windows boot manager holp

[munz]

after recently reinstalling vista i had a few partition related problems, which i solved by booting using an xp cd and repartitioning. i finally got everything up and running but now the windows boot manager loads up everytime at startup and shows multiple vista installations...only the first one works,

how can i delete the redundant entries...also since i am not dual booting, how can i disable the windows boot manager alltogether? cheers

[serialtoon]

Just 2 mins ago i finished fixing such a problem. I was running Linux on one partition and decided that i wanted to install on another machine. After i removed Linux, i had issues with the GRUB loader. So i had to fix the MBR by rewritting to it. Heres how.

1. Place Vista DVD in DVD tray.
2. Boot using the disc.
3. When prompted, choose your language and KB settings.
4. DO NOT choose INSTALL! Instead choose REPAIR WINDOWS on the bottom left.
5. Choose Command Prompt on the next window.
6. Enter these commands without the quotes, "cd C:" then "bootrec /fixmbr" press Enter.
Reboot PC (remove disk, mind you) and see if it works! If not, follow the same steps but type in "bootrec /fixboot"

None of these work? Post here. :-)

[munz]

thanks very much for your easy to follow and clear response serialtoon. i've got a raid-0 setup so after step 4 i have to load the raid drivers in order to access my vista partition.

after entering the cmd prompt, and typing bootrec /fixmbr resulted in an "Operation Sucessful" message however it didn't solve the boot problem.

typing bootrec /fixboot also resulted in an "Operation Sucessful" message but it still didn't solve the boot problem...the Windows Boot Manager still pops up with two installations of Vista, only one of which is working.

i really appreciate the input serialtoon, but this looks like a real stubborn problem...suggestions?

also i read someplace that it's possible to edit the boot loader. any idea what file to access and how? atm i have a fresh install of vista and all my data is on a seperate partition. i have tried deleting the c: partition, reformatting the RAW space but this problem doesn't want to go away. where exactly is this information stored?

[nessus]

Open a command prompt as administrator. Run "bcdedit /?".

Follow the instructions for removing the invalid entry.

[serialtoon]

Well im sorry i couldnt be of help, but did you get it cleared up?

[munz]

thank you nessus, the bcdedit command has many variants...am i correct in understanding that there is no file editor (last time i used dos was while editing the config.sys file under windows 3.11...where there was a dos based editor with a blue background as i recall)

since i've almost completed installing software on the vista partition, i want to make sure i don't accidentally do something wrong and lose a few hours of work...i just can't quite figure out the syntax:

first, i'd like to backup the current boot loader to be on the safe side...so how exactly do i use the /export parameter correctly?

second, windows boot manager prompts me with two copies of vista, the default one is the correct one...so would i be correct in assuming i'm supposed to use the /default parameter in order to get windows to boot straight into the default selection by bypassing the windows boot manager completely? again, i can't seem to get the syntax right...probably because i'm doing the same thing wrong here as with the /export parameter.

[munz]

no worries, it was definately worth a shot serialtoon. at this stage it's an inconvenience during boot really...the windows boot manager counts down 30 seconds and loads the default vista profile, unless i intervene and press enter during the countdown to speed things up. worst case scenario: i'll try using the bcdedit command to change the time and see if that helps...provided i figure out the correct syntax