Win7 boot manger hijacked OSS

Was any type of Windows 7 boot repair done? I don't see how the files would have gotten there otherwise since normal Windows operations don't move or copy these files.

If you have a standard XP CD, you could boot to it and enter the Recovery Console. Then run the fixboot command.

The BOOTWIZ.OSS file shows everything booting from one partition (I assume this is the XP partition).

When I load the recovery console, it asks which windows installation I want, but it only list one: D windows which is the win7 system. Then when I enter that it asks for a password and then I'm stopped. I've never setup a password for the console. Is there a way around that? When ever this problem occured I had a new operating system in the OSS menu. It was listed as an unknow system. When I entered that one from OSS, it turned out to be the win7 system, I do not know if that is a clue. I'm wondering if I uninstal OSS and reinstal if that might do it. If so which system would I install it from? Thanks for your reply.

Does Windows 7 boot directly from its drive? For example, if you deactivate OSS (don't uninstall) and then set the BIOS to boot the Windows 7 drive, does it boot successfully into Windows? If so, it would indicate that the original booting files are still valid on the drive. If not, they may be repairable or they may need moved from the XP partition.

The problem is that the process of booting XP has been taken over by the Windows 7 boot loader. Whenever boot repairs are necessary it is important to isolate the OS partitions so the repair program does not see any other OS.

Did you try just pressing ENTER when asked for the password? This works on some systems. Others have a fit are a pain to access. You could use the Windows 7 DVD (or System Repair Disc) to reset the boot sector if you can't get the Recovery Console to let you. Boot to Repair Mode and select the Command Prompt. Then run bootsect /nt52 x: (where "x:" is the drive letter assigned to the XP partition). It's possible you may need use the "force" option (bootsect /nt52 x: /force) if the program can't get a lock on the partition.

I tryed using the Acronis fix mbr disk and now I cant boot to either system. I'm going to restore both systems with TI to an earlier state a couple days back and see if that might do it. After that I'll try what you suggest. Win7 did boot when I deactivated oss, and pressing enter didn't do it on the password ... well back to work on this thank MudCrab.

Just an update, after restoring xp I now get to the oss menu and when I go to the xp system I still get the win7 boot manager and from there I can succesfully go to win xp, but win7 is broke. I'm relaxing a bit now cause I know my backup works (xp is my important os.) And I don't mind expermenting on this now.

Ok so now after running bootsect on drive c: everthing works as far as xp goes. But when I try to load win7 from the oss menu I get an error: Disk read error occured. I tried restoring win 7 and that didn't help. I then restored the mbr and still the same message. I wonder if the bootsect /nt52 might fix win7? I'll wait to hear your suggestion, but thank you very much for getting xp to work.

Don't use "/nt52" on a Windows 7 partition (it's the wrong code). "/nt60" would be the correct option, but I don't think that's the problem here.

If you want to try an automatic repair of the Windows 7 partition:

1. Delete the bootmgr file and the boot folder from the XP partition.
2. Set the BIOS to boot the Windows 7 drive first.
3. Boot to the DD CD and set the Windows 7 partition Active and hide the XP partition.
4. Boot to the Windows 7 DVD and enter Repair Mode. It should try to fix the problem and request a reboot. Note that it may take several times (up to 3) for this to work since it doesn't repair multiple problems in a single pass.
5. Once Windows 7 is booting correctly, change the BIOS boot order back the original order (XP drive first).
6. Boot into OSS and it should detect the new Windows 7 system. Delete the old/invalid entries.

I did all you said in your last post and everything is now working. Now the boot subdirectory is on the win7 drive. I'm curious though because there is still a boot subdirectory on the xp drive. Inside it contains a bcd file. If I rename that directory then win7 boots, but xp doesn't. At least when I boot to xp from the oss menu it goes directly to the program and not to the win7 boot mgr. So I guess win7 is still hijacking a little, or maybe its just the way its suppose to be. Thanks again for fixing my problem for me.

I'm not quite understanding the situation. OSS is currently booting both XP and Windows 7 okay, but XP won't boot if you rename the \boot folder?

Can you post the current BOOTWIZ.OSS file and a screenshot of what Windows 7 shows for Disk Management? I can take a look at it and maybe see what it's doing.

Yes thats correct. Everything boots fine from oss. I had noticed in xp there was still a boot folder with a bcd file in it. Before we fixed things it had several files. I tryed renaming that folder and then I couldn't boot to xp any more.

I hope this is what you wanted.

Here is the way win7 sees it.

When you try to boot XP and the \boot folder has been renamed, is it still through OSS or is it when OSS has been deactivated?

When it fails to boot, is there any error message? Exactly what happens?

It happens either way. I get a win7 error message that says : file \boot\bcd not found and it wants me to put in the win7 disk to try and repair. It looks like win7 took over my xp system some how.

Success! I retryed deleteing bootmanager and the boot folder from XP and rebuilding the win7 boot. I think the first time it didn't work because I think I didn't commit the process of hiding the xp drive. This time it worked and both systems are booting the way they are suppose to. Thanks again MudCrab for helping me solve this wierd problem.

That makes more sense. I'm glad you got it figured out. It's usually better to fully isolate an OS before doing any automatic repairs, especially when detecting any other OS can cause problems.