New install Doesn't Boot

Hello,

I have had Windows 8 installed on VMware from shortly after is was available until now because I feel all the problems that we can read through the forum and on a recent thread. Now I wanted to try the new 8.1. I installed on a new small HD with the Windows 7 Installation disk plugged out. After installing, I reconnected the disconnected disk and rebooted. I started with the BIOS menu (F8 in my case), chose the disk with the new Windows 8.1 installation and off, but the computer started rebooting on Windows 7! I repeated and the same. It never starts where I installed it. I have made many installations and this never happened before. I am probably making a silly mistake that I can't imagine. Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong, please?

When you installed Win 7 it was the only OS there so its bootmenu only knows about win 7.


When you installed Win 8, you disconnected the WIN 7 drive so now Win 8 only knows about Win 8, and your system will boot from Disk 0 which is where your win 7 is.

Download and install EASYBCD

goto add new entry

Type = Win vista/7

Name = Whatever you want to call it , such as Windows 8

Drive = D:\

Click add entry in the same box and done..

go to view settings on left and see your entries.. #1 and #2 one should be win 7 and the other win 8..

exit and reboot







insert

Thanks, but it can't be that. I also have XP installed the same way on another disk, there is no sign of it on EasyBCD and I can boot if from the BIOS menu. Meanwhile, I tried a startup repair with the Win8 install USB flash and it tells it cannot repair it. Strange, I have two Windiws 8 entries in there. Yes, I installed twice, one on top of the other because I couldn't boot, and after the second time I got that WindowsOld directory, of course, but that is no reason for those two entries. Will it be from the disk itself?

Will the Windows 8 install boot with the Windows 7 & WinXP HDD's disconnected?

Can you post a screen shot of Disk management?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2598-screenshots-files-upload-post-eight-forums.html

Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

I am going to do that and also reformat, test the disk (chkdsk) and reinstall and will come back later. This will take some time. Thank you.

I deliberately deleted my BCD before my previous post to verify it can be done..

At restart there was no boot

I used the Win 8 dvd to repair, it could not find any windows installation

I used the Windows 7 repair option in the Win 7 dvd, and it found both installations and recreated the BCD

Boots just like before now..

I test almost every piece of advice I give, Im not afraid of crashing my system if it keeps you from crashing yours..

I cant test it all, because I dont have the same hardware as many of you, I can only test what I can..

Try the Windows 7 repair option if you dont want to use EasyBCD

I didn't do all that I wrote. I don't know what happened, but would like to understand. I started with theog’s suggestion and it booted and finished the installation that I thought had ended because it didn’t reboot into it. So, I didn’t do anything else of what I wrote on my last post. Only the personal questions were missing. They ask for personal data, and as I disagree I gave it all wrong. From what we can see, this is a completely commercial version, so if I ever use it I will cut out Windows Store and all commercially related stuff. Even the repair menu option to Refresh Windows will remove all programs except their Store. So it is useless and undesirable because what takes long is not to install the OS, but what we add and personalize, and that was what we needed to save.

The BIOS boot menu almost stopped working. Only Windows 7 goes directly to the disk Win8 and XP HDDs fall on the new Win8 start menu. For me, only the Win7 disk boots directly from the BIOS menu.

I installed StartIsBack, but it doesn't work with this new version. This is not the final public version, but I hardly believe it will change. I am not sure with what will happen to this decision in Europe because it may well follow the same way as with IE. MS keep paying heavy fines regularly for abuse. I do not like to be pushed against what I want and always keep the freedom of choosing by myself for as far and as long as I can. Or give up the product.

Setting it up, It finds the driver for the video card, recommends updating (because of starting with general MS drivers – understandable) and gives the link to the manufacturer’s download page, but when I try to install it, Catalyst tells me there is no hardware to install the diver for! Trying to install it through Device Manager it tells Windows determined you already have the best driver. Crazy. I can’t even have the correct screen resolution.

Brooklyn, I believe I could do it as you say because deleting than Win8 scrap menu would have cut the evil from the root, and I will possibly do it in the future, but for now it works. There are advanced options that may use normal startup repair, but even that we can get with the Windows setup DVD/Flash.

Anyway, I really wanted to move to Win8 because every new OS is more advanced than previous ones, there are always obvious progresses, but if MS have always cut functions off since Vista and added gimmicks, I feel this time is a bit too much for my taste.

Thank you very much for the help provided.

I would take a look at your drive lettering, as A: & B: are still for floppy drives.

I thought it was probably solved with your tip. Probably, because I really ignore these things I wrote about the 8 boot menu, it is new for me. I have had it in VMware – no boot menu there.

Years ago the OS did not allow to pick A: or B: for hard disks. Lately it started allowing B:, and I have had it: for my files for maybe three years or more. Sometime ago I found that A: had been unblocked, too, I think it was with Win7. My motherboard does not accept floppies, but still, I was careful not to use these letters for bootables. The configuration on the snapshot is no Win7. On Win8 installation A: is Win7. I mean, it is possible to create problems if they are bootable, but strange enough (or maybe normal with Win8, don't know) Win7 (A: on Win8 OS) is the only one to boot from the BIOS menu. Thank you very much for the good ideas.

You still use floppys with a USB Floppy Drive.
Also Start up Repair looks for Drive letters from C: up.

I thought they disappeared because I can't find them on local or internet shops for ages. In that case I don't know if if they still have to use A: and B: drive letters only. No idea.

Windows 8 still uses floppys
Two examples
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...-disk-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9573-sata-driver-load-windows-8-setup.html

Neophile Did you lose any data that you want to recover?

We can walk you through to recover data that may have been lost through the windows installation.

We cannot restore personalizations, or customizations, but we can probably get at least some of your data/files/pictures back..

If you havent formatted yet, this is how you would setup you boot in easybcd if you can still access your Win7 OS

Your current setup from the win7 perspective, and this setup will only work from your win7 os, other OS will be different letter assignments..

Disk 0 Partition 2 is your WINXP E:

Disk 1 Partition 1 is your Win8 A:

Disk 2 Partition 1 is your Win7 C:



For your XP boot you will choose TYPE = NT/2K/XP/2K3 Name = Win XP Drive=E:\
Click ADD ENTRY inside box
For your Win 8 Boot ------------ Type = Windows Vista/7 Name= Win 8 Drive=A:\
Click ADD ENTRY inside box
For your Win 7 Boot ------------ Type = Windows Vista/7 Name= Win 7 Drive=C:\
Click ADD ENTRY inside box

This is how Windows sees installations, the letters are meaningless and can be anything. With the consideration that A: and B: are reserved for floppies and should not be used if avoidable.

Thank you so much for your instructions and offer, Brooklyn, it is very kink and thoughtful of you. I just found your two posts now, but I have to see it better later, no time right away. I have never lost anything for over 25 years of usage except very little about two years ago because I take extreme care. That once, the mothetrboard failed and sent me four times the same disc to change (the disk was new and under guarantee, but the fault was on the MB). Nobody realised where the fault was and the HDD was simply changed. After four times salvaging the files from the disk, I did loose a few of them, but just very few. For the SO HDD I make a regular image. Nothing is ever enough, but it helps and is better than the lousy System Restore.

Yeah, system restore.. I have my opinions about that too! lol

You can buy an OS anywhere, anytime.. You cant buy your data back!