Please help me with os selector and windows 7

OS selector doesn't recognizes windows 7. What do I have to do?
I have already uninstalled Os selector to be able to enter my computer (is the only os installed, but i am planing to add Os X).

Thanks.

 

If there is not another running OS on the computer that OSS will recognize and boot, it makes it a little more difficult to fix.

OSS won't detect Windows 7 so it must be added manually. To do this, you need access to the BOOTWIZ.OSS file. Since you can't boot into Windows 7 from OSS and access the file, you'll need to manually "deactivate" OSS after you install it and then the file can be modified.

If you haven't already created a DD CD that includes the OSS programs, please do so. It helps to have the programs on the CD.

Install OSS and let it reboot to finish. Boot to the Windows DVD and enter the Repair mode. Start a Command Prompt and run the following command (<ENTER> means to press the ENTER key):

Code:

bootrec /fixmbr <ENTER>

This will repair the MBR and should allow Windows to boot normally without removing the OSS files.

Boot into Windows and make a copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS file and attach it to a post (instructions can be found here). Also, either post a screenshot of what Disk Management shows for your drive(s) or let me know which partition is the Windows 7 partition.

 

the only thing i have in the bootwiz folder is a file called context.oss.
i apologize for not anwering soon but i had a UN model on my school and they kept us working for 3 days.

 

That's not the correct BOOTWIZ folder. OSS puts one on every partition. The one that contains the BOOTWIZ.OSS file is the folder you need.

 

Tank you Mr. Crab i was trying to get te file from C: instead of L: (hidden), where installed the OSS, i also have partition D: and an unallocated space of 120 gb for installing Mac OS x.

 

Try this file (rename it to BOOTWIZ.OSS and replace the existing file with it). If OSS is currently deactivated, you'll need to reactivate it after replacing the file.

 

Wow! thak you Mr. Crab you're a genius.

 

I'm sorry but I need your help again. This time for the osx from iAtkos 5, i have a message "boot1: error". What do i do?

 

I'll have to look into this. Some OS X users have posted, but I don't remember if any had their configurations posted.

Is it normal for OS X to be installed to a Logical partition?

 

Have you tried changing the OS X partition to a Primary partition? If it can be set Active I think it should boot it.

As it is now, the Windows 7 partition is the Active partition when it's trying to boot OS X.

 

Hi. I too am new to the forum and could REALLY use your help.
I have a similar problem with DD OSS not recognizing "windows 7". The machine boots to a dell diagnostic. I have tried your bootrec fixmbr fix with no luck. I am able to see the hard drive using a umuntu boot disk. "windows 7" is on the C; drive which is called OS.

Here is a copy of the bootwiz.oss file.


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<bootwiz>

<disks>

<id3274046868 bios_num="128" crc="603986046" real_bios_num="128" serial="31441" size="625142447" />

<id2776312866 bios_num="129" crc="11775568" real_bios_num="129" serial="33881" size="312581806" />

</disks>

<cds />

<partitions>

<id4021276772 begin="63" crc="58983" disk="3274046868" fs="fat16" number="1" serial="1a0bd707" size="96327" type="6" />

<id4272523169 begin="98304" crc="36865" disk="3274046868" fs="ntfs" number="2" serial="49ba91ace391ac5a" size="20971520" type="7" />

<id3165082604 begin="21069824" crc="8403" disk="3274046868" fs="ntfs" number="3" serial="6a41968a73968a24" size="604069888" type="7" />

<id3920603330 begin="63" crc="56530" disk="2776312866" fs="fat32" number="1" serial="00000000" size="300784932" type="11" />

<id2877782079 begin="300785058" crc="33906" disk="2776312866" fs="fat32" number="5" serial="c8e63d5c" size="11775582" type="188" />

</partitions>

<oses>

<id890483066 boot_as_ms71="0" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" boot_partition="4021276772" bootname="bootsect.sys" icon="icon_sys_unknown" language="" lba="0" name_template="%n%l %l(%ll%l)" nthide="0" os_type="unknown" uninstall_info="1" use_manual_disks_order="0" write_boot="1">

<partitions>

<id4021276772 active="1" />

<id3920603330 active="1" />

</partitions>

</id890483066>

<id2916488287 boot_as_ms71="1" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" icon="icon_boot_floppy" language="" lba="1" letter="65" name_template="Boot from floppy %o" nthide="0" os_type="floppy" use_manual_disks_order="0" write_boot="0">

<partitions>

<id4021276772 active="1" />

<id3920603330 active="1" />

</partitions>

</id2916488287>

</oses>

<checkfiles>

<checkfile crc="0" name="io.sys" partition="3165082604" size="0" />

</checkfiles>

<bootmgr default_os="890483066" disks_order_feature="1" />

<uninstall_info>

<active_lba_state>

<p1-1 />

<p1-2 />

<p1-3 active="1" />

<p2-1 active="1" lba="1" />

<p2-2 />

<p2-5 />

</active_lba_state>

</uninstall_info>

</bootwiz>


Any help you have time to give is much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

faradayinc,

Welcome to the forum.

Can you please attach the BOOTWIZ.OSS file to a post (if you followed the instructions in my guide, the file would be BOOTWIZ.TXT)? It's much more difficult to work with the pasted in file.

What size is the Windows 7 partition? Is it the second partition (the one after the Dell partition)?

 

Thank you for the kind welcome.
I'm one step up from a novice at this. I know just enough to get into trouble and almost enough to stay out of it. https://www.wilderssecurity.com/images/smilies/cheesy.gif

Thank you for bearing with me.

The Windows 7 folder is on the c:drive. the partition is labeled OS and is 288 Gig. As for the dellutility partition, I don't know how to tell where it is in sequence. The dell partition is 48MB.

 

Try this file. I assume you know to use it in place of the existing BOOTWIZ.OSS file.

 

Thanks for your help.
I copied the file you sent, renamed the old bootwiz.oss to bootwiz.org, renamed the file you sent to bootwiz.oss and rebooted with no luck. The system still boots to the dellutility. Any suggestions? Thanks. Joanne

 

Is the OSS menu not even coming up when you boot the computer? In other words, it's booting directly to the Dell Utilities?

Do you have the OSS programs on your DD CD (they would have to have been included when you created the CD)? If so, you'll need to boot it and reactivate OSS.

---

If you don't have the OSS programs on the DD CD, boot to the DD CD, start DD (select Manual Mode) and set the Vista partition Active. Apply the changes and restart the computer normally and see if Vista comes up.

 

I too cannot get OS Selector to recognize any of my Windows 7 installs.

4 Partitions - C:\ was copied across other 3 partitions.

I copied one of the text files you posted here and viewed the xml and it does show a Windows 7 icon but is obviously not set correctly for my system.

Could you please assist so I can get this right?

Thanks.

 

Cobra427,

Welcome to the forum.

You can't just "copy" the data from one person's file to another. Each file is different for each computer.

You need to attach the BOOTWIZ.OSS file (as BOOTWIZ.TXT) to a post so I can take a look at it (instructions can be found here).

 

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. I should have put the original on for you to look at.

I am attaching it here now.

So that is one hard drive; 4 partitions; all four are Windows 7 and only the active booted partition is visible (C:\ only)


Does anyone know if Acronis OS Selector will be recognizing Windows 7 partitions soon?

 

Hello. I don't have the DD CD. I do have a boot CD I created with TI. When I get to the initial screen and select windows it goes directly to the dellutility. When I select acronis in safe mode from the options, it will not let me restore because of missing files.

I did notice that dellutilities is classified as C: and OS, where windows resides is called e:

Does this info affect the bootwiz.oss setup? Thanks again.

 

Is OSS currently installed and deactivated or is it uninstalled? I need to know how you got the file because if OSS isn't installed, any changes made to the file will be reset.

Acronis never releases this information, but probably won't support Windows 7 until after it's released.

 

Hello again.
I was able to run the DD OS from a flash drive and activate it.
It shows Windows 7 beta and two unknown operating systems. When I try to boot win 7, Acronis doesn't recognize it.
I have the bootwiz.oss file that MudCrab modified for me replacing the original.

When I remove the flash drive and reboot the computer, it, as before, automatically goes to the dellutility.

What can I try or do next?
TIA.

 

You may have installed OSS to the flashdrive if you're still not getting the OSS menu when you boot normally.

If you boot to DD (from the DD CD or from the flashdrive) and look at the Windows 7 partition, is it set as the Active partition (little red flag)? If not, set it Active.

Next, follow the instructions in Post #2 and run the bootrec /fixmbr command again from the Windows 7 DVD. After doing these two things, the computer should boot directly into Windows 7. Post back with the results.

Until the computer is booting normally and OSS can be installed to the internal drive and activated properly, it's probably not going to work.

If you get Windows 7 booting again, I would create a new DD CD using Media Builder and include the OSS programs. That way you can reactivate from the CD instead of the flashdrive (though I would think the flashdrive should work). Currently, OSS doesn't seem to be activated on the internal drive.

 

Hello again Mudcrab,

I have managed to edit the file and my default first partition works great.

Now I need to copy this info so that I have all four partitions as my options at the OS Selector screen - a separate Icon for each of course.

Can you help me please.

I should mention all four partitions are the same, in that they are Windows 7

Thanks

Cobra

 

The easiest way is to just copy the working OS entry and then modify it to point to the correct partition. By the way, I've never used or seen an OS ID that small before, but if it works...

This is your current entry:

Code:

		<id69 boot_as_ms71="0" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" boot_partition="766794726" bootname="bootsect.sys" icon="icon_sys_vista" language="english" lba="1" name_template="Cobra's Windows 7" nthide="0" os_type="ntvista" use_manual_disks_order="1" write_boot="0">
			<partitions>
				<id766794726 active="1" />
			</partitions>
			<disks>
				<disk bios_num="128" id="2749705532" />
			</disks>
		</id69>

You need to copy it for the next OS (I would do one at a time unless you feel comfortable making all the changes at once).

You need to change the boot_partition ID to match the partition you want to boot and the active partition and the OS ID (this is any random number that's not already in use for an ID).

You can also edit the name of the entry so you can tell them apart in the OSS menu.

Here is an example for partition #2:

Code:

		<id[B][COLOR="Red"]72[/COLOR][/B] boot_as_ms71="0" boot_as_os2="0" boot_cd_entry="0" [B][COLOR="Red"]boot_partition="15942680"[/COLOR][/B] bootname="bootsect.sys" icon="icon_sys_vista" language="english" lba="1" name_template="[B][COLOR="red"]Cobra's Windows 7 P2[/COLOR][/B]" nthide="0" os_type="ntvista" use_manual_disks_order="1" write_boot="0">
			<partitions>
				<id[B][COLOR="red"]15942680[/COLOR][/B] active="1" />
			</partitions>
			<disks>
				<disk bios_num="128" id="2749705532" />
			</disks>
		</id[B][COLOR="Red"]72[/COLOR][/B]>

The partition ID values come from the <partition> section of the file:

Code:

	<partitions>
		<id[B][COLOR="Blue"]766794726[/COLOR][/B] begin="63" crc="8403" disk="2749705532" fs="ntfs" [B][COLOR="blue"]number="1"[/COLOR][/B] serial="f8106a12366a1260" size="1030762467" type="7" />
		<id[B][COLOR="Red"]15942680[/COLOR][/B] begin="1030762530" crc="8403" disk="2749705532" fs="ntfs" [B][COLOR="red"]number="2"[/COLOR][/B] serial="bb311c20008be107" size="419441085" type="7" />
		<id[B][COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]4155457919[/COLOR][/B] begin="1450203615" crc="8403" disk="2749705532" fs="ntfs" [B][COLOR="deepskyblue"]number="3"[/COLOR][/B] serial="13f9c6951bbeb9dc" size="251674290" type="7" />
		<id[B][COLOR="Purple"]2150091860[/COLOR][/B] begin="1701877905" crc="8403" disk="2749705532" fs="ntfs" [B][COLOR="purple"]number="4"[/COLOR][/B] serial="cdc5a849d48ee290" size="251642160" type="7" />
	</partitions>

Also, you don't need to use the Disk Order feature. It doesn't work with Vista and Windows 7 anyway.