Windows' boot tools (bootrec, bcdedit, etc) should be all available, have GUI versions also

windows' boot tools (bootrec, bcdedit, etc) should be all available, have GUI versions also. and some are very hard to use, especially bcdedit.exe, so some simplification of the complexity is needed or some very good documentation and how-tos in the windows
help.
having GUI versions of the tools would save a LOT of headache. the GUIDs needed by the program are hard to get, waste time on the user's part trying to find them, and it's generally a very error-prone process trying to use the current toolset to make a computer
bootable [again].
also, when a computer used to be bootable, but is bootable no more because a critical drive was removed, the BCD and boot sector cannot be rebuilt on the disk that has \Windows on it or any other drive for that matter, from what I have seen, the capability
is just not there or has been disabled. please fix.
XP made the booting process simple. in this case, simpler is better when it comes to computer repair [businesses]. you just edited a boot.ini file and you had a boot sector and some system files and that was it. If I needed to change the config, I could,
with notepad or any favorite text editor, even with a linux [rescue] livecd and a few commands, and the computer was back up and running if before it woudn't boot.

Have you seen this?
this? this?
Google is our friend.

Similar Messages

After upgrades Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 my ITunes doesn't work. I have the version 11.1.3

After upgrades Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 my ITunes doesn't work. I have the version 11.1.3, if i start ITunes, i have next window:
iTunes
[Main Instruction]
The iTunes program doesn't work
[Content]
The arisen problem led to program termination of work. Windows will close this program and if there is a known way of elimination of a problem, will notify you on it.
[To close the program]
What i can to do?

Hello Lynn,
The article linked below details a number of troubleshooting steps that can help get iTunes to properly recognize your iPhone.
iPod nano: Error message saying that iPod could not be identified properly
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203350
Regards,
Allen

Upgrading Lightroom from ver. 5 to ver 6, I am running Windows 7 32-bits but I get Lightroom in a 64-bit version, also the second time I download

I have just downloadet Lightroom ver. 6 to upgrade from ver. 5 on Windows 7 in 32-bit. The install tells me that it ned a 64-bit system. I have then downloadet ver. 6 again, and it stil demand a 64-bit machine.
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there is no 32bit version of LR6.
Mylenium

Windows boot loop ****!

I attempted to install a new copy of Windows XP on my Mac Mini today. When I selected the boot camp partition, windows installer said it could not install on that partition. I chose to exit the set-up. Now I cannot get my mini out of a windows boot loop no matter what I do. I have tried all the methods of booting from CD for mac, but they haven't worked. I would love suggestions because I would hate to drop a bunch of $$ to have my mini repaired if I can do it myself. Would appreciate any help anyone can provide.

I am thinking it may almost be cheaper to just buy a new hard drive and install it, start fresh. I have everything backed up in time machine on an external drive, so no loss there. Thoughts?

Do I need to install boot camp on Windows 7 as well as on Lion? I already installed it some years ago on Leopard when installing Windows Vista on my Macbook Pro. But now after installing Windows 7, many things in windows doesn't work (sound etc.)

Do I need to install boot camp on Windows 7 as well as on Lion? I already installed it some years ago on Leopard when installing Windows Vista on my Macbook Pro. But now after installing Windows 7, many things in windows doesn't work (sound etc.). I made a clean installation because I needed to go from 32 bit to 64 bit.
Or should I just update bootcamp in Lion? (cause when I search for "boot camp" in Windows 7 there's no result)

Installation Guide
Instructions for all features and settings.
Boot Camp 4.0 FAQ Get answers to commonly asked Boot Camp questions.
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Apple Boot Camp Support
Lion's Boot Camp Assistant 4.x should have downloaded Apple drivers as part of also partitioning.
You need Apple drivers. And you then need to add on your own audio driver.
You can run Assistant at any time to download and save a set of drivers.

Bought a new windows computer and older and newer versions of photoshop have extremely small icons/font/tools...etc., making it almost unusable. Any suggestions? Or, do I take my new computer back?

bought a new windows computer and older and newer versions of photoshop have extremely small icons/font/tools...etc., making it almost unusable. Any suggestions? Or, do I take my new computer back?

That's Adobe for you!
No matter how much we request, beg and/or complain, nothing is done about the miserably small interface.
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Efibootmgr & gummiboot replaced UEFI entry for Windows Boot Manager

TLDR
I am now in Windows 7 and dual boot with Arch is working fine.
But before I update Arch, I would like to understand what happened, as in why adding an efibootmgr entry for Arch replaced/deleted the Windows Boot Manager entry although I followed the BG.
The status of my UEFI boot menu was, before the installation of Arch:
Windows Boot Manager
AHCI HDJ... (hard drive 1)
AHCI ST... (hard drive 2)
While working through the BG, I decided to use gummiboot=> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … #Gummiboot. So:
pacman -S gummiboot
gummiboot install
pacman -S efibootmgr
gummiboot install
[some error ocurred, as mentioned in red box]
efibootmgr -c -L "Gummiboot" -l /EFI/gummiboot/gummibootx64.efi
nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=/dev/sdb3 ro
[CTRL + X, Y, Enter]
exit
umount /mnt/{boot,home,}
reboot
I then saw a new list of the UEFI boot order:
Gummiboot
AHCI HDJ... (hard drive 1)
AHCI ST... (hard drive 2)
Chose Gummiboot and it brought up a gummiboot menu with entries
Arch Linux
Windows Boot Manager
EFI Shell something
Selected Arch Linux and it went to a message something along "boot device ' ' not found" and I was in a shell which was, I think, rootfs.
I rebooted via the button on my desktop and out the Arch Linux USB drive back. After mounting the partitions:
gummiboot remove
efibootmgr
[0000: Windows Boot Manager
[0001: Arch Linux
[0002: AHCI HDJ...
[0003: AHCI ST...
exit
umount /mnt/{boot,home,}
reboot
Now I booted into a black screen with white text which said something "Reboot and select proper Boot device"
=> Inserted Win 7 64-bit DVD, repaired the boot sector. Rebooted, saw I had these entries again:
Windows Boot Manager
AHCI HDJ... (hard drive 1)
AHCI ST... (hard drive 2)
The boot into Windows worked fine. Rebooted, chrooted into my install again and:
efibootmgr
[0000: Arch Linux
[0001: Windows Boot Manager
[0003: AHCI HDJ...
[0003: AHCI ST...
efibootmogr -b 0 -B
Then I used the EFISTUB method:
efibootmgr -c -L "Arch Linux" -l /vmlinuz-linux -u "root=/dev/sdb3 ro initrd=/initramfs-linux.img"
efibootmgr
[0000: Windows Boot Manager
[0001: Arch Linux
[0002: AHCI HDJ...
[0003: AHCI ST...
exit
umount /mnt/{boot,home,}
reboot
On reboot, 'Windows Boot Manager' was again replaced by 'Arch Linux'.
=> Inserted Win 7 64-bit DVD, repaired the boot sector.
Rebooted, I have now Windows Boot Manager + Arch Linux and dual boot works now.
My questions:
What is going on with efibootmgr replacing/deleting the Windows entry? Is there something wrong with my UEFI menu?
In connection with 1., I would like to sync the EFISTUB Kernel (wiki entry) before I run pacman -Syu. Can I do that now?
Can I uninstall gummiboot now?
Last edited by jones (2013-07-11 12:30:55)

henrik wrote:So in light of your post, I decided to ditch EFISTUB + gummiboot and try out GRUB. Thanks for clearing it up a bit. Which is what confuses me a great deal more, as GRUB/gummiboot obviously do not meddle with Microsoft's EFI files. Right?
EFI relies on two things to boot:
Boot loader program files on the ESP (or occasionally elsewhere).
NVRAM entries pointing to the boot loader files.
Your own problems seem to be with the NVRAM entries, not with the boot loader files themselves. Unfortunately, managing those NVRAM entries has proven to be problematic because of bugs in specific EFI implementations, bugs in efibootmgr and other tools that manipulate the NVRAM entries, poor documentation, and other factors.
To answer your question, though, no boot loader should mess with another's files. Such things can happen, though. The number of bugs that cause Microsoft's boot loader (EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi) to be treated deferentially have provoked some tools to use it as a target location for other boot loaders. (Ubuntu's Boot Repair tool does this in a rather overzealous way. So does my own rEFInd installer script, but only under certain narrow circumstances.) Also, the EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi file is a special case; it's the fallback bootloader that's used when NVRAM entries are missing or don't work, and various boot loader installation procedures place copies in that location, so it can be overwritten and could contain just about anything.
However, the whole thing happened again with GRUB. So I did the whole "repairing Boot problems" with the Windows DVD rescue thingy again and deleted all non-Microsoft files from the EFI partition, /dev/sda1.
Then I formatted / (root) and installed arch again and followed the Beginners' Guide which suggest mounting /dev/sda1/ to /mnt/boot (in contrast to the GRUB entry where the ESP should be mounted to /mnt/boot/efi).
I strongly advise against doing a complete re-installation just to overcome a boot loader problem. Instead, figure out what the problem is and fix it. Doing a complete re-installation is not likely to fix anything, and depending on precisely how you do it, you could end up with a more complex problem. The reason is that the re-installation is not likely to erase the NVRAM entries from the old installation, so you could find that you've got additional stray NVRAM entries. If you do happen to fix the problem by re-installing (say, because you selected a different installation option), you're not likely to know what changed to fix the problem, so you could end up in the same boat should you need to re-install again in the future.
But it did not show this line
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda1
... how come??
I've given up trying to understand GRUB's configuration scripts. You could try creating an entry manually by editing /etc/grub.d/40_custom; or you could forget about using the GRUB scripts and create a hand-crafted grub.cfg; or you could forget about using GRUB at all. I'm not a fan of GRUB, so my personal choice is the final one.
So for all the headache and time ... should I delete the EFI partition and recreate it maybe? I think it's possible using the Windows 7 DVD.
But somehow using efibootmgr on my UEFI list somehow invalidated the Windows entry.
Reviewing your posts, it seems that you want to use the EFI stub loader directly, but you're having problems with that because when you add it to the NVRAM entries, Windows drops off your boot manager's boot options. The obvious solution to this problem is to forget about adding the EFI stub loader directly to the NVRAM entries, and instead add a boot manager that can handle either a Linux kernel or the Windows boot loader. (IMHO, this is the superior solution anyhow; I disagree with the Arch wiki's emphasis on using the EFI stub loader "raw.") It seems you were trying to do this with GRUB but had problems booting Windows. Earlier you tried gummiboot but had problems booting Linux. My suggestion is to either go back to gummiboot and fix its problem or try rEFInd. The "device not found" error you reported with gummiboot is usually caused by either a missing (or incorrectly-specified) initrd file or by an incorrectly-specified "root=" option passed to the kernel. Check those possitilities, and if you need help, report what happens in more detail. If necessary, take a digital photo of the screen and post it here. (Make sure it's legible, though!)
You can try rEFInd with minimal disk by using a CD-R or USB flash drive image. Boot with that and your NVRAM and ESP won't be affected at all. If you can get rEFInd working from the flash drive, you can then install it to your hard disk and it should continue working. Note that you probably won't be able to boot Linux directly from rEFInd with your current configuration without adding a "root=" specification to the kernel command line. You can do this by hitting F2 or Insert twice rather than launching Linux by pressing Enter. Alternatively, you can create a refind_linux.conf file in the directory that holds your kernel. That file's contents are described in the rEFInd documentation.

Weird DVD drive issue on Windows Boot Camp on Macbook Pro

Hi, I just installed Windows on my Macbook Pro with Boot Camp. Windows itself works fine, then I tried installing Fallout 3. The installation took a really long time, which I thought was weird. I tried to play the game but it timed out in trying to read the disc. To further test this, I threw in a movie DVD and tried to play it. Windows Media Player said I didn't have a compatible DVD decoder. I tried playing the dvd in Mac OS and it works fine. I've also run the Leopard DVD install for Boot Camp fine. I used the Windows XP video decoder and it has determined that I don't have an MPEG-2 decoder installed. What I'm confused about is that if I manage to get a hold of a decoder, will that affect other processes, such as reading the DVD for video games?

Hi and welcome to Discussions,
by design courtesy of Microsoft the Media Player is not capable of playing DVDs unless an appropriate DVD-Decoder is installed.
You can use an alternative media player like VLC http://www.videolan.org/vlc
But this should not affect the usage of Windows Games, since usually a Games manufacturer puts all needed software to run his games onto the games CD/DVD, so it has to be something else preventing Fallout 3 from running.
Time-outs when trying to read/check the disc can be sometimes caused by 'dirt' on the disc (fingerprints, scratches, etc.).
Check for that.
Also make sure to have not installed programs for 'Virtual-Disc-Drives' like Daemon-Tools and/or Disc-Burning software like Nero, since these can also hinder the game from running.
Hope it helps
Stefan

How to configure a proxy server for Windows Azure Tools in Visual Studio 2013

Hi Visual Studio/Azure Tools team
I would like to use the Windows Azure tools in Visual Studio 2013 to manage my Azure Web sites (Server Explorer -> Windows Azure -> Web Sites) from within my corporate network which is secured using a proxy server. Unfortunately, I am not able to use
the Windows Azure tools since the required HTTPS connection to windows azure is not going through the default configured proxy. Instead, Visual Studio tries directly to connect to port 443 which is blocked by our corporate firewall (and yes: there is no way
around using our proxy server). Other visual studio features like NuGet, updates, etc. work fine and use the configured proxy server.
So my question: How can I configure visual studio respective its Azure tools to use a proxy server instead of a direct connection? I already tried configuring the proxy server within the file devenv.exe.config but this doesn't show any effect for Windows Azure
tools.
Regards
tschaena

As we have very similar problems I consider the found solution a work arround an existing problem which will not work if corporate FW policy does not allow such changes.
In my mind, any tools in charge of dealing with some sort of FW protocols should deliver the following information, should make it absolute clear how to setup that the request packages are setup rigth at the first time.
a) proxy server
b) proxy port
c) proxy user
d) proxy users-password
e) proxy.auth.Preference="BASIC"
And for moste tools (including Visual Studio and AZUR Tools) it is absolut unclear
a) how to setup that on a per tools basis
b) OR who inherits this information from whom i.e. use the same as IE does, what if we use FireFox or any other browsers?
I understand that developers requested to cure such problem areas will often have difficulty to gain all required elemenst used to realy test the solution.
But I can tell you: I loos more time figthing down the FW setups for my clients. WHat I do at home in a sniff, takes ages to be realised by all the various clients on the market where each has to deliver the same sort of information but actually does not,
or has it just somewhere, but not in the vicinity of the demanding user.
Good examples i.e. NetBeans IDE where the Option Menu shows very clearly what information is required to pass through a FW/Proxy; but even there, the hint to start with a BASIC authentication schema is not part of this OPTION menu and must be added a JAVA
environment value. But at least, it works.
Sepp

Arch & Windows 8 Dual Boot -- Windows Boot Loader loads grub-rescue

Arch works fine,but as it always happens Windows boot went down. Both OS are EFI.
Note that boot secure and fast boot were disabled for Windows 8.
I used os-prober, but did not fix anything; so, I removed it. I tried to hack things out using boot-repair from Ubuntu, but it requires a repository, grub-efi, from Ubuntu that Arch doesn't have.
I am trying to modify files in grub.d and grub.cfg and hopefully fix something.
Exact description:
- archgrub loads and shows 3 entries. Two for Arch that load the sys succesfully and one for Windows 8 that fails.
- When I try to execute Windows from grub, it brings me to a grub rescue>
and shows error /boot/grub/x86_64-efi/normal.mod not found
As far as I am concerned this .mod is from Linux, so I don't know why it is being called into Windows loading procedures.
lsblk returns:
[jav@localhost ~]$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 931.5G 0 disk
|-sda1 8:1 0 1000M 0 part
|-sda2 8:2 0 260M 0 part
|-sda3 8:3 0 1000M 0 part
|-sda4 8:4 0 128M 0 part
|-sda5 8:5 0 605.3G 0 part
|-sda6 8:6 0 5.4G 0 part /boot/efi
|-sda7 8:7 0 25G 0 part
|-sda8 8:8 0 20G 0 part
|-sda9 8:9 0 244.1G 0 part /
`-sda10 8:10 0 29.3G 0 part
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
Here's the output of fdisk. Another weird thing is that sometimes ubuntu would show on my terminal. See the first line below, "jav@ubuntu"?!
[jav@ubuntu ~]$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for jav:
Disk /dev/sda: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: [i deleted this]
Device Start End Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 2050047 1000M Windows recovery environment
/dev/sda2 2050048 2582527 260M EFI System
/dev/sda3 2582528 4630527 1000M unknown
/dev/sda4 4630528 4892671 128M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sda5 4892672 1274335231 605.3G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda6 1847777280 1859151871 5.4G EFI System
/dev/sda7 1859151872 1911580671 25G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda8 1911580672 1953523711 20G Windows recovery environment
/dev/sda9 1335775232 1847777279 244.1G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda10 1274335232 1335775231 29.3G Microsoft basic data
And, bootinfoscript output:
Boot Info Script 0.61 [1 April 2012]
============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
sda1: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sda2: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Windows 7: FAT32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /efi/Boot/bkpbootx64.efi /efi/Boot/bootx64.efi
/efi/ubuntu/grubx64.efi
sda3: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Windows 7: FAT32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /efi/Boot/bkpbootx64.efi /efi/Boot/bootx64.efi
/efi/ubuntu/grubx64.efi /bootmgr /boot/bcd
sda4: __________________________________________________________________________
File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed: mount: unknown filesystem type ''
sda5: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe
sda6: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: vfat
Boot sector type: SYSLINUX 6.02 ... :..(:,:0:4:8:....D:H:L:[.T:[.\:`:d:[.l:p:t:x:|:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.....................
Boot sector info: Syslinux looks at sector 99102 of /dev/sda6 for its
second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the /syslinux
directory. No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files: /grub/grub.cfg /syslinux/syslinux.cfg
/syslinux/ldlinux.sys
sda7: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sda8: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files:
sda9: __________________________________________________________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Arch Linux ()
Boot files: /etc/fstab
sda10: _________________________________________________________________________
File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files:
============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================
Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________
Disk /dev/sda: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1,953,525,167 1,953,525,167 ee GPT
GUID Partition Table detected.
Partition Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors System
/dev/sda1 2,048 2,050,047 2,048,000 Windows Recovery Environment (Windows)
/dev/sda2 2,050,048 2,582,527 532,480 EFI System partition
/dev/sda3 2,582,528 4,630,527 2,048,000 -
/dev/sda4 4,630,528 4,892,671 262,144 Microsoft Reserved Partition (Windows)
/dev/sda5 4,892,672 1,274,335,231 1,269,442,560 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda6 1,847,777,280 1,859,151,871 11,374,592 EFI System partition
/dev/sda7 1,859,151,872 1,911,580,671 52,428,800 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda8 1,911,580,672 1,953,523,711 41,943,040 Windows Recovery Environment (Windows)
/dev/sda9 1,335,775,232 1,847,777,279 512,002,048 Data partition (Linux)
/dev/sda10 1,274,335,232 1,335,775,231 61,440,000 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________
Device UUID TYPE LABEL
/dev/sda1 CE62D9F062D9DCF1 ntfs WINRE_DRV
/dev/sda10 150a8788-6049-45ed-85af-ded92a2c0801 ext4
/dev/sda2 16DC-8816 vfat SYSTEM_DRV
/dev/sda3 7CDD-0403 vfat LRS_ESP
/dev/sda4
/dev/sda5 40E4E0CFE4E0C7EC ntfs Windows8_OS
/dev/sda6 9C3F-2A9E vfat
/dev/sda7 7240E43740E40427 ntfs LENOVO
/dev/sda8 422CE5EA2CE5D945 ntfs PBR_DRV
/dev/sda9 1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837 ext4
================================ Mount points: =================================
Device Mount_Point Type Options
/dev/sda6 /boot vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda6 /boot/efi vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda9 / ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
============================= sda6/grub/grub.cfg: ==============================
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt9'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt9 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt9 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt9 1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-true-1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt6'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt6 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt6 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt6 9C3F-2A9E
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9C3F-2A9E
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel (Fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-fallback-1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt6'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt6 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt6 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt6 9C3F-2A9E
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9C3F-2A9E
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
## Attempt at fixing grub
# insmod fat
# set root='hd0,gpt6'
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
#menuentry 'Windows Boot Manager (on /dev/sda2)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-efi-16DC-8816' {
# insmod part_gpt
# insmod fat
# set root='hd0,gpt2'
# if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
# search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2 16DC-8816
# else
# search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 16DC-8816
# fi
# chainloader /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
menuentry "Windows 8 UEFI" {
set root='(hd0,gpt2)'
chainloader /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
========================= sda6/syslinux/syslinux.cfg: ==========================
# Config file for Syslinux -
# /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
# Comboot modules:
# * menu.c32 - provides a text menu
# * vesamenu.c32 - provides a graphical menu
# * chain.c32 - chainload MBRs, partition boot sectors, Windows bootloaders
# * hdt.c32 - hardware detection tool
# * reboot.c32 - reboots the system
# To Use: Copy the respective files from /usr/lib/syslinux to /boot/syslinux.
# If /usr and /boot are on the same file system, symlink the files instead
# of copying them.
# If you do not use a menu, a 'boot:' prompt will be shown and the system
# will boot automatically after 5 seconds.
# Please review the wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Syslinux
# The wiki provides further configuration examples
DEFAULT arch
PROMPT 0 # Set to 1 if you always want to display the boot: prompt
TIMEOUT 50
# You can create syslinux keymaps with the keytab-lilo tool
#KBDMAP de.ktl
# Menu Configuration
# Either menu.c32 or vesamenu32.c32 must be copied to /boot/syslinux
UI menu.c32
#UI vesamenu.c32
# Refer to http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/Doc/menu
MENU TITLE Arch Linux
#MENU BACKGROUND splash.png
MENU COLOR border 30;44 #40ffffff #a0000000 std
MENU COLOR title 1;36;44 #9033ccff #a0000000 std
MENU COLOR sel 7;37;40 #e0ffffff #20ffffff all
MENU COLOR unsel 37;44 #50ffffff #a0000000 std
MENU COLOR help 37;40 #c0ffffff #a0000000 std
MENU COLOR timeout_msg 37;40 #80ffffff #00000000 std
MENU COLOR timeout 1;37;40 #c0ffffff #00000000 std
MENU COLOR msg07 37;40 #90ffffff #a0000000 std
MENU COLOR tabmsg 31;40 #30ffffff #00000000 std
# boot sections follow
# TIP: If you want a 1024x768 framebuffer, add "vga=773" to your kernel line.
LABEL arch
MENU LABEL Arch Linux
LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
APPEND root=/dev/sda3 rw
INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img
LABEL archfallback
MENU LABEL Arch Linux Fallback
LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
APPEND root=/dev/sda3 rw
INITRD ../initramfs-linux-fallback.img
#LABEL windows
# MENU LABEL Windows
# COM32 chain.c32
# APPEND hd0 1
LABEL hdt
MENU LABEL HDT (Hardware Detection Tool)
COM32 hdt.c32
LABEL reboot
MENU LABEL Reboot
COM32 reboot.c32
LABEL poweroff
MENU LABEL Poweroff
COM32 poweroff.c32
=================== sda6: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================
GiB - GB File Fragment(s)
================= sda6: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================
GiB - GB File Fragment(s)
============== sda6: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============
syslinux/cat.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/chain.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/cmd.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/config.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/cptime.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/cpuid.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/cpuidtest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/debug.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/disk.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/dmitest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/elf.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ethersel.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/gfxboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/gpxecmd.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/hdt.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/hexdump.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/host.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ifcpu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ifcpu64.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ifmemdsk.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ifplop.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/kbdmap.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/kontron_wdt.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ldlinux.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/libcom32.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/libgpl.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/liblua.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/libmenu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/libutil.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/linux.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/ls.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/lua.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/mboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/meminfo.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/menu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/pcitest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/pmload.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/poweroff.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/prdhcp.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/pwd.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/pxechn.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/reboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/rosh.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/sanboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/sdi.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/sysdump.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/vesainfo.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/vesamenu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/vpdtest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/whichsys.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
syslinux/zzjson.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
=============================== sda9/etc/fstab: ================================
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# /dev/sda9
UUID=1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837 / ext4 rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 1
# /dev/sda6
#UUID=9C3F-2A9E /boot vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 2
UUID=9C3F-2A9E /boot vfat defaults 0 2
UUID=9C3F-2A9E /boot/efi vfat defaults 0 1
============== sda9: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============
boot/syslinux/cat.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/chain.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/cmd.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/config.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/cptime.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/cpuid.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/cpuidtest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/debug.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/disk.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/dmitest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/elf.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ethersel.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/gfxboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/gpxecmd.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/hdt.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/hexdump.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/host.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ifcpu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ifcpu64.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ifmemdsk.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ifplop.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/kbdmap.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/kontron_wdt.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ldlinux.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/libcom32.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/libgpl.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/liblua.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/libmenu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/libutil.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/linux.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/ls.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/lua.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/mboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/meminfo.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/menu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/pcitest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/pmload.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/poweroff.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/prdhcp.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/pwd.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/pxechn.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/reboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/rosh.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/sanboot.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/sdi.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/sysdump.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/vesainfo.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/vpdtest.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/whichsys.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
boot/syslinux/zzjson.c32 : not a COM32/COM32R module
======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================
Unknown GPT Partiton Type
e7afbfbf4fa38a449a5b6213eb736c22
========= Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive: =========
sdb
=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================
cat: /tmp/BootInfo-p9ML2Cte/Tmp_Log: No such file or directory
cat: /tmp/BootInfo-p9ML2Cte/Tmp_Log: No such file or directory
/dev/cdrom: open failed: No medium found
/dev/sdb: open failed: No medium found
No volume groups found
mdadm: No arrays found in config file or automatically
Any ideas?
Here's my grub.cfg:
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt9'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt9 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt9 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt9 1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-true-1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt6'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt6 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt6 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt6 9C3F-2A9E
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9C3F-2A9E
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel (Fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-fallback-1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt6'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt6 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt6 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt6 9C3F-2A9E
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 9C3F-2A9E
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=1a765403-f251-43d8-8edf-c191475d3837 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Windows Boot Manager (on /dev/sda2)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-efi-16DC-8816' {
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root='hd0,gpt2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2 16DC-8816
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 16DC-8816
fi
chainloader /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
Last edited by knowNothing23 (2013-12-30 00:17:02)

Hi,
New to this forum, joined today in anticipation of trying an install of AL...For whatever this may be worth:
I have an HP Pavillion desktop that came with Windows 8 (now 8.1), & has, of course, a UEFI boot system. I tried earlier to install Ubuntu Studio (which I currently run) on the same disk as Windows (/dev/sda), I made (I believe) a huge mistake in trying to install as LVM/ext4... wiped out my Windows install & made the UEFI unavailable... I had to do a complete re-install of Windows (fortunately, I did the recommended system backup, using 4 DVD's!) so then I tried a (non LVM) install on an external usb 3.0, with the Grub 2 on the external disk (great access time, & it worked fine... IMO)...
One other item: as I have been trying to find the right flavor of Linux for my main purposes, I have been trying various distros. & having to try to learn to negotiate the UEFI, secure/legacy procedures (still learning)... As I was unsure of installing rEFind... I did down load the .iso, burn it to a CD...
http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/getting.html
& in legacy mode, found that simply putting it (rEFind CD into the CD/DVD player, which in the UEFI it is labeled something like HP/UEFI CD/DVD), & then launching it, rEFind worked for some other distros...that is, I was able to boot into my Linux distros, even bypassing Grub), as well as having the option of booting Windows. It may seem trivial that I say this (it maybe is), but I have not seen anywhere (I have scoured the internet rather well) this mentioned as a possibility (though it, of course, would not make such a good permanent solution, especially for computers like mine that have only one CD/DVD player).
HenryP

Windows boot manager boots almost fully into windows 8 before letting me select windows 7, at which point it reboots my computer

Hi,
I haven't used my slow HDD with windows 7 on it in a while, but today my SDD with windows 8 on it died. I have kept my old OS in a dual boot setup exactly for this rare possibility. I in fact successfully revived my SSD from windows 7.
During the restore procedure I had to boot into both OSes (7 and 8) several times before I managed to get 8 working. I tried a lot of things before one of them struck. (Is that how the phrase goes?
Me Hungary, no good speak English some times...) I am surprised to have found the following unexpected behavior of the new windows 8 branded boot loader:
The new windows boot manager boots almost fully into windows 8 before letting me select an OS.
If I select windows 7, it reboots my computer and loads windows 7, wasting a lot of time... on the windows 8 portion of the boot process, which is simply thrown away if I happen need windows 7 and not 8.
"This is highly inefficient!" — I almost exclaimed aloud... A boot manager should load just enough of itself so that a simple OS selection menu can be presented to the user with minimal keyboard interaction. Only when a selection is made should
it load an OS. I have no use for the new boot manager's mouse control support, and having it appear on the second screen in my dual screen setup is just plain scary. Use the main laptop monitor where the BIOS messages were displaying, and keep the secondary
off until the OS is done booting! By the time my secondary screen turns on, the boot selection menu disappears anyway.
Yes, I only noticed this problem now because I haven't booted into windows 7 for a long time. (300 MB worth of Windows updates were waiting for me indeed.) My boot selection menu timeout is set to 3 seconds instead of 30 so I don't have to pick windows 8
every time.
I am going to wait at least a week for the forum's input before I switch on my own to a faster, minimalist boot manager. I don't know what to use, I'm familiar with:
some minimalist bootstrap loaders
coreboot/linuxbios (recently learned of it)
bootcamp (not really)
acronis OS selector (discontinued before windows 8 came out, probably doesn't support it)
syslinux/isolinux (Linux only, I think)
old Windows bootmgr
more recent Windows ntldr
then this new "inefficient for dual booting" Windows 8 boot manager
and finally grub
Grub feels like the best option as it keeps the windows boot manager intact and supports mac, windows, and linux. All 3 of which will at one point — or has already — come up as a subject or prerequisite in my university.
I don't know how or why I was able to access windows 8's boot loader while my SSD was dead. Was it installed on the HDD, overwriting the windows 7 boot loader? That too is inefficient. I want to completely boot from my SSD. Don't spin up my HDD while I'm
booting my laptop on the go! The shaking of the vehicle I'm in could seriously damage the disk if I run into a pothole (common in my country) with just the right timing, data could be damaged. The entire reason windows 8 is on an SSD is so that it can boot
without accessing my HDD with all its moving parts. My goal with buying an SSD was for the HDD to remain safely offline while I'm in a shaky environment with potholes! Also, what if I want to disconnect the old HDD in the future... Or what if it dies? Will
the windows 8 boot loader die with windows 7? I want the two kept separately and completely independent from each other for exactly this reason.
In summary:
How can I stop windows 8 from almost fully booting before offering the dual boot OS selection menu? Do I need a better Boot loader?
Why was the boot loader that came with windows 8 still working OK while the SSD with windows 8 on it wasn't accessible? Did it sneak its way onto the old HDD? I want a 100% SSD-based boot process. What is the boot loader doing on a different drive? Its
place is on the SSD, with the operating system it belongs to. Not on the HDD of a different OS. Can I move it?
Sincerely,
Daniel "3ICE" Berezvai
p.s.: For windows 7 I only have a repair disk and hidden RECOVERY partition which I kept (came with the laptop, would rather not use it.) The Windows 8 pro DVD (purchased last year) is fine, but I had it moved to a bootable pendrive so I could remove my
optical drive and replace it with an SSD on which windows 8 is installed now. (I also have a vista ultimate DVD, as they were giving them away for free on a Microsoft conference. Funny story.)
p.p.s.: I am subscribed (☑ Alert me) to this topic and will respond to all questions and try all recommended actions right away.
http://3ice.hu/

Hi,
Thank you for your post.
From your description, I see the issue you are facing is there is no menu to choose OS when booting dual boot(Windows 7 & Windows 8). Please let me know if I have misunderstood anything.
It seems that the Windows 7 entry is missing, currently, we can use a tool –
EasyBCD to get it back. After downloading it, choose the Add/Edit panel item, select the OS you're missing and let the program detect it. Then simply click the Add button to add the missing OS entry.
At the meantime, here is a related link which demonstrates how to keep Windows 7 as the default OS in dual boot, you may use it for a reference.
How to Dual-Boot Windows 8 While Keeping Windows 7 As Your Default OS
http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-dual-boot-windows-8-while-keeping-windows-7-as-your-default-os
[Please Note: Since the website is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy
of this information.]
Regarding your second questions in your first post, you can refer to the following link to know more about dual boot.
Dual
Booting Explained: How You Can Have Multiple Operating Systems on Your Computer
http://www.howtogeek.com/187789/dual-booting-explained-how-you-can-have-multiple-operating-systems-on-your-computer/
[Please Note: Since the website is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy
of this information.]
Hopefully the information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for your time.
Best Regards,
Sophia Sun
Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Why won't my tabs & windows reopen as they should, even tho I have it set for them to do so?

Why won't my tabs & windows reopen as they should, even tho I have it set for them to do so?
"Firefox can be configured to restore all windows and tabs that were open when the application is closed or terminated unexpectedly. This article describes the circumstances under which your session is restored and how you can configure it."
I have it set up, in "Tools", "Options", etc., for my windows and tabs to reopen & be restored to the webpages that they were previously at before I, for one reason or another, restarted my computer! But, after I restart my computer and the Firefox browser, it always goes to my homepage; the windows & tabs NEVER restart as they should!
It wasn't always like this. It has only been within the last few weeks that this has become a constant and consistent problem. I assume that a Firefox update somehow disabled something & that's why it isn't working properly but, whatever...
How do I fix this so that my windows & tabs reopen as they should!?

Have you checked to make sure that under>> Options >> General >> That the startup behavior is appropriately? I had the same problem after upgrading and setting my homepage. It should be set to "show my windows and tabs from last time".
Just re-read your post. sounds like you've tried this already.

Partitioning ruined windows booting

I have installed windows using Bootcamp, but then I created more partitions using Mac OS X.
Now I cannot boot into windows again. The partition is there, but it won't show up when I hold (Options). Only the Mac OS shows up.
I went to System Preferences->Startup Disk and selected Windows to boot, and still won't work.
How can this be fixed ?
Macbook Pro
Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Windows 7 Ultimate.

Happens all the time.
There is a limit to where a Windows boot partition can reside and all the side effects of making changes. ... because you assumed it would work and went "outside the draw by the dots" lines in the Boot Camp Guide.
http:www.apple.com/support/bootcamp has link to PDF guide and support articles.
this is one case where the results are almost always failure. And plan on what to do, when it doesn't work so you can restore - something that even using Mac OS should be seen as mandatory and not to be taken lightly.
"I created more partitions" doesn't help or tell anyone how (shrink, split, expand, used commercial program, used gpart, used a linux tool), as well as created HFS volumes? more Windows NtFS volume? Apple will only say that Boot Camp Assistant is the only supported method to create a Windows partiton (Paragon CampTune can also) doesn't change anything.
Did you use iPartition? I wonder if CampTune can redo/undo.
Clone Mac HFS and undo those changes. Use OS X DVD and Disk Utility as well as any of the programs to clone Mac.
How To clone
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
Windows OS has to be on #4 or less partition number (and GPT and HFS as well as EFI partitions have to be accounted for as well, and Windows 7 will normally create its own 100MB "System Reserved" (which is the active boot partition for Windows).
Backup beforehand. Then you can restore and recover.

Windows migration tool using external USB drive

Hi everyone,
My wife is using Windows Vista (BootCamp) on her MacBook now, but she finally decided to use Mac OS (it'll be Mavericks).
I believe that PC and Mac have to be connected via network (or Ethernet cable) to use Apple Windows migration tool, correct?
How can I migrate it in my case? Can I use MS (Windows) backup tool? Does Mac migration tool recognize this Windows backup? I prefer to use Apple migration tool, but any other good suggestions?
Please advise.
Thank you!

You are welcome.
Check that your computer is compatible with Mountain Lion/Mavericks.
To check the model number hold down the option/alt key, go to the Apple menu and select System Information (may be called something else in 10.5).
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) model number 5,1 or higher
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) model number 3,1 or higher
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) model number 2,1 or higher
Your Mac needs:
OS X v10.6.8 or OS X Lion already installed
2 GB or more of memory (More is better - 4 GB minimum seems to be the consensus)
8 GB or more of available space
If your computer isn’t compatible, you might be able to upgrade to Lion.
Computer Compatibility - Lion                       Lion
Check to make sure your applications are compatible. PowerPC applications are no longer supported after 10.6.
Application Compatibility
Applications Compatibility (2)
You will need to get Snow Leopard.         Snow Leopard Purchase
Once you have Snow Leopard, boot off the Snow Leopard DVD, run Disk Utility Repair Disk and Repair Permissions, Then erase the entire hard drive (top one in Disk Utility) formatting it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Install Snow Leopard and update using Software Update to 10.6.8. The combo update will shorten the process.
10.6.8 Combo Updater
Then go to the App Store and download Mavericks. I would quit the installer and make a copy of the installer and move it out of your Applications folder. The installer self-destructs. The copy will keep you from having to download the installer again. You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program.
Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X
That should get you to Mavericks.
If you want/need more RAM the 2 places I’ve seen recommended most to buy reliable RAM are below. I have purchased RAM several times from Other World Computing and have always been very satisfied with the product and service.
Crucial
Other World Computing

Toshiba Satellite C645-SP4145L enters windows boot manager and reboots[solved]

Toshiba Satellite C645-SP4145L
Problem description:
When the laptop is turned on, it goes for about less than a second to the Windows Boot Loader Screen, then it reboots itself, this loop repeats continously.
If you press the enter key quickly, the system boots to windows normally.
If you press the tab key it will allow you to execute memtest
If you try to boot from a cd or a usb, either changing the boot order in the BIOS menu or by choosing the option in the boot loader menu (F12), the laptop will crash and start beeping.
The problems persist either if the ac adpater if connected or disconnected. The problem persist if you remove the battery and work only with AC.
Tried solutions
1) Windows 7 reinstallation: Reinstalled windows (not booting from the cd, but from the older windows version). The problem persist
2)Reflashing BIOS: Download the Toshiba Boot Flashing tool, I upgraded the BIOS version, but the problem persist
3) Pressing F8 and trying to repair the laptop: It enters Advanced Boot Options, I have tried with al the options.
Startup Repair
System Restore
System Recovery Image (there is none)
Memtest
But the problem persist
4)Diagnostics performed
memtest: shows everything is ok
chkdsk c: shows no problem on the disk partition
Additional Info: Checking the OEM partition the recovery folder seems to be empty
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Satellite C645-SP4145L
When the laptop is turned on, it goes for about less than a second to the Windows Boot Loader Screen, then it reboots itself, this loop repeats continously.
If you press the enter key quickly, the system boots to windows normally.
Well done so far and good reporting. So Windows' loading sequence is messed up.
Try a System Restore from Windows first.
   What is System Restore?
If that doesn't fix things, burn a system repair disc (you should make that in any case) and use it to access the recovery environment.
   Create a system repair disc
   What are the system recovery options in Windows?
Try first a Startup Repair and let us know what happens.
-Jerry

Windows' boot tools (bootrec, bcdedit, etc) should be all available, have GUI versions also

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