Win7 installation not bootable without DVD in drive?

[AcaClone]

I have installed Win7 from scratch on my Vertex 30 GB drive.

The drive was previously partitioned into two partitions which I deleted during installation and created a new 30 GB partition.

The installation went fine. After the (external USB) DVD drive had been removed from the PC and I tried to reboot, I got the message that there was no bootable drive and asked to replace it and then hit any key - I do not recall the exact text right now. The Vertex drive is HDD2 and this is set as the second boot entry in Bios after the USB CD/DVD drive.

Setting the first drive to whatever and my Vertex as second will not boot. Also setting HDD2 as first device will not boot.

The only combination that DOES boot, is the one that was present during installation - that is USB CD/DVD drive as first device WITH THE installation disk in the drive and the HDD2 as the second device. In this case it appears that part of the boot information is loaded from the DVD but then the PC boots correctly from the Vertex / HDD2.

What gives??

Best regards
Kjeld Olesen

[RyderOCZ]

Hello,

I have had the same issue multiple times with Win 7. Did you allow it to create the 100MB partition on the Vertex?

This is not an issue with the Vertex, it is how Win 7 works for some reason. Yes it is using info on the DVD to boot properly.

[AcaClone]

Hi

I would have created a 100 GB partition if only I knew how to on a 30 GB disk ;-)

I have the following BCD

C:\>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=E:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {7b117742-cb40-11de-a856-ef18ad8c2fcd}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {7b117744-cb40-11de-a856-ef18ad8c2fcd}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {7b117742-cb40-11de-a856-ef18ad8c2fcd}
nx OptIn

So, if I understand this correctly, it attempts to boot from the E: drive, where there is no OS installed. But why does it then not display an option diring boot which entry to select??

EDIT: Oh, by the way - I tried this tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...t-how-use.html trying to fix the problem, so the current BCD should be a result of that.

Kjeld

[RyderOCZ]

I didn't say 100GB, I said 100MB

Windows 7, by default creates a 100MB partition, in addition to the "whatever size" partition I choose during installation. It puts the boot loader and other system files there and calls the partition "system reserved".

This partition is not visible once you are inside Windows 7.

You can see right there in your output that it is reading the boot loader files off the DVD (designated by E. It didn't write anything to the DVD, it just uses the boot loader from the DVD.

[AcaClone]

Actually the DVD is not E but rather G as there is a second HDD partitioned in two (D and E) and an internal CD drive (F).

Sorry, I did read you wrong. I was not aware of this 100 MB partition stuff.

/Kjeld

[phlegm]

I'm assuming you can boot without the Win7 DVD inserted if you select "E" as the first boot drive?

What you could potentially do is disconnect the "E" drive and boot with the DVD and do a startup repair, then reconnect it afterwards. Instructions for the startup repair in Win7 are here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...up-repair.html

I'm curious as to why the bootmgr wound up on "E" in the first place, i.e. why Win7 setup selected "E" for that 100MB partition instead of the SSD on "C". I was looking for a partition size logic for Win7 setup, but couldn't find anything to explain it. (In other words, was there something about the 30GB partition size it didn't like?)

[phlegm]

Think I figured out how the 100 MB partition wound up on your hard drive, "E", and not your SSD. By chance, is your hard drive on the first SATA port, i.e. "port 0", or sometimes referred to as "port 1"?

If so, looks like Win7 looks for the first available partition, and starts looking at the first SATA port.

[AcaClone]

Hi

Yes, the Vertex with Win7 on the C drive is on the second chanel, while the partitioned D+E drive is on the first chanel.

So, I should just set the E drive as the active partition and set the PC to boot from HDD1 rather than HDD2?? I tried that I guess already, though E may not have been the active partition?

Uppon installation of Win7 I did notice that the C drive was not set as being an active partition. I changed that hoping that it would solve the boot issue.

[Praz]

What should be done is the same that has worked from the time XP was first released. Install Windows with only the drive connected that is going to be installed to. Connect the other drives once the installation is finished. No sense trying to work around a problem that you are creating in the first place.

[AcaClone]

Hi

Just checked the status off the drives, C being the Vertex with Win7

HDD1, partition1: E:, system, active, primary
HDD1, partition2: D:, primary
HDD2, partition1: C:, boot, pagefile, active, crash dump, primary

[AcaClone]

I will try this fix

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...5-00205dcb0bcd

[AcaClone]

OK, I tried the fix listed in the above link from the install DVD, but it did not fix the problem.

First I tried the automatix fix, wich did identify the Windows installation but claimed that it boots fine :-(

Then tried the fix from the command promt

Bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
Bootrec /rebuildbcd

and got the message

---------------------------------------------------
Successfully scanned Windows installations.
Total identified Windows installations: 0
The operation completed successfully.
---------------------------------------------------

and the PC still will not boot without the DVD :-(

[phlegm]

What you could potentially do is disconnect the "E" drive and boot with the DVD and do a startup repair, then reconnect it afterwards. Instructions for the startup repair in Win7 are here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...up-repair.html

If you haven't tried my earlier suggestion, please give it a shot. They key is to disconnect the hdd with "E" on it, so that the startup repair looks to the SSD and (hopefully) fixes it.

I also like Praz' idea re only connecting the SSD if/when you want to start a fresh install. I have a 60GB Vertex on order, and that's what I'll do. Or, ensure that the SSD is connected to the first logical SATA port.

[AcaClone]

The fact that it is connected to the second port does seem to be the cause of the problem

Here is another simmilar case http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...6-f011524fef07

[phlegm]

Ah, gotcha. The repair tool doesn't see a Windows installation to repair. Poo.

I think I found an identical match to your issue here though, with a fix:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...-d65d9e8df62c/

In brief, you would switch the SATA ports so that your SSD is on the first logical port, then run the repair from the DVD. It should see the Win7 installation and repair the bootmgr issue at that point.

After more research, it looks like you can avoid the mystery 100MB partition altogether if you choose to install Win7 to a pre-partitioned and formatted drive. So, the "safe" way to install Win7 would be:

A - If you have multiple partitions, ensure the target drive is already partitioned and formatted prior to install of Win 7

OR

B - Ensure the target drive is on the first logical SATA port.

In scenario "A", it doesn't create the 100MB partition at all, and in scenario "B" it will at least create it on the drive you intend to hold Win7 - the first one it sees on SATA.

Bit of a funky setup logic - I'll have to confirm this at some point.


EDIT - I just thought of a nasty surprise if scenario "B" is correct. Let's say that like most people, you wipe out the partitions on a given drive during setup, then continue with setup. (You don't format or repartition before continuing.) From what I've read, I think Win7 creates that 100MB partition under those conditions.

If you use imaging software to backup what you *think* is your Win7 partition, it will not clone the 100MB partition. This could give you the bootmgr issue when trying to recover from a system problem via that image.

Looks like safest overall is option "A", where you pre-partition, and pre-format the target drive. I believe this avoids the 100MB partition entirely. (Please let me know if anyone knows otherwise.)