Hi all.
Just got my Samsung EVO 250 SSD and loaded a new install of Win 7 Pro. I wanted the SSD in the SATA II port 1 so before I did the install, I had to move a couple of SATA II cables around. It is just me, I know that it does not really make a difference which SATA port you use but it is a way for me to track which disk is on what port when I have to replace components.
Right now, I have three separate disk with three separate OS on them.
Port 1 is disk 1 which is the SSD with the new Win 7 Pro install done last night, marked as Drive C
Port 2 is my Blu Ray BD-R, marked as Drive Y
Port 3 is disk 3 which is my old Win 7 Pro installation that will be wiped once I transfer some data, marked as Drive E
Port 4 is disk 2 which is a general storage disk at this time, marked as Drive F
Port 5 is disk 0 which has my Win XP 32 bit, which will be wiped once I transfer some data, marked as Drive D.
Port 6 is empty.
IDE Primary CD ROM is marked as drive Z.
As it stands, when I start my computer, I only have access to the new Win 7 Pro installation as a start option while booting. I can still access the other OS's if I change the BIOS settings for the boot drive but when I start Win XP , I do not see the SSD Win 7 Pro installation, but I do get the old Win 7 Pro installation as a boot from option.. And of course, the drive letters change, Win XP is C, Win 7 Pro (old) is D, Storage is E, SSD is not seen, Blue Ray is Y and a IDE CD ROM is Z.
If I start the old Win 7 Pro OS, I see the Win XP, I do not see the SSD Win 7 Pro installation as a boot from option. And of course, the drive letters change, Win 7 Pro Old is drive C, Storage is drive D, Win XP is drive E, Blu Ray BD-R is drive Y, and the IDE CD ROM is drive Z.
I would like to have the boot option for all OS installations on the SSD Win 7 Pro install without having to go into the BIOS to change the boot drive every time I want to go to an old OS.
So here is the question - is there a way for the BCDEditor to scan all the disk in the computer, identify all the OS's and build a new BCDedit file that would be on the new Win 7 Pro SSD drive that would allow me access to all the OS's without having to go into the BIOS to change the boot drive?
If there is, how would I do this? And if not, how would I edit the BCD file to manually build a new file to resolve this issue?
I have access to the BCDeditor using a program called Virtual BCD that allows me to view and edit the BCD file. It also comes with a StartUp Repair but I am hesitant to use it as I do not know what it will do. I have made a saved copy of the BCD file by using the elevated CMD.exe using the bcdedit /export C:\BCDSAVED for the new Win 7 install and did the same thing for the old Win 7 install naming the file BCDSAVEDOLD.
I am currently under the 30 day try out that MS offers to examine the OS and do have a proper licensing key for the Win 7 Pro install but have not activated windows yet as I want to make sure that I can do the necessary changes to the BCD file so that I will not have to attempt a new reload of the Win 7 Pro OS on the SSD if the key is used already.
Any assistance is appreciated.
Just got my Samsung EVO 250 SSD and loaded a new install of Win 7 Pro. I wanted the SSD in the SATA II port 1 so before I did the install, I had to move a couple of SATA II cables around. It is just me, I know that it does not really make a difference which SATA port you use but it is a way for me to track which disk is on what port when I have to replace components.
Right now, I have three separate disk with three separate OS on them.
Port 1 is disk 1 which is the SSD with the new Win 7 Pro install done last night, marked as Drive C
Port 2 is my Blu Ray BD-R, marked as Drive Y
Port 3 is disk 3 which is my old Win 7 Pro installation that will be wiped once I transfer some data, marked as Drive E
Port 4 is disk 2 which is a general storage disk at this time, marked as Drive F
Port 5 is disk 0 which has my Win XP 32 bit, which will be wiped once I transfer some data, marked as Drive D.
Port 6 is empty.
IDE Primary CD ROM is marked as drive Z.
As it stands, when I start my computer, I only have access to the new Win 7 Pro installation as a start option while booting. I can still access the other OS's if I change the BIOS settings for the boot drive but when I start Win XP , I do not see the SSD Win 7 Pro installation, but I do get the old Win 7 Pro installation as a boot from option.. And of course, the drive letters change, Win XP is C, Win 7 Pro (old) is D, Storage is E, SSD is not seen, Blue Ray is Y and a IDE CD ROM is Z.
If I start the old Win 7 Pro OS, I see the Win XP, I do not see the SSD Win 7 Pro installation as a boot from option. And of course, the drive letters change, Win 7 Pro Old is drive C, Storage is drive D, Win XP is drive E, Blu Ray BD-R is drive Y, and the IDE CD ROM is drive Z.
I would like to have the boot option for all OS installations on the SSD Win 7 Pro install without having to go into the BIOS to change the boot drive every time I want to go to an old OS.
So here is the question - is there a way for the BCDEditor to scan all the disk in the computer, identify all the OS's and build a new BCDedit file that would be on the new Win 7 Pro SSD drive that would allow me access to all the OS's without having to go into the BIOS to change the boot drive?
If there is, how would I do this? And if not, how would I edit the BCD file to manually build a new file to resolve this issue?
I have access to the BCDeditor using a program called Virtual BCD that allows me to view and edit the BCD file. It also comes with a StartUp Repair but I am hesitant to use it as I do not know what it will do. I have made a saved copy of the BCD file by using the elevated CMD.exe using the bcdedit /export C:\BCDSAVED for the new Win 7 install and did the same thing for the old Win 7 install naming the file BCDSAVEDOLD.
I am currently under the 30 day try out that MS offers to examine the OS and do have a proper licensing key for the Win 7 Pro install but have not activated windows yet as I want to make sure that I can do the necessary changes to the BCD file so that I will not have to attempt a new reload of the Win 7 Pro OS on the SSD if the key is used already.
Any assistance is appreciated.