New HardDrive wont Boot on its own

[que2001]

Hello,
Ive tried the search functions and have recieved various answers, none with my particular configuration of operating systems.

I recently added another harddrive to my computer, and installed windows 7 on it. I set my comp up to dual boot so I can choose between the two harddrives on startup. Now id like to disconnect the first harddrive (which I only use for storage, and uses XP) and just run the newer one.

However, the new drive wont boot on its own.

From what I can tell, is it just a case of restoring the Master Boot Record for Windows 7 on the new drive?

I realize I havent given really any specifics, but im not sure what else to mention.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(it would be nice to be able to just hook up the second harddrive and still have the dual boot option as well, in that case, but that isnt important)

Thanks, and sorry for my ignorance pertaining to forum etiqutte.

 

[Paperdoc]

I suspect the problem is from a "safety feature" of Win 7. When it installs, it looks around for any other HDD besides the one you are installing to. If it finds one, it places on the second HDD a semi-hidden set of files as backups for the Win 7 OS. The idea is that, at some time in the future, your Win 7 will fail to boot because of faulty files on the OS drive, and then it will automatically go to the backups on the second drive and restore any corrupted files, then boot successfully. Saves you a lot of trouble! BUT apparently once this is running, Win 7's boot process insists on checking to make sure the backups on the second HDD are there safely, and refuses to boot if they are not. That's what happens when you remove the original HDD - it's the one with the backup files on it.

There is a way to fix this. Basically it allows you to remove the second HDD and have the backup files installed instead on the Win 7 boot HDD (just like it would have been if you only had one HDD with Win 7 installed on it). I'm not sure of the details, but maybe you can find a thread on this forum to get them.