Moving "System, Active" to another Hard drive 1

[3dColor]

I have two operating systems installed on my computer. One is Vista and the other is Windows 7.

Vista is the original OS on my computer [d:] and I just installed Win7 on a new hard drive [c:].

I am done with my Vista drive and would like to remove it or use it as another backup drive but I can't remove it until the new c: drive has the System, Active status.

How can I move System, Active status to the new c: Win7 drive?

See screen shot of Disk Management here:

http://www.davecolorado.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/disc-management.png

 

[kjv1611]

Is that screenshot taken from within Windows Vista? If so, I think it'll automatically swap if you boot into 7. I could be wrong, but that seems accurate.

Since it's a separate hard drive, have you tried disconnecting the Vista hard drive just to see? That'd be my first option - disconnect Vista hard drive, see if the system boots into Windows 7. If it does, you're finished. ;p

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[Lemon13]

i go with kjv1611, it should be no problem.
to get rid of the vista entry in win7 bootmanager

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2676-bcdedit-how-use.html

M. Knorr

MCSE, MCTS, MCSA, CCNA

 

[BadBigBen]

now if it doesn't boot up with the W7 HDD alone, then don't despair, just place the W7 install DVD into the CD, boot from it and have it REPAIR the BOOT, and all will be OK from there...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[3dColor]

OK, I am reporting back with what I found.

The repair idea didn't work for some reason. I took pictures of what I tried and placed them on my web site of all the screen captures.

http://www.davecolorado.com/index.php/moving-system-active-to-another-hard-drive-2/

Please take a look at what I did to see if I did it right.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Lemon13]

try this way

http://www.syschat.com/dual-boot-vista-xp-vista-already-1946.html?garpg=3#content_start

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;927392&x=8&y=9

and make sure to boot from the win7 dvd (without the vista drive, check bios settings that the dvd is set and recognized correctly)

M. Knorr

MCSE, MCTS, MCSA, CCNA

 

[BadBigBen]

That is what I thought, that you would remove the VISTA drive first (not leave it in the system), then running the START UP REPAIR should fix that issue...

the reason why it did not work was the fact that the BOOT files where intact on the VISTA drive and W7 did not see a problem with that (obviously), when that drive is missing, W7 will not be able to boot, and thus you will need to create new BOOT FILES on the W7 drive, thereafter you can add back the VISTA drive and then reformat it...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[kjv1611]

Well, if you're still having issues, I'd suggest doing one of 2 things:
1. Make sure Vista drive is totally removed, and reinstll Windows 7. I know that sounds drastic, but you've already put more time into it than a reinstall would take.

2. With only the Windows 7 drive attached, boot from the UltimateBootCD, and use one of the boot managers or another similar app to correct your issue. The ones to choose from are:

Smart BootManager
Gujin
GAG
XOSL
Super Grub Disk

My initial thought is that the last one may be the best choice. Someone else may can verify or say a different one is better.

Then if those don't work, or you can't get anything on there to work, you can try one of these:

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best/free-boot-fix.html

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[3dColor]

Thanks everyone for the help.

I tried a bunch of stuff including bootrec.exe and other command prompt stuff but the registry was screwed so I started all over again with a clean install.

 

[firewolfrl]

Well did the reinstall work?


Here is the site you need if you need to do this over

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html

Here is a previous thread that pertains to your issue

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1574345

 

[kjv1611]

firewolfrl,

Thanks for the link to the multibooters site. It looks like a good reference from what I can tell so far.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me