get an ISO image for 8.1 with a Windows 8 product Key. However, entering my Windows 8 Pro System Builder (OEM) key in the box fails and tells me that the key I entered is not for this product.
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Aug 11, 2014
Acer Aspire V5 laptop that was running an OEM Windows 8 to upgrade to 8.1.
After selecting the Upgrade to Windows 8.1 via the store, the system went through it's install procedure, however after it does an auto reboot, it gives you a blank screen with the message No Operating System found, in the upper left corner.
But, you can turn the machine off and back on, and it will boot just fine. However if you select restart it does the same thing "no operating system found", on restart and again you must power down and power back on.
I have searched for fixes, but all seem to point to some sort of re-install process. I am not to crazy about the idea of re-installing to factory settings or doing a repair back to Windows 8 and attempting to upgrade again, are their any known shorter fixes for this?
And if I do go back to Windows 8, and try to upgrade again, what is to say it won't happen again?
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Jul 30, 2014
I have a Windows 8.1 Update 1 ISO and would like to use it to perform a clean install on a system which supports UEFI Secure Boot but has no optical drive. What would be the best way to approach this?
WIMBoot would be nice to have as well, if there's a way to do it without making things too complicated.
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Jan 14, 2013
How to clean up the windows containing hard drive from everything but the system files, because I upgraded my windows and not installed it to a clean hard drive. I have a lot of unneeded files. How to do it, without reinstalling windows.
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