How to configure boot loader

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Purshu_Pro

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Hi friends i recently installed windows xp sp3 on a preinstalled windows 7 machine. I was not getting the bios option of selecting different OS's. I used some methods to configure that menu, and now i am not able to boot to windows 7. I am getting an error

"windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt <Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
Please reinstall a copy of the above file."

Can MT members help me fix this?
 

BoraMurdar

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Did you try :
  • Using your Windows 7 installation disc, boot to the command prompt at startup.
  • Type in these comands below, and press enter after each one.
    • bootrec /FixMbr
    • bootrec /FixBoot
    • bootrec /RebuildBcd
  • Exit the command prompt and restart the computer.
 
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viktik

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If i got it correct you are able to boot into windows xp but there is no boot option for windows 7.

Install Easybcd.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/EasyBCD.shtml

Start it

Select "Add new entry"
Under Operating systems-> Windows select
Select type "Windows vista/7/8"
Name it "Microsoft windows 7"

Select the Drive in which windows 7 is installed



EASYBCD WINDOWS 7_03-03-2015_20-39-54.jpg


Click "Add Entry"

EASYBCD WINDOWS 7_03-03-2015_20-40-01.jpg


Now you should get a boot entry for windows 7 along with windows xp
 

Purshu_Pro

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I just tried the recovery. Now windows 7 is working and xp is showing error.
 

BoraMurdar

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I just tried the recovery. Now windows 7 is working and xp is showing error.
The first thing we need to do is create a new partition on the Windows 7 machine. Luckily we can do it without any 3rd party software. To begin, click on Start and type either partition or disk management into the search box and at the top of the menu click on Create and format hard disk partitions.

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The Disk Management window opens, and from here we need to free up space on the (C:) drive Windows 7 is installed on. Right-click on the drive and select Shrink Volume.

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A window pops up showing the drive is being queried for available space.

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Now enter the amount of space you want to shrink the volume. You’re shown the total size of the disk and the amount of size that is available to shrink. In this example we’re freeing up 40GB of space.

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After the process completes you’ll see the new Unallocated space. Right-click that and selectNew Simple Volume.

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The New Simple Volume Wizard launches which is a straight forward process. When you get to the Format Partition section, NTFS is selected by default as the file system and you can leave that as is. You might want to rename the Volume label something else like “XP Partition” so it’s easier to identify when installing XP. Also you’ll probably want to make sure to check Perform a Quick Format.

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After the format is complete you will see the new volume as a healthy partition listed.

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Now when you go into My Computer you’ll see the the new disk and notice that space has been taken away from the (C:) drive Windows 7 is installed on.

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Install XP on the New Partition

Now that you know how to create a new partition on your Windows 7 machine, it’s time to install XP on it. Here we’re installing XP Professional on the new partition. Boot from the XP installation disk and start the install process.

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When it comes to choosing a partition, make sure you select the one you created using the steps above. In this example we made a 10GB partition for the XP install.

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If the partition you created was already formatted as NTFS you can leave it, or you can choose the FAT file system if you want.

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Basically you continue through as if you were doing a clean install on any hard drive.

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Create Boot Loader

Once installation of XP is successful you can now go through and install the latest Microsoft Updates and drivers. You will undoubtedly notice that the machine is booting directly into XP at this time. This is due to XP writing it’s bootloader over Windows 7’s. To get both XP and Windows 7 as an option at the boot screen you can use the free utility EasyBCD 1.72 or their new 2.0 Beta.

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After getting the bootloader back you should see both XP and Windows 7 as options in the Windows Boot Manager.

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Purshu_Pro

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@BoraMurdar my partition is turned to logical drive. Does that affect any settings?
And also i'm using EasyBCD 2.2. How to configure that?
 

Purshu_Pro

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Yes it can. Boot files of all versions are the same.
@BoraMurdar , the product was with genuine windows 7 home basic, can i restore it the same way as it was before? Since i tried dualbooting and it was unsuccessful i want to make it to its first condition. Can i do it?
 

BoraMurdar

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@BoraMurdar , the product was with genuine windows 7 home basic, can i restore it the same way as it was before? Since i tried dualbooting and it was unsuccessful i want to make it to its first condition. Can i do it?
Do you have a recovery partition (pre-partitioned with machine) and recovery boot disk/USB?
 

Purshu_Pro

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Aug 3, 2013
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Do you have a recovery partition (pre-partitioned with machine) and recovery boot disk/USB?
Ya it has. But its not visible in "My computer", and it shows in "Disk management". So i reinstalled it it before several times before installing XP and then reinstalled it when i was getting errors with XP. When both 7 and XP were successful installed as fresh i tried configuring with EasyBCD as u had mentioned. But what was happening is that i used to get error when i tried to write new MBR for windows 7. So by the next time i restart the PC it shows NTLDR not found error and XP also doesn't boot properly.
Thanks.
 

BoraMurdar

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Aug 30, 2012
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Ya it has. But its not visible in "My computer", and it shows in "Disk management". So i reinstalled it it before several times before installing XP and then reinstalled it when i was getting errors with XP. When both 7 and XP were successful installed as fresh i tried configuring with EasyBCD as u had mentioned. But what was happening is that i used to get error when i tried to write new MBR for windows 7. So by the next time i restart the PC it shows NTLDR not found error and XP also doesn't boot properly.
Thanks.
Can you screenshot me your partitions in Disk Management?
 
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