Added 2nd HDD with a separate OS than 1st HDD....

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Nebrodi

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Nov 15, 2011
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Ok so I have been noticing that my current HDD was not meeting my expectations while gaming, slower load times, etc. So I went out and bought a new HDD. I removed the cables from the old HDD, installed Win7 on the new HDD and all is fine. So I reconnect the old HDD as well with the idea that I will use both as separate computers. The new one for gaming and animation work, the old one for everyday use. So I load up my machine, hit F8 to go to BIOS boot order screen...select my old HDD...and I am now getting BOOTMGR is missing. This is causing me major confusion because the old HDD has Win7 installed on it as well. I went back in and disconnected the new HDD and tried to boot the old HDD as if the new HDD has never been installed...but still getting the BOOTMGR is missing error.

Would love some help on this matter. I have a ton of pictures, videos of the family, work related docs and more on my old HDD that I do not want to lose.
 
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Nebrodi

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I did attempt to do that, after the Win 7 disk got past the check your time zone part, it started asking me which drive I would like to install too...but it was not recognizing any drives at all. I checked the connections 3 times now...looks right to me. So confused
 
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nikorr

nikorr

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Do u see that at all?
image249.png
 
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Nebrodi

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ok I got it to boot up on both HDs that each have a copy of Win 7 installed on it. Now the question I have remaining...I'm currently booted up on my old HDD running Win 7....however I am able to see the files and such from my new HDD...should that be the case? I assumed that once you boot in one of the two OS's..the other would not be viewable.
 
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Nebrodi

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ok I have my old HD still as the primary C: drive with all my old files and Win7 on it. I disconnected that HD and added a new HD. Installed a fresh clean copy of Win 7 on the new HD and it is showing as the E: drive. After the fresh install, I reconnected the old HD. So both are connected now.

When I boot my computer...hit F8 to get to boot drive order...I can load either OS separate from one another. However, if I go into my start menu>computer to show my drives....I can see the C: a D: drive listed as (System Reserved), and the new HD E: is this normal?
 
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Nebrodi

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I just tried my win7 disk and made a repair disc,when I boot from those I don't get the blue Win 7 language screen. I get a grey box that has preselected English and a drop down window to select country. I tried to shift + F10 but nothing happens. If I hit "next" from that window it takes me to a system scan to find boot errors....
 
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Nebrodi

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I don't mind having the reserved drive...but I just want to make sure that whatever I'm doing on my C: drive (IE my old HD) - it won't affect my new drive now listed as E: My goal is to run these 2 HDs with 2 OSs as separate computers...not share files or anything.
 
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nikorr

nikorr

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This one?
systemrecoverytools_thumb.jpg
 
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Nebrodi

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yeah that is the window I was coming across. I just tried booting from my Win7 disk once again and this time it worked. I got to the blue screen to select language...hit Shift + F10 and got into the diskpart. After walking through those steps though, I am not showing a second partition with the 100mb reserved drive like the one in the example. I only show 1 partition listed as 465GB as size and 1024 KB as offset...no partition 2. So I can't select a partition to delete....guess I'm stuck with the reserved 100mb? *** nevermind it just showed up with the second partition and I was successfully able to delete that 100mb reserved drive - my computer is being stubborn I guess***

I just want to make sure that I can work on my old HD, download to it, use my iTunes..etc....without anything going to my new HD. I want this machine to run as 2 completely separate systems by using BIOS at start up to select which one I want to boot up.
 
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Nebrodi

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By the I really appreciate all your assistance...this has been more of a project than I thought it would be.

So, now that I have the reserved drive deleted...system booted without any problems. Primary boot drive is my old HD as C:, the new HD is now listed as G:

Is it normal to have access to both HDs in this setup? Are there any risks with files being copied to the wrong drive or is this safe to run as 2 separate computers on the same machine now?
 
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Nebrodi

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guess I can now answer my own question...I just rebooted my computer..hit F8 to select this drive to boot...and when I select my new HD with a separate OS on it....it now says BOOTMGR is missing. This is really a pain in the butt when it sounds so easy.

And I can't seem to get the Win 7 disk to boot because when I got into BIOS via F8 and select the new HD, the disk doesn't start loading fast enough and I get the BOOTMGR is missing...
 
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Nebrodi

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Nov 15, 2011
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ok I've got it working. I am now able to reboot...hit F8 to select which drive to start up and both my old HD and my new HD will run their respective OS without any booting errors and such. I'm hopeful this will work out and there will be no issues with files being copied to the wrong drives now.

THanks for all your support!!!
 
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