# Windows 7, Non System Disk?



## coxmaster (Jun 28, 2010)

Its uncommon that I cant figure out how to solve these problems myself. But this one has be very confused.


Heres the situation: I just got my SSD (awesome btw); clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate on the SSD. I am still using my other 2 harddrives as storage.

Each time I boot the system, i get an error saying "Non system disk, press any key to continue." So i click whatever, and it loads the Windows Boot Manager to have me select which OS to use (only 1 installed/available?). It proceeds to boot just fine after that. So my question is, how do I fix the Non-System Disk errror? and how do I skip the Windows Boot Manager if i only have 1 OS?

Note: Yes, my SSD is the first drive set to boot from. I get this error even with the other drives disconnected. Tips?


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## twicksisted (Jun 28, 2010)

check bios, you may have it set to boot off cd/dvd and have a disk in that drive (also could be A:\ with non system disk in too)


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## coxmaster (Jun 28, 2010)

twicksisted said:


> check bios, you may have it set to boot off cd/dvd and have a disk in that drive (also could be A:\ with non system disk in too)



No A drive at all, and its set to boot from the SSD first, then everything else later.

Like I said, I can disconnect every drive except the SSD and still get the error. It seems to me like if it was a "non system disk" it wouldnt be able to boot, would it?

Strange


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## Solaris17 (Jun 28, 2010)

in the bios change it from ACHI/IDE to vice versa see if it fixes your issue.

you may also need to do some MBR work. One of my drives currently has the MBR forcing me to select that drive as #1 in the bios at which point it passes it off to the correct drive upon reading. Im just too lazy to fix it atm.


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## coxmaster (Jun 28, 2010)

Solaris17 said:


> in the bios change it from ACHI/IDE to vice versa see if it fixes your issue.
> 
> you may also need to do some MBR work. One of my drives currently has the MBR forcing me to select that drive as #1 in the bios at which point it passes it off to the correct drive upon reading. Im just too lazy to fix it atm.



I had a feeling I needed to do some MBR work. Unfortunately im a total noob. Any tips/links on how to go about it?

Currently running ACHI, because ive been told that its recommended for Intel SSDs. However, i tried IDE and it does the same thing.


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## erocker (Jun 28, 2010)

Try disabling all other drives in the boot menu. Perhaps for some reason one of your other drives is trying to boot first anyways.


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## Solaris17 (Jun 28, 2010)

MBR work isnt that scary just time consuming. you can use my utility DVD that has a program on it to mod the MBR's. However in your case you can do it a few ways without needing my disk.

Option A: Use the windows DVD/USB(ISO) to Repair the windows boot problem/installation. (SSD must be only drive in system)

Option B: backup your stuff and completely format/reinstall with just the SSD in.

Option C: Use my disk and install All drives. Create one for the SSD and delete the one on the other HDD.

options A and B Should work though complete formatting (writing 0's) to the other hard drive(s) is a good practice because having 2 MBR's is just going to be a pain.


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## _Zod_ (Jun 29, 2010)

You can fix this easily by re-installing Win 7, but this time disconnect all of the drives except the SSD. What happened is the boot loader got installed on one of the disc drives and not the SSD. Once installed, then reconnect the disc drives and you should be golden.


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## coxmaster (Jun 29, 2010)

_Zod_ said:


> You can fix this easily by re-installing Win 7, but this time disconnect all of the drives except the SSD. What happened is the boot loader got installed on one of the disc drives and not the SSD. Once installed, then reconnect the disc drives and you should be golden.



I'm aware that reformatting and reinstalling will fix it. However, its clearly not necessary. Everything worked fine for about 3 days, then for some reason it started doing this. No hardware changed, so im not sure what caused it. Everybody seems to immediately jump to a reinstall


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## _Zod_ (Jun 30, 2010)

You're other choice is to try and move the boot manager to the SSD assuming that is the problem.

1. Is your SSD win 7 on a primary and active partition?

2. In the root of the SSD is the file bootmgr present?

If the answer to 1 is true and 2 is false then you can try the following..

Locate the bootmgr file on one of the other drives. Copy it to the root of the SSD. Then execute the following from an elevated (run as admin) command prompt:

bcdedit /export X:\boot\bcd

where X is your SSD drive.

Change bios to boot from SSD drive and you should be ok.


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## coxmaster (Jun 30, 2010)

_Zod_ said:


> You're other choice is to try and move the boot manager to the SSD assuming that is the problem.
> 
> 1. Is your SSD win 7 on a primary and active partition?
> 
> ...





1- True. The SSD is Primary and Active. Its also the only active
2- I'm not entirely sure where the file would be, or what it looks like. (Im a total OS noob, thanks for all the help thus far guys  )


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## 95Viper (Jun 30, 2010)

Have you tried the recovery console to fix the mbr?

EDIT: What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?

Startup repair is the option that may help.


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## coxmaster (Jun 30, 2010)

95Viper said:


> Have you tried the recovery console to fix the mbr?
> 
> EDIT: What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?
> 
> Startup repair is the option that may help.





Strangely enough, your post (before the edit) did the trick. Using the bootsect command in the recovery command prompt fixed it! Thanks a bunch for all the help guys!


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