Questions tagged [bootloader]

A bootloader is a program that loads and launches a program or an operating system from boot.

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How can I repair the Windows 8 EFI Bootloader?

I installed Windows 7 and Windows 8 in EFI mode on a hard disk some days ago. Today, the bootloader got missing/corrupted. I currently have the Windows 8 installer on a flash drive and tried using ...
Elmo's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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booting windows 10 spends too long

In august 2015, I have upgrade my laptop from windows 8.1 to windows 10. But it spends always 10 minutes to boot it. It is not normal that it spends so long. What can I do for boot him faster? Below ...
H. Pauwelyn's user avatar
49 votes
4 answers
574k views

How to fix the Windows 10 boot loader from Windows

I installed Ubuntu on a system that has Windows 10 installed. I can boot to Windows or Ubuntu normally using GRUB. I want to delete Ubuntu partition, but first I must restore the Windows 10 MBR. In ...
Codyfly's user avatar
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32 votes
1 answer
192k views

How can I add Linux to the new Windows 8 boot manager?

Which OSes can be put into the new bootloader that Windows 8 provides? It seems to be quite pretty and consistent with the rest of the new Windows 8 design, so it would be cool to put Linux (Ubuntu) ...
kluka's user avatar
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34 votes
5 answers
34k views

How can I keep multiple live/bootable ISO images on a single USB drive?

I am looking to create a USB flash drive that I can put multiple live CD ISO images on and select which boots from startup. The ideal candidate supports Linux and Windows-based ISO images, and is ...
Keck's user avatar
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6 votes
5 answers
10k views

How to fix GRUB after Windows breaks it, and how to edit the GRUB menu

I had Windows XP and Ubuntu both installed. I could easily boot into either until Windows "fixed" the bootloader so that it now only boots into Windows. I guess there is no way to prevent Windows ...
Rob Kam's user avatar
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13 votes
3 answers
75k views

How to restore windows 8 GUI boot-loader after installing windows 7?

I have installed window 7 after installing windows 8, so windows 7 boot-loader is now the default boot-loader But i want to restore windows 8 graphical boot-loader back again so what to do ?
Black Block's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
25k views

How do I install the Windows 7 boot loader?

I have 2 hard disks, on first I have installed win xp. I boot into xp and run setup of win7 and installed it on second hard disk. Now the problem is that win7 bootloader is installed on first harddisk,...
Sharique's user avatar
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4 votes
4 answers
7k views

How to make Windows bootloader the default?

When I got a new computer, I installed Ubuntu and Windows XP on it. When I turn it on, GRUB shows up and lets me choose between the OSes. All right so far. A while later, I decided I don't want ...
Javier's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
7k views

"Reinstalling" the Windows 7 boot manager

I've run into an interesting predicament. I've got two HDD's, one running Windows XP (Primary) and another running Windows 7 (Secondary). I recently installed Gentoo over the XP installation and used ...
Zack's user avatar
  • 512
22 votes
11 answers
167k views

Windows 10 fails to boot after HDD clone to SSD

I have been trying to migrate a laptop from a HDD to an SSD. I initially cloned the drive with the latest version of TODO Backup and then tried with Macrium Reflect. Both have the same problem. The ...
psych's user avatar
  • 271
20 votes
6 answers
289k views

How to set boot disk flag with diskpart

My Windows Server 2008 R2 won't start and stops with Stop 7B, so I start the recovery console and use diskpart to check the disk. There are to partitions one of Type 17 and one of type 07, the detail ...
kockiren's user avatar
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18 votes
5 answers
114k views

Can I fix error 0xc0000225 without reinstalling Windows?

I have a system which dual-boots Gentoo Linux and Windows 7 using GRUB2. The computer has four drives, and Windows is installed on the third (last) partition of drive #2. The drive layout looks like ...
David Z's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
31k views

How to remove boot loader entry on Windows-8?

I have just installed Windows-8 preview twice, because at first I accidentally installed it at the wrong partition and now I have got 2 entries with Windows-8 in the boot loader and would like to get ...
supernova's user avatar
  • 275
3 votes
1 answer
10k views

Remove entry from Windows 7 bootloader

After making an error installing windows, I now have two entries in the Windows 7 boot loader, one of which is incorrect. How can I remove it? I've seen some entries recommending EasyBCD, but can't ...
Adrian Mouat's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

repair windows boot loader after cloning to SSD

I bought my PC with Windows 10 on it, later installing Ubuntu for dual-booting. Recently, I wanted to replace the HDD inside with an SSD of the same size, so I copied all the partitions to the SSD (...
Joseph Chataignon's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

How To Get Windows To Stop Assuming Precedence Over GRUB?

I have a SATA hard drive with an MS DOS MBR partition table, an ext4 Linux-based OS, an NTFS Windows 7, and an extended partition. I was happily using my ext4 partition for quite some time, but grew ...
Kyle Hawkins's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
44k views

How can I move the boot sector to another drive?

When I installed Windows 7 on my new SSD it seems I messed some parts up during the partition selection, and now I have my system partition with the boot sector on another harddrive, and the boot ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar
14 votes
5 answers
112k views

How can I create a bootable DVD iso from a USB drive? [duplicate]

There seems to be a lot of questions / answers about doing the reverse, but not as much info for USB -> DVD. Problem I created a bootable USB drive using YUMI. The USB drive is working great, and ...
Kiada's user avatar
  • 271
4 votes
1 answer
21k views

Fix Windows 8 bootloader after converting MBR disc to GPT

I bought a new MoBo, processor, and some 3TB HDDs last week and am currently setting up a clean installation of Windows 8 on the machine. The MoBo is an Asus RoG Maximus VII Ranger (What?! It was ...
Benjamin Nolan's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
5k views

Why does Linux's UEFI entry disappear at each boot?

On an Acer PC, after installing any Linux system with any bootloader, I can boot it once, but after a reboot the UEFI Linux entry is gone. The Linux system's file in the EFI boot partition seems to ...
Hey's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
22k views

Can xcopy make a bootable copy (clone) of Windows?

Following on from my discussion with @JustinD in the comments here, is it technically possible to simply xcopy the contents of a Windows partition to a partition freshly created and formatted on a new ...
Karan's user avatar
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20 votes
3 answers
112k views

How do I make my Boot Camp partition bootable again?

I needed to resize my Boot Camp partition so I used Gparted to move and resize it. This seemed to work, except that now I can't boot into Windows. I can boot into OS X just fine. OS X can recognize ...
Dan Herbert's user avatar
  • 1,791
15 votes
7 answers
63k views

Multiple Operating Systems or ISO's Bootloader for a USB Stick?

I have no idea how to do this. I have 7 iso's that I want to be able to easily boot from using a USB Stick and they are: Windows 7 Ultimate x86 Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Windows 8.1 x64 Hirens BootCD ...
Hyflex's user avatar
  • 259
13 votes
3 answers
8k views

Is it possible to boot Windows 8.1 without its own bootmanager?

I have been trying to come up with an easier way of installing Windows and Linux dual booting on my laptop, not necessarily in that order. What we generally have to do is install Windows first, and ...
osolmaz's user avatar
  • 233
8 votes
1 answer
17k views

How do the 'EFI system partition' and UEFI *.efi files relate?

I read that there needs to be an EFI system partition. The EFI System partition is a partition on a data storage device that is used by machines that adhere to the Extensible Firmware Interface....
rubixibuc's user avatar
  • 2,062
5 votes
2 answers
10k views

Can I dual boot Linux and Windows 7 but use the Windows bootloader instead of GRUB?

Is it possible to have the Windows bootloader point to Windows 7 and a Linux partition instead of using GRUB to point to Windows 7 and Linux? Any links to tutorials, guides, or how-tos would be ...
CT.'s user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
13k views

Fastest way to restore Windows 7's original MBR?

I have removed GRUB's partition, and I wanted to restore the original Windows boot part. WinToFlash failed again to make my pendrive bootable, thus I'm in a bit of a trouble now. I looked all ...
Apache's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
11k views

How do I set Windows 7 as default OS but retain Windows 8 Boot screen?

I am dual-booting between Windows 7 and Windows 8 on a test workstation, and typically reboot 3-4 times per day. If I set Windows 8 as the default OS, I get the Windows 8 graphical boot screen, which ...
PJC's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
8k views

Full disk encryption on dual boot system using TrueCrypt

I'm thinking about encrypting my whole harddrive for example using TrueCrypt, which I've used for encrypting file containers for a while. It is possible to encrypt the whole harddisk through the ...
user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

How do I fix a Windows XP bootloader error when BOOTCFG, FIXBOOT, and FIXMBR do nothing?

I recently replaced a faulty hard drive with two hard drives that I then raided (1) together and installed Windows XP on about a week ago. Since then, I have always received this error: Windows could ...
NobleUplift's user avatar
  • 1,585
3 votes
1 answer
71k views

Repair Windows 10 boot loader

I am having trouble repairing my Windows 10 boot loader. I have tried booting into the Windows 10 installer usb and doing the Repair Start Up there. I have tried the solution suggested here: How to ...
emacsomancer's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
9k views

How do I modify the boot menu for Windows 7?

I'd like to add an entry to the Windows 7 boot menu, but it seems that it is not as simple as editing the boot.ini file. How to I add a new entry? I'm trying to install xPUD using the instructions ...
braveterry's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
907 views

Windows 8: Boot to non-Windows OS

I previously had an install of Windows 7 on one drive, and an install of Fedora on the other hard drive. I have a partition on the second drive for GRUB, and the normal Windows bootloader partition on ...
Eli's user avatar
  • 860
2 votes
2 answers
19k views

How to delete the bootloader

I dualboot my pc, windows 7 64 bit, and some linux distro, nowadays i'm using crunchbang. I once had a problem, i lost my bootloader so i created one using easybcd. Later on, i installed a linux ...
Lynob's user avatar
  • 5,360
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Multi Boot USB Stick [duplicate]

I have several Boot CD's/DVD's where I'm able to make a bootable USB-stick and put into it. But I can do this separately only. Is it possible to merge several bootable CD's/DVD's into a single ...
Aziz's user avatar
  • 597
1 vote
3 answers
14k views

Restoring the Windows 7 boot loader (after uninstalling Windows 8)?

A while back I installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview on my PC. As expected, I quickly grew bored of it, and uninstalled it. I removed the whole partition on which I had installed the OS, and ...
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
1k views

Install both BIOS and UEFI bootloaders with kickstart

I am trying to build a disk image with Koji. To do so you specify a kickstart file to be used. Since QEMU is spawning a BIOS VM, my kickstart is doing only BIOS related stuff. My issue here is that I ...
djuarez's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

What is the purpose of MBR active partition?

The concept of booting the bootloaders on UEFI is straight and simple as putting the .efi bootloaders on the EFI system partition. The .efi file then load the corresponding operating systems. However, ...
Livy's user avatar
  • 1,126
1 vote
1 answer
7k views

How to install Oracle Solaris 11 with Windows 7?

I want to install Oracle Solaris with Windows 7 without Virtual Machine...like means there should be an option of dual boot means that i can select the operating system during booting and can work in ...
Usman YousafZai's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
3k views

How to get the Windows 7 bootloader back after installing XP, as well?

So I installed XP on a partition alongside Windows 7 and I have lost the Windows 7 bootloader. I'd like to have it back, even if it means getting rid of XP, as I no longer need it. How can I ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 583
0 votes
3 answers
381 views

Reinstalling Windows 7 Bootloader

On a computer running windows 7, I created a new partition and installed Ubuntu on the empty partition. Then in windows, I deleted the partition that ubuntu was installed on. After restarting my ...
user727403's user avatar
23 votes
5 answers
29k views

What are the differences between firmware and software/OS?

I was wondering what differences are between firmware and software? What differences are between firmware and OS? Are boot-loaders firmware? Bios is. How about GNU grub? Is grub software or firmware?
Tim's user avatar
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15 votes
1 answer
72k views

How to get out of EFI shell in virtual box

I am running a virtual machine for Mac OSX and it always boots into EFI shell, I just want a simple explanation of what this is and how, if possible, to exit it.
Dan's user avatar
  • 151
10 votes
2 answers
37k views

GRUB Bootloader with root LUKS encryption: Only grub shell

I would appreciate help and hints to solve a problem with the GRUB bootloader. I have a system with root LUKS encryption. Means that except the partition with the bootloader, the whole system is in ...
EccoB's user avatar
  • 151
9 votes
2 answers
39k views

How to install GRUB bootloader without installing Linux?

I have Windows 7 installed on the system and I want to create a separate WinPe bootable partition which system can fallback when things go wrong. Now Windows 7 does give this option and I might also ...
Kavitesh Singh's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
11k views

Booting NVMe drive with a bootloader

I'd like to use an NVMe drive paired with a PCIe adapter as main system disk. Unfortunately, I have a mainboard (X79) whose BIOS does not support booting NVMe drives. I was wondering if I can install ...
MadHatter's user avatar
  • 227
7 votes
2 answers
49k views

How to install and run Windows XP operating system on an external hard drive or USB flash drive?

I know this question may be duplicated as follows: Install Windows XP to USB Hard Drive and Run from It Installing Windows XP to and running from an USB drive Can I run Windows XP from a USB ...
ll55's user avatar
  • 179
6 votes
1 answer
8k views

Where is the UEFI boot order stored?

I know the UEFI boot loaders are stored on a FAT32 partition on my (usually GPT) drive, but where is the boot order stored? My reasoning: It can't be stored as part of the firmware settings, since ...
user541686's user avatar
  • 23.9k
6 votes
2 answers
8k views

Boot Signature - BIOS

I understand that the BIOS is in ROM, and the manufacturer "typically" designs it to point to the first sector of the "active" storage device's first sector or CHS (0,0,1)*physical and CHS (0,0,0)*...
Jordan Davis's user avatar