How to create a boot manager/bootloader on Win11

Question

Hello folks,

I have a dual boot Windows PC with Win 7 and Win 11 installed on separate hard drives. The Win7 HDD, which had the boot manager, has crashed and can't be fixed. Is it possible to create a boot manager/bootloader on the Win 11 SSD without having to reinstall the OS?

If so, can someone provide steps on how to do it?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hello,

Yes, it is possible to create a boot manager on your Windows 11 SSD without having to reinstall the operating system. Here are the steps you can follow:

Create a Windows 11 Bootable USB Drive: You’ll need a USB drive with at least 8GB of storage to create a bootable media using the Windows Media Creation Tool.

Change the Boot Order in BIOS: Restart your PC and enter the BIOS setup. Change the boot order to boot from the USB drive first.

Repair the Boot Manager: Boot from the USB drive and use the Windows 11 installation environment to repair the boot manager. This can usually be done through the “Repair your computer” option in the installation media.

Use Command Prompt for Advanced Repairs: If the automatic repair doesn’t work, you can use the Command Prompt from the Windows 11 installation media to manually rebuild the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store.

Here are the commands you would typically use in the Command Prompt:

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /scanos

bootrec /rebuildbcd

After running these commands, restart your computer, and it should boot into Windows 11 using the new boot manager on the SSD.

Please Note: Remember to back up any important data before making changes to your system, as these operations can be risky and may lead to data loss if not done correctly.

Best Regards,

Hania Lian

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