Skip to main content

Windows 7 boot replacement

Thread needs solution

Hi everybody, first of all I apologize if the subject has been resolved somewhere but I couldnt find exactly what I was looking for so far.

Here is my case:
PC
Seagate - 2 partitions - Win XP/Win 7 (A)
Maxtor - 1 partition - Win 7 (B)

Due to a lot of problems with my Win 7 (A) installation I want to get rid of it and replace it with my Win 7 (B) installation which at the moment works fine.
What would be the easiest way to do it? and have a working dual boot on my Seagate?

PS all installations are backed up using the back up method (not sector by sector)

Thank you all in advance!

0 Users found this helpful

If you don't have applications installed somewhere else, and if the used space of B can fit on A, you can backup your Win 7 B and restore it on top of Win 7 A, using the recovery CD.
Using Windows disk management, (right click the computer icon on your desktop, choose manage, storage, disk managment), inspect your layout and find out if you have a system reserved partition close to your Win 7. If you have one there and not on the other disk, include this partition in your backup and restore it on the other disk (unless you feel comfortable leaving it on the Maxtor.

YOu will have then to decide what you want to do with Win 7 B, run the Windows DVD installation to repair your startup, use bootrec /scanOS to detect the bootable OSes, and /rebuildBDC to update your bootrecords and/or use a third party boot manager.

First of all thank you for your reply. I think that s what I did to merge the 2 installations (WinXP/Win7A) together.

A few more details:

The size of the installations is not a problem for me. The space I need from the target disc is enough although the actual HD size where Win7B is is larger.

What I am concerned is the MBR.

If my attachments uploaded correctly, you are going to see that there is an MBR partition on the Seagate (target disc) for installations WinXP/Win7A. But on the Maxtor (Win7B) there isnt...

Question... should I keep the MBR on the Seagate and once I transfer the Win7B installation I use the repair option of my Win7 CD? WIll it work since the Maxtor has already its own MBR?
Or, should I delete the MBR and Win7A partitions on the Seagate, merge them, format them, restore the Win7B and pray?

I apologize for any frustration and thanks again!

Attachment Size
98556-100822.jpg 23.86 KB
98556-100825.jpg 21.72 KB

Sakisus,
Your screenshots are showing the partitions, not the MBR. The MBR is a very small section of information at the beginning of disk that contains boot and partition layout information. The small space you see on the seagate is unallocated space: space on the disk that is not used by any partition.
Your boot information seems to be in the XP partition (marked active).
The H partition is not marked as a boot partition, so I guess you cannot boot on it. You delete that partition using Windows disk management or your favorite partition manager (like EaseUS or Acronis). Then all the space after F: will be unallocated.
Using the Acronis recovery CD, you will be able to restore C:\ on that disk onto that unallocated space.