Windows 7 Boot Error...

[plasmas222]

So my computer has been doing great for several months now (thanks to all the great people here yet again) sadly, I have now run into a serious issue...

I recently bought a 1.5tb internal hddr as a secondary drive for backup, extra storage etc. Got it, set it up, formatted, worked great. Problems start when I installed xp sp3 on it... (have w7 ultimate on main 1tb hddr) I installed xp fine, it loaded up, decided that was enough xp for one day and restarted to go back to 7. It loads up xp... So I figure its just boot order or some other setting in the bios. Nope. Every time it either loads up xp or gives me an error message (same one as below). After tinkering with bios until its overly obvious the solution is not there, I try unhooking the new 1.5tb hddr completely and leaving just my main 1tb with 7 on it hooked up as usual. Now all I get is the error message essentially informing me that something is wrong (not very specific, I'll post what it says exactly after I reboot again in case it helps). When I load up the bios everything is as it should be - I can see both hard drives, their settings are correct, etc. I tried getting rid of xp on the 1.5tb on the off chance that might fix it. Zero difference. Installed 7 on it so I could at least get some work done and access my files. Everything on my main drive is still there, can click through and run, move, copy etc. Just wont start up....


Aside from the specific error message, what info would be helpful in potentially solving my problem?


Thanks in advance for the help/advice.

[strollin]

Typically when setting up dual boot the correct order is to install the older OS first, then install the newer OS. I would try leaving the 2nd drive disconnected and then do a repair install of Win 7 on the original drive. Once you get that up and running again, I would disconnect the original drive and connect the 2nd and re-install XP. Once you have the 2nd drive booting XP, you can connect the original back up. In order to dual boot you would just change the boot order of the 2 drives in the BIOS.

[EzyStvy]

The same thing would apply to Win7:

Install Windows XP on Your Pre-Installed Windows Vista Computer

Install Windows XP on Your Pre-Installed Windows Vista Computer - How-To Geek

[plasmas222]

This was one of the first suggestions I ran across before coming here. All I really care about is getting the main drive to work as I had it setup before with 7, the rest can come later. When I try the repair on 7 it works fine and says successfully repaired etc, reboots, and no difference - same error message...

Is there anything else I can try?

[plasmas222]

So I've managed to fix everything (apparently the repair disk I was using didn't have the correct files on it, burnt a new one, all is good) Now I would like to move everything I have to the larger hddr. So that nothing is different except my main drive is the 1.5tb vs the 1tb. I found several good cloning/ghost programs but would like some experienced advice on the best to use.

Thanks for all the help.

[glc]

What brands do you have for drives?

[plasmas222]

They are both WD black

[glc]

Use Acronis True Image WD Edition. Free download from WD.

[plasmas222]

Many thanks, helpful as always.