How to move bootloader from one partition to another?

ultimate7

ultimate7

New Member
Hi,

I have a laptop with to partitions C: and D:.
I previously installed windows XP on the c: partition with the xp bootloader installed on the same drive c:.
I installed windows 7 on the d: partition with windows 7 boot loader.
Now this is how my computer works:
C: Windows XP Active Partition (windows 7 boot loader is installed here)
D: Windows 7

When my computer boots, I have to choices Windows 7 and earlier version of windows.

Now I am out of space on drive d: and I want to delete windows xp.
The problem is that the boot loader is on that partition and it doesn't allow me to format the c: partition.

I want to know how to move the boot loader to the windows 7 partition d:.

Please note that I can use Vista Boot Pro and easybCD.

Thanks for all your answers :D
 
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try taking the xp drive out of the computer keeping the windows 7 drive in there. now put in the windows 7 cd and boot the computer up, making sure the 1st boot is the cd drive. and you should have a repair function on there, if not download a recovery cd for windows 7 and put that in and boot up. If you cant find a windows 7 recovery cd then xp or vista's recovery cd should work you'll just have those operating systems bootloader. i had a similiar situation and thats what worked for me.
 
ultimate7 said:
Hi,

I have a laptop with to partitions C: and D:.
I previously installed windows XP on the c: partition with the xp bootloader installed on the same drive c:.
I installed windows 7 on the d: partition with windows 7 boot loader.
Now this is how my computer works:
C: Windows XP Active Partition (windows 7 boot loader is installed here)
D: Windows 7

When my computer boots, I have to choices Windows 7 and earlier version of windows.

Now I am out of space on drive d: and I want to delete windows xp.
The problem is that the boot loader is on that partition and it doesn't allow me to format the c: partition.

I want to know how to move the boot loader to the windows 7 partition d:.

Please note that I can use Vista Boot Pro and easybCD.

Thanks for all your answers :D
Click to expand...



which one did you installed first?
 
SGC622 said:
try taking the xp drive out of the computer keeping the windows 7 drive in there. now put in the windows 7 cd and boot the computer up, making sure the 1st boot is the cd drive. and you should have a repair function on there, if not download a recovery cd for windows 7 and put that in and boot up. If you cant find a windows 7 recovery cd then xp or vista's recovery cd should work you'll just have those operating systems bootloader. i had a similiar situation and thats what worked for me.
Click to expand...
i have one hard disk and two partitons.

in my case it's different
 
canivari said:
If you can boot to Windows 7, why dont you use disk management to do the rest for you (deleting the partition of XP and merging that space to your D drive?
Click to expand...
I can't format the c: partition or extend it to d: because my boot loader is in the c: partition that i want to erase so I can get all the space for windows 7.
Is there any way to put the boot loader on the windows 7 d: partition so I can format windows xp c:?

Thanks for helping me :D
 
ultimate7 said:
I can't format the c: partition or extend it to d: because my boot loader is in the c: partition that i want to erase so I can get all the space for windows 7.
Is there any way to put the boot loader on the windows 7 d: partition so I can format windows xp c:?

Thanks for helping me :D
Click to expand...

If you instaled the Windows 7 in last, your boot loader is actually the Windows 7 Boot loader, because when you installed the win7, the Win7 it self had to create the boot loader so you could boot the XP also.
Even when you boot your computer and is giving you the XP as first choice is because the boot.ini is configured that way.
Before doing anything try this:
Go to your C drive and open the boot.ini(is hidden) (and its an boot loader) with the notepad and check if both operating systems are showing there,if not than you can safely delete the xp Partition.
Hope that helps
 
canivari said:
If you instaled the Windows 7 in last, your boot loader is actually the Windows 7 Boot loader, because when you installed the win7, the Win7 it self had to create the boot loader so you could boot the XP also.
Even when you boot your computer and is giving you the XP as first choice is because the boot.ini is configured that way.
Before doing anything try this:
Go to your C drive and open the boot.ini(is hidden) (and its an boot loader) with the notepad and check if both operating systems are showing there,if not than you can safely delete the xp Partition.
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
yes they are there so when i try to format the partition it doesn't work.
What I want to know is how to move the windows 7 boot loader that is on drive c where windows xp is installed to drive d where windows 7 is installed so I can delete the c partition and keep the space for windows 7.

Thank you
 
ultimate7 said:
yes they are there so when i try to format the partition it doesn't work.
What I want to know is how to move the windows 7 boot loader that is on drive c where windows xp is installed to drive d where windows 7 is installed so I can delete the c partition and keep the space for windows 7.

Thank you
Click to expand...

You could try Partiion Magic for it,
The program lets you make those changes automatically (Marking the partition as active and create an boot loader for it (in this case for Windows 7).
Once you done that and tested if went ok, then you can delete the c:
One last thing, even if you manage to boot Windows 7 and delete the XP partition,you always gonna have your OS as D:(that is not a very good idea because of some programs that only work on C: drive) so, my opinion is create an backup of your stuff (put it in DVDs,or anothe HDD and formatt the machne so you can have your Windows in the C: drive as where was he supposed to be
 
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ok well since you dont have two separate drives i would download the windows 7 recovery disk which i found for you at http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/ there you can download the torrent file and burn the windows 7 iso onto a dvd or cd whichever it calls for. then delete your D: partition and reformat to your liking, then pop in the windows 7 recovery cd you made and follow the repair prompts
 
canivari said:
You could try Partiion Magic for it,
The program lets you make those changes automatically (Marking the partition as active and create an boot loader for it (in this case for Windows 7).
Once you done that and tested if went ok, then you can delete the c:
One last thing, even if you manage to boot Windows 7 and delete the XP partition,you always gonna have your OS as D:(that is not a very good idea because of some programs that only work on C: drive) so, my opinion is create an backup of your stuff (put it in DVDs,or anothe HDD and formatt the machne so you can have your Windows in the C: drive as where was he supposed to be
Click to expand...
How do i get partition magic for windows 7?
already tried and it says no compatible with this version of windows.
So if i could get partition magic i would make d active and install the boot loader then format c and restore from a backup?

I need the partition magic for windows 7 link first.
Once i have this i will try this.

Thank you for all the time your giving to me :P
 
Yes, probably isnt any version for 7 yet,
So you can try ****** Partition Master.
He lets create boot loaders on Win7 (for sure this one..)
 
i just find out where you can deal with the boot loader on Windows 7:
Go to Start and run:
cmd
enter
BCDEDIT.exe
enter
This is your boot laoder
if you put soething like:
BCDEDIT.exe /? and hit enter
fe gives the options so you can manage the boot loader of 7 from there.
Hope that helps
 
canivari said:
i just find out where you can deal with the boot loader on Windows 7:
Go to Start and run:
cmd
enter
BCDEDIT.exe
enter
This is your boot laoder
if you put soething like:
BCDEDIT.exe /? and hit enter
fe gives the options so you can manage the boot loader of 7 from there.
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
I think i will use the manual way.

What commands should I use in my case?

One thousand of thanks.
Your help is very appreciated!
 
ultimate7 said:
I think i will use the manual way.

What commands should I use in my case?

One thousand of thanks.
Your help is very appreciated!
Click to expand...

When you press BCDEDIT.exe and hit enter what device path gives you?
C:/ or D:/ under the boot loader?
 
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canivari said:
When you press BCDEDIT.exe and hit enter what device path gives you?
C:/ or D:/ under the boot loader?
Click to expand...
D:\Windows\system32\bcdedit

please note that I already tried other guides saying something like store export {bootmgr}

Just need to move everthing that concern the bootloader to my d drive.
 
ultimate7 said:
D:\Windows\system32\bcdedit

please note that I already tried other guides saying something like store export {bootmgr}

Just need to move everthing that concern the bootloader to my d drive.
Click to expand...

Well,the problem is right there,because in XP the boot loader is the boot.ini file that is managable with an notepad,in Win7 the boot loader is this bcdedit.exe (an executable)file that works totally diferent from an boot.ini.
Can you boot to Windows 7 ?
I just remembered that in msconfig on win7 (under the boot tab) you have the options
of choose to delete or change the boot order of your OSs.
So probably is even better than the boot loader in on the command prompt.
Once you are there make sure you have the "OS boot information" marked as active.
 
If the store export {bootmgr} works also, you can go for that one.
I never tried this one so i dont know where he gonna leads you on that.
 
about the bcdedit.exe
you have all the information here that you need:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc721886(WS.10).aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906211.aspx

So whati could see so far is like this that the boot loader as i was saying at he begining from win7 is the first one loading but microsoft
decided that the Win7 boot loader should respect the other older OSs with boot.ini files.
So what you can do is:

at commandprompt write:

bcdedit /enum all and hit enter
Check wich id is your Win7 have (You can find the ID for a particular object by specifying bcdedit /enum all.)
and then do this:
Examples

The following command sets the specified entry as the default boot manager

entry:

bcdedit /default {cbd971bf-b7b8-4885-951a-fa03044f5d71}

The following command sets the legacy Windows loader (Ntldr) as the default

entry: {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c} is the predefined GUID for Ntldr.

bcdedit /default {466f5a88-0af2-4f76-9038-095b170dc21c}
How to change the boot sequence for the next reboot:

At the command prompt, type:

bcdedit /bootsequence {ID} {ID} {ID} …

(where the first ID is gonna be your Win7 as tyhe first one)
After that reboot the machine and load to Win7 and delete the XP Partition,and create the unalocated space as
the new space for the Win7 like you wanted.
Hope that helps.
 
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