Installed Windows 10 to Disk -0- (D:) With Windows 7 on Disk 1 (C:) and Windows 7 Has Moved

[ChronicleMe]

I have two hard drives on my computer. Initially I was running windows 7 64 on Disk 1 drive C:. I decided to setup windows 10 pro 64 preview as a dual boot and installed it to my Disk -0-.

The problem is that windows 10 is somehow "C:" and my windows 7 is now "F:" and when I restart the computer I am not given an option to choose windows 7 to startup. It just starts right into windows 10.

I did not "choose" at least not knowingly to make the win 10 install the C:. I have had all about the "fun" I can take with the windows 10 preview and I would like to just get my windows 7 back. To do that I believe I have to move it back to C: and then delete the partition/drive that windows 10 is on.

How do I get my windows 7 moved back to C: to where it originally resided?

Will that get me back up and running on win 7? It is not important that I retain anything I have added since using windows 10.

Here is an image of my hard disk setup:

 

[cdabc123]

go to your bios and switch the default boot disk to f

 

[Vlad Rose]

check this guide to get into the system properties window of your Windows 10 install:

http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=faq-Windows-10&faq=10

from that window there will be a section that says "Startup and Recovery". Click on 'settings'. From there you should be able to select the default operating system and your Windows 7 should be an option.

Check to see when your Windows 7 boots at that point if it shows up as C: or not. The OS's usually only report drive letters in relation to themselves, so the physical drive letter associations can change between OS's.

 

[drixkarasu]

The drive letters have not moved, they are assigned inside each Windows version, it is not the real location or disk name.
You need to go to your BIOS and choose the disk with Windows 7 as the boot device.

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

Each OS assigns the main boot drive as C by default. To boot to the Windows 7 drive, reboot the PC, go into the boot menu, and select the drive Windows 7 is on to boot to it.

 

[rgd1101]

How did you setup this "dual" boot? did you follow some instruction from somewhere?

 

[ChronicleMe]

How did you setup this "dual" boot? did you follow some instruction from somewhere?

I followed the instructions from here: http://www.howtogeek.com/197647/how-to-dual-boot-windows-10-with-windows-7-or-8/

 

[ChronicleMe]

check this guide to get into the system properties window of your Windows 10 install:

http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=faq-Windows-10&faq=10

from that window there will be a section that says "Startup and Recovery". Click on 'settings'. From there you should be able to select the default operating system and your Windows 7 should be an option.

Check to see when your Windows 7 boots at that point if it shows up as C: or not. The OS's usually only report drive letters in relation to themselves, so the physical drive letter associations can change between OS's.

I looked there and only Windows 10 shows up in the drop down box, no windows 7 🙁

When I look at the files under "this pc" and I can see the windows 7 files there though...

 

[Vlad Rose]

You can try adding a boot entry for Windows 7 using bcdedit:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff541231

However, due to the fact that it didn't get added on it's own does leave concern.

As others have said, I'd try to bring up the Bios boot menu and try booting directly off of the drive Windows 7 is installed on. Depending on your motherboard, it could be one of many keys that need to be pressed at boot time. Your motherboard manual will state which key needs to be pressed.