Adding Windows 7 to OSS
Hello I'm having a trouble following the guide. Can you please help me add the Windows 7 of mine to the OS selector? I'm trying to dual boot Windows 7 and Mac OS X but Windows 7 is not showing up on the OS selection menu.
Please find my atached boot wiz file.
Thank you
However the full version would not even install telling me it didn't support W7. Is there a work around for this?
If you want DD installed in Windows 7, you have to use the previous build (2,160). If you don't have that build, you need to request it from Acronis Support. Be aware that there may be problems with it in Windows 7, especially if you're also planning on (or are) using any of the current builds of TI. Some people have reported success in downloading the older build themselves by logging into their account, copying the download link for the new build, pasting it into the browser address box and editing it for the 2,160 build.
Does anyone know when the v7-compliant version will be available and whether it would be a free upgrade.
Only Acronis knows that information and they don't release it. It's been hinted that there may be something in December or sometime soon in the next year. Basically, it's anybody's guess.
Please help me :,( i have huge problem....i have windows xp(232gb) and windows 7 (232gb partition)
i have installed the acronis and i can t find the win7 boot logo!!!!please help !!!!!
thanx
Try the attached BOOTWIZ file and see if it works. Your XP entry looks wrong, but I didn't make any changes to it. It appears to be setting the Windows 7 partition Active instead of the XP partition.
Hello I'm having a trouble following the guide.
Can you elaborate on which part you were having trouble following?
Can you please help me add the Windows 7 of mine to the OS selector? I'm trying to dual boot Windows 7 and Mac OS X but Windows 7 is not showing up on the OS selection menu.
Try the attached BOOTWIZ file and see if it works.
I use Acronis Disk Director Suite v 10.0 (build 2 161)
MudCrab asks:If you boot directly to the RAID 0 drive, does Windows 7 boot normally?
yes.
Have you tried using the Disk Order option for the Windows 7 entry and setting the Windows 7 drive first in the list?
Yes. The black screen and the blinking cursor.
There are cases where OSS has a problem correctly booting Vista/Win7 from the non-booting drive. This may be one of them. I didn't really expect the Disk Order option to work, but it was worth a try. That feature just doesn't work well with any Windows OS later than XP.
I'm not seeing anything wrong in the BOOTWIZ.OSS file. However, I am surprised that XP boots when you try to boot Windows 7 from OSS. The XP partition is set to be hidden and that usually causes problems for Windows when that partition is accessed.
Hello,
I'm having trouble adding Window 7 on acronis os selector menu. It only shows the MacOSX partition of mine. I tried to re-install the os selector and now I have a different bootwiz file which I attached. All I want to accomplish is to add the Windows 7 on the boot menu.
Squal Leonheart,
Try the attached file. It's based on the file you attached to Post #107.
Please understand that my time is rather limited right now and it may be a little while before I can respond. If you make changes like that to the file prior to my response, please update your post with the correct file so I don't have to make the changes again.
Also, you said you were having problems following the guide. I would appreciate it if you could provide some more information on this. If there's something that needs to be presented differently to help users better understand it, I can update it. If you don't want to post this, please send me a PM.
mudcrab realy thnx for the quick responce ... the problem remains :( i can t boot windows 7
... something else to try ???
thanx
Chris Nanos,
Exactly what happens when you try to boot Windows 7 from the updated BOOTWIZ file?
Have you ever been able to boot into Windows 7? If so, how? (This is to help determine what's wrong with how OSS is configured.) I assume, for example, that it booted correctly during the installation and after it was installed, but before installing/reactivating OSS.
What build of DD/OSS are you using?
Are the booting files for Windows 7 on the Windows 7 partition? If so, the bootmgr file and Boot folder should exist in the root directory of the Windows 7 partition. You will need to enable viewing of hidden and system files to see them. If they exist on the XP partition, they will need to be moved.
Many thanks for the hint. I finally managed to download build 2160 using the way you suggested:
'Some people have reported success in downloading the older build themselves by logging into their account, copying the download link for the new build, pasting it into the browser address box and editing it for the 2,160 build.'
It works a treat. Now to wait for the 'official' W7 version - due this month so Tech Support tell me.
Hello MudCrab,
I'm also having pb adding windows 7.
I'm using build 2173, Disk Director is installed on XP
drive 0 :
- partition 1 primary : XP (detected)
- partition 2 primary : Windows 7 (not detected)
drive 1, 1 partition : regular data, no OS
drive 2 : 4 partitions (4 hard drives using RAID 5)
PS : in windows 7 drive there is also a file : I:\BOOTWIZ\context.oss
thanks in advance
I tried to do it by myself but it still doesn't work
the two icons appear during startup (xp and win 7) but when I select win 7 it says that the starting sector cannot be read.
please find attached the modified file
I also forgot to mention that the XP partition is 79.7 Go and the Win 7 partition 60 Go
for the moment i have to "set as active" manually if I wanna switch from one OS to another one
thanks for your help.
pashou,
Try the attached file.
pashou,Try the attached file.
great, it works! thank you very much.
I have OSS and successfully installed WinXP, Fedora, and Win7. Every time I boot Win7, upon rebooting, Win7 bootmgr seems to take over and OSS is not available to select the OS to boot. Any help is appreciated.
What build of OSS are you using?
Which partition contains the OSS files?
Are you having to reactivate OSS after booting into Windows 7 to be able to boot into your other operating systems?
Are you getting any error messages on booting (MBR Error 3, etc.)?
Why you need the OSS at all? when you install Windows 7 on to the top of XP or Vista it will crete boot menu automatically. I'm happy with that ))))
...Microsoft's boot manager doesn't allow for isolated installations of Windows or hidden partitions.
@Tolique X (and MudCrab fyi) I have discovered the hard way that while installing Windows 7 into a 2nd partition on my XP startup drive does result in a nice, easy dual-boot situation, it renders Windows System Restore inoperable, which for me is painful to say the least. Can't tell you how many times SR has saved my butt. However, when you have a dual-boot setup like this, booting into XP deletes any/all Win7 restore points, and no amount of fiddling seems to fix it. I started trying a registry tweak to not mount the W7 partition, deleted the drive label for the W7 partition in XP, and finally even Disable the System Restore service in XP, all to no avail! Deletes the W7 restore points every time!
So now I'm faced with either giving-up on XP entirely, or trying to get OSS to work on this setup, which appears non-trivial at best given that the XP partition is the boot partition (yes I've looked at MC's "Separating XP and Vista" oh my).
My questions for MudCrab:
1. I have ADD10 but have never used OSS--am I correct in assuming that OSS can hide the W7 partition when booting into XP
2. If yes--can you tell me in what sequence I need to attempt this i.e. do I separate XP and Win7 first and then install OSS, or vicey-versa.
TIA for any advice.
tomf,
1. Yes. OSS should be able to hide the Windows 7 partition from XP.
2. You should separate XP and Windows 7 before installing OSS.
---
OSS may not detect Windows 7 (I haven't tried the latest build yet). If it doesn't, it can be added manually.
If you can, create a backup image of the drive before making any changes. This will allow you to return to the current state and start over, if necessary.
Moving the Windows 7 booting files to the Windows 7 partition is easier than my guide shows (I haven't gotten around to updating it yet). You can do that part from Windows 7 (see the commands in this post). XP would still need to be fixed as in the guide.
---
If you want to test if the separation is working and there's no problem with the Restore Points, you can test it manually using DD without needing to install OSS. I would recommend doing this.
Do the separation (move the Windows 7 booting files to the Windows 7 partition, repair XP), then boot to DD from the DD CD and set the appropriate settings for which OS you want to boot:
- For Windows 7, set the Windows 7 partition Active and hide the XP partition. Apply the changes. Reboot.
- For XP, set the XP partition Active and hide the Windows 7 partition. Apply the changes. Reboot.
Doing this manually simulates what OSS would be doing.
...OSS should be able to hide the Windows 7 partition from XP....
Sincere thanks for your careful and complete reply. I'll give these steps a try and post what I find out. :)
EDIT: Well in surfing my brains out on this situation, owing to my discomfort with the complex instructions, I found a couple of free utilities from NeoSmart that do everything I wanted; EasyBCD (v2.0beta) and Vista HnS. In one click EasyBCD changed my boot drive/System partition from the original XP partition to the new W7 partition, and then in another operation it moved NTLDR back to the XP partition (it had moved everything to the W7 partition initially, but I didn't want one partition dependent on the other). No muss no fuss--great stuff.
The HnS app (Hide n Seek) hides partitions from the other OS, getting around Vista/W7 anomalies though I found a registry hack that works at least wrt System Restore. So it turns-out I don't need Acronis OSS at all.
Please help me. I do not see the windows 7 OSS
e.g. (Image attached)
w_security -> WIN 7 (??)
NTFS(C:) -> VISTA (OK)
BTMAGIC(Q:) -> (OSS install)
DOCUMENTOS -> (my docs)
OTHERS (G:) -> (docs)
Alex (Brasil)
Alex,
I replied in your other thread.
Hello MudCrab,
It's me agian, I did a complete wipe out of my pc and now having the same problem I had before about the Windows 7 not showing on the OS Selector menu. Please help one more time. thanks
Squal Leonheart,
Try the attached file.
That worked perfect. Can you please help on more time on my friend's bootwiz? I appreciate it. thanks
Is the Windows 7 partition the 152GB partition on the first hard drive?
Hi Mudcrab,
I have been thanking you for a long time for all you help
and the effort that goes into it.
I would like to know if you have documented the method
you use to add windows 7 to OSS?
Easy steps and the logic behind them would be GREAT!!!
Again many thanks....
Jerry Smith,
The guide is linked first post of this thread.
Hi MudCrab,
Have tried to study your tutorial on your website, thought I could do it. But every time it just creates a new bootwiz.oss and eventually erased one of my (running) OSs.
100GB HDD
XP Pro, iDeneb 1.3 (Leopard 10.5.5), and now I have tried to add 7 Pro - 32 bit.
I also have the remainder of my hard drive in FAT32 for transferring data across OSs
For now I can use Chameleon in the iDeneb partition that came with the install to boot into all 3, as opposed to just XP and OSX in OSS. I'll post my bootwiz.oss and a screen shot of my DD in manual.
Thank you so much
Reed Dier,
Try the attached file. I assume that Windows 7 was installed so that its booting files are on the Windows 7 partition (not the XP partition).
Also, make sure you're using build 2,160 or later of OSS.
That worked beautifully. I can't wait to look over the code and figure out what was wrong. Thanks again for the fast response!
Sorry but...I really do not understand the process of manually add Win 7 in OSS. I do not understand:
1. How do I know the first "id+9 digits"? Is it really can become any digits I like?
2. How do I know the second id(disk ID), which is located the partition ID? Can I find it directly through Disk director suite? If I can, what is the procedure?
Sorry for my question but I really cannot understand although I have read these posts carefully. I have no experience in programming, and I do not know what are those command mean....
Tyler Lui,
If you haven't read Understanding the BOOTWIZ.OSS File, it may help.
---
1. You can use any ID number you want as long as it's not already being used for an OS. For example, if you have an OS ID value of "id3426781", you couldn't use that number again because you can't have duplicates. I usually just take an existing ID value and change the last two numbers. Using the previous ID example, I might make the new entry use "id3426792" (assuming that number isn't being used).
2. The Disks are listed at the top of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file (as explained in the above link). Each partition references a Disk (by ID). You only need the Disk ID value to find the Partition ID value. The OS entries only use the Partition ID values (unless you're enabling the Disk Order feature).
Hi Mudcrab,
Sorry if this has been covered before (I had a quick scan through all 3 (long) pages of this thread.
I have successfully got 2 x Windows 7 64 bit partitions and 1 XP partition all on the same disk and working correctly with OSS. Yesterday I had to restore one of the Win 7 partitions with True Image, and after the restore - it would not boot from OSS. My normal procedure form here is to:
- de-activate OSS and boot from th eproblem partition (with the other 2 hidden)
- boot from the Win & DVD and let it "repair"
- boot into the partition and go to a DOS prompt and run BCD edit
I get it to look like the attached screen shot.
- I usually have to type BCDEDIT /delete {long hex number}
Now I'm sure Windows 7 only sees my one partition and isn't relying on any other partitions to boot.
Normally this works OK - but yesterday, every time I re-activated OSS, I got the boot error.
Eventually I realised that rather than re-activating OSS, I had to
- boot the Acronis CD
- choose *Install* OSS
- choose to repair the installation
This created a new choice for me - and worked perfectly! I deleted the duff choice, and changed the name of the new one and it works great.
Do you know why this should be? The only thing that's changed is the big long number in bootwiz.oss that comes after "system_root_identifier=". Just a few digits in the middle are different. There's no way I'd get this right with your manual method of editing bootwiz.oss (which I never even thought of until checking your web site a little while ago). It changed from
system_root_identifier="000000000000000000000000000000000600000000000000480000000000000000f6863d45000000000000000000000000000000010000002e30210a00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\Windows"
to
system_root_identifier="000000000000000000000000000000000600000000000000480000000000000000d2777f36000000000000000000000000000000010000002e30210a00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\Windows"
All I did was restore an image of the partition over itself - nothing related to Windows and booting had changed.
I'm up and running again after a few hours of swearing and trying things over and over - but I just thought I'd post for the sake of mutual learning (until we ever get a version of OSS that's Windows 7 aware)
rgds,
John Braner
EDIT I like the way the long lines don't wrap and just keep on going ;-)
John,
When you created the image of the Windows 7 partition that you restored, had OSS already been setup to boot it?
Which partition holds the main BOOTWIZ folder? Was it on the partition you restored?
Had the Windows 7 partition never been restored before (or, if it was, not reimaged after the restore)?
Any one of these could have caused problems. I prefer to have OSS installed to a non-OS partition. OSS saves the partition's ID value on the partition. If the partition changes and a new value gets assigned, the "link" to the manual OS entry is broken.
I'm surprised that OSS picked up the Windows 7 installation and set the identifier value. What build of OSS are you using?
You don't need to worry about the identifier value when adding the entry manually. It's just left out.
I requested a scrolling CODE box for data like that when the forum started, but it hasn't been implemented.
John,
When you created the image of the Windows 7 partition that you restored, had OSS already been setup to boot it?
Which partition holds the main BOOTWIZ folder? Was it on the partition you restored?
Had the Windows 7 partition never been restored before (or, if it was, not reimaged after the restore)?
Any one of these could have caused problems. I prefer to have OSS installed to a non-OS partition. OSS saves the partition's ID value on the partition. If the partition changes and a new value gets assigned, the "link" to the manual OS entry is broken.
I'm surprised that OSS picked up the Windows 7 installation and set the identifier value. What build of OSS are you using?
You don't need to worry about the identifier value when adding the entry manually. It's just left out.
I requested a scrolling CODE box for data like that when the forum started, but it hasn't been implemented.
Hi mudcrab,
John,
When you created the image of the Windows 7 partition that you restored, had OSS already been setup to boot it?
OSS has been installed for years (the image was from last week). This partition wasn't the "active" one at backup time though. I didn't think that should matter.
Which partition holds the main BOOTWIZ folder? Was it on the partition you restored?
The BOOTWIZ folder is on *another* extended partition on the same drive. It's a data partition and all the other partitions can see it. I'm sure I got that tip from you on this forum when I first installed OSS.
Had the Windows 7 partition never been restored before (or, if it was, not reimaged after the restore)?
I think I actually have restored this partition before - not from this partitcular backup though.
Any one of these could have caused problems. I prefer to have OSS installed to a non-OS partition. OSS saves the partition's ID value on the partition. If the partition changes and a new value gets assigned, the "link" to the manual OS entry is broken.
Something about the partition must have changed when I restored...
[/quote]
I'm surprised that OSS picked up the Windows 7 installation and set the identifier value. What build of OSS are you using?[/quote] I know - sometimes it does for me, but I can't *make* it discover Win 7 partitions. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. I think I'm using the latest build - it's "DiskDirectorSuite10.0.2239_s_en"
You don't need to worry about the identifier value when adding the entry manually. It's just left out.
I requested a scrolling CODE box for data like that when the forum started, but it hasn't been implemented.
OSS is a strange beast ;-) It's pretty good with XP etc, but it really needs some prodding with Windows 7. I wasted a lot of time with it last night, and the restore should have been straightforward. I thought I'd seen all of it's "quirks" - but I guess not ;-)
Tyler Lui,
If you haven't read Understanding the BOOTWIZ.OSS File, it may help.
---
1. You can use any ID number you want as long as it's not already being used for an OS. For example, if you have an OS ID value of "id3426781", you couldn't use that number again because you can't have duplicates. I usually just take an existing ID value and change the last two numbers. Using the previous ID example, I might make the new entry use "id3426792" (assuming that number isn't being used).
2. The Disks are listed at the top of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file (as explained in the above link). Each partition references a Disk (by ID). You only need the Disk ID value to find the Partition ID value. The OS entries only use the Partition ID values (unless you're enabling the Disk Order feature).
Many thanks for MudCrab! Without your help, I surely cannot create Win7 in OSS menu. Now I understand those two id represent and where I can find them. Again thanks for your help.
Hi Mudcrab,
I am at a loss on re-establishing my setup to a point BEFORE I did a ADD11 overwrite of my ADD10-OSS setup. Did NOT do backups of my BOOTWIZZ directories and here I am.
Please do your magic for me again.
Attached is a text copy of my bootwiz.oss file named bootwiz-oss_Jerry_Smith.txt
and a snapshot of my Diskdirector screen named DiskDirector_Jerry_Smith.jpg.
The Windows 7 partition is called Main7.
If you can add Win 7 to it I would be VERY grateful...
Thanks,
Jerry
Jerry,
Try the attached file.
** Duplicate Post **
Hi MudCrab,
I put in the bootwiz.oss file you sent me and it does not work right.
When I select Win7 it says something about unknown OS.
Also I have 2 WinXP OS's in my setup, not 1.
HELP...
MANY THANKS,
Jerry
Hi MudCrab,
I will try this again from scratch.
Steps:
01: boot rescue CD DD10 till all directories show as NOT HIDDEN.
02: boot rescue CD
select OS selector setup
select uninstall OSS
select choose which OS to boot into
select MAIN2 as boot OS
03: boot rescue CD and select Disk Director in Safe Mode ( due to SATA HD's )
verify all directories are NOT hidden.
04: boot rescue CD
select OS Selector setup
accept agreement
enter key code
select custom
select directory to install OSS into ( H: APPS - a non OS directory )
05: eject CD and allow system booting
only MAIN2 ( WinXP ) selection is shown
06: used WinXP selection and verified that all directories are NOT hidden.
The curse of this is my own fault when I did not do a backup of all BOOTWIZ directories before
I did an uninstall of DD10 and the OSS to test DD11 beta.
I have attached a new set of files for you to look over:
JWS_BOOTWIZ_OSS_20100506-1057.txt
JWS_DIRECTORIES_20100506-1057.jpg
Hope this helps shed some light on my problem and in so doing help others....
Thanks a Big Bunch,
Jerry
Jerry,
Please attached the current BOOTWIZ.OSS file and let me know which partitions contain the operating systems (use the label names). I need to see the current file because OSS sometimes makes changes when something doesn't work.
Jerry,
Just saw your last post. I'll take a look at it.
Hi MudCrab,
The attached BOOTWIZ.OSS ( txt ) file is the most current from the end of the test from my previous
e-mail.
My main boot directory is MAIN2 which is WinXp sp3 pro corp.
MAIN3 is a cherry copy of WinXp sp3 pro corp I plan on using to create ThinAPP's from.
MAIN7 is my Win7 OS.
Is there anything else I can do?
Jerry
Jerry,
Can you check the MAIN3 partition and verify if the boot.ini file exists on it? If it doesn't, create one (copy it from MAIN2, if necessary) and make sure both "partition(#)" values are set to "4" (it's the fourth Primary partition).
I ask because OSS isn't showing the file on that partition, which is probably why it didn't find XP.
Hi MudCrab,
Like this:
[boot loader]
;timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
Jerry
P.S. it was missing in MAIN3...
Jerry,
Try this file.
Hi MudCrab,
MAIN2 and MAIN3 boot ok...
However I get a message that OSS was unable to load Windows 7 OS - the file system type
is not supported.
Also there is no MAIN7 partition boot.ini file if that makes any difference...
Jerry
Did OSS pick up another MAIN3 OS entry or is the one I added the only one?
There wouldn't be a boot.ini file in the Windows 7 partition (it doesn't use it). The Windows 7 partition should have bootmgr and the boot folder.
Did you make any partitioning changes with DD 11? Some of the partitions are being reported with a different size than before. Does chkdsk report any errors on the Windows 7 partition?
What build of OSS are you using?
Can you attach the current BOOTWIZ.OSS file so I can see if OSS made any changes?