Repair the MBR to restore Windows 7 to your Multiboot Options.

  Repair the MBR to restore Windows 7 to your Multiboot Options.

Each time we install a version of Windows, it rewrites the MBR to call its own boot loader. If we

 install Windows 7 (or Windows Vista) as a second operating system on a PC where Windows XP

is already installed, the Windows boot menu incorporates the options from the older boot menu.

 But if you install a fresh copy of Windows XP (orWindows Server 2003) on a system that is

already running Windows 7, you’ll overwrite the MBR with one that doesn’t recognize the

Windows 7 boot loader. To repair the damage, open a Command Prompt window in the

older operating system and run the following command from the Windows 7 DVD, substituting

 the letter of your DVD drive for d here:

d:\boot\ bootsect.exe /nt60 all

When you restart, you should see the Windows 7 menu. To restore the menu entry for your

earlier version of Windows, open an elevated Command Prompt window and type this

command:

bcdedit /create {ntldr} –d "Menu description goes here"

Substitute your own description for the placeholder text, being sure to include the quotation

marks. The next time you start your computer,the menus should appear as you intended.

An even easier solution is to use one of the boot-editing utilities both VistaBootPRO and

EasyBCD run on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows  Server 2003 or

 2008,and they can be used to switch quickly from a Windows XP–style bootloader to its

Windows 7 counterpart and back again.