Re: Please help! Multi-boot option not working anymore


Chad Harris;1042680 Wrote:
"q5485" <guest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eec233b00b8b6ca11c8a764c6ca4bbbd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > >

Hi Shawn & Others
Many thanks for offering to help me.
First, when I boot up, I do see Vista's System Recovery Options
(after
selecting keyboard and language). But none of the other options in
the
menu seem to work.
For instance, the option to do startup repairs (the 1st one in that
list) does not repair the startup. I am afraid to do complete
recovery
(one of the other options) as I will lose all of my data.
I did try the 3 switches as mentioned by CH (bootrec /fix mbr,
bootrec
/fixboot and bootrec /rebuildbcd). The 1st 2 worked but it could not
find any Vista installations in the 3rd switch.
For all 3 switches, it did say operation completed successfully but
for
the 3rd switch it said: Total Identified Windows Installations: 0
Even in the recovery options window, it could not locate any windows
installations on any drive, nor could it find any backup or restore
files. In that window where it is searching for windows
installations, I
see 2 tabs ("Load Drivers" and "Next") but there is no vista
installation listed. When I click on "load drivers", I get into
X:\windows\system32 sub-directory but I have no idea which drivers to
select from my hard drive. Apparently, I need to load drivers for my
hard drives (Hitachi & Western Digital).
I have a feeling that my MBR is corrupted. I attempted to "repair" xp
before, and I am not able to boot to the drive containing xp. Once I
can
see the xp desktop, I can then install vistaboot pro and attempt to
repair mbr so that I can get vista up & running.
I am sure there is an easier way. Do I have to change the primary
partition to "bootable" or ??? I also have the ultimate boot loader
disc
which I have using to get somethings to work but have not been
successful.
To answer the question, what do I see when I boot up? I get the
option
of booting from my cd, which I don't. Then I get the option to select
my
language and keyboard. After that I see the System Recovery Options
(I
presume, from my vista). Somehow, it cannot find my vista
installation.
I am trying to avoid re-installation of xp pro since I want to retain
my documents folder and my outlook express settings (on my xp pro)
drive. I cannot reinstall vista since I don't have any installation
dvds.
Thanks for your suggestion and I am sure we will find a way.
Kash
q5485 > > Hi q--

None of the startup repair options I gave you are going to "lose"
anything.
<snip>

The Startup Repair disc you've made or the Vista disc should be
bootable
without going to bios setup but it takes a second and you can make
sure that
nothing is in the way of booting from the CD if you made a startup
repair
disc or DVD if you're using a Vista or there is an option to download
a Win
7 DVD now with RC1 available, but I don't know why you'd need to do
that
since it's at lest 2.5 GB to 3+ for Win 7 64 and the startup repair
option
from my link is in MB and much smaller.

I also pass on these options from SIW2 that could help.

You could try getting hold of bootsect.exe ( it's not on the Neosmart
repair cd).

It is in the bin folder of the free Easybcd. 'Download EasyBCD 1.7.2
-
NeoSmart Technologies' ('Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart
Technologies' (http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1))

Copy bootsect.exe to a cd.

Boot the repair cd to command prompt, find the drive letter for your
dvd drive by typing:

X:sources>Diskpart {enter}

Diskpart> lis vol {enter}

make a note of the dvd drive letter.

Diskpart> exi {enter}

Remove the repair cd and put in the cd containing bootsect.exe

Follow instructions at Step 3 here:

'Recovering the Visa Bootloader from the DVD - NeoSmart Technologies
Wiki'
('Recovering the Vista Bootloader from the DVD - NeoSmart
Technologies Wiki'
(http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+from+the+DVD))

and

You might try running checkdisk from the command prompt :

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67612-check-disk-chkdsk.html

Otherwise, you could try booting from the 7 dvd and installing it to
the partition you created - it should add Vista as a boot option.

'Clean Install Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums'
('Clean Install Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums'
(http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html))

and additionally

You can d/l this free app. from the nice people at Paragon - it burns
itself to cd.

'FREE Rescue Kit 9.0 Express - Don't wait for disaster, get instant
data recovery software!'
('FREE Rescue Kit 9.0 Express - Don't wait for disaster, get instant
data recovery software!'
(http://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-express/))

Boot the cd - use the File Transfer Wizard to save anything you need
before reinstalling.

Best,

CH

q5485;1043246 Wrote:
HI CHad
I followed your instructions and created a cd with vista bootloader and
another cd with bootsec.exe on it. When I try rebuilding bcd, I get the
error:
Volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that
all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not
corrupted.

Isn't vista on a NTFS file system? That's the one that shows up for my
vista hard drive. Or is the file system something else for vista? I have
kept all of my OS on NTFS systems.

Any suggestions?
Thanks
Kash

Hi Kash,

You could try running chkdsk /r at thecommand prompt.

Also worth making sure the Vista partition is marked as active, like
this:

X:\sources>Diskpart

DISKPART> sel disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> detail par

Partition 1
Type : 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status
Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- ---------
--------
* Volume 1 C Vistax64 NTFS Partition 30 GB Healthy
System

DISKPART>

If it is not shown as Active, type

DISKPART>act

DISKPART>exi

Then try the commands Chad posted.


--
SIW2
.

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