# Change boot device on Windows 7



## drawbridgep (Apr 23, 2011)

I had a 300GB HDD with Vista installed. Disk 0
I bought a new 1TB HDD and installed it as Disk 1

I used a Windows 7 upgrade disk and installed Windows 7 to Disk 1
I assumed this would be fine since my system DOES have a valid Vista installation.

All worked fine and when I boot up I even get a dual boot option for Vista or Windows 7, both of which work fine.

I want to format Disk 0 and use it as backup storage. 

However, as a test, I removed the disk 0, expecting a boot into Windows 7 without any questions.

However, I get "NO BOOT DEVICE". The original drive is still seen as the primary boot drive, or has system files that both OS need. I checked the BIOS and the new drive is listed as the boot drive (after CD-ROM and Flash)

Therefore, my question is, how can I make my Windows 7 drive the boot device or system drive so that it works without the old Drive 0. 

I could stick with dual boot, but if (when) my old drive fails, I won't be able to run Windows 7 either.


just planning ahead. All help and suggtestions much appreciated.


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## usasma (Apr 11, 2009)

When you install a later version of Windows, it seeks out earlier versions and uses their boot structures (as you've discovered).

It depends on how you want to do this:
- you can use the Vista bootloader for both installations
- you can use the Windows 7 bootloader for both installations
- you can use each individual bootloader for it's respective installation (choosing the hard drive to boot from via the BIOS boot options menu).

Right now you have the first option - getting to the second/third option will require some gyrations but it is possible. Just let us know which one you want and we'll go from there.


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## drawbridgep (Apr 23, 2011)

To be honest, I really didn't expect Vista to still work. So I'm quite happy for Windows 7 to use it's own bootloader and then I'll format the drive with Vista on it.

Thanks for the quick reply, I think I might have actually found a forum that helps people rather than just pointing them to Google.


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## usasma (Apr 11, 2009)

If that's the case, then install each OS with only that drive in the system.
Then, when you first boot up you can select the drive that you want to boot from and you'll boot into that OS.

Rather than reinstalling, try running Startup Repair with only that drive in the system and let it fix things for you. Do it once for the Vista drive (using Vista Startup Repair), and once for the Win7 drive (using Win7 Startup Repair) and you should be good to go.


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## drawbridgep (Apr 23, 2011)

Thanks once again for replying. 

I tried the repair disk first with just the Windows 7 drive in.
It starts the repair and then gives a list of operating systems that are installed, but doesn't actually list any. I have the option to load a driver, but I'm not too sure what one it wants. Would this be the driver for my hard drive? It puts me into the system32 folder on the X: drive.

I also tried the install disk with only the Windows 7 drive installed. I'm not sure this will work. It asked if I wanted an upgrade installation, which I presume won't work since it's an upgrade and I removed the vista drive, or a custom one, which I'm reluctant to do until I've exhausted all other options.

I'm going out now but will play around more later.


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## usasma (Apr 11, 2009)

Use the Win7 installation disk and see what it does.
On the first or second screen there's an option to "Repair this computer" in the lower left corner of the screen. Use that to access Startup Repair. (see Step 4 in this link: System Recovery Options - Windows 7 Forums )

The driver that it's looking for is the storage controller driver on your motherboard. In most cases this is a SATA/RAID driver. Let us know the make and model of your motherboard (or make and model of the system if it's a pre-built system) and we'll see what we can find.


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## drawbridgep (Apr 23, 2011)

System Model
Compaq-Presario FJ379AA-ABA SR5518F

Board: Boston 1.0
800 megahertz
BIOS Phoenix Technologies LTD 5.10 06/11/08

I ran the startup repair and it says a lot of things which I don't really understand, but the last thing it says is:

Root cause found:

The partition table does not have a valid System Partition

Repair action: Partition table repair
Result: Completed successfully. Error code= 0x0
Time taken = 1607m

But Windows 7 still won't boot without the old vista drive plugged in.


Does any of this help you? I've already asked a lot and will understand if you can't help any further. I really hoped there was an easy way to move the boot up stuff from the old drive to the new one. But if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it.


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## drawbridgep (Apr 23, 2011)

AH! I think I might have it.

I unplugged the vista drive, booted with the original disk, got to a DOS prompt and then...

DISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK 0 (Which is now the Windows 7 drive)
LIST PARTITION
SELECT PARTITION 1 
ACTIVE
EXIT

Upon booting this gave me a bootmgr missing error, but I then repaired again and booted up. It still asked if I wanted to boot Vista or Windows 7. Even though the vista drive is unplugged AND it booted into Windows 7.

So this is great news. I now have a bootable Windows 7 and possibly a bootable Vista disk. 

I wanted to reply so you don't go to any more trouble right now.

.......OK, doesn't boot vista, but not a great loss. I was planning on reformatting that drive anyway.

I'm happy.


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## usasma (Apr 11, 2009)

DISREGARD THIS POST - I wrote it while you were posting your last.
********************************************************
We can continue to help - but it's getting a bit tricky here (I've only done this once or twice - and not in these exact circumstances).

I'd suggest a repair install of Windows 7 with only the Windows 7 drive being connected. Here's a set of instructions for it: Repair Install - Windows 7 Forums

Once you get Win7 working we can use a Windows tool to remove the Win7 stuff from the Vista drive.


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## usasma (Apr 11, 2009)

Download this free tool: Download EasyBCD 2.0.2 - NeoSmart Technologies
Use it to remove the Vista stuff from the Win7 installation boot structure (leave the Vista disk disconnected). Be careful, use System Restore, and backup the BCD Store first!

Once that's done, post back and we'll start work on getting Vista to work.


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## drawbridgep (Apr 23, 2011)

I'm actually really happy. I can now boot Windows 7 without the Vista drive, which was my original request. 

I've reformatted the old drive to use it for backups. So, there is no longer any Vista to repair  


I've used EasyBCD before. it got me out of a major problem about a year ago.
I may well use it to remove the traces of Vista. But for now, I'm happy.

I noticed a few other people with a similar issue, so maybe they'll come across this post.

Thanks again for all your help.


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