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    Dual Boot Problem: XP And 7

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Santiago.AM1, Feb 5, 2009.

  1. Santiago.AM1

    Santiago.AM1 Newbie

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    Hello;

    So I formatted my XPS M1530 using this guide ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=212981) and everything worked perfect.

    But when I rebooted, I realised that the computer booted directly to XP and didn't let me choose between XP and 7. Normal, I thought, so I stuck in the W7 CD and selected the "repair" option. This did the trick very neatly, repairing the W7 install. The only problem was that now it will boot ONLY to W7 and I still have no selection screen for the OS.


    Any help would be much appreciated,
    Thanks for your time!
     
    Santiago.AM1, Feb 5, 2009
    #1
  2. arjunned

    arjunned Notebook Deity

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    which OS did you install first?
     
    arjunned, Feb 5, 2009
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  3. Big Mike

    Big Mike Notebook Deity

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    you may want to download easybcd edit and use it to add an entry for your XP install. It's a pretty painless tool for editing your boot table. I would have to assume he installed XP last, if you install win7 last it should automatically set up the boot entry for the XP install.
     
    Big Mike, Feb 5, 2009
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  4. Santiago.AM1

    Santiago.AM1 Newbie

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    True Big Mike, I installed W7 first.

    I'll give easybcd a go to see if it solves my problem. What I found strange was that the W7 CD could not detect the XP install and properly fix the boot!
     
    Santiago.AM1, Feb 5, 2009
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  5. Santiago.AM1

    Santiago.AM1 Newbie

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    Can't seem to get it to work with easybcd.

    I'm thinking that perhaps the problem is that W7 doesnt recognise the XP partition at all, because when i go to "computer" it doesnt appear...

    Do you guys think formatting W7 would solve the problem?
     
    Santiago.AM1, Feb 5, 2009
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  6. Big Mike

    Big Mike Notebook Deity

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    Can you open up control panel -> administrative tools -> computer management -> local disk management and show us a screen shot of whats there?
     
    Big Mike, Feb 5, 2009
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  7. arjunned

    arjunned Notebook Deity

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    you have to setup easyBCD from xp itself. for some reason i couldnt get it to work with W7.
     
    arjunned, Feb 5, 2009
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  8. Santiago.AM1

    Santiago.AM1 Newbie

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    [​IMG]

    Here it is. Hope you can help me out
     
    Santiago.AM1, Feb 5, 2009
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  9. Big Mike

    Big Mike Notebook Deity

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    I take it that big ole partition at the start of the drive with no drive letter is XP? If so you need to assign it a drive letter (right click it and it should be an option), then you should be able to point easybcd edit at it and use it to add it to the boot menu.
     
    Big Mike, Feb 5, 2009
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  10. Santiago.AM1

    Santiago.AM1 Newbie

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    I solved it! Don't ask me how, i think easybcd did it, although im really not sure what button did the job as i wasnt too sure how to go about it. However, its back and running and I now have the OS selection screen at bootup.

    What would happen though, if i wipe W7 one of these days? how could I restore the MBR for XP-only before wiping?
     
    Santiago.AM1, Feb 6, 2009
    #10