HDD partition confusion

P

Hi, I was trying to install windows 8 using a USB the other day. I booted in and the fish splash screen appeared for about 4 minutes, after which i got an error saying /windows/system32/winload.exe was not found. I figured its because my partitions are messed up.

Current state of partitions : I first installed XP in D drive, then win 7 in C drive. I must have forgotten to make C drive primary, as i only have one primary drive with me now which is D. Easeus tells me that my C drive status is "boot" so cant make it primary. The D drive status is "system" so i cant even get rid of it.

EasyBCD info :

There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows 7
Timeout: 3 seconds
EasyBCD Boot Device: D:\

Entry #1
Name: Earlier Version of Windows
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Drive: D:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr

Entry #2
Name: Windows 7
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Question : How do i get rid of my D drive (XP) without messing up my win 7 installation so i can boot to it later ?

Thanks

L

u have to format ur partitions. then freshly install windows.....

T

Delete (format) the Windows XP partition..Restart..it should work fine..
But if it doesn't detect the OS the restart and insert the Windows 7 Recovery Disk and choose "REPAIR BOOT", Let it fix the problems and restart...your computer should be booting into Windows 7...and all your data would be safe..

love_muddas said:
u have to format ur partitions. then freshly install windows.....

dont give stupid advice.

first thing :
1. do you have live cd of linux?
2. can you go into linux and grab a screenshot of "GPARTED" software?

post the gparted screenshot, so that we can know how your disk is built.

or go to command line and type this :

fdisk -L (or maybe its small 'L', i forget)

and copy paste here whatever it says

P

I got the problem solved but had to fresh install windows 7 again, which i was planning to do anyways, just not this soon.

Side note : I had downloaded the (official) windows 8 ISO and made a bootable USB with it (method = using windows 7 usb/dvd download tool) and apparently this gave me the error i'd mentioned. Then i used the official windows 8 download tool that made a bootable USB for me, and it installed with no troubles. Weird.

Side Side note : Windows 8 has some great concepts, but lacks in a good implementation, so you should probably wait for the beta if you want to try it out.

Anyways thanks everyone! For some reason, thinkdigit only mailed me today saying i have 4 replies, when the replies were made on 2/3.