Stupid me

Steve Dwyer · 28 Nov 2020 at 23:43

I have an old laptop with vista on but wanted to change to windows 7 so could add my golf SIM, went onto you tube and one guy said split your c drive into two then make the new one active so I did this, then when I restarted it comes up bootmgr missing, I presume it's trying to boot from the one I split and made active, I'm not good with these things, sorry for the long post.
Steve

maklabouhlel · 29 Nov 2020 at 00:58

You'll probably have to start from scratch and install w7.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=install+windows+7

t31os · 29 Nov 2020 at 00:58

It's not clear if you actually performed a windows install or whether you wiped the drive before partitioning (presumably what you mean by split).

If all you need is to get the system to boot from a different partition, you only need to go into the bios and change the boot priority/order. No idea what key you press for the bios on the laptop, but there's usually some information on screen that details what key provides bios access (it'll be at the bottom literally right at the start). If not, it's probably a google away if you could specify what the laptop is.

slim01 · 29 Nov 2020 at 01:44

***MOST IMPORTANT!!!***
Have no idea if youtube guy has advised you but what youre doing is pretty risky, do you have ANY important data on the laptop, pictures etc that arent backed up? If yes, you might wanna take the HDD out first and back it up on a pc using a sata-usb adapter.

t31 has covered this, but presuming you made a new partition, formatted that whilst in windows, made it primary (you changed the boot order?) then restarted yeah could cause issues, cos its trying to boot to hdd with nothing as far as windows is concerned.

you should be able to install windows to the new partition though, bootmgr missing shoudnt come up if youre trying to install windows??? so not sure what youve done with the partition. New partition was made in windows? Tell us how. or link vid would be handy

When you install windows 7 it will obviously ask what partition youd like to install on, so choose new one.

Failing that,as t31 said you should be able to change boot order from the bios.

slim01 · 29 Nov 2020 at 01:49

youll need to change the boot order anyway to boot from windows cd or a usb flash drive with windows on anyway (to install it). didnt your youtube guide cover this? OR have you clicked to install windows from within windows itself?

Steve Dwyer · 30 Nov 2020 at 23:16

https://youtu.be/5Dxje8M36FE
Thanks guys for all the replies, I watched the above video and when it came to the restarting bit it just won't come on just says bootmgr missing.
Cheers guys

t31os · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:01

Before we overcomplicate this, do you have anything important you need to retrieve from the laptop?

If no, it's easy from here.

Steve Dwyer · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:05

No nothing really just would like to get it on
Cheers
Steve

t31os · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:14

Do you have Windows(the installation software) on a DVD or USB (flash drive)? Do you know how to get into the bios on the laptop?

Steve Dwyer · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:17

I do not have windows, will have to get disc from somewhere, if I press f12 when comp starting it goes into a menu I presume that's bios ?

t31os · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:37

Yes that's probably the bios, but I can't see how you were expecting to install windows without a copy of windows.

Steve Dwyer · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:41

The video was how to upgrade from vista to 7 without disc , I presumed he was going to show how to download 7

t31os · 1 Dec 2020 at 00:58

Without using a disk, not without having a copy of Windows. Part of the process in that video (not that i'd ever personally ever install windows this way) is extracting the windows ISO (image file).

You can certainly find ISO images of Windows on the web (MS themselves use to provide them), but that won't necessarily provide you with a valid license and product key.

You can technically buy them as cheap as £10 (i'm not providing any pointers in that regard), but it's a very grey area as to how valid they are (although they technically often work and activate).

Steve Dwyer · 1 Dec 2020 at 01:02

I just want to get it back on so what disc do I need and where could I get one, thanks for your direction
Steve

t31os · 1 Dec 2020 at 01:22

I can't mention competitors(forum rules), take a look on some secondhand marketplaces for an OEM license for Win 7.

For the interim, if you want the laptop useable(for browsing or whatever), there's always free operating systems like Ubuntu (won't likely support your game, but you can at least use it for web browsing).