How to have the boot files on the system partition when installing windows

[Jobik]

Hi all !

I am running windows seven x64 SP1 on a based bios system.
I have 2 hard drives connected, with 4 partitions :
HD 0 : C : system, D: temp
HD 1 : E: docs, F : save
My C dive is the boot partition, active, system.

 

Well, yesterday I wanted to try a new version of windows seven, to replace the one I run.
I booted from an usb drive. In the setup, my config was OK (drives, partitions...)
I asked to format my c: drive and installed Windows.
All went fine. My old OS had been deleted, replaced with the new one. But when I began to use my new OS, I discovered this :
- Windows was installed on my C drive (OK, that's what I wanted)
- My E drive disappeared from explorer. When I looked at my drives in the config panel, the previous partition E had no more letter and was marked as "boot" and "active". I gave it a letter, ran the explorer and discovered the 'boot' folder, 'bootmgr' and 'bootsect.bak' files on it.

Then I used diskpart and a boot CD to rearrange the config. My C drive is now active, system, boot with all the needed files on it. And I recovered my E, as previously. Nothing was erased, all my files are OK

 

My question is :
If I want to have an 'independant' system, on a unique partition, with no 'junk' on another drive, is there a way to prevent windows from squatting another partition during its install ?

Sure, i could physically disconnect my second drive, but if there is another trick...
I searched but did not find anything concerning boot options... except the using bcedit after install.

 

If someone was able to help....
Thank you for reply (and sorry about my poor english)

[straycat19]

If you want to install two versions of Windows on the same computer then you need an empty partition on one of the drives to install it on.  That is the only way it works.  That means you have to repartition one of your drives so there is an empty partition and then during the install you choose that empty partition to install the new copy of Windows.  That is unless you use VirtualBox/VMWare and install it in a virtual machine.  Virtual machines have their own advantages because they don't require a separate partition, they can be backed up after installation so you always have a fresh copy of the install available, or you can delete and reinstall it without a lot of hassle.   If you wnat information about installing two copies of windows then this article is a good place to start.  Though it mentions different versions the same holds true for two copies of the same version, you just need to change the name to identify the second installation because when the multiboot screen comes up it will show Windows 7 twice, not identifying the second installation with a distinct name such as Windows 7 - 2.

 

Since I wasn't there I don't know what you did that caused your E drive to be overwritten or why the boot files were placed on the second drive.  I could speculate but that wouldn't do you any good.

[Jobik]

24 minutes ago, straycat19 said:

Since I wasn't there I don't know what you did that caused your E drive to be overwritten or why the boot files were placed on the second drive.  I could speculate but that wouldn't do you any good.

 

Thank you, but that's just what i want to know

I don't want to have two copies of windows at the same time. I am just curious about Windows using two drives during install...

[J.D]

You may be able to correct the start-up folder / files by using Easy BCD program including giving a meaningful name eg Win 7 Pro #1 or whatever you like .

 

The program is free for private use 

 

 

https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

 

[Jobik]

8 minutes ago, J.D said:

You may be able to correct the start-up folder / files by using Easy BCD program including giving a meaningful name eg Win 7 Pro #1 or whatever you like .

 

Thank you for the BCD tool. I dl and ran it and it seems useful.

But that's not what i want. Sorry : i'm searching a way to make Windows use only one drive for boot, system install etc. during install.

maybe that is not possible....

[J.D]

18 minutes ago, Jobik said:

 

Thank you for the BCD tool. I dl and ran it and it seems useful.

But that's not what i want. Sorry : i'm searching a way to make Windows use only one drive for boot, system install etc. during install.

maybe that is not possible....

Understand - Can you use this program to move the boot files 

 

An alternative way is to disconnect the other drives leaving only one HDD/SSD attached to Install too - after install, shut down completely and re-attach other drives and check boot sequence in the Bios before re-booting up 

[Jobik]

40 minutes ago, J.D said:

An alternative way is to disconnect the other drives leaving only one HDD/SSD attached to Install too - after install, shut down completely and re-attach other drives and check boot sequence in the Bios before re-booting up 

Yes, that's what I'm going to do, I think. If there is no other way.

Thank you for reply