Cannot boot into Windows

You have probably heardd this a thousand times, but...............
I have installed Solaris 10 on a hard drive with Windows XP Pro & Windows XP Pro 64 bit on other partitions.
Although the GRUB option to boot into Windows is there, chosing it results in the system hanging (ie black screen with just a flashing cursor).
Attempting a repair with XP 64 bit results in an error message to the effect that a "valid partition etc etc" does not exist.
Both the XP and XP 64bit paritions are still there and I can access everything on them from Windows on a second disk.
I therefore take it that the MBR has been changed.
So, you know the next silly question - how do I fix it so I can boot into my Windows XP Pro & Windows XP Pro 64 bit ?
Mike

It is advisable to be a bit more conservative and to perform backup of MBR before starting installation in quite complex environment. Appropriate command may have the form:
dd if=/dev/hda of=mbr.bin bs=512 count=1
Restoring:
dd if=mbr.bin of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
Here hda is a plug-in, sda may be necessary on other hardware platform.
But at present the milk has been spilled, so this tip is for future use. At first You should check the contents of grub.conf file in Your Solaris boot catalog. I assume that You can start Solaris. Are the partitions with Windows correctly enumerated? Remember that grub numbering starts with 0 (zero). If all is OK, You can try (without any warranty) following grub reinstallation procedure:
1) Boot from installation DVD and start single user shell.
2) Next issue a command:
/a/sbin/installgrub -m /a/boot/grub/stage1 /a/boot/grub/stage2 /dev/rdsk/c0d1s0
3) Check grub.conf contents - it should perform loading from the first disk. The value c0d1s0 depends on details of Your installation.
Additionaly I assume that You have installed Windows operating system on separate partition. All Windows data, i. e. Your user data are on another partition. In such a case You may try as a last resort reinstallation of Windows followed by new Solaris installation (+ previous MBR backup).
Good luck!
Mark

Similar Messages

  • Cannot boot into Windows XP, should I replace hard drive?

    THE PROBLEM: I have not been able to boot into or use Windows XP (SP2) for almost 3 years. I have been using Linux instead for 3 years and am using it now. The Windows Recovery process only half works, it works up until you have to boot up the computer from the hard drive. Then it no longer works. The computer will load the files from the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD that came new with the computer onto the hard drive. But when you get to the point of booting off the hard drive, with newly added Windows & Toshiba files, nothing happens. It does not boot up into Windows XP. In fact I can see the newly added Windows & Toshiba fileson the hard drive when I boot into Linux (Live) off the hard drive.
    THE HARD DRIVE (Specs below): I ran a SMART Data check using a Linux (Ubuntu) Disk utility on the hard drive and it passed everything except for Reallocated Sector Count. There are 20 bad sectors. I called the Toshiba 800 # on the DVD and they told me that the problem may be the hard drive. A new TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD costs $40. Toshiba also said there is no Windows XP Recovery Console on the DVD. 
    CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM: I think, and TOSHIBA agreed it is either the hard drive or corrupteD files on the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD
    POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: I have found a couple of sites that seem to have instructions for making a  Windows XP Recovery Console CD. And I have thought I might try to run some Windows XP Recovery Console commands  from such a CD, such as fixboot, fixmbr, etc. The try to see if I can boot into Windows XP from the hard drive. If I can, then that might suggest he problem is corrupted files on the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD. If I still cannot boot into Windows, then maybe I should replace the hard drive. This should be very easy to do.
    QUESTION(S): Does anybody have any comments or suggestions? Does my approach sound good? Do you have any other suggestions?
    I have a TOSHIBA Satellite L25 S1216 that I bought new in early 2006. It has a 40 GB (5400 RPM) Enhanced IDE (ATA-6) 9.5 mm height hard disk drive in it. User removable, i.e., it is easy to replace.
    Thank you,
    Bob
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    My plan is to try to use the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD to load the WIndows XP files onto the hard drive, then use the Windows XP Recovery console CD I downloaded from here
    http://www.proposedsolution.com/downloads/download​-windows-recovery-console/ 
    by using commmands such as fxmbr, fixboot, etc to see if I can get the computer to boot up into Windows XP.
    Good plan, Bob!
       Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users
    A backup plan would be to obtain a Windows XP installation CD from eBay or wherever. They are super cheap now. Then you could install Windows clean and add the drivers and utilities from the website here. Or you could use it to repair-install Windows.
       How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
    You are entitled to activate Home Edition for free. I understand that even after Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP (in April), they will honor activation attempts.
    I wouldn't mess with SSDs. And stick with IDE PATA drives. You won't need to worry about advanced-format technology since that didn't come along until the very recent SATA drives. Your BIOS should support 120GB (KB303013).  Some here.
    -Jerry

  • MSI K9A2 Platinum + Phenom 9600 + 2GB Mushkin XP8500 cannot boot into windows

    Hi!
    I am building my computer using the Spider platform and I ran across problems during booting into windows.
    I am using MSI K9A2 platinum with Phenom 9600 and Mushkin 2Gb kit XP8500 ddr2 1066. I have no problem installing windows xp.
    The problem starts when I install the utility and drivers that come on a cd from MSI, my computer requests to re-boot after installation and after
    that it will not boot into windows. I can get to the windows logo and then the system reboots right away.
    I checked the bios and it shows that the ram is running at 800mhz and i have tried running with just 1 stick and im getting the same problem every time.
    Anyone knows how to resolve this?
    thanks!

    Quote from: nirianto on 22-February-08, 01:32:52
    Everything is stable now...I guess installing the driver from the MSI website is the best thing to do right now
    I notice that my ram is underclocked to 800mhz instead of 1066mhz...I have update the motherboard BIOS to v1.2 and i checked that the ram is running on unganged mode...I tried adjusting the spd to 5-5-4-12 with voltage of 2.2v as suggested by the mushkin ram itself
    Any idea?
    "I have update the motherboard BIOS to v1.2 and i checked that the ram is running on unganged mode..."
    That is the correct mode.
    "I notice that my ram is underclocked to 800mhz instead of 1066mhz..."
    1066 is not officially certified by JEDEC, also your memory probably don't have SPD configuration for that freq.
    Contact to Mushkin for more details.
    "I guess installing the driver from the MSI website is the best thing to do right now"
    Yep 
    "Everything is stable now.."
    nice :smiley:

  • E420 cannot boot into Windows 8.1

    I am unable to boot into Windows 8.1 on my Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420.  The symptoms are as follows:
    Normal boot (just press the power button):  PC freezes on "Please Wait".  There are no other buttons or menus available at this time.  Assuming this "Please Wait" screen was for an update, I have waited over 8 hers to the point the PC just shuts down... rebooting results the same.
    I entered a recovery mode via pressing "Enter" during the Lenovo splash screen and requested diagnostics.  The diagnostic was unsuccessful.
    I do not have a windows recovery CD/DVD.
    Please assist with solution or recommendations.
    David

    I am unable to boot into Windows 8.1 on my Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420.  The symptoms are as follows:
    Normal boot (just press the power button):  PC freezes on "Please Wait".  There are no other buttons or menus available at this time.  Assuming this "Please Wait" screen was for an update, I have waited over 8 hers to the point the PC just shuts down... rebooting results the same.
    I entered a recovery mode via pressing "Enter" during the Lenovo splash screen and requested diagnostics.  The diagnostic was unsuccessful.
    I do not have a windows recovery CD/DVD.
    Please assist with solution or recommendations.
    David

  • Cannot boot into windows ? am3970

    Hello, Over the weekend my m3970 failed after having been working normally just before the last shutdown.  Upon starting the next morning the computer would not boot.  Initially I figured I had a dead HD.  I followed all the recovery tools, including the recover disks and the altf10 steps, but it remains stuck in a windows boot loop, saying it is unable to install windows and a reboot is needed, but this is not successful. Now I am inclined to think maybe there is a different problem, dead ram or motherboard?  The recovery tools running and the amount of activity I was able to accomplish lead me to think the HD is still alive?  I can hear it churning away, it doesn't sound great, but the tools did not say it was bad.  I cannot get to the command prompt, I think, to run check disk, as my skill set is pushed to the limits here.  Any thoughts?  Suggestions?  I hope that this is not the HD.   Thanks  for listening.  

    gabrielaquirre, Ironfly is trying to help you get your files copied off of your HDD to a USB drive so they are safe.  That's the most important thing. Troubleshooting can come later. If creating a hiren boot cd is out of your tech comfort level, or accessing a command prompt from your recovery tools cd is out of your tech comfort level.......................unfortunately sometimes you have to do things that are more low tech....but not free. Such as buying a HDD enclosure.  You'd have to take your hard drive out of your computer and put it in an enclosure and plug it in to another computer's usb port.  From there you could copy your files and run chkdsk. The easiest and cheapest methods would be to follow Ironfly's suggestion.  Or access a command prompt from your cd tools and use copy command. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064I1NRG/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000EDKO04&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13R4M5W6363RG6QC8AYW http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-3-5-Inch-Enclosure-Black-NST-366S3-BK/dp/B00J61Y23A/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1438634549&sr=1-2&keywords=vantec#Ask  

  • Cannot boot into Mac OS X after partitioning in Windows

    My Mac is a Macbook Pro 17", I got it from my friend (no original disc).
    So after upgrading it to Mavericks (I was unable to install Windows using Boot camp of 10.6.8), Boot Camp successfully let me install Windows 8.1 Pro (x64).
    However, after installing, whenever I install the Software Support in Windows, Windows always show Blue screen after showing the logo. I was able to restore Windows back. Therefore, I am now using Windows with only basic components, no Boot Camp driver.
    The problem is that, I shrink the Boot Camp partition, and create another NTFS partition. Now, I cannot boot into Mac OS anymore. Holding Command + Option + R does nothing, holding Option while startup shows a hard drive named Windows (instead of Mac HD).
    Can I make the Mac bootable again? And if possible, is there any available driver for Windows 8.1?

    Hi iPragash,
    At startup, hold down the Option Key (alt) to choose between Mac OS X and Windows.
    To select what system you want to boot into by default:
    - when in Windows go to the Control Panel ->BootCamp ->Installed Startup Disks
    - when in Mac OS X go to System Preferences->Startup disk.

  • Macbook Pro 17 cannot boot into Mac OS anymore after making partition on windows

    My Mac is a Macbook Pro 17", I got it from my friend (no original disc).
    So after upgrading it to Mavericks (I was unable to install Windows using Boot camp of 10.6.8), Boot Camp successfully let me install Windows 7 Professional (x64).
    The problem is that, I shrink the Boot Camp partition, and create another NTFS partition (so I can store data in the second partition as I usually do when using Windows). Now, I cannot boot into Mac OS anymore. Holding Command + Option + R does nothing, holding Option while startup shows a hard drive named Windows (instead of Mac HD). And no Recovery HD too

    shakhriyor,
    you’re going to need to purchase a replacement pair of the original grey installation DVDs for your MacBook Pro from Apple to be able to fix this problem.

  • Can't boot into Windows 8 Single Language 64 bit or access the BIOS screen with the F1 key

    I have in my possession right now a Lenovo E49, Model name: 3464
    I am unable to access the BIOS settings at POST by pressing the F1 key.  Neither does it respond to the Enter key when it displays the message "To interrupt normal startup, Press Enter".  I am also unable to boot into the installed OS Windows 8 Single Language 64 bit.
    For your informtion, these are the events that led to this issue.
    I accessed the BIOS settings at startup using the CHANGE PC SETTINGS option in the CHARMS menu in Windows 8 Single Languge 64 bit followed by GENERAL and ADVANCED STARTUP.  Then I chose Restart Now.  Windows restarted to produce the startup screen where I chose Troubleshoot, followed by Advanced Options and UEFI Firmware Settings, followed by Restart.  This took me to the BIOS settings screen. Once there I changed the boot settings in BIOS so that SECURE BOOT was turnned OFF.  It was in ON state prior to that.  I also changed the BOOT MODE to LEGACY ONLY.  I also changed the BOOT ORDER to boot from DVD drive first followed by the Hard Disk and USB Hard Disk.  I saved the changes by pressing F10.
    Now the computer is able to boot from the DVD Drive.  I tested this by inserting a Windows 7 Repair DVD and also a Linux Live DVD.  Mind you, I didn't mke any changes to the Hard Drive.  I'm also able to boot from a USB Hard Disk.  This too was tested by inserting a bootable USB HD that had both Windows 7 and Windows 8 OS installers.  I used only the command prompt feature in the Repair option on the Windows 8 installer to ensure that I could access the partitions on the HD.  I did not in any way install Windows 7 or 8 on the HD.
    If there is no bootable DVD or USB HD inserted, the laptop is involved in a loop that restarts followed by a message that says the following:
    "Intel Undi, PXE-2.1 (build 083)
    Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
    This product is covered by one or more of the following patents:
    US5, 307, 459,  US5, 434, 872,  US5, 732, 094,  US6, 570, 884,  US6, 115, 776 and US6, 327, 625
    Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Series v2.41 (06/08/11)
    PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
    PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM."
    I am positive that the current state of the BIOS is such that it does not accept any input keys like F1 and F12 at POST so that the BIOS can only be accessed through Change PC Settings in Windows 8 as I had done prior to the occurence of the issue.  Since I cannot boot up Windows 8 I cannot use this method to access the BIOS.  And since it is not possible at this stage to access the BIOS settings through the F1 key, I believe Lenovo must have surely provided another alternative to enter the BIOS.  Can you kindly tell me what other way is there to do this.  In earlier days, one could reset the BIOS by shorting the BIOS through pins on the motherboard.  Is that possible now?  Or is there some Lenovo BIOS utilily that enables me to change the BIOS setting to boot with Legacy and UEFI?  Or do I have to install Windows 8.1 64 bit in Legacy mode?

    I'll see if another member of the team can jump in here and offer more help...
    What I might imagine is that you can only access BIOS from a cold boot. Windows 8/8.1 have hybrid shutdown and don't completely shut down the machine normally, so even when it powers off, it isn't fully off and the next boot is not really a cold boot.
    Please see this KB.  I realize this assumes you can get into windows.
    As you suggest, it also seems as though you have set legacy vs UEFI and that may be why your drive is not currently booting.   Can you remove the battery on your system?  If not, is there a reset hole on the bottom?  Removing battery and AC and pressing and holding the power button several times, then re-attach AC and Battery and try to restart and press F1 to get into BIOS.  (Not familiar with models that use enter for BIOS).
    Mark
    ThinkPads: S30, T43, X60t, X1, W700ds, IdeaPad Y710, IdeaCentre: A300, IdeaPad K1
    Mark Hopkins
    Program Manager, Lenovo Social Media (Services)
    twitter @lenovoforums
    English Community   Deutsche Community   Comunidad en Español   Русскоязычное Сообщество

  • Cannot boot in Windows/Boot Camp anymore

    Hello.
    I'm Running OSX 10.10 Yosemite and Windows 7 x64 Ultimate.
    I had Bootcamp working pretty well in my MacbookPro late 2013. But I needed a bit more space into the Win7/BootCamp partition. So I went to Disk Utility and reduced the "Macintosh HD" partition and applied the modifications. Until this, no problem.
    I restarted my Mac with ALT key to boot into windows and assign the unallocated space to the Win7/Bootcamp partition. I used "MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition Free" in windows to allocate the space to the Win7/BootCamp partition. The program "said" it needed to reboot so that the changes could be applied because "Drive C is being used". And so I did.
    When booting (in Win7/Bootcamp partition), Minitool partition wizard began making the changes, but right after they were done I got the message that "...changes were made to the partition..." and "...no bootable device...". So now, I cannot boot into Win7.
    Also, if it helps, I followed this tutorial on youtube that seemed to work for the "youtuber" -- http://youtu.be/zhkdOLXT6Eg
    So, anyone know how to proceed so that I can keep my partitions as is, whilst fully restoring normal BootCamp functionality ?
    Thank you,
    Ricardo Monteiro

    The NTFS Header looks correct, which is surprising. It seems to be the old NTFS header.
    From your current GPT output, you have
    546998272  195733504      4   
    742731776  234373120      4  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7 
    From your Fdisk output you have
    *4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254  63 [ 546998272 -  430106624] HPFS/QNX/AUX 
    This is what recommend. Download GPT Fdisk from http://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/.
    1. Delete the old entry and create a new entry at GPT#4.
    sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
    p
    d
    4
    n
    4
    546998272
    430106624
    0700
    p
    w
    y
    Here is an example of the delete/new...
    Command (? for help): d
    Partition number (1-4): 4
    Command (? for help): n
    Partition number (4-128, default 4): 4
    First sector (34-1954210086, default = 1454210080) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: 1454211072
    Last sector (1454211072-1954210086, default = 1954210086) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: 1954209791
    Current type is 'Apple HFS/HFS+'
    Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = AF00): 0700
    Changed type of partition to 'Microsoft basic data'
    Command (? for help): p
    Disk /dev/disk0: 1954210120 sectors, 931.8 GiB
    Logical sector size: 512 bytes
    Disk identifier (GUID): 6ED0C429-00D1-4759-B50E-04B6FB80D0E3
    Partition table holds up to 128 entries
    First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1954210086
    Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
    Total free space is 1293 sectors (646.5 KiB)
    Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
       1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System Partition
       2          409640      1452940543   692.6 GiB   AF00  Customer
       3      1452940544      1454210079   619.9 MiB   AB00  Recovery HD
       4      1454211072      1954209791   238.4 GiB   0700  Microsoft basic data
    2. This is a tedious process and you want to check after the second 'p'rint command that it looks reasonable, before the 'w'rite and 'y'es to confirm.
    3. You will need to reboot after the change, because the disk you are booted from is the one being modified. Reboot will rebuild disk0s4 using the start/end you entered.
    4. Run the dd command - sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0s4 count=1 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C and check that the first line contains "R.NTFS".
    5. Once you have a working GPT#4, a new hybrid MBR needs to be created which will overwrite what you see in your Fdisk output. This is also done using GPT Fdisk (Gdisk). Your numbers will look different than what are in the following example. In most cases, you will use the default except entry 4, which should have a 'y' for bootable flag.
    sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
    GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10
    Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
    partition table automatically reloaded!
    Partition table scan:
      MBR: hybrid
      BSD: not present
      APM: not present
      GPT: present
    Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.
    Command (? for help): p
    Disk /dev/disk0: 490234752 sectors, 233.8 GiB
    Logical sector size: 512 bytes
    Disk identifier (GUID): 59BDFEEB-1EB4-4529-94FE-3CBC2C3CD513
    Partition table holds up to 128 entries
    First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 490234718
    Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
    Total free space is 2604 sectors (1.3 MiB)
    Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
       1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00  EF
       2          409640       401060383   191.0 GiB   AF05  Macintosh HD
       3       401060384       402329919   619.9 MiB   AB00  Re
       4       402331648       490233848   41.9 GiB    0700  Microsoft basic data
    Command (? for help): r
    Recovery/transformation command (? for help): h
    WARNING! Hybrid MBRs are flaky and dangerous! If you decide not to use one,
    just hit the Enter key at the below prompt and your MBR partition table will
    be untouched.
    Type from one to three GPT partition numbers, separated by spaces, to be
    added to the hybrid MBR, in sequence: 2 3 4
    Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): y
    Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)
    Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): AF
    Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): n
    Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)
    Enter an MBR hex code (default AB): AB
    Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): n
    Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)
    Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): 07
    Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): y
    Recovery/transformation command (? for help): w
    Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING
    PARTITIONS!!
    Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): y
    OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to /dev/disk0.
    Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
    partition table automatically reloaded!
    Warning: The kernel may continue to use old or deleted partitions.
    You should reboot or remove the drive.
    The operation has completed successfully.
    6. a. Test 1 - Can you see your Bootcamp volume in Finder.
        b. Test 2 - Can you files in the Bootcamp volume?
        c. Test 3 - Can you see Bootcamp in your System Preferences -> Startup Disk.
        d. Test 4 - If Test 1-3 are successful, select Bootcamp and click on Restart. You may need Windows startup repair, if you see a hanging underline cursor at the top left corner of your screen. In most cases, it is not required.

  • Can't get past gray screen for OS X but will boot into Windows partition.

    Hi- I am really desperate for help here.
    Restarted my computer this evening when Front Row wasn't able to find the files on my external HD. When it booted it went directly in to my Windows Boot Camp partition. So I restarted, held down 'option', choose my OS X disk and just got the spinning sun icon on the gray screen for several minutes. It then booted into Windows again. If I hold down 'option' again I can cut it off before it gets to Windows.
    I've tried booting into a cloned HD via FireWire and same results.
    I've tried booting with the install disk (c key held down) and it won't recognize it.
    I've tried Safe Mode (shift key) - same.
    I've booted into Single User and done fsck and and it says everything is ok.
    - BUT I did notice it says further up- "BSD: rootdisk0s2, major 14, minor 2". Are these errors? If so why didn't fsck find and fix them.
    I've tried resetting PRAM and SMC.
    The only thing I have done out of the ordinary was an hour before I was trying to get some of my files on my wife's laptop and went into permissions on my HD and changed "Everyone" Priviledges to Read (or maybe it was Read and Write) then chose "apply to enclosed items". This change took about 20 minutes.
    The computer is, of course, just over a year old and has worked perfectly up until now.
    Someone-Please!!!

    Tried that and it just doesn't read the disk. I've booted it with the disc already in and held Shift and also tried it with "C". The same for putting the disc in just as it boots up.
    I went into Single User mode again and compared the text against what shows up on the laptop. Their are a few differences. At the very beginning of the iMac text there is:
    npvhash=4095
    hi mem tramps at 0xffe00000
    PAE Enabled
    64 bit mode enabled
    -then-
    Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform" has immediate dependencies on both com.apple.kernel and com.apple.kpicomponents; use only one style.
    Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement" has immediate dependencies on both com.apple.kernel and com.apple.kpicomponents; use only one style.
    -then- after "MAC Framework successfully initialized" comes this three times...
    Extension "com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform" has immediate dependencies on both com.apple.kernel and com.apple.kpicomponents; use only one style.
    These are really the only major differences that I can see in the Single Mode screen.
    I also have tried booting from the Firewire drive clone on the laptop but it is not an available option for booting. The disk partitions mount but have a lock in the corner and say they cannot be opened because I have insufficient access privileges.

  • Can only boot into Windows 7. Can't even boot from Snow Leopard DVD.

    I have no idea what prompted this. I don't recall installing any OS updates recently, other than some Windows Live apps in Windows 7.
    I have an early 2009 Mac Mini with Snow Leopard, and have Windows 7 64-bit installed in a Boot Camp partition. When I installed Windows 7, I couldn't get the Boot Camp utility to install within Windows (I guess because it's 64-bit) so to switch back and forth between OSes, I just shut down the Mac and restart it with the Option key pressed, and select Mac OS X when I want to return to Mac. This has worked for about a month and a half now (ever since I got Windows 7). Suddenly I have problems.
    I first had problems booting into Windows or Mac. I got to the grey screen with the Apple logo, with that spinning "progress" thing going for a while, then it would freeze up and get stuck on the grey screen with the Apple logo. I zapped the PRAM. No help. Then, after disconnecting all external drives (I have several) and extra USB devices, I was able to boot from the DVD install disk and reinstall Snow Leopard on my internal drive. Joy, or so I thought. Then I booted into Windows 7, and after some weirdness getting it to start, it did successfully start and ran just peachy.
    Then I turned off the Mac and held down the option key (as usual) to return to Mac OS. But now all that happens is that I get a grey screen for a few seconds, then the Mac boots back into Windows 7, which seems to work fine. (I'm in Windows 7 right now.) I turned on one my external drives (Snow Leopard installed, connected via Firewire 800) in hopes that the Mac would boot into that, but same thing. Ignored and back to Windows 7.
    Then I thought I'd boot from the install DVD again by putting it in the drive and holding down the C key as I restart, but the same thing--a grey screen for a few seconds, and then booting right into Windows 7. I can't seem to escape Windows 7! It's a bit disturbing when it won't even recognize the install DVD.
    I tried to call Apple Care since I'm within my 90 day support window, but of course they are closed. I'm figuring that I'm going to have to take this into an Apple Store, but thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

    According to Apple, Win 7 64bit is supported with Bootcamp 3.0. If bootcamp 3.0 is available; I could not find it anywhere on Apple's website. It appears the most recent version is 2.2. The only place I could find 3.0 is not on Apples website and it's a questionable source so I won't post it here.
    It may just be a matter of time before Apple makes it available. I'm not suggesting you wait, however if the install disk can't be used, I'm not too sure where u could go from there. Calling Applecare might work.
    If you do a simple google search using the terms 'download bootcamp drivers windows 7' u will see what I was referring too.
    Here's what I found from Apple (It doesn't specifically mention 64bit however just win7): http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920
    This is not from Apple, but specifically addresses whether they support win7 64bit: http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/08/31/boot.camp.win.7.64.support/
    Here is more info about bootcamp 3.0 and win7: http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

  • Black screen when trying to boot into Windows 7

    Hello everyone.
    Today we've encountered an issue with one of our MacBook Pros with Windows 7 installed. The computer was booted into Windows 7 (it's strictly used as a Windows machine by this particular user) and after a time of inactivity it went to sleep. It wouldn't wake up from it's sleep so we tried a hard boot. At that point we would get the grey screen, the Apple tone wouldn't sound off and it would just go to a black screen (by default we have it booting to windows). So then we reset the PRAM. Now, we get the apple tone and we can boot into the Mac side. But when we try and boot into Windows, we get a blank screen.
    What's even more interesting, if I try and boot into a Windows install disk to do a boot repair, it gives me a black screen. If I even try to boot from a live Linux cd, I get a blank screen! When important thing I then noticed was that the cd spinned for a couple minutes, then stopped. So I began to wonder if it was still loading the OS like expected, but just wasn't displaying it.
    So I booted into Windows, got the blank black screen. Then I went into another computer, fired up remote desktop and voila! I'm in the machine!
    So the problem is this: When booting into ANYTHING other than OS X, the display turns off.
    What can we do?

    Hello there,
    I have a similar problem! Windows 7 shutdown unexpectedly and since that I can not reboot in windows anymore only with safe mode where everything is a mess.
    Also when it's trying to reboot in windows a blue window appears,says something about drivers  and it is counting something (79.78...till100)but  I m not able to read it cause it disappears immidiately and then black screen and then it turns to reboot in mac which works fine.
    I m sorry if I confused you with my english...
    If anyone knows please help!
    Thanks

  • Unable to boot into Windows 7

         Hello, today I was playing some video games inside of Windows 7, upon noticing that whenever the computer had an area that text could be entered, it would spam the space bar into that area. Ex. when i would hit the start menu, in the little text box that is for searching, the courser would move continuously across it, as if the space bar was being pressed. So I restarted. As normal when I heard the startup chime i pressed and held the option key to bring up the OS selection tab. But instead of bringing up the menu, it booted straight to OSX. (i tried this a few times with the same results). So I went into the bootcamp menu in settings on osx and selected windows as the startup OS. I then restarted. When the computer started up I was prompted to select Windows 7 to continue the boot process, so I did. It then went to the starting windows screen where it became stuck. I force shut down and tried again, but this time i tried to repair the disk in windows. The first time it failed to repair, then i did a memory test and when it restarted it worked. In windows i told bootcamp to use OSX as the startup disk and tried holding down option to go back to windows again, nothing, it went to osx. So in osx i went into the bootcamp menu in settings again, and selected windows and restarted. It got stuck on the selection screen in windows and i force shut down and tried again, but this time with with repair again. This time the repair was successful and it went to windows normally. So now it appears that i can only boot into windows by telling bootcamp that i want to boot into windows automatically.  Holding down the option key does not seem to bring up the disk selector. I can verify that the option key does work because i tried 'command+option+esc" and it worked. any ideas on what the frik is going on?

    Update! So apparently I believe the problem is coming from a few windows updates that are out. Whenever I repaired the disk it always uninstalled those updates. I repaired the disk again because it got stuck on bootup and when i logged back on it asked me to re install those updates. without them installed the option key thing worked again. So i guess i wont be updating this thing anymore...

  • Can't boot into Windows??

    Hi!! This is my theory about not being able to boot into windows. If you have made a system repair disc like you should have made on day one; and your PC will not boot with the system repair CD, you probably have some serious hardware problems.
    I'm going to steal this reply from cee64 again. A system repair CD can be made from any PC that is running W7 ect.
    Hi I'm going to steal this reply from cee64. I'm sure he won't mind!
    "It is quite possibly the hard drive is failing or has failed.  The reason you can't get into the bios or boot from a CD/DVD is because the bios it hanging trying to recognize the hard drive.  Try removing the hard drive and see if it will allow you into the bios or boot to a CD/DVD.  If it does, go the hard drive manufacturer's support site, downlod their hard drive diagnostic ISO image, then use the burn from image option to create the self booting cd, then boot to it and run the most exhaustive diagnosis on it if it will boot.  If you can't get it to boot to the diagnostic disk while the hard drive is installed you'll more than likely need to replace the hard drive. 
    If it won't get you into the bios or boot to a CD/DVD with the hard drive out of the system you need to try reseating the ram.  If that doesn't help you probably have a bad motherboard.  In this case it would more than likely be cheaper to just replace the laptop than fix it."
    http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-use-a-system-repair-disc-to-restore-windows.html
    If Seatools found your HD good, then you have a good chance of using the recovery disks or the recovery partion to restore you back to factory setting. If that fails, you may be down to a bad motherboard. I know of no program to test the MB. You can use memtest 86 to test your Ram. I think it tests some parts of your MB, but can't say that for sure.
    I Love my Satellite L775D-S7222 Laptop. Some days you're the windshield, Some days you're the bug. The Computer world is crazy. If you have answers to computer problems, pass them forward.

    Hi! I stole this reply from Jerry Edited One link, because it failed to open
    Let's start here. The spec above says your machine came with 32-bit Windows Vista. Have you changed it?
    We need to reach the recovery environment. Can you do it this way?
       http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-happened-to-the-Recovery-Console
    If not, burn a system repair disc from this download (assuming 32-bit Windows).
       Download Windows Vista Recovery Environment ISO X86 version (32 bit)
    -Jerry
    I Love my Satellite L775D-S7222 Laptop. Some days you're the windshield, Some days you're the bug. The Computer world is crazy. If you have answers to computer problems, pass them forward.

  • Can't boot into Windows 8.1 partition after apple store repair

    Can't boot into Windows 8.1 partition after apple store repair
    I went to the apple store about a week ago to get my screen fixed, and when I get it back I don't have an option to boot into my windows partition. The bootcamp partition is still there, but I can't boot into it. I can still see all of the files on the drive. When I try to boot into windows from the startup disc setting I get "no bootable device — insert boot disk and press any key” on a black screen. I went in for a dead pixel, and the guy at the genius bar ran something on my computer and went into disk utility application. I’m not sure what he was doing, but obviously that’s what messed up my windows partition. How can I be able to boot back into windows? Here's what disk utility looks like on my computer.

    Here's the output
    00000000  eb 52 90 4e 54 46 53 20  20 20 20 00 02 08 00 00  |.R.NTFS    .....|
    00000010  00 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00  3f 00 ff 00 00 b0 0e 2b  |........?......+|
    00000020  00 00 00 00 80 00 80 00  ff bf 2e 0f 00 00 00 00  |................|
    00000030  00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 00  02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
    00000040  f6 00 00 00 01 00 00 00  05 92 d3 74 c4 d3 74 aa  |...........t..t.|
    00000050  00 00 00 00 fa 33 c0 8e  d0 bc 00 7c fb 68 c0 07  |.....3.....|.h..|
    00000060  1f 1e 68 66 00 cb 88 16  0e 00 66 81 3e 03 00 4e  |..hf......f.>..N|
    00000070  54 46 53 75 15 b4 41 bb  aa 55 cd 13 72 0c 81 fb  |TFSu..A..U..r...|
    00000080  55 aa 75 06 f7 c1 01 00  75 03 e9 dd 00 1e 83 ec  |U.u.....u.......|
    00000090  18 68 1a 00 b4 48 8a 16  0e 00 8b f4 16 1f cd 13  |.h...H..........|
    000000a0  9f 83 c4 18 9e 58 1f 72  e1 3b 06 0b 00 75 db a3  |.....X.r.;...u..|
    000000b0  0f 00 c1 2e 0f 00 04 1e  5a 33 db b9 00 20 2b c8  |........Z3... +.|
    000000c0  66 ff 06 11 00 03 16 0f  00 8e c2 ff 06 16 00 e8  |f...............|
    000000d0  4b 00 2b c8 77 ef b8 00  bb cd 1a 66 23 c0 75 2d  |K.+.w......f#.u-|
    000000e0  66 81 fb 54 43 50 41 75  24 81 f9 02 01 72 1e 16  |f..TCPAu$....r..|
    000000f0  68 07 bb 16 68 52 11 16  68 09 00 66 53 66 53 66  |h...hR..h..fSfSf|
    00000100  55 16 16 16 68 b8 01 66  61 0e 07 cd 1a 33 c0 bf  |U...h..fa....3..|
    00000110  0a 13 b9 f6 0c fc f3 aa  e9 fe 01 90 90 66 60 1e  |.............f`.|
    00000120  06 66 a1 11 00 66 03 06  1c 00 1e 66 68 00 00 00  |.f...f.....fh...|
    00000130  00 66 50 06 53 68 01 00  68 10 00 b4 42 8a 16 0e  |.fP.Sh..h...B...|
    00000140  00 16 1f 8b f4 cd 13 66  59 5b 5a 66 59 66 59 1f  |.......fY[ZfYfY.|
    00000150  0f 82 16 00 66 ff 06 11  00 03 16 0f 00 8e c2 ff  |....f...........|
    00000160  0e 16 00 75 bc 07 1f 66  61 c3 a1 f6 01 e8 09 00  |...u...fa.......|
    00000170  a1 fa 01 e8 03 00 f4 eb  fd 8b f0 ac 3c 00 74 09  |............<.t.|
    00000180  b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10 eb  f2 c3 0d 0a 41 20 64 69  |............A di|
    00000190  73 6b 20 72 65 61 64 20  65 72 72 6f 72 20 6f 63  |sk read error oc|
    000001a0  63 75 72 72 65 64 00 0d  0a 42 4f 4f 54 4d 47 52  |curred...BOOTMGR|
    000001b0  20 69 73 20 63 6f 6d 70  72 65 73 73 65 64 00 0d  | is compressed..|
    000001c0  0a 50 72 65 73 73 20 43  74 72 6c 2b 41 6c 74 2b  |.Press Ctrl+Alt+|
    000001d0  44 65 6c 20 74 6f 20 72  65 73 74 61 72 74 0d 0a  |Del to restart..|
    000001e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
    000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 8a 01  a7 01 bf 01 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
    00000200
    Here's a better screenshot.

Maybe you are looking for