from win 7 to win 8

[CB]

HI I want to up great from win 7 to win 8. do you know if i will loos my files and emails from outlook

Well. Options are available. Wait for the stable release if you may. But deciding to install WDP right now also will not be a problem at all. As long as you are able to spare separate drive (or even disk) then go for it. Managing boot loader is now can be done with no sweat, you can work with EasyBCD. And sure, all assistance are available here in this forum.
Always have your data managed safely.

Make up your mind, do it, no looking back

 

[johnpombrio]

I used to also like to install multiple operating systems on independent drives ans boot via the BIOS boot order. But that always meant to disconnect the other HDs = gymnastics under the desk.

Since I found EasyBCD which makes it so easy to manipulate the bootmgr, I like this method better. The gymnastics are now confined to operating the mouse. LOL.

I stand corrected. My son said that he could boot either Win7 or Linux by selecting them in the BIOS as long as they were on separate drives. Linux could see the Win7 drive but the opposite was not the case. With both operating systems ON THE SAME HARD DRIVE, he uses GRUB.
In the meantime, I tried to boot from a hard drive that has Win7 installed on it instead of the Win8 drive. I get an error of "missing bootmgr" which is the usual error when an operating system cannot be found.
WHS, I will try out EasyBCD instead. Thanks for the advice.

 

[whs]

Have a look into Disk Management and find the 'active' partition. If that is not connected, you cannot boot. Post a pic if you need help.

Now if you made an independent installations (with only the installation disk attached) there should be an active partition on that too. If not, something is wrong. And if yes, then the MBR cannot find it and you need to reset the MBR.

In your son's installation, Win7 cannot find the Linux files because those are in a format that Windows does not understand. It needs NTFS or FAT.

For moving the bootmgr with EasyBCD, I made a little tutorial.

 

[johnpombrio]

Hi WHS,
Yep, I use disk management a fair bit to clean up the myriad drives that Windows creates with all of those small 190MB+ partitions. I know about active and primary partitions and they are all active as I installed an op sys with the DVD independently before adding them to my system ( I have 3 hard drives, 5TB). Only my boot drive says BOOT (and page file and system) on it though which is what your tutorial says EasyBCD will set for me if I change boot drives.
I downloaded EasyBCD and MIGHT give it a try just so I can occasionally boot from a Win7 drive in case of catastrophic reasons. I clone my drives regularly and have two more computers in the house that are still on Win7 so cannot think of a good reason (yet!). I was just surprised that they would not automatically boot if they were the only drive in the system (I will have to Google this).
Indeed, my son knows why Windows does not recognize Linux drives and has not bothered to patch it. I think I am finally winning him over to Win7 but he uses Linux at Kayak for system analysis so who knows? I did just give him my Diablo 3 beta invite (he was a RABID Diablo 2 fan and he squeaked with delight when I gave it to him (along with my WoW account with 10 lvl 80 toons on one server)) so he owes me AND will have to boot Windows to play.

 

[johnpombrio]

WHS,
K, I got curious and loaded in EasyBCD. I am able to successfully run Win7 on one of my other hard drives. Thank you! I am going to add a comment to your tutorial as I THINK it is missing a step and there was a something else I needed to do to complete the transition.
I still don't think I can boot from the other hard drive without the EasyBCD install drive running. I will try that later (unplug the SATA connector and try to boot from the drive I want to run Win7 from.

 

[whs]

WHS,
K, I got curious and loaded in EasyBCD. I am able to successfully run Win7 on one of my other hard drives. Thank you! I am going to add a comment to your tutorial as I THINK it is missing a step and there was a something else I needed to do to complete the transition.
I still don't think I can boot from the other hard drive without the EasyBCD install drive running. I will try that later (unplug the SATA connector and try to boot from the drive I want to run Win7 from.

Hmm, would be very interested to know what is missing in the tutorial. If you are right, I will update it.

 

[johnpombrio]

WHS, I avoided changing your tutorial because I found that it was not how to USE EasyBCD but to change the bootmgr location. The things I wanted to add was how to USE EasyBCD (of course, I am sure they are in the instructions that I never bothered to read!)

 

[whs]

I am still puzzled. What particular instructions are you referring to. The tutorial shows the 4 clicks required and it does the job. What else should be added??

 

[johnpombrio]

I am not sure IF I needed to do this but I have three operating systems installed on 3 drives. I only wanted to use two of them to dual-boot and not tri-boot. I needed to add to the "Edit boot menu" which other operating system on which drive to "add" to the list there and select which one would be the default.
Then I needed to go into the BCD Backup/Repair and select "change boot drive" then perform action. From then on, it was automatic.
Now I have no idea how you are supposed to use EasyBCD but that was enough for me to choose which operating system I wanted on boot up as it gave a list of the two I selected. I was amazed that I could upgrade Win7 to SP1 over a dual boot setup and that somehow EasyBCD completely ignores which drive I select in the BIOS when booting up. Powerful program (and I am glad I backed up before using it!)