Swapping System Drive Letters in Dual Boot Setup 1

[pjfarr]

I set up an XP/Win7 dual boot system using 2 partitions on a single hard disk (XP was pre-installed). All seemed to go smoothly, except for the fact that I couldn't boot from the Win7 DVD for some reason. The process would start loading files from the DVD but would keep stalling just after the progress bar got to 100% and disappeared. After several attempts and trying 2 different DVD drives, I ended up just running the Win7 setup.exe from XP and that got the install completed.

The problem is when I boot into Win7 the system drive is designated as "W:\" not "C:\" ("W" is the letter I assigned to it when creating the partition that would hold Win7). I hate this. Some people mentioned in different how-to's I checked out that their dual boot system automatically designates the system drive as "C:\" regardless of which OS they boot into or partition letters assigned to each OS. How can I get that to work?

Everything else seems to be working properly when in either XP or Win7.

 

[BadBigBen]

>> How can I get that to work?

reinstall... but this time from the DVD drive directly, just make sure that the DVD is set as first boot device and the OS drive as second, also make sure that no other drives are attached at this point...


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"

 

[pjfarr]

Thanks Ben.

I did mention though that I couldn't boot from the DVD, even though it was BIOS'ed properly to boot from the DVD drive first. It started to intall and began unpacking the Win7 files etc. but when the progress bar got to 100% the whole process stalled (see my OP). Also, I'm dual booting with separate partitions, not separate drives.

 

[BadBigBen]

then how about transferring the install files from the DVD to a USB pen drive? I know that some DVD or even SATA controllers drive the Win7 installer bonkers...

see:

How To: Install Windows 7 Or Windows 8 From USB Drive [Detailed 100% Working Guide]

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/

note: when you reinstall, make sure that the partition that has Win7 now, is blank, meaning DO NOT FORMAT it prior to installing, let Win7 handle that. Sometimes formatting will drive the SETUP program for a spin, it will not set some flags correctly, and in some cases I even experienced that it would just not install at all...

Also, I'm dual booting with separate partitions, not separate drives.

I caught that in the original post, but that did not exclude other drives from being present in the system... ;-)

I too dual boot, actually triple boot to be more precise, first partition is XP, second partition Win7, and on a separate drive Linux... and I too can confirm that Win7 or XP, which ever is booted and up and running, will have C:\ as the partition/drive designator...


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"

 

[pjfarr]

Hey Ben—thanks so much for that link. Looks like something I may try.

You say "when you reinstall, make sure that the partition that has Win7 now, is blank, meaning DO NOT FORMAT it prior to installing, let Win7 handle that." How do I "blank" the Win7 partition without formatting it?

 

[rclarke250]

Delete the partition, and do not do anything with the drive space, as windows 7 will actually create 2 partitions.

 

[BadBigBen]

Partially correct there RC, actually Win7 will not create a secondary partition if XP is already installed on the first partition, it will then use a folder called Boot[/b] instead, now if the drive is totally blank (no partitions) then it will create those two partitions you mentioned... ;-)

pjfarr, easiest way would be to use XP to blank the partition that Win7 resides in...

I'll provide a link later, as I got to run and get ready for work...


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"

 

[BadBigBen]

here is a quick link, sans pictures, just written instructions:

How to Delete a Windows XP Partition

http://www.ehow.com/how_5065982_delete-windows-xp-partition.html

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"

 

[pjfarr]

Ben, your help is really appreciated.

I did end up wiping the Win7 partition from XP, recreated it without a drive letter this time, and used the tutorial for installing from USB to get it installed properly. Now the system drive is always designated as "C:\" regardless of which OS I boot into. Just want I wanted.

Again, thanks!

 

[BadBigBen]

PJfarr,

I am glad that it worked for you and thank you for posting back...

Happy Holidays to you..


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"