OS not detected.

[Hunter]

I just looked into how I would make Windows 7 load by default, which is located on my other hard drive (hard drive 2).



Right click my computer > properties
Advanced tab
Click settings under the Startup and Recovery section
Select operating system from drop down list.



But I only have windows xp in that list :/



[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect


As you can see above, Windows 7 is not there... anyone know why?

[annihilation]

If your HDD sin't detected in the BIOS then it is most likely dead.
Make sure there is power going to the HDD
And I'm pretty sure you should always load your OS from your first HDD, not the second.

[Hunter]

Both hard drives work, I have just disabled the second one for now so W7 will load. And I cannot install W7 onto the first hard drive because there is windows Xp on it and a lot of data which I cannot backup, because I have nothing to back it up onto.

I don't see why you can't use a OS on a second hard drive as default anyway. XP just isnt detecting it, well, the BIOS isnt.

[StankBacon]

use this (http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1)to edit your bootloader

[Hunter]

I did what it said on that website. Now it says this:


There are a total of 2 entries listed in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader Timeout: 5 seconds.
Default OS:

Entry #1

Name: Windows 7
BCD ID: {32e99d4e-723c-11de-8587-00123f932634}
Drive: U:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry #2

Name: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
BCD ID: {32e99d51-723c-11de-8587-00123f932634}
Drive: F:\But the boot.ini file still only shows one OS:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]


Can't I just manually edit boot.ini? All I need to know is what values I need to change because its on a second hard drive :/



multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

[Timo]

When I installed W7 over my XP install, booting from the Windows 7 drive (via the BIOS) allowed me to choose between XP and 7 without having to edit anything. Have you tried just switching around the HDD boot order in your BIOS?

[Hunter]

Fixed it, thanks for the help though. It was because I disabled my first hard drive, so windows 7 didnt know it was there.

I disabled it because I didnt want to risk over righting it with windows 7 Lol.

[Phopojijo]

Oh you disabled your harddrive when you installed Windows 7?

... yeah, Windows 7 cannot dualboot with whatever you already had if it thinks you have nothing...

[Hunter]

One more thing which is bugging me. When I turn the computer on now, it asked me if I want to load Windows 7, or previouse windows version.. I want it to just load straight into windos 7 without asking me. How can I make it do that?

[Phopojijo]

Haven't done this personally -- but I believe its (after backing up whichever boot.ini is being loaded...) go into MSConfig... click on "boot"... select the OS you want to not boot into... and click "delete".

Keep in mind, I never really edit my boot loader... so... grain of salt.

[Hunter]

The problem there is that Windows 7 doesn't use a boot.ini Lol.

[Phopojijo]

Yeah it does.
((Actually apparently I'm wrong... regardless... msconfig's boot tab is still the place to go... unless you want to use some other bootloader manager... it's just not saved in a boot.ini file anymore.))